A Slippery Slope (21 page)

‘Are you sure about that because it all sounds very odd?’

‘Life is bloody odd. I’m just realising that. ‘But yes, I’m sure.
Christelle and Marianne were friends and they’d previously worked as chalet
girls. Marianne’s father is also a friend of Louis’ and Louis introduced the
girls to Josh. Marianne knew Josh was looking for chalet girls and she asked
Josh if they could work at
Chalet Marianne
because it had her name. He
said yes. With me so far?’

Verity nodded. ‘Just about.’

‘Right. So this was in the early summer and all that time,
Marianne came on to Josh. Eventually, he went out with her but he made it clear
that he didn’t see it as a long-term relationship.  They dated for the rest of
the season and then, during the last week she told him she was pregnant.’

‘So it is true then?’

‘It’s not. She lied. But I’ll get to that. Josh said he’d support
her and the child and he’d be fully involved – because he’s that sort of guy.
He also suggested they continue seeing one another to see if there was any
chance of a future together. Christelle says that Marianne was livid because
she really thought Josh would marry her immediately. Remember I told you
myself, that some girls come to find rich husbands. Marianne was one of them.’

‘Bloody hell! So she planned it and she lied in the hope he’d
marry her. But that was stupid. He could’ve easily divorced her when he
discovered she wasn’t pregnant. And besides, that’s very old-fashioned
thinking.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I know. But Christelle says Josh probably
would have married Marianne if he’d loved her, but he didn’t. He doesn’t
believe in loveless marriages. Christelle says she found out later that
Marianne was going to say she miscarried and she hoped Josh would stay with her
once they were married. When he said he wouldn’t marry her, her plans went up
the creek. Then one night he found her drunk and dancing on the tables in one
of the bars in Meribel. She told him it was because she loved him so much and he’d
hurt her. He felt so guilty that he foolishly suggested they live together to
see how they got on. She moved in the next day.’

‘Oh! Is that why he was so cross when he found out I’d got drunk
and was dancing on the tables? It ... brought back unhappy memories or
something? Is that what Etienne meant?’

Lucy frowned. ‘I suppose so. Anyway, Christelle was dating Louis
and she found out that Marianne had started sleeping with Mathieu Deschamps.
She confronted her and that’s when Marianne told her what she had planned.
Christelle says she didn’t know and she genuinely believed Marianne was
pregnant. She told Louis and Louis told Josh. There was a big scene between
Marianne and Josh and he asked her to leave. She refused. I think her dad and
Louis eventually got her out and she’s living with her mother in Australia now,
thank God, but she went to
Chalet Marianne
and virtually wrecked the
place. That’s why Josh didn’t open the chalet last year. It was being repaired.
There’s more to the story apparently but that’s all that matters, I think.’

‘That’s unbelievable!’

‘I know! Oh, and the reason Mathieu and Josh don’t get on is
because Mathieu actually
did
hit a woman he went out with and Josh saw
him do it. Apparently, Josh was furious and he flattened Mathieu with one punch
even though he says he shouldn’t have. Mathieu’s never forgotten it. That’s
probably why Mathieu slept with Marianne. To get even with Josh – or so he
thought. And that’s why he lied to us.’

‘But ... Mathieu helped with my search and rescue, you said.’

‘They all band together in a crisis and it’s all very civilised.
Again, Louis is a friend of Mathieu’s father so they’re all very polite. I’m
beginning to think this place is like an English village in one of my favourite
murder mystery novels! All chocolate boxy and friendly on the outside but
ridden with intrigue, lust and rivalry beneath the surface.’

‘So ... so Josh did nothing wrong?’

‘I think he did everything right, although he was pretty stupid to
ask a woman he didn’t really love to move in with him.’

‘I suppose he was trying to do the decent thing. Oh! No wonder he
went all serious at the hospital earlier when I made that crack about how
romantic it would be having me stay at his place. He must have heard warning
sirens!’

Lucy laughed. ‘The poor guy’s probably terrified you’ll wreck the
chalet when he says it’s time for you to leave.’

‘It’s a bit late for him to start worrying about that. I’ve
already tried to burn it down.’ Verity started giggling.

