‘Yup.’ Now was not the time to have any shame.
‘Well, thank you very much indeed. I’d definitely be grateful if you did it for a day or two while I sort out something long-term.’
‘Fab.’ She was hopefully only going to need a day or two.
So easy. Who would have thought the envelope was literally going to fall into her lap like this?
11
POPPY
‘He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?’ Nancy, the village surgery receptionist, pointed at Declan on stage with one hand and clapped against her arm with the other.
Poppy considered him. Yes. He was gorgeous. No two ways about it. And compering a quiz night suited him.
Being a husband hadseemedto suit him, but apparently no longer.
She still didn’t know what she wanted to do about their situation, which was why, right now, she was sitting here with staff from Declan’s surgery, putting on her best jolly, not-at-all-stressed-to-high-heaven-by-the-state-of-her-marriage front.
They were in the village hall of Little Bishop, the closest neighbouring village to Melting, and the biggest of the three Bishops, despite its name, taking part in the annual village quiz night.
‘Now this next one—’ Declan stared in mock confusion at the card he was holding ‘—I mean, I don’t even understand the question, let alone the answer.’ Everyone except Poppy laughed. Poppy produced a fakeHa, but she actually just wanted to scream.
It was like she was looking at a stranger. His exterior was so familiar to her – achingly familiar – so much so that she almost just wanted to run up to the stage and throw herself into his arms. His interior, though… Well, that had turned into a lying, philandering arse. And she still couldn’t decide whether she’d ever be able to forgive what he’d done or whether she was definitely going to ask him to leave. She was pretty sure that, if she did ask him to leave, she wanted him toregretwhat he’d done andmissher, because she had her pride. And she also didn’t want to tackle him about anything until she knew exactly what it was she was tackling himabout. And that was why she was here this evening, pretending to be happily married.
‘Poppy?’ Nancy was staring at her as thoughshewas the one who’d been behaving oddly recently. Which was particularly ridiculous given that they were very recent acquaintances, so what did Nancy even know.
‘Sorry, Nancy, I didn’t hear. I think I was miles away. Sleep deprivation.’
‘Do you happen to know it?’
‘It?’
‘The answer? What’s the capital of Turkmenistan?’
‘Ashgabat.’ Poppy knew alotof world capitals because Max had had to learn them over Christmas for a sponsored test at school and she’d helped test him one day with Georgie and they’d stuck in her head.
‘Space for a small one?’ Declan asked two rounds later (world flags and kids’ nineties TV), pulling up a chair and inserting himself between Poppy and Nancy. For a moment, his face was right next to Poppy’s and their thighs were pressed together,and her heart and body went flippity flop as they always had done when he came near to her. Giving herself an internal slap at her weakmindedness, she took a close look at Declan. He was wearing the slightly glazed look that he often wore when they came together, and she suddenly realised that maybe – despite his affair – he was having a similar reaction to her. Which was satisfying. She shifted her chair a bit away from him and saw him almost flinch. Good.
Declan frowned slightly and then visibly straightened his shoulders, turned and looked her right in the eye and mouthed something that lookedlike, ‘I love you.’
Really?
‘What?’ she asked.
‘I… No.’ He shook his head. ‘Nothing.’
Then he smiled round the rest of the table and it was like he was a different person again.
All food for thought, though. If Poppy asked him in due course to choose between her and the other woman –ifshe decided she wanted to do that – maybe hewouldchoose Poppy.
‘Are we on track to win?’ Declan asked.
‘We’re missing your OTT sports knowledge,’ Hassan, one of the other GP partners said from the other side of the table. ‘I know we’ve only known each other for a month but I’ve never met anyone who can trot out so much sports trivia at any given moment. Pretty sure you’d have got that dodgeball question.’
‘I actually would,’ Declan said. ‘I was watching a dodgeball match on Sky Sports at around 4a.m. literally only about three nights ago.’
‘Four a.m.?’ Hassan queried.
