E for England (29 page)

Edward nodded. ‘Kevin and I are soul mates.'

‘But you don't want to live together?'

‘I do but Kevin's not ready, and he really feels it wouldn't be good for the children. I want whatever makes him happy. He's had such a hard time of it this last year.'

Hugh's jaw began aching with the effort of maintaining a civil expression. Where had Kevin been all that time? In Asia with Edward? Or had Edward been the stay-at-home but in constant contact, not like the beloved children? He swallowed more wine to stop himself punching Edward's long thin nose and then striding across to strangle Kevin for putting Annie through such hell. Fortunately she stepped through the door and saved him from himself.

‘Let me get you a drink, Annie,' said Edward. ‘What would you like?'

‘Some of that red, please.'

Annie raised her eyebrows at Hugh when Edward turned away.

‘Making himself at home,' he murmured.

‘Mm.' She smiled and touched her hand on his arm. ‘How are you? I've missed our chats.'

‘Me too.' Her eyes were warm, her fingers burning through the thin fabric of his shirt. ‘I'm tired but otherwise fine. You look wonderful.'

A glass of wine was shoved between them. ‘Here you are, Annie.'

‘Thanks, Edward.' She turned back to Hugh. ‘Mattie wants to show you and James the garden. We should do it now before it gets too dark, and they'll have to go to bed soon.'

‘We should all go,' said Edward. ‘Kevin, James, come and see the garden before it gets dark.'

Annie switched on the back light. Mattie and Floss dragged Leonie out from Floss's bedroom then rushed to show Hugh and James the cubbyhouse in the fading light. Kevin and Edward huddled heads together under the birch tree. Leonie joined Annie on the verandah.

‘They're very happy. Mattie and Floss, I mean. Not them.' She gestured at Kevin and Edward. ‘Are you?'

‘It's working out okay.'

‘That's not what I asked.'

‘I know. I can't tell if I'm happy or not. I'm happier than I was, put it that way, and I really have nothing to complain about.' She sipped her wine. ‘Sorry. You don't have a drink. Come inside. I need to check on dinner.'

‘What is it with that Edward guy? I don't like him at all,' Leonie hissed when the door was safely closed. ‘He's a manipulative bastard. You watch out, Annie. He's going to try to undermine you all the time.'

Annie nodded. ‘I know. The kids don't like him either. They think he has duck feet.'

Leonie cackled. ‘They're such smart cookies. Where's the booze?' She flung the fridge door open and grabbed a bottle of white wine. ‘This looks okay. Shall I open it?'

Annie glanced across. ‘Sure. Glasses are up there.' She turned the oven right down. ‘This is ready. I'd better get that pair into bed.'

‘Don't like your chances.' Full glass in hand, Leonie leaned against the bench.

‘They have school in the morning. Anyway Hugh promised to read them a story. That'll get them in quick smart.'

The door opened and Kevin stuck his head in. ‘Mattie and Floss should be in bed, Annie. Can you tell your friends to bring them in? They're never going to settle down.'

‘You tell them. They'll settle. Hugh is going to read them a story.'

‘That's not going to work.'

‘You'll see.'

The door closed. Moments later it opened again and everyone trooped inside. Floss had Hugh by the hand, leading him to her room with bouncy little skipping steps.

‘Hugh is reading our stories in my room,' she announced.

‘Short ones,' said Kevin. ‘Don't let them con you, Hugh.'

Hugh shook his head. ‘Oh no, I'm wise to their cunning plans.'

Mattie giggled and started pushing Hugh through the doorway.

‘Don't be silly, Mattie. Teeth done?' Annie said sternly.

‘Yes.'

‘I'll be in shortly.'

James brought up the rear. ‘Need any help, Annie?'

‘No thanks. You all go and have another drink. We'll have to wait for story time to finish.'

‘How long will that take?' asked Edward.

‘As long as it takes,' snapped Leonie. ‘This white is very good, Kevin.'

Kevin glanced at Edward with something akin to an apology in his expression. ‘Yes. Is that the Hunter Riesling?'

‘Yes, I opened it. Hope that's okay.'

‘I bought that for Kevin when I was up at the Hunter,' said Edward. ‘It was a special gift. Oh well.' He smiled a sickly little half smile.

