Page 37 of The Village of Lost and Found

Tom had stopped laughing by now and stared at her in disbelief. ‘Miniature dinosaur?’ he said, before shaking his head. ‘Anyway, that wasn’t what I meant…’

But she didn’t let him finish. ‘Well, as you can see, I need a shower,’ she snapped. ‘If I can get my enormous ego through the door, that is.’

With that, she turned away from Tom and flung open the back door before swiftly slamming it shut behind her.

Tom stared at the shut door in disbelief. What on earth had just happened?

He stood alone in the lane as he ran a hand through his hair. She had looked such a mess that he had thought that a joke would help cheer her up. But he had got it all wrong, as usual.

He could still see her standing there, arms wrapped around herself, looking upset. What was it she had said? About believing that she was stupid and useless. He didn’t believe that, of course. But had he done originally? Perhaps that’s what everyone thought about Lucy until they got to know her better. He was as bad as everyone else.

He groaned. He had ended up hurting her even more and that was the last thing that he wanted to do. He would apologise to her later and hope that she didn’t walk out on the newspaper. Because, contrary to his initial beliefs, he had realised earlier that day what a difference she had made from her hard work during the past fortnight. All the desks had been cleared and tidied and he could even see the floor now that so many newspapers had been taken away. She had begun an archive of older copies of the newspaper and the whole place was feeling much more efficient.

Feeling wretched with himself, he walked back down the lane and past Cranbridge Stores. But, for once, he didn’t go in as he didn’t feel like company. He walked over the narrow pedestrian bridge towards the Mucky Duck, but even that didn’t hold any appeal for him. Perhaps he wouldn’t bother going to the gin tasting evening, despite the fact that it would be letting Belle down.

Turning left at the end of the bridge, he began to walk along the river towards home. He stood by the front gate of the little semi-detached cottage, hesitating before he went in. At least the front garden was low-maintenance, he thought. Although the pots were overflowing with dead flowers. His mum would have been disappointed to see such a mess.

He went through the gate and pulled up the dead flowers in one of the pots, showering soil onto his trainers as he did so. It didn’t matter, he thought. Although the pot looked tidier, he hated the empty space left in their place.

He had just put his key in the front door when his mobile rang.

Juggling the dead flowers in one hand and the door in his other, he didn’t check the screen before picking up.

‘Happy Anniversary, darling.’

Tom crashed to a halt in the tiny hallway, his heart suddenly thumping loudly.

‘Hello? Tom? Can you hear me?’ Andrea’s voice seemed to echo around the empty house.

‘I can hear you,’ he told her in a dull tone. ‘What do you want?’

‘To wish you happy anniversary, of course,’ said his ex-wife.

He leaned against the front door to close it. ‘Perhaps you don’t remember, but we’re divorced now.’

‘Doesn’t mean we can’t be friends,’ she said, her voice low and seductive on the phone. ‘How’s your love life?’

‘None of your damn business,’ he told her, heading through the back into the kitchen and dropping the dead flowers onto the table.

She laughed, obviously in full flirtation mode. He knew what she was doing. She was just toying with him, as she’d always done.

‘How’s the boyfriend?’ he asked in a steely tone.

‘Boring,’ she told him. ‘Not like you. He doesn’t make me laugh.’

If Tom was supposed to be flattered, she was wrong. He felt sick inside from hearing her voice.

‘What did you think about my half-hour special this afternoon?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know,’ he told her. ‘I was too busy with other stuff to watch the TV.’

‘Do you miss me?’ she asked, not missing a beat.

He gulped. ‘No.’

She laughed softly down the line. ‘Me too.’

‘What do you want?’ he asked her once more.