The Queen of Wishful Thinking by Milly Johnson (37)

Chapter 44

The happy little bubble in which Bonnie existed burst on the Thursday of that week when the postman arrived at the Pot of Gold. Lew picked up the mail, sifted through it and handed a letter to Bonnie which had been addressed to her there. Bonnie immediately recognised the writing on the envelope and prickles of tension ran up her arms. She paled before Lew’s eyes and he guessed it must be correspondence from Stephen.

‘You all right?’ he asked.

Bonnie nodded, but it was an obvious lie.

‘Go and have five minutes to yourself,’ said Lew, thumbing towards the back room. ‘You can bring two cups of coffee back with you.’

Bonnie felt light-headed as she carefully tore the top of the envelope as if its contents might leap out and attack her.

Bonnie could hear the pompous words in his supercilious voice, menace couched in his magnanimity, that shouted status of ‘husband’ as if to remind her that she was his property and she felt the contents of her breakfast stir in her stomach. It had begun. Seeing the threat in cold, hard print crushed her temporary illusion of being free of him. She didn’t want tears to make an appearance but they came rushing to her eyes, pulled there by panic and frustration and fear.

Lew’s head popped round the door and he caught her madly trying to wipe the tears from her eyes faster than they fell. And when she saw him, though her first reaction was to turn away, her body betrayed her with a huge hiccup of a sob. She dropped her head into her hands and hadn’t a clue what to do when she felt his arms close around her.

He hadn’t meant to touch her. He’d expected to walk in and see her putting the kettle on, letter thrown down on the desk with the contempt it deserved, but he’d found her crying, looking lost and so very vulnerable and it had been instinct, not conscious thought, that had made him clear the distance between them in long strides to comfort her. She felt so breakable and she smelt of summer flowers and he knew that he shouldn’t be holding her like this, no matter how much he wanted to. Warning bells were sounding, pictures of Charlotte flashing in his head; he had pushed against a boundary and must step back.

‘What did he say?’ Lew asked, releasing her, moving things to a less intimate plane.

‘He received the letter from Adriana. He thinks I’m bluffing and he wants me to go back to him,’ said Bonnie, wiping her eyes and stuffing the letter into her bag. She couldn’t let him see it. ‘If I do, he’ll try to forgive me.’

Lew gave a dry chuckle.

‘I bet he would.’

Bonnie continued to look worried.

‘You wouldn’t go back, would you?’ asked Lew, tentatively.

‘God no.’ She looked sickened at the thought. ‘But I know that ignoring him will inflame him and yet if I respond he might think he’s reeling me in.’ She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘I don’t know what to do for the best.’

Lew folded his arms over his broad chest. ‘He’s done exactly what he wanted to do with that letter: worm into your head.’

‘I know.’

‘It’s his way of clinging on. Let Adriana deal with it for you. And give her the letter, because it might be useful.’

‘Yes, I will,’ said Bonnie, knowing she wouldn’t. She couldn’t let anyone else see it because they would ask questions.

‘Adriana will tell you, Bonnie, that the law isn’t very tolerant of people trying to dodge it and thinking they can outsmart it.’

Which wasn’t as good news for Bonnie as Lew might expect.

After work, as Lew approached his house, he noticed that Regina’s white Mercedes was parked outside and it infuriated him. He couldn’t imagine that Charlotte, in her present mood, had invited her there, especially after telling her on the phone that she’d be far too busy all week to see her, which meant Regina had forced her unwanted company on his wife. He geed himself up for getting Regina out so he could relax with Charlotte but as he opened the door he could hear Regina’s screech from down the hallway.

‘. . . he can fuck off, I tell you. Dad’s solicitor is a bastard. He’ll be singing soprano by the time he comes out of the divorce . . .’

‘Oh hi,’ Charlotte greeted Lew with obvious relief when he strolled into the lounge.

‘Hello love, hello Reg,’ he went over to kiss Charlotte on the cheek. ‘I thought the decorators were coming this afternoon to talk you through things.’

‘I rang to cancel them,’ said Charlotte, grateful for his collusion. ‘Regina needed me so I’m hoping to see them tomorrow instead.’

‘And how are you, Regina?’ Lew said, bending stiffly to kiss his guest politely on the cheek and being immediately overpowered by the poisonous combo of spicy perfume and hairspray which clung to his lungs as he breathed her in.

