Least Said (19 page)

I
shivered,
as
I
realised
that
some
aspects
of
their
life
mirrored
mine
and
Jon’s,
except
we
were
already
married
when
the
affair
took
place
and
the
child
that
was
subsequently
born
almost
certainly
wasn’t
my
husband’s.

Anyone
looking
at
us
would
assume
that,
like
Tina
and
Calum,
Jon
and
I
had
the
perfect
marriage
and,
to
all
intents
and
purposes,
we
did.
However,
unlike
Tina
–
who
no
longer
had
anything
to
hide
–
I
was
carrying
the
burden
of
a
huge
secret
that
could
blow
our
happy
family
life
sky
high
and
destroy
everything.

Chapter 5

Calum
took
all
three
of
us
to
Annabelle’s
for
lunch.
The
restaurant
had
always
been
my
favourite,
especially
because
it
was
where
Jon
and
I
got
engaged.
Going
there
always
brought
back
wonderful
memories.
The
ring,
not
very
originally,
had
been
dropped
into
my
champagne
glass.

Everyone
in
the
restaurant
seemed
to
have
been
privy
to
the
imminent
proposal
of
marriage
that
evening
-
everyone
that
is
except
for
me
-
and
there
were
party
poppers
going
off
and
sparklers
in
a
cake
that
was
delivered
even
before
I’d
had
a
chance
to
say
yes.
It
had
been
such
a
happy
occasion
and
we
were
so
very
much
in
love.

I
jumped
a
little
as
Calum
touched
my
arm
and
asked,
‘Is
everything
all
right,
Wendy?
You’re
very
quiet.’

It
was
only
then
I
realised
that,
while
I
had
been
reminiscing
and
pushing
my
seafood
cocktail
starter
round
the
plate,
everyone
else
had
eaten
theirs
and
they
were
waiting
for
me.

I
had
to
tell
them
something,
so
I
told
them
the
part
about
getting
engaged
in
this
very
restaurant,
but
obviously
leaving
out
the
fact
that
the
ensuing
marriage
had
run
into
trouble
quite
quickly
when
I’d
failed
to
conceive
the
child
we
both
wanted
so
much.

I
feel
sure
I
could
have
accepted
the
fact
that
we
might
never
have
children,
for
whatever
reason.
Unfortunately,
Jon
couldn’t
or
wouldn’t
accept
that
the
fault
almost
definitely
lay
with
his
dodgy
sperm
–
even
going
so
far
as
to
refuse
further
tests
or
even
to
talk
about
it.
It
all
became
about
apportioning
blame
elsewhere
and
a
small
weight
gain
on
my
part
was
enough
to
be
held
up
as
a
contributory
reason
as
to
why
I
wasn’t
conceiving.
I’d
tried
to
be
understanding
of
Jon’s
obvious
insecurities
but
it
hadn’t
been
easy.

Tina
had
become
aware
of
this
and
it
was
her
dire
warning
to
Jon
that
he
would
lose
me
if
he
continued
to
heap
all
the
blame
on
me
that
brought
the
turn-around
in
our
marriage.
The
warning
did
the
trick
but,
unfortunately,
it
came
too
late
to
prevent
the
affair
that
had
almost
certainly
resulted
in
my
pregnancy
and
the
birth
of
William.

I’d
been
making
an
appearance
of
eating
while
these
thoughts
had
been
running
through
my
mind,
though
the
food
could
have
been
made
of
cardboard
and
the
wine
been
water
for
all
I
tasted
of
it.

It
appeared
Tina
had
been
carrying
the
conversation
along
and
was
saying.
‘Oh,
yes,
I
remember
you
telling
me
all
about
it
–
and
the
fact
that
you
had
a
coughing
fit
when
you
almost
swallowed
the
ring.
Trust
you
to
glug
back
the
champagne,
instead
of
sipping
it,’
she
teased.

I
forced
myself
to
laugh
along
with
everyone
else,
and
described
the
waiter
banging
me
furiously
on
the
back
-
continuing
even
after
the
ring
had
shot
out
of
my
mouth
and
landed
on
the
next
table,
where
it
sat
twinkling
away
in
the
middle
of
another
diner’s
steak
meal.

To
Will’s
enormous
and
very
apparent
delight
we
were
all
four
of
us
waiting
to
meet
him
at
the
school
gate
and
he
raced
to
throw
his
arms
around
each
of
us
in
turn.

‘Can
we
go
to
McDonalds?’
he
pleaded,
breathless
with
excitement.
‘All
of
us?’

We
looked
at
each
other
dubiously,
and
it
was
Bette
who
saved
the
day
by
agreeing,
‘Why
not?
We
should
all
try
something
at
least
once
in
our
lives
and
you
can’t
dismiss
it
if
you
haven’t
tried
it.’

‘Take
away,
or
eat
in?’
Calum
looked
at
each
of
us
in
turn.

‘In,
in,
in,’
William
shouted,
beside
himself
with
excitement,
‘and
Daddy.
He
won’t
want
to
miss
it.’

Following
a
phone
call,
Jon
was
waiting
outside
the
restaurant
when
we
got
there
and
it
was
noisy
and
busy
inside.
While
Calum
and
Jon
took
Will
with
them
to
order
the
food,
and
Bette
went
off
to
the
rest
room,
Tina
and
I
bagged
a
table
big
enough
to
seat
the
six
of
us.