Page 92 of My Kind of Happy

‘For heaven’s sake, Pandora.’ Sam raised his hands to his face and swore under his breath.

‘What?’ She pouted. ‘You can’t expect me to sit back and take it. And look on the bright side; at least the house is ready for sale.’

‘Marriage vows are sacred,’ I said fiercely. ‘Whether they are mine or not I would never break them. Never. The bigger question is, would you?’

‘You stay out of it,’ she spat.

Sam turned to me, lines of sadness etched into his face. ‘Fearne, I can’t apologise enough.’

My pulse quickening, I grabbed a pen and circled the order showing the address of his family home and nudged the book towards him. His eyes followed my pen but his face didn’t register anything.

‘I’m sorry, lads,’ Sam began, his body language defeated.

I circled the details again, more firmly this time and tapped the pen to attract his attention.

‘I think we should probably go home and … what?’ His jaw dropped as his attention was finally caught by the order book. He blinked at the page.

‘That’s our address. Gareth Weaver, your ex?’ he gasped in disbelief. His eyes widened as he read on. ‘A great night, your sexy tiger … Pandora? What the hell? Are you seeing Gareth behind my back?’

His eyes blazed at his wife and she froze, horror-struck. Her mouth flapped open and closed like a suffocating goldfish.

‘And you have the nerve to accuse me?’ Anger was coming off him in waves.

‘Sam,’ Pandora stuttered, laughing nervously ‘it was just a bit of fun, he—’

‘Save it.’ His lips curled in disgust. He flipped the book shut without looking at anyone and strode to the door. ‘I don’t want to know.’

He slammed the door behind him. Pandora yanked it open and ran after him, calling his name but he didn’t turn around.

I collapsed onto a stool and tried to catch my breath. My heart was knocking so hard against my ribs that I hardly heard the rest of the cricket team take their flowers and say their goodbyes.

Once the shop was empty I sank down beside Scamp’s basket. I breathed out the tension I’d been holding and tried to ignore the trembling in my chest. My dog looked up at me with his gentle brown eyes and let out a little puff of breath as if he was relieved that everyone had gone.

I knew how he felt, but had I done the right thing? Or had I interfered in something that was none of my business? I’d definitely broken a client’s confidence and in so doing, I might also have broken Sam’s marriage. I wouldn’t be going to the cricket match tomorrow; in fact, it was probably best if I didn’t see Sam again for a very long time.