Just Between Us (31 page)

             
“She will be,” Mum soothed, throwing her arm around me and guiding me to the table in the conservatory. “Now deal again Mick and these two can help me beat you at Rummy, whilst they tell us about their summer.”

             
Mick dealt us into their game, Kyle and I exchanged glances, but this just didn’t seem the right time to tell them about our relationship. We told them about some of the things we had done, where we had been, and Kyle told them that I had turned his spare room into a disaster zone. This wasn’t the time for the truth, and so we would stick to the plan and tell them another night. When we had rehearsed what to say and when we could be sure that we were ready for their reaction.             

             
An hour later we climbed the stairs as we had so many times over the years, filtering into our separate rooms. I went to my chest of drawers and grabbed some pyjamas, undressed, and slipped them on. I went to the bathroom and began brushing my teeth. Kyle appeared moments later, wearing only his boxer shorts and carrying his own toothbrush. He had managed to pack a small bag before we left. We brushed our teeth at our respective sinks and smiled when we caught each other’s eyes. I leaned into my room and turned the light switch off that sat on the other side of the bathroom door. There was no longer a question of me sleeping alone without Kyle. He held my hand in his and I followed him back into his bedroom that had barely changed in ten years.

             
Even though I knew we could be caught, even though I knew my mum could go into my room looking for me, I didn’t care. She would most likely leave us to sleep in tomorrow morning when she set off for work, and so realistically it was unlikely, but if she did it would certainly save me the job of having to explain. I was exhausted, I was emotionally drained, and all I wanted tonight was to breathe Kyle in. He held me and I laid my head on his firm chest as we drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Twenty-Four
– Just history

Now

The following morning we slept until after ten. When I awoke the first thing I did was text Vinnie. He called me straight away to say that he was heading to the hospital for midday and had been told that Ashley would be conscious by the afternoon. They also told him that he would be able to hold baby Stanley when he got there. He sounded relieved. I asked him to let me know when I could visit and to come to our house for dinner later.

             
“The nutter-in-law is back from her spa retreat early,” he sighed, “she kept going on about Ashley always having to do things dramatically and ruining her plans. She seems to think it’s all a bloody inconvenience,” he seethed.

             
“Yeah, her mum is … flighty.”

             
“Flighty?” he scoffed, “she makes Eddie from
Ab Fab
look like mother of the year.”

             
I smiled at his comment, “Well I hope she doesn’t stress Ashley out.”

             
“Trust me she won’t,” he said firmly, “or she’ll be out!”

             
“Let me know how she is when she wakes up.”

             
“I will,” he said, “I need to see for myself that she’s going to be Okay, then I’ll be shouting it from the bloody roof.”             

             
“Right, call me later,” I said.

             
“Will do, thanks,” he said.

Vinnie called later to say that Ashley was awake and may be ready for visitors that evening or certainly by the next day. She was being closely monitored for blood loss and any surgical complications, so I texted her, not expecting a response.

             
You scared the shit out of me drama queen, love you and will be in as soon as I am allowed. xx

             
An hour later I got a response,
Battery had died, Vin just arrived with charger – feel horrendous, don’t ever do this, come soon! Xx

             
Great to see you are texting, I’ll be in as soon as I hear that you can have visitors. xx

             
I decided to try and get some things done now that I was suddenly home. There would be no point going back to London to return for work next week and so Kyle and I had to discuss how I was going to get the rest of my things and I needed to ring the estate agency about my house. I hadn’t heard much since myself and Simon had accepted an offer on the property a few weeks ago.             

             
I walked down to the kitchen and grabbed a drink from the fridge as I dialled the Estate Agents.

             
“Hello,” a friendly voice answered, “Tower Estates, Kirsten speaking.”

             
“Oh hello,” I began, “I’m ringing about my house that recently sold through you, and I wondered what the next steps were?”

             
“Okay, can I take an address?”

