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‘Is that right? Then why did you tell me all those lies, Beth?’ His voice was soft all of a sudden, so soft that it shocked her when what she’d expected had been anger. She started nervously, licking her dry lips as she stared back at him, trying to understand this sudden shift in attitude, and felt heat scorch her face when she saw the sensuous gleam in his eyes as they rested on her mouth. Suddenly the tension in the room took on a new form, a form that scared her more than what had been between them before. She didn’t want to look at David and see that he wanted her; she didn’t want to be reminded of how much she had once wanted him! She loved him so much and it would be so easy to let him talk and persuade her in whatever direction he wanted her to go. But she’d been used once by him and she wouldn’t be used again.
‘It doesn’t matter what I said or why, David. Just tell me why you came here tonight.’
‘Just to talk to you. To explain again what you overheard and how wrong you were in your assumptions of what went on. Would it help convince you any, Beth, if I told you that Matthew and I are now on speaking terms?’ He saw her surprise and smiled almost bitterly. ‘Oh, I’m not going to lie and say that we are close. We shall never be that, but, there again, we never were that close, even as children. But at least we can stay in the same room and hold a civilised conversation and the reason for this is that Matthew has finally admitted that he was wrong. If he can accept the truth, Beth, then why can’t you?’
Could she? Could she wipe away all the doubts which filled her mind, accept that David had never had an affair with Maggie? It would take strength to do that, possibly more strength than she possessed. Could David give her that strength? Possibly.
‘Why does it matter to you that I should accept it? What do you want with me, David? If you wanted to see for yourself that I’m all right then you’ve achieved that much. What else did you come here for?’
‘To ask you to come back with me, Beth.’
‘Why?’ Her voice was a tiny whisper, choked by the sudden flare of hope that he might give her the answer she wanted to hear, the only answer that would make her agree.
‘Because we could still have a good life together. To just stand aside and let that all be ruined over a silly misunderstanding seems little short of a crime to me. So, what do you say, Beth? Will you try again to make our marriage work?’
‘No!’ Hope had stolen her voice; disappointment and a grief so sharp that it cut into her heart turned the answer into a total refusal that he must have known immediately was final. His face darkened and he turned away, wrenching open the door and walking out without another word. Beth watched him go as tears slid down her cheeks, knowing that there would never be another chance. It was such a wicked waste, such a cruel, deliberate blow from fate to have given her that one too brief moment of hope then snatch it away.
If David had just said that he loved her she would have accepted there and then, without a thought for what had happened in the past, just joy for what would happen in the future.
* * *
‘You little monkey. Look at this mess!’ Maggie picked up the spilled dish of food and glared at her smiling little daughter. ‘And don’t think that you can get round me like that, young lady!’
Beth laughed as she lifted the smiling child from her high chair. She cuddled her close, feeling the tiny pain she always felt when she held Elizabeth and remembered her own baby. It made her wonder if she was right to keep on accepting Maggie’s invitations to her house, but it was always so hard to refuse, not only because she valued Maggie’s friendship, but because she was her one last link with David. It might be foolish to cling to such a link even now, but somehow she couldn’t quite sever it.
‘Right, give me the little monster and I’ll wash her face and put her down for a sleep. Then maybe we can have half an hour to ourselves, seeing as you’ve managed to get a day off from work.’ Maggie lifted the happily squirming child high in the air then cuddled her close, muttering loving threats as to what she’d do next time she threw her dish on to the floor. Beth watched them leave the room, then stood up to fill the kettle, trying to ignore the hollow ache at what she’d lost.
