The Firths exchanged another meaningful glance, and Ruth patted his arm.
‘I was instantly suspicious,’ Mark continued. ‘You see, when a cohabitation agreement can be proven to be unfair to one party, it may not be enforceable. I read those papers clause by clause and I can tell you now, Murray, she was no lawyer. It maylooklike she’s stitched you up like a kipper, if you’re not used to legalese, but the long and the short of it is, this agreement is void and couldn’t be used against you to take half of your home, or indeed any of your money if you can prove you earned it.’
Mutt’s eyes rounded. ‘You’re sure?’
‘Absolutely. I think when she was browbeating you in the bar the other night, she thought you’d believe she had you over a barrel.’
‘That she did!’ said Mutt.
‘But your home is your own and she’s not entitled to it.’
‘But Bear?’ Mutt said, his mouth twisting. ‘She’s taken him, said he’s hers. She paid the adoption fee. I had no choice but to hand him over.’
‘Oh no,’ Nina was on her feet. ‘No, that can’t be right.’
Mark spoke up, grave and cautioning. ‘I’m afraid that might be one area where she really does have rights over Murray. She can prove she paid for the pup. He might never be recovered.’
‘Well, where is Polly now?’ Nina cried.
Mutt shook his head. ‘No idea. I told her I’d speak with an estate agent, and she told me she’d be back when the house sold. I assume she’s planning on keeping an eye on me from a distance, like she must have been all along, thinking that, like an idiot, I’d hand over my money whenever she showed up again waving her papers under my nose.’
Mark raised an eyebrow. ‘My guess is she’s run out of money again. She might have a few of you on the go, who knows, but she obviously thought it was worth the risk coming back for more.’
‘Then we need to tell the police,’ Nina said, reaching for her mobile.
‘I’m not putting the house up for sale, that’s for sure, now you’ve put me straight, Mr Firth. I’ll let her keep the overdraft money, a reminder not to be taken in again.’
‘No, that’s not right, she stole that money,’ Ruth protested.
Mutt shook his head. ‘I was daft enough to let her have it in the first place, but I can’t let her have Bear.’
‘She may well already have sold him,’ said Mark.
Nina dialled the number and handed Mutt the phone as it rang. Everyone watched him as he spoke down the line.
‘Police, please. That’s right. Yes. I want to report a fraud.’
That night, after Mark had met the police officers at the hospital, handed over the papers and given his description of the woman from the bar who’d called herself Polly, he’d sat in the back of the cab while Nina slept and Ruth held his hand proudly.
Once they’d made sure Nina was safely back in her old room on the ground floor of the inn, they had taken care to bathe and dress for their last dinner at the Princess and the Pea Inn where they’d talked and reminisced and made plans for visiting their sons as soon as they could to ask them if they’d be their best men at their second wedding.
There seemed to be so much to talk about that the evening had passed quickly and at bedtime, as they settled their bill, ready to leave early on the morning train, Mark had told Gene Fergusson to make sure Beatrice had a look at her dating board the next time she was up and about around the inn, and then he and Ruth climbed the ladder for one last night in the fairy-tale bed.
Downstairs in the empty bar that night, with the doors bolted and the optics lights off for the night, Beatrice and Atholl sipped their cocoa in their pyjamas, their arms around each other’s backs, reading the handwritten lonely heart pinned beside Seth’s on the board.
NAME: Mark Firth
AGE: 59
OCCUPATION: Financial planner. Recovering workaholic. Family man.
ADDRESS: Wherever Ruth and my boys are.
HOBBIES: Until now, not much, but trying my hand at willow-weaving has been eye-opening. I’ll be saying yes to all kinds of new things from now on.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF: Too busy. Neglectful. Trying to do better.
LOOKING FOR: My wife. Kind, tolerant, beautiful and forgiving (I hope), for exotic travel, romantic nights by the fire, and a new beginning.
