Page 37 of An Unholy Affair
Eveline: I’m sorry I missed you earlier when I rang from the car, but it was good to speak to your mum. The day after tomorrow I have moved some appointments around and am free 13:00-16:00.
Jack: You’re not free 06:00-07:30 anymore?
Eveline: I presumed that time was too early. Would you like to come then?
Jack: One will be fine. You don’t want to see what I look like at six in the morning.
Eveline: As you wish.
Jack’s thumbsitched to reply. By using the line from thePrincess Bride, Eveline was, in her own sweet way, flirting with him. It would be so easy to reciprocate. When they’d met a year ago, his attraction to her had been instant and powerful enough to have haunted and taunted him ever since. But he couldn’t. She didn’t belong with anyone like him, and he sure as shit didn’t belong in Foxbrooke.
He sat at the kitchen table with a notebook where he’d carefully written down everything he had to do. He’d struggled at school and felt like it always took him twice as long to do anything as everyone else. The slower pace of writing helped order things in his mind, and using block capitals made the scrawl of his handwriting more legible.
‘Jack?’ His mother was calling from upstairs.
He found her in his father’s bedroom, sitting on the side of the neatly made bed. As far back as he could remember, his parents had never shared a bedroom. His dad said it was to protect his mum from his snoring, but Jack had never heard him.
‘I found your father’s will.’ She held out a cardboard folder. ‘Can you deal with it?’
‘Sure. Is it complicated?’ He took it from her. ‘I just presumed everything would go to you?’
She nodded. ‘Mostly, but there is something you need to speak to Eveline about.’
‘Eveline?’
‘It’s a bequest for the church. When are you next seeing her?’
‘The day after tomorrow.’
‘Okay.’
He turned for the door.
‘Jack?’
‘Yes?’
‘How long are you staying for?’
Panic prickled inside him. ‘I don’t know. I’ll stay for as long as you can’t drive and need to put the eyedrops in. Why?’
His mother was staring into the middle distance, her hands folded in her lap.
‘What am I going to do now your father’s gone?’
* * *
Eveline: I know you’re due here at one today, but I wondered if you might be able to come over a little earlier?
Jack: Yes, of course. Is everything okay?
Eveline: Absolutely fine, I could just use a little help to move some furniture in the church. I’m sorry to have to ask.
Jack: I’ll be there in fifteen.
It wasanother grey and chilly day, but the clouds were high and there was little chance of rain. Jack left his jacket behind and strode briskly away from the house. It had been three days since he’d seen Eveline and his legs wanted to run towards her. No matter how he attempted to deny or rationalise his feelings, he was buzzing at the thought of seeing her.
His footsteps slowed as he approached Saint Saviour’s church. The previous vicar had the appearance and charm of a tombstone, and had been there since the dark ages. Despite being thin and of average height, he loomed like a thundercloud, as if perpetually waiting for an excuse to unleash God’s wrath. As kids, Jack and his sister had been terrified of him.