‘Seen anything of my errant husband?’ Regina asked. She’d had a spray tan and was two shades nearer to mahogany than she was the last time he’d seen her and her spirally, black hair was at least a foot longer. She was dressed as if she was going out clubbing: short skirt, leather jacket, thigh-length black boots. She looked like someone who couldn’t decide whether to go to a fancy dress party as Cher or Dorian from Birds of a Feather so opted for a hybrid of both.

‘Nope,’ said Lew, noticing the four empty coffee cups on the table; so she’d been there for a while then. ‘Have you?’

She humphed by way of an answer. ‘I’ve been trying to drag your wife out for some badly needed retail therapy but I get the feeling she’s avoiding me,’ she went on with a smile on her lips and flint in her eyes.

‘I doubt she’s avoiding you, Reg,’ said Lew, unable to mask the irritated tone in his voice. ‘We’re about to start decorating the whole house so she hasn’t got time at the moment as she’s supposed to be picking out colours. I thought she’d already told you that.’

‘Oh, do you have books, Charlotte? Let me see,’ said Regina, clapping her hands excitedly. ‘I have the best eye for colour.’

Lew felt his skull prickling with annoyance. He made a deliberate show of checking his watch.

‘Look, Reg, I hate to be a party pooper and Charlotte won’t say because she wouldn’t want to come across as rude but we’re going out to dinner tonight with a business client and you – ’ he addressed Charlotte ‘ – don’t have long to get ready.’

Regina planted her cup on the table and stood. ‘Charlotte, you should have said.’

‘I didn’t want you to think I was shoving you out of the door. I know you’re upset,’ Charlotte sighed, though Regina looked the least upset person Lew could imagine. ‘I’m sure that the . . . your clients can wait if we’re late.’ She widened her eyes at Lew, imploring him to play ball and he wondered what the hell she was playing at. ‘We’ve time for another coff—’

Lew cut her off sharply. ‘Darling, bless you for being sweet and Reg knows we wouldn’t say this if we didn’t mean it, but I’ve been waiting to screw these people down to a date for a long time and turning up late will give them an initial impression I would rather they didn’t have of me.’ He zapped his own message via his eyes to his wife: work with me on this, not against me.

‘Going anywhere nice?’ asked Regina, picking up that horrible white crocodile bag.

‘Client’s house, near Castleton.’

‘That’s a long way,’ said Regina, giving Charlotte an air kiss at either side of her cheek.

‘Worth it, I hope,’ said Lew, letting her repeat the double mwah against his face as he held his breath. They both escorted Regina down the hallway, although she looked more as if she were heading for a dancing pole than the door.

‘Take care, Reg,’ he said.

‘I’ll see you both very soon.’

Not if I can help it, said Lew to the back of the door when it closed on her.

Charlotte almost slid down the wall in relief.

‘I didn’t think she’d ever go. She’s been here two hours.’

‘So why the bloody hell were you asking her to stay longer?’ Lew raised his eyebrows in puzzlement. ‘I was giving you a lifeline and you were preferring to drown.’

‘I don’t want to upset her,’ said Charlotte.

‘She’s got the hide of a galvanised rhino. You can’t possibly upset her. She doesn’t want Patrick, she just can’t stand the idea that someone else has him.’ He shuddered at the thought of having Regina as his wife. It would be like being married to a giant lamprey.

‘She’s found out that he and Marlene are together and he’s employed a divorce solicitor so she’s had a giant bonfire and burnt everything Patrick left in the house.’ Charlotte winced.

‘Ouch. I hope he sues her for criminal damage. You know, I’m looking forward to going out with just you and Gemma and Jason in the near future. And one day soon maybe Patrick and Marlene too can join us.’

Charlotte gave him a horrified look. ‘What if Regina found out?’

‘What if she does?’ said Lew, kicking off his shoes.

‘Well . . . nothing. Just wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her. She can be . . .’

‘Evil,’ Lew supplied the word for her. ‘I imagine she would be deadly when wounded. Oh I hope his solicitor goes for her bloody jugular.’

Charlotte nodded heartily in agreement. ‘She will say anything to damage Patrick, don’t you think? She’d lie and manipulate to get what she wanted. I wouldn’t trust a single word she says. I think she enjoys causing troub—’

Lew cut her off. ‘No more talk of her, please. Now, shall we really go out and have dinner somewhere nice and nod to the fact that we actually enjoy being married to each other?’

He felt a sudden and overwhelming need to celebrate that he didn’t have all the problems that Patrick and Bonnie had and that he was damned lucky he wasn’t going to be another client of Adriana de Lacey. He needed to give his wife some attention and chase away the thoughts he was having about Bonnie that really shouldn’t be anywhere near his head.