             
I gave my address and waited on the line for a few minutes whilst she did some digging around the computer system. Kyle wandered in at this point and sat beside me at the breakfast bar. “Estate Agents,” I whispered, and he nodded.

             
“Okay,” Kirsten began, “I believe your partner has been dealing with the sale, a Simon …”

             
“Ex,” I said quickly.

             
“Oh right, okay, well erm he has instructed a solicitor and the paperwork is about to be exchanged. There should be some paperwork for you to sign, so I suggest you contact him and discuss what you need to do so things don’t get held up.”

             
“Oh right, thanks,” I said.

             
“No problem, call any time,” she finished chirpily whilst I suddenly dreaded what was to come. I groaned as I put the phone down.

             
“What?” Kyle asked, his face concerned.

             
“The house has sold,” I said grimly.

             
“Great,” Kyle said, “what’s wrong? Isn’t that good news?”

             
“It is, but I need to text Simon, I need to organise to get my stuff, and I need to talk to him about paperwork.”

             
“Oh.” He placed his hand on my leg as I sat deflated. “And you don’t want to see him?”

             
“No, I bloody don’t.” I sighed. “But I need to face this now and rather than bury my head in the sand, I need to be strong, get my stuff, and contact the solicitor myself.”

             
“That’s the spirit,” he said, standing and kissing my head as he did. “Let’s go out for lunch and celebrate.”

             
“Okay.” I grinned, Kyle always made me forget whatever nagging feeling plagued me and I loved him for it. “What do you fancy?”

             
“A massive fat burger somewhere.”

             
“Great.” I laughed, “and then hopefully we’ll be able to go and visit Ashley and Stanley later.”

We had lunch at a lovely country pub, enjoying ourselves as we always did, and reminiscing about our summer at these country retreats as teenagers. I was getting more frequent messages from Vinnie saying that Ashley was getting increasingly bossy, and he was happy that she seemed to be her usual self. They were both still worried about Stanley, but he was out of special care and just being monitored in a separate ward. Kyle was keeping my mind off the worry until I could see them both and despite the fact that things were looking good I was still glad we came home early.

             
I decided to take the plunge and text Simon after lunch. I hadn’t seen him since I moved home and didn’t relish the thought at all. I hated how humiliated and rejected I felt at the thought of him and hated that everything he promised had just been a lie. I wasn’t myself when I was with him, I tried so hard to be the perfect wife that he could be proud of, but instead I obviously became undesirable. The summer with Kyle had been amazing and he had mended where I had been broken, but it didn’t help me forget. I felt so embarrassed by how Simon had been so easily able to discard me, and I hated that people knew. I needed to get a grip, bite the bullet, and let him know that I was home and ready to tie up loose ends.

             
As we sped back to Lytham, I sat in the passenger seat and texted Simon.

             
Hi Simon, it’s Sophie. Just texting to see when I could come round and collect my things, also could you give me the details of the solicitor so I can arrange to sign the paperwork for the house?

             
I decided that was friendly enough to get a decent response, but not too friendly to invite a conversation. I was absolutely fine, but I still hated what he had done to me. He had a million chances to change his mind, a month before the wedding had not been the best time. The saving grace was that we were never married, thank God.

             
“So …” Kyle began on the drive home, “should we tell our parents tonight?”

             
“Um,” I began, “maybe we should wait until Saturday as we planned?”

             
“Why?” he looked over to me as he drove, “the longer we leave it the harder it will be.”

             
“But they’ll be stressed from work and won’t be relaxed and …”

             
“You’re making excuses,” he said softly, placing his hand on mine.

             
“I know.” I laughed lightly. “It’s just that … I’m dreading it.”

             
“Why? Your mum loves you, and she’ll be happy that you are happy … my dad on the other hand might punch me in the mouth,” he said reassuringly.