‘Sorry. Here have a glass, Kevin. It's very good. Nice choice, Edward.' Leonie grabbed a clean glass and poured for Kevin. ‘I'm sure you can get another bottle easily. It's a common enough label.' She topped up her own and clinked her glass against Kevin's. ‘Cheers.'

‘Cheers.'

Annie said, ‘I think you could pop the lasagne in the microwave soon, Kevin. It'll only take a few minutes to heat.'

She followed the others to the living room.

‘They're talking about fishing.' Leonie grabbed some of the remaining almonds from the bowl on the coffee table and crunched into them.

‘Fishing? Who's going fishing?'

‘Kevin and I go,' said Edward.

‘Rock fishing,' said James. ‘Kevin was telling me about it earlier. I like fishing but I've never done it here.'

‘Yes. I was the one who first took Kevin, actually.' Of course he was.

‘I'd love to go one day,' said James. Leonie groaned.

‘Why not come with us? We go on Sundays in the late afternoon.'

‘Great! Thanks.'

Kevin came in, smiling.

‘We can eat now,' Annie said. ‘Come to the dining room.'

‘James wants to come fishing with us one Sunday, Kev,' said Edward.

‘Okay.' He didn't sound particularly overjoyed. ‘Are you coming too, Leonie?'

‘No thank you.'

‘Why not?' James asked. ‘You might like it.'

‘I doubt it. Do you go, Annie?'

Annie shook her head.

‘We should all go,' said Kevin. ‘The kids loved it when we took them, but not for too long. It's a bit slow for Floss. If you come they can stay with you when they get bored.'

‘What if
we
get bored?' said Leonie with a grimace at Annie, who laughed.

‘You girls always have something to talk about,' said Edward with his greasy smile.

Annie directed people to their places then stuck her head out the door and called, ‘Hugh, dinner.'

He appeared a moment later, smiling. ‘Great kids.' He sat next to Edward.

Leonie smiled. ‘They're wonderful. I miss them. Didn't think I would but I do.'

Annie set the big shallow casserole dish on the table. ‘This is moussaka. Help yourselves; and there are baked potatoes in that dish and plenty of Greek salad.'

‘Marvellous,' said Hugh. ‘Annie is a brilliant cook.'

‘You don't know what you're missing, Edward,' said Leonie with a pointed look at his slab of vegetarian lasagne.

‘I haven't been a carnivore for years,' he said primly. Which explained his unhealthy, pale, feeble look.

‘Is being a vegetarian good for you?' Leonie turned to Hugh. ‘You're a doctor, you should know.'

‘I'm not a nutritionist but as long as you get a balanced intake of essential vitamins and minerals there's no problem. Iron and protein have to be kept up.'

‘Much easier to eat meat, I reckon,' said James, helping himself to a large portion of moussaka.

‘But you go fishing! Do you eat the fish you catch?' Annie tried to catch Leonie's eye with a ‘don't make trouble look' but failed to make contact.

‘Yes, I do eat fish.'

‘Aah, I see. One of
those
vegetarians.' Leonie nodded and served herself salad while Edward gave her the evil eye through his spectacles.

Hugh listened to Leonie pick at Edward. She was a real shocker at times and it was blatantly obvious she couldn't stand the man. He hoped she'd keep it civil for Annie's sake.

Annie sat on his left at the head of the table, closest to the door and the kitchen, Edward on his right. Kevin sat at the opposite end with James and Leonie facing Hugh. If anyone walked in they'd look the picture of domestic harmony — Annie and Kevin entertaining friends — but it was all wrong; the picture was skewed out of shape, distorted like one of those fairground mirrors.

It should be Annie and Hugh entertaining friends in their own home. The thought pounded into his head, a gatecrasher who took up residence. He stopped eating and put his fork down, overcome by the revelation. What did that mean? Annie came with children. Mattie and Floss. Beautiful children he'd be proud to… His heart rate suddenly increased to a thumping gallop and he took deep breaths to steady the racing.

‘Are you all right?' Annie touched his arm gently.

‘Huh? Yes. Sorry. I just thought of something.' He smiled into those gorgeous grey eyes. He loved her, no doubt about it. Did she know? Had it been obvious to everyone at the table except him until just this instant? She returned the smile with a tiny crease in her brow. He wanted to smooth it away with his lips. His heart steadied and returned to normal. When could he tell her? Should he? Wasn't it a bit late?