‘I’m amazed he left us here alone while he went to the airport to
pick up Grandma,’ Lucy said. ‘I’ll go and make some tea – and I’ll be extra
careful now, just in case.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

‘Mum!
Mum, wake up.’ It was Lucy’s voice and she sounded worried.

Verity forced herself awake. ‘What is it, darling? What’s the
matter?’

‘It’s Dad!’

‘Dad? What do you mean, “Dad”?’ She saw Lucy had her phone in her
hand. ‘Oh, he’s on the phone you mean? Tell him I’ll talk to him later.’

‘No, Mum! He’s not on the phone. That was Josh. Dad was at the
airport too. He came through with Grandma! Can you believe that?’

‘What? I must be dreaming. Am I dreaming? This can’t be true. Tony
can’t be here – and certainly not with Mum! This is dreadful!’

‘And it gets worse.’

‘How could it possibly get worse?’ Verity said, pushing Mistral
off her legs so that she could sit up.

‘Josh is bringing Dad back here. Dad’s really upset and he wants
to see us so Josh said he could, but only if it’s okay with you. If not, he’ll
take him to Etienne and Louis’ chalet. He’s already asked if that’s okay with
them.’

‘Josh has done what!’ Verity shrieked, making the sleeping Mistral
jump.

Lucy nodded. ‘I’m beginning to think the man’s a fool. No wonder
Marianne thought he’d marry her. He’s a pushover. Mind you,’ she said with a
chuckle, ‘He’ll soon realise his mistake. We both know what it’ll be like in
Josh’s car right now with Dad and Grandma together in such a confined space.’

Verity shook her head. ‘I’ll be surprised if they all make it out
alive. If I weren’t so cross with Josh, I’d almost pity him. But I can’t see
your father, Lucy. I really can’t. Obviously, you’ll want to but please just
tell him I’m asleep or something when he arrives. I’m sorry to ask you to lie
but I really can’t face him today. It’ll be bad enough dealing with Mum.’

***

Josh was beginning to wish he hadn’t offered Tony accommodation.
He’d already realised he shouldn’t have offered him a lift. But Tony and Laura
came through Arrivals side by side so he assumed they got along. And Laura
introduced him: ‘This is Tony, Verity’s ... husband’, so how could he know
they’d been arguing?

He should’ve known by their expressions but he’d said the words
and couldn’t take them back. And they had both agreed albeit grudgingly, he
realised, and more for convenience and   to save face than by choice. He’d
known it would be awkward but he hadn’t expected this.

Between the shouting and the insults, he quickly discovered that
Tony and Laura clearly didn’t like one another very much. He was just thankful
for the prolonged bouts of silent sulking – from Tony. Laura hardly stopped
talking from the moment she threw her arms around him at the airport when he
introduced himself.

‘Your trouble is, Tony,’ Laura said when they were on their way to
Meribel, ‘you didn’t appreciate just how lucky you were to have Verity. You
don’t recognise a good thing even when it’s right under your nose!’

‘And your trouble is, Laura, you stick your nose where it doesn’t
belong. Constantly. Marriages get stale after twenty odd years – but you
wouldn’t know that because you never stay married longer than five minutes.’

‘But this isn’t about me and my marriages, is it? It’s about you
and yours. And despite what you may think, it may not be as easy as you expect
to persuade Verity to go back to you. Oh! ... What happened, Josh? Why did you
swerve?’

Josh ran a hand through his hair and cursed his luck. That had
come as a very nasty shock.

‘Ice,’ he said. ‘Sorry. So I know this is none of my business,
Tony, but you’re not just here to see that they’re safe and well. You’re ...
you’re here to ask Verity to go back to you?’

Tony gave him an odd look. ‘Yes. I know that’ll affect you and I’m
sorry for that but I’m sure chalet girls are ten a penny. And Verity can’t even
cook!’

‘Whose fault is that?’ Laura asked. ‘Perhaps if you’d shared some
of your knowledge with her instead of criticising every dish she made, she’d be
able to.’

