Tilda leans forward, her interest sharpening. ‘What kind of stuff?’
Panic flares inside me, quick and hot. I scramble to reel my words back in, but I’m floundering.
‘Oh, nothing dramatic,’ I say quickly. ‘Just, you know, little things over time. Stuff that feels bigger in my head than it probably is.’
If onlythatwere true.
Tilda doesn’t look convinced. She regards me, her gaze steady. ‘I thought Dev knew all about your past with him mentioning your foster family the other night at ours.’
‘He knows most of it.’ I shrug. ‘Do we ever know every last detail about another person?’
She blinks but doesn’t say anything.
I scuff the toe of my trainer against the hard paving slab under the chair. I smile and sip my drink, but I feel as tight as a drum beneath the mask.
Then Tilda says slowly, ‘Have you ever had an affair behind Dev’s back, Merri?’
The words hang in the air like slivers of glass. Sothat’s what she thinks I’m keeping from Dev. I stare back at her, but her expression is unreadable. The silence stretches too long between us and I almost feel like I’ve done something wrong. Worst of all, I feel I’m betraying Tilda in some way. It was only a coffee, nothing more. But Simon asking me not to mention it feels wrong.
‘Of course not,’ I say quickly. ‘I’d never do that to Dev. And I hope he’d never do it to me.’ I feel the urge to move the spotlight off myself. ‘Although you can never be sure. Just between us, Jack told Dev the other day he thinks Sarah is having an affair.’
She stares at me. ‘With whom?’
‘He said he doesn’t know.’ I stir my lemonade with the straw. ‘I don’t believe it. Sarah’s lovely.’
‘Being a nice person is irrelevant to whether someone would shag a lover behind their spouse’s back.’
‘Blimey.’ I’m slightly shocked at Tilda’s venomous reply but I try to cover it by sipping my drink. ‘I’d like to think Dev and I wouldn’t do that to each other.’
‘My advice is, never trust your husband. Always keep your wits about you. That’s my motto.’
Tilda’s intense expression relaxes a little. But she’s unnerved me, and when I eventually leave to walk back to Lakeview House, I find myself wondering if Simon really is at fault in their marriage or whether, as he hinted, Tilda’s jealousy is out of control.
For now, I can’t shake the idea that Tilda knows I’m hiding something, too.
Which, of course, I am.
35
It’s not long after I get back from Tilda’s that I hear the buzz at the gate. I wipe my hands on a tea-towel, toss it over the back of a chair and open the door to find Sarah standing there, grinning, her cheeks flushed from the fresh air.
She’s balancing a paint-splattered toolbox in one hand, a cloth bag tucked under her other arm. ‘Hello!’ she says, bright and chipper, as if she’s stepped out of a feel-good commercial for natural haircare.
‘You sound full of bounce,’ I remark, as she kicks off her boots by the mat, revealing grey wool socks with tiny yellow ducks on them. ‘You look a bit more casual than you did on Friday night.’
‘Yes, she was my alter-ego.’ She gives me a wicked grin. ‘She likes to lead me astray.’
I chuckle but there’s something I’m curious about. ‘I was with a neighbour at the bistro, Tilda. She lives just down the hill – I just got back from visiting her. Sorry I didn’t get a chance to introduce you. Maybe you recognized her?’
Sarah frowns. ‘Tilda? No, I don’t think so.’
Her cheeks flush ever so slightly. Judging by her reactions earlier, Tilda definitely seemed to know her.
‘Let’s tackle this kitchen, then, shall we?’ Sarah says brightly, glancing around. ‘This is going to look amazing once it’s done. You’ve got great taste.’
‘OK. Flattery will get you more biscuits.’
She laughs, tearing off a length of tape. ‘Noted.’