             
“Oh God, he won’t.” I shook my head, “It’s not Mick I’m worried about, I think my mum will be angry that we’ve lied, and she’ll think it’s too soon and she’ll be upset that of all the men in the world I have to love my step-brother.”

             
He squeezed my hand again, “Maybe she’ll surprise you and understand how loveable I am, so it was inevitable.”

             
I laughed again. “You’re right, who could resist you?”

             
“So tonight?” he asked, and I nodded.

             
“Why not?” I turned to look out of the window and another feeling of dread began to force its way into my heart.

Hi Soph, great to hear from you! Hope you had a good summer in London. Maybe you could come round this afternoon, I’m away with work tomorrow and then at my parents over the weekend. I’ll give you the solicitor’s details when I see you.
Simon’s text seemed a little too friendly for my liking, he obviously knew I’d been away, which I hadn’t told him, and he assumed he would see me when I tried to imply that he needn’t be there.

             
You don’t need to be in for me to get my stuff and just send me the solicitor’s number, I can call and get all the info myself.
I responded bluntly.

             
I need to be here as the locks have changed, so this afternoon would be better and I have more than just a number to give you. There is no reason we can’t be friends.
His tone angered me, as if I had been the one to be unreasonable, and he was trying to help me out. Why on earth had he changed the locks, the sneaky bastard? I was angry and Kyle could see that as I read the last text.

             
“What?” He asked.

             
“Bloody Simon, he knows I’ve been in London and wants me to go this afternoon as he’s changed the locks and I won’t be able to get in unless he’s there,” I said incredulously. “He’s such a dick!” I shouted angrily. We were walking back into the house at this point.

             
“Well I can come with you, carry boxes, help pack, and be there if he says anything untoward.”

             
“He won’t.” I shook my head, “that’s not his style, but I’m so angry that he changed the locks. I suppose I left the house though, I walked away from everything so he can do as he pleases.”

             
“Do you want me to come?” Kyle asked, with a tight smile.

             
“No.” I shook my head, hugging Kyle as we stood in the reception hallway to our parent’s house. “I need to face this and chase this demon away.”

             
“Okay.” He pulled me tightly to him, “If you’re sure. That guy better not try to win you back though.” He sighed.

             
“He wouldn’t have a chance in hell.” I laughed, standing on my tip-toes to kiss his lips.

I’ll be there around three.
I finally texted Simon. I didn’t want to have an argument, hell I didn’t care when all was said and done.  So what if he changed the locks? So what if he moved in two wives, six dogs, and a Persian cat? I was better off away from that house and had no interest in it since he told me it was over. I didn’t want to be reminded of our life then, and I certainly didn’t want to be now.

             
I drove over to my old house for 3 pm, leaving Kyle on his laptop and about to phone Geraldine. When I drove onto our street I saw that the garage that adjoined the house was open, perhaps for my benefit, and that Simon was busying himself in the driveway. The sight of him after these few months made my stomach lurch, and I instantly wanted to turn the car around. I didn’t feel anything for him, but I also didn’t particularly want to make small talk with the man who had shattered my heart. I parked, took deep breaths, and hopped out of the car in an attempt to look as relaxed and carefree as possible.

             
I probably did look a little different from the last time he had seen me. I had lost weight after the break up and although not so noticeable now that I had gained a little back it still gave me confidence in my appearance. I wore my converse, light blue faded jeans that hung loosely on my hips, a vest top, and a patterned see through camisole over the top. My hair was different from when we had been together, with the fringe I had had cut growing out slightly around my face, and I had taken to wearing it naturally tangled rather than poker straight. I also had a sun-kissed tan from the summer months, and so I thought I must look pretty good.

             
“Sophie,” Simon said, standing up from his box shuffling and scratching the back of his head.

             
“Hi Simon,” I said flatly, walking down the drive to meet him.

             
“You look … refreshed.”

             
“Thanks.” I nodded and looked down to the garage behind him.

             
“Are you sorting things out?” I asked. “To move?”