‘A patient?' She tilted her head in enquiry, prompting an explanation.

A patient? What was she asking? ‘Oh, yes. Sort of. The one who died. There may be trouble. I was held up by a reporter this evening. Accosted, really.'

Leonie chimed in, ‘Don't say a word to any of them. If you need legal help I'm here.'

‘Thanks. I didn't say anything — there was nothing to say and the man wasn't really my patient.'

She put her finger to her lips. ‘Say no more. We can talk later if you like.' Her meaning was crystal clear. Don't say anything in front of Edward and Kevin.

If he needed anyone legal in his corner he'd want Leonie. She may have her faults, but he suspected underneath that sexy, provocative exterior she was an exceptionally intelligent woman with a razor sharp mind. But would the Lester Fuller case come to legal proceedings? God, he hoped not.

‘Thanks.' He caught her eye and she nodded once.

‘Do many of your patients die?' asked Kevin.

‘What sort of question is that?' snapped Annie.

‘It's okay.' Hugh gave her a tiny reassuring smile then turned to Kevin. ‘In my area it's unfortunately relatively common. I deal with a lot of elderly people who get pneumonia as a complication of some other illness. It's quite often a very rapid and fatal collapse. And asthma sufferers. Asthma is a big killer.'

‘What an awful thing to deal with every day,' said Leonie.

‘It can be hard but we learn to cope. There's always another patient in need.'

‘Hard for the relatives, too, I should think,' murmured Edward.

‘Of course. They sometimes want to blame someone and very often it's the doctors and nurses. We learn to cope with that, too. People under stress and grieving say things they don't mean.'

‘Let's talk about something more cheerful,' said Annie.

‘Where do you go rock fishing, Kevin?' asked Hugh. ‘I wouldn't mind having a go at that.'

‘Really?' Leonie blurted. ‘What is it with men and fishing?'

‘It's their hunter instinct,' said Annie. ‘Same as men always cook at a barbecue and women prepare the salad and mind the kids.'

‘From what I can see women always mind the kids,' muttered Leonie.

To his credit Kevin ignored Leonie and said, ‘Clovelly is pretty good. Or South Maroubra. We go to Coogee too, sometimes. The rising tide is the time to go.'

‘What do you catch?'

‘Whiting, tailor, bream.'

‘Australian salmon,' added Edward.

‘Well boys, you'll have to do well to feed all of us,' said Leonie.

‘That's what the fish shop is for,' said Kevin and earned a shout of laughter from her.

‘Maybe we should all go,' said Annie. ‘Might be fun. We can play with Mattie and Floss in the rock pools.'

‘Hmm.'

‘Come on, Leonie,' said James.

‘Maybe,' she said. ‘But I can think of way more exciting things to do.'

‘I'm up for it,' said Hugh. ‘But I don't have any gear.'

‘I have a spare rod,' said Edward. ‘You're welcome to borrow it.'

‘Thanks. When are you going?'

‘How about the weekend after next?' said Kevin. ‘We have something planned this Sunday.'

‘Fine. Let me know.'

‘I'll phone you,' said Annie.

She gave the kitchen bench one last wipe down. Kevin had already gone to bed after helping clear up. Just like before. The whole evening had been a throwback to countless other similar dinners they'd given. Apart from the guests.

One guest. Hugh. She'd never been in love with a guest before and the really weird thing was now Kevin couldn't object because he was in love with another person, too. His love, however, was returned. Hers was depressingly one-sided.

Hugh drove home with a leaden stomach, which had nothing to do with the meal he'd eaten and everything to do with the family dynamic at Annie's house. She'd slid back into the role of, if not wife, homemaker and mother. She and Kevin were comfortable together. Probably more so now than when they were properly married. Annie accepted his gayness and Edward's role in his life because it explained the problems they'd had before, but neither were prepared to alter their situation because of the children.

Hugh loved her but what right did he have to upset what she'd decided was best for her? If he declared his love, what could he offer which would sway her completely? Edward was prepared to put up with the current arrangement because he wanted Kevin to be happy. He was in the same situation.