‘If I may just butt in here,’ Josh said. ‘Chalet girl’s aren’t ten
a penny, Tony, especially not chalet girls like Verity. She’s very special. And
Lucy of course. They’re both excellent chalet girls.’

‘Hmm. I suppose she’s good with people and Lucy probably does all
the cooking anyway. She takes after me, thank God. But Verity shouldn’t be here
anyway. A chalet girl at her age! What was she thinking?’

 ‘She was thinking she wanted to get as far away from her lying,
cheating husband as she possibly could,’ Laura said. ‘And to relive the youth
you took from her.’

‘The youth I took from her! It takes two to get pregnant you know.
She wanted to keep the baby so it was her decision.’

‘Good heavens, Josh! Is it safe on these roads? Was that more
ice?’

‘Yes. Sorry, Laura. I’ll be more careful.’ So Verity was pregnant
when Tony married her? That was news to him.

‘At least I did the decent thing and married her,’ Tony said. ‘Not
all men would have done that.’

‘Did the ...! Don’t you dare act as if you were doing her a
favour! You were overjoyed when she fell pregnant. You were worried she’d go
off and leave you. You knew she wanted to travel. Wanted to work in the Alps.
You knew the last thing she wanted was to settle down and get married. She told
you that repeatedly until she fell pregnant. But you didn’t want her to go. I
do blame myself for that. I should have made sure she understood that
contraception isn’t always foolproof.’

‘Are you suggesting that I got her pregnant on purpose? Why? She
was on the pill. I wanted to start my own restaurant. A wife and child weren’t
in my career plan at that stage.’

‘And didn’t we know it? I have never seen my daughter so unhappy,
so concerned as she was when she thought she had ruined your life! Until she
found you screwing your little strumpet of a waitress that is! She was very
unhappy about that. And Verity didn’t trap you into marrying her. She made it
perfectly clear you were free to do what you wanted and she’d never hold it
against you. She even told you she’d happily bring up the baby on her own, so
don’t you dare suggest she ‘forced’ you to marry her because she most
definitely did not!’

‘I didn’t say she did but I couldn’t let her bring up my child
without me, could I? My mother–’

‘Yes, that’s the truth of it, isn’t it? You were just content to
know that Verity wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. It was your mother who
said you had to marry her, wasn’t it?’

Laura twisted in the seat to look at Tony and as Josh glanced at
her, he saw that if Laura’s eyes could shoot arrows, Tony would be pinned to
his seat, looking like a hedgehog.

Tony glowered back. ‘Italians are big on family! There’s nothing
wrong with that! We’re all disappointed that Verity and I only had one child. I
wanted a large family.’

‘Don’t you dare suggest that Verity has let you down in some way
on that score! You said it yourself. It takes two to get pregnant. Perhaps you
should have spent less time at your restaurant and more time with your wife.
Mind you, I’m glad you didn’t. At least Verity was able to have a career of her
own.’

‘A career she no longer has, if my information is correct. And if
you’re suggesting that we rarely had sex then you’re mistaken!’

Josh was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. ‘Again,’ he
said, ‘this is none of my business but is it possible for the two of you to
perhaps agree to disagree, and change the subject?’

‘I do apologise, Josh,’ Laura said, patting his knee. ‘We
shouldn’t be involving you in our family squabbles. You’ve probably realised
that Tony and I ... don’t exactly get along. And I’m afraid I’ll never forgive
him for cheating on my daughter, even if Verity
is
foolish enough to do
so, and takes him back.’

‘Which she won’t if you have your way, will she? You’ll do
everything you can to poison her against me. I know you, Laura. And I made a
little discovery whilst looking for my passport yesterday. Verity kept it safe
with her papers and guess what I found? A bank statement with her name and
yours on it – and it contained several thousand pounds! And when I dug deeper,
I found a whole stack of statements dating back many years.’

Laura glanced at Josh and smiled apologetically. ‘I may as well
tell you then, Tony. I opened that account the day my daughter married you
because unlike her, I didn’t trust you one little bit and I wanted her to have
a nest egg of her own to fall back on when you left her for some little tart –
which I always knew you would.’

‘Our wedding day!’

