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Jill glanced up. ‘I see this a lot these days – men intimidated by their wives. Trying to belittle them to make themselves feel better when they are themselves failing.’
Holly thought that made sense. It would fit with Tom’s,You don’t need me,tirade. Initially, he was probably pleased that he had somewhere to live and work. ‘I guess when we met all those years ago, he was older. The one with the job, the car and the money and I was the college kid living with my parents.’
‘What happened immediately before you split up?’
‘I mentioned us starting a family. He said he needed time out to think, he wasn’t sure he was ready.’ Holly took a deep breath. ‘Then after two weeks I found out he’d been having an affair for months with a girl called Grace. Who incidentally is pregnant.’
Jill raised her eyebrows. ‘And Grace’s full name is?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘And where does she live?’
‘I don’t know that either. But I don’t think it’s far and I assume he’s living with her as he’s been over to Eversley a couple of times.’
‘Oh yes, your village green confrontation.’
Holly shifted in her seat. ‘You got my email then?’
‘Yes. What’s done is done.’ Jill set her pen down, placing her palms on the desk. ‘Looking at what you’ve presented to me, I think we’ve got a case to send him packing with nothing, especially as he owes you this money. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to recover that for you – especially if he has apparently spent it.’
‘I feel so stupid to have been sucked in.’
‘You married him in good faith. Sounds to me like he put himself out there with this business, it failed, and this young woman is some sort of ego massage. And now he’s going to be a father. This is a man about to have a rude awakening – mark my words.’
‘What’s the next step with the divorce?’
‘He’s using the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. We have to defend that and put in a counter attack of adultery. He’ll probably argue that you drove him into the arms of another woman – same old clap-trap.’
Oliver walked in. ‘Sorry I’m late with the teas.’
Jill waved her notes at him. ‘Can you type these up and we’ll go over it this afternoon, after I’ve seen Mrs Brown.’
Oliver left the room with Jill’s notes in his hands.
Jill poured the tea. ‘I’m sure Tom’s solicitor is bluffing about court. I’ll keep fobbing them off and gather as much information as possible to use in your defence and the counter-claim.’
Holly bit her lip.
‘Now don’t worry. This is what I do. You concentrate on getting your life back in order.’
After making small talk over tea about her plans for the rebuild, Holly bade Jill farewell.
Back in the small reception she watched Oliver staring at his computer.
‘He’s a right slippery character if you ask me, darling.’ Oliver tapped at his keyboard. ‘Well rid I say.’
* * *
Back at her caravan,Holly chatted to Jaz on the phone. She smiled as Jaz told her she was whipping her staff into shape. In the back of her mind Holly had worried that Jaz had come back because of the fire. Hearing her happy at the showroom eased her sense of guilt.
Finishing her story, Jaz paused. ‘What are you up to today?’
‘Mitch is bringing Trixy over.’
‘You’re still minding her then?’
‘Yes, he texted me, saying he could put Trixy in the kennels if it was too much. I messaged back and said it was fine, and made an excuse about having a bad day when I dropped her off.’
