Page 35 of Escape for Christmas
‘But you’re not. Why haven’t you told Wes the truth? You don’t need to lie to him, do you? There are already so many lies.’
‘He wants me to come clean.’
‘Does he?’ Brody raised his eyebrows. That was rich, coming from Wes, who had been quite happy to conduct an affair with Tegan behind Brody’s back.
Tegan had met Wes six months previously, when she’d taken a secondment in New York from the Manchester advertising agency where she had been creative director.She was thrilled at such a huge promotion, and Brody was incredibly proud of her. Tegan had assured him the secondment would only be for six months and would then lead to another promotion when she returned home.
‘So you won’t tell anyone what’s happened, will you?’
‘I promised I wouldn’t.’
‘It can’t do any harm. Not until Dad’s safely on the road to recovery. Because if ever my parents found out that we broke it off months ago and we’ve been lying to them, I dread to think what might happen. You know how gossip spreads around here. It’s such a – claustrophobic place. Everyone thinks they’re entitled to know other people’s business. I hadn’t noticed it quite so much until I started working in a big city.’
Perhaps that’s because, in a small village, people might not be perfect, but they cared about each other, Brody thought. What he said was, ‘I haven’t breathed a word to anyone.’
‘Thank you. You don’t know what that means to me. I’ve been worried sick about them finding out, and Christmas would be horrendous if Dad took a turn for the worse.’
Christmas would be pretty dreary anyway, Brody thought, with both of them pretending everything was hunky-dory and wonderful – lying to themselves and to everyone else.
Tegan lay back on the pillows of his bed. ‘Do people expect me to come down and join the party?’ she asked. ‘Only I’ve got a bit of a headache.’
Brody heard the sounds of cars moving on the graveldrive of the farmhouse. He went to the window and drew the curtains aside.
‘It sounds as if it’s all breaking up, and it’s getting late anyway. I’ll say you’re not feeling great, which is understandable after the journey.’ He closed the curtains again, feeling totally despondent.
‘Thank you.’ She pulled the down throw over her. ‘For everything.’
‘I’ll have to pop down and say goodbye to people. Will you be alright?’
‘Yes.’ She nodded.
‘I’ll bring up some tea, if you like.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I don’t have to do anything. I want to help.’
‘Brody?’ Tegan said. ‘If it’s easier for you, I’ll sleep in the spare room. I’ll move my bags out of here when everyone’s gone.’
Brody was relieved, yet he still felt sad. He nodded. ‘I need to put some heating on in there.’
‘Don’t do anything special for me. I mean it.’
‘I’d put the heating on for anyone.’
She nodded. ‘Sure.’
Briefly she sounded very American, which reminded him of how far apart they’d grown, in every way.
‘What I meant is that I wouldn’t punish you by making you sleep in a cold bedroom. I’m not that vindictive.’
He wasn’t vindictive, but he was deeply hurt and so conflicted that he didn’t know what to think. Were lies ever justified?
‘Thank you. I do appreciate it,’ she said softly.
Brody went downstairs, said goodnight to the last stragglers who were leaving and then went into the kitchen.
By the time he came back up with a mug of tea, Tegan was fast asleep under his quilt and he hadn’t the heart to wake her. He left the tea by the bed and went back downstairs to start tidying up.