‘Yes, Tony, your wedding day. I made her swear to keep it a secret
– which she really didn’t want to do. We had a blazing row about it and she
told me in no uncertain terms that she believed marriage was for life.’

‘Hmm. Unlike her mother!’

‘Yes, unfortunately. I’d have loved her to have left you years
ago, but she never listens to me. I know that Verity believes this is the first
time you’ve cheated on her, but I don’t. I think you’ve shown several of your
young waitresses how to lay a lot more than a table! I even think you screwed
one of the bridesmaids at your wedding – but I’ve never been able to prove it
and Verity wouldn’t hear a word against you – and yes, I said several words
against you, and I still do now. I just wish she’d listen. Unfortunately, my
daughter is loyal to her core.’

‘Hmm! Well, she certainly doesn’t get that from you either, does
she?’

‘Surprisingly enough, she does. But I’m only loyal to those I
truly love – and they are few and far between. Needless to say, Tony, you’re not
one of them.’

‘And neither are any of your husbands!’ Tony sank into the seat
and sulked in silence.

Josh’s head was spinning – not just because of the slanging match.
He’d felt as if he were at the helm of a bobsled, not a car, as every new piece
of information about Verity was revealed. One piece threw him against the wall
with a thud of disappointment; the next revelation sent him speeding ahead with
the thrill of discovering he was right about her. Tony’s belief that she’d got
pregnant to trap him, contradicted by Laura saying she did quite the opposite.
Believing she would do anything to get married before discovering she had
planned to travel and explore the world. But there was still one major problem:
her husband wanted her back, and her mother had said that Verity believed
marriage was for life.

So, he wondered rather grimly, where does that leave you, Josh
Calder?

***

Josh soon discovered where that left him: very firmly out in the
cold.

‘At least Lucy’s pleased to see me,’ Tony told him as they walked
to Louis’ nearby chalet. I knew she would be, of course. She’s been texting me
almost every day telling me how much she misses me; how much she misses us,
together as a family. That’s just one of the things that has made me see sense
over this whole business. It’s breaking her heart to see Verity and me apart.’

‘Really?’ Josh didn’t think Lucy seemed heartbroken, but perhaps
she was just very good at hiding her true feelings – a bit like he could be
sometimes.

‘Oh yes. We were always so close, the three of us. Laura is a
problem though and always has been. Between you and me, I think one of the
reasons she hates me is because she’s jealous.’

‘Jealous?’ Josh couldn’t see that but then he didn’t know her. ‘Of
what?’

‘Of the fact that Verity and I have been married for so long ...
and because I’m with Verity in the first place. She had a bit of a thing for
me, you know, but of course I wasn’t interested.’

‘She did?’ Josh
really
couldn’t imagine that.

‘Yes. She likes young men. One of her husbands was younger than I
am! Much younger. It didn’t last, of course. None of her marriages do. I think
that’s one of the reasons Verity will definitely come back to me – apart from
the fact that she still loves me, of course. She doesn’t want to end up like
her mother. She hates the way Laura behaves.’

That Josh
did
believe. He remembered what she’d said about
losing count of her mother’s husbands and how Laura was like a moth, constantly
attracted to a brighter flame. Whether Verity still loved her husband, he had no
idea and he wondered whether he should have asked her that before he’d spent
that incredible night with her. Not that that mattered; he’d have wanted her
anyway.

‘Does ... does she still love you, do you think?’ He cursed
himself for asking.

Tony nodded. ‘Without a doubt. I know I shouldn’t be saying this
but my mother has a saying, “In every relationship there is one who loves, and
one who is loved,” which means that one of them loves the other more than they
love them.

‘Yes. I get that. And you think that Verity is the one who loves,
and you’re the one who is loved?’

‘Without question. I’m not saying I don’t love her because I do.
Very much. More than I realised in fact. But I am saying that throughout our
marriage, Verity has always been the one willing to ... compromise. I’m
Italian, and although I was born and bred in England, I’ve got the Latin
temperament. I’m ... fiery and passionate and ... a deep thinker. Verity will
lose her temper very briefly and then she’ll do everything she can to smooth the
waters. I suppose that’s why our marriage has lasted all these years. It’s all
about compromise.’