Page 10 of An Unholy Affair
Steph passed Betsy to him and he held her close, letting her mush her snotty face into his shirt.
His sister sat next to their mother and took her hands. ‘Mum, we’re going to get through this, okay?’
The doorbell rang.
‘Simon,’ their mother said, listlessly, as if all the fight had left her.
‘I’ll get it,’ Jack said, desperate to get out of the room.
He carried Betsy to the front door and opened it.
On the other side stood Eveline.
His breathing and his heart stopped. Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide as she mirrored him. His brain froze as it rebooted, trying to calibrate this new reality. One where the woman who’d haunted his dreams for over a year was standing in front of him in Foxbrooke and wearing…A dog collar?
Unsure of what was going on, Betsy burrowed her head into his neck.
Eveline’s gaze broke first and fell on Betsy. Her face went white.
Her eyes met his again and the pain in them pierced his heart. ‘Jasper?’
Betsy raised her head. ‘Dack-Dack.’
Emily came to his side and Betsy reached for her mother.
Eveline looked from his sister’s bump to the three of them, as if adding the component parts to produce the answer ‘family’.
‘Hi,’ his sister said. ‘I presume you’re the vicar?’
Eveline nodded, her face still drained of colour.
‘And you’ve met Jack?’
‘Jack?’ Eveline replied, her voice cracking.
‘Yes, my older brother. I’m Emily. We’re Nigel and Patricia’s kids. This is my daughter, Betsy, and my wife, Steph, is inside with Mum. I presume you heard about Dad?’
Eveline nodded and cleared her throat. ‘Simon Little told me. I wanted to come and see how she was doing and convey my condolences.’
‘Thank you,’ Emily replied. ‘I know she’ll appreciate that. Come on through.’
Eveline hesitated, her eyes flicking to Jack. He stepped back.
‘Don’t mind him,’ Emily said. ‘He doesn’t normally smell this bad.’
He backed further up the corridor towards the living room.
Eveline entered and glanced between their childhood photos and the two of them. Embarrassment and shame sliced at him like a knife.
Emily rolled her eyes. ‘Please ignore the “ugly-mug wall”. I would literally pay burglars to steal these.’
‘Who is it? Is it Simon?’ his mother called out.
He entered the living room, followed by his sister and Eveline.
Eveline crouched in front of his mother. ‘Patricia, I am so deeply sorry for your loss.’
His mother shook. ‘You…’ She stabbed her finger at Eveline, who quickly stood. ‘This isyourfault.’ His mother rose to her feet. ‘You’rethe reason he’s dead.Youkilled him.’ She spat at Eveline. ‘Get out! Get out of my house!’
