Underneath the table Maddie held my hand and every so often gave it a little squeeze.
‘Your sister invited Vanessa to this circus of hers,’ snapped Frank. ‘Of all the people she could have invited.’ He massaged his tanned forehead. ‘I can’t believe what I walked in on earlier. You swore to me your sister would be “good as gold.”’
‘Leave it, Frank,’ Maddie said.
‘Seeing Vanessa again after everything that’s happened was too much,’ he said, running a hand through his grey hair.
It was time to put my cards on the table and tell Maddie about Frank’s affair. ‘Maddie,’ I said, ‘I know about him and her…’
She shook her head and looked at me. I noticed she didn’t have those sad, glassy blue eyes anymore. They were shining. ‘No, you don’t know everything, Rachel.’ She smiled at me. ‘You did something amazing today by cooking everyone Christmas lunch. I overheard some of the locals as I came in and they were all raving about what you’d done. I would have done the same.’
‘She put on a bloody circus,’ raged Frank. ‘My beautiful house has been ruined.’
Maddie stared at him. ‘You’ve hated this house ever since we moved in, Frank. Don’t make out it’s something precious to you.’
He muttered something under his breath and loosened his shirt collar. ‘Not only did she invite Vanessa, but she also had your whacky aunt staying here. I am surprised I came home to the house still standing. Beverly is a liability.’
Maddie turned to me. ‘Rachel, you need to know that Frank and I broke up back when we were in California last year.’
My eyes widened and my jaws dropped in shock. I stared at her. ‘What?’
She took out a hair clip from her pocket and pinned up her blonde curls. ‘I wanted to come home when we were in California. I’d realised I didn’t love Frank and that I had made a terrible mistake. Josh was the man I loved and wanted to spend my life with. However, Frank had this big film company deal on the horizon and he’s worked hard to turn around his image. He’s no longer seen as the ex-actor with the tumultuous past but as the family-orientated CEO of a successful media company.’
Judging from what I’d seen of Frank earlier when he first arrived back home, I felt like he had more to do on his image clean up.
Maddie continued. ‘Frank and I came to an arrangement.’
‘An arrangement – what do you mean?’ Underneath mine, my sister’s hand was trembling.
‘Do we have to go through all this?’ Frank snapped whilst tapping something into his phone.
Maddie ignored him and took a deep breath. ‘I would pretend to still be married to him and he would do the same. We would show the world that Frank Baxter had changed. He was married and ready to start a family.’
Frank rubbed his face. ‘This is excruciating to listen to Maddie. I need a whisky.’ He turned around. ‘Where’s the cleaner? She could pour me a drink. Layla – come here please.’
Maddie tapped him on the arm. ‘Frank, go and get yourself a drink. Layla is a cleaner not your waitress.’
He glared at Maddie. ‘She’s an employee and I need a drink.’
‘She’s my employee now, Frank.’ My sister’s tone was assertive and steel-like. Frank growled and shook his head.
Layla appeared at the door. ‘Yes, Mr Baxter – you called?’
Frank opened his mouth, but Maddie beat him to it. ‘We don’t need anything, Layla, thank you.’
Maddie carried on. ‘Once he bought this film company, he would be the face of these heart-warming films with good family values. We came to an agreement.’ She paused. I could tell this was hard for her to share with me. ‘I would give him a child and once they were born, we would quietly separate. We would co-parent and split the child’s homes between the UK and America.’
‘You mean – all this has been fake?’
‘Your sister couldn’t go through with her part of the bargain,’ snapped Frank, causing Maddie to glare at him.
I looked at Maddie. ‘Tell me.’
She hung her head. ‘Frank was not the only one seeing someone else.’
‘You were seeing Josh?’
She nodded. ‘It was part of the arrangement. To the public Frank and I were husband and wife who were madly in love with each other. In private we led separate lives. I know it’s a shock, but Frank tells me this is common. Frank and I agreed our side affairs wouldn’t become an issue. They wouldn’t threaten our public image.’
