Page 13 of Only for Christmas

‘Oh, er… nothing. Just… rambling. Excuse me. I need to go.’

‘You need to check on your dog, right?’

‘What dog?’ She backed away so fast she hit the wall. ‘I don’t have a dog. No dog in my life. You’re mistaken.’

He ran a hand through his hair. ‘You were carrying a dog when you ran into me. I just saw it head upstairs.’

‘Really? Well, I wonder who that belongs to? A stray, no doubt. Shame, really. Anyway, I need to go.’ She made a dash for the stairs.

‘Why the rush?’

‘I need… the loo. Yes, that’s it. The loo. I’m busting. Excuse me.’ She bolted for the stairs, tripping up them, and leaving him with a wide-eyed, confused expression on his very handsome, chiselled face.

You see? This was why she avoided men. They made her say and do crazy things. Things she later regretted.

Fred was waiting for her at the top of the stairs. He looked relieved to see her.

Almost falling through her flat door, she slumped against it and slid to the floor. Fred trotted over and gave her a strange look, one bushy eyebrow raised.

‘I know, Fred. You don’t have to say it. I feel the same way. Something tells me we might be in a spot of trouble.’

Chapter Four

Thursday, 8th December

A lot had happened during Lucas’s first week in the UK. He’d started his locum work at the hospital, he’d managed to incur a penalty charge notice for ‘stopping in a box junction’ while driving the Bentley, and he’d experienced two further bizarre encounters with his neighbours. Mrs Kelsey had accused him of stealing a parcel from her doorstep, and the woman above had smacked into him with her dog, and then denied having a dog. Mostly, his week had centred around looking after his sister.

‘I don’t know how it came to this.’ Harper’s voice was muffled through another batch of crying. ‘Sure, we’d been arguing more, but isn’t that what happens when kids come along?’ She grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the desk. ‘Running a family is stressful. All I wanted was a little support. Is that so much to ask? I had a decent career. I gave it up to start a family. The next thing I know, I’m being replaced.’ She sobbed harder, and Lucas reached across to rub her back.

Poor Harper, this was not something he wanted for her. She didn’t deserve this. He’d spent the weekend trying to be a supportive brother and listening patiently while she relayed the difficulties in her marriage, but it was hard going. To see someone you loved so crushed was heartbreaking. He felt utterly useless.

Stocking up on groceries and running errands had seemed too inadequate, so he’d suggested seeking legal advice as a way of helping. Harper hadn’t been keen at first; she worried it would incite further angst between her and Paul and prevent a reconciliation, but she needed to fight her corner. And so far, Paul had been calling the shots.

The solicitor waited for the crying to subside. ‘There’s a third party involved?’

Harper nodded and snatched more tissues. ‘Not that he had the guts to tell me himself. I found out from a mutual friend. She thought I knew about Laura. Well, I didn’t. He said he needed to go away for a few days to clear his head.’ She paused to blow her nose. ‘Things had become so toxic between us disagreeing all the time that I thought: Sure, go away, it’ll do us both good. But he never came back. A few days turned into a week, then two, and the next thing I know, he’s rented an apartment across town and is living with this Laura woman.’

Lucas wanted to brain Paul. What a spineless way to behave.

Harper shook her head, her unwashed hair tied back in a scruffy ponytail. ‘And this was a woman who’d been all charming and sweet to me at the work’s summer barbeque, even though she was screwing my husband behind my back. Talk about two-faced.’

The solicitor waited a beat. ‘Have you asked your husband what his intentions are? An affair doesn’t always signal the end of a marriage. Has he told you what he wants?’

Harper’s body sagged. ‘He wants a divorce.’ She buried her face in her hands.

Lucas leant over and hugged her. ‘He said that?’

‘Last night on the phone. He wants to sell the house so we can divide the profits and he can buy a place with Laura.’

Lucas wasn’t an angry person by nature, but he sure despised his brother-in-law right at that moment. Paul knew Harper was feeling vulnerable, and he was sticking the knife in, taking advantage of her weakened state. It was cowardly, and cruel, and Lucas would be telling him so the next time they met. For now, he needed to focus on Harper.

The solicitor made a few notes on her pad. ‘Have you discussed childcare arrangements?’

Harper shook her head. ‘Not really.’

The solicitor rested her arms on the desk. ‘Let me ask you this: what do you want, Mrs Evans?’

‘Doesn’t seem to matter what I want. He doesn’t love me any more. There’s nothing I can do about that.’

---