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Chapter 3
Holly sat in her van, in Lovelands’ car park, watching her groundsman, Joe, locking up the nursery buildings. She wanted to wait until he was out of sight before going into her cottage. She couldn’t face anyone at the moment. Picking up her mobile phone she hovered her thumb over the telephone icon. She could call Jaz, or Val but decided against it. Knowing they would never say, ‘I told you so,’ she would still hear it in their voices. It wasn’t their fault. They had tried to warn her, she knew that. Her chest tightened as she saw Tom’s blue Mazda in her wing mirror as he pulled up alongside her. Wiping her tear-stained face, she grabbed the steering wheel with both hands.She took a deep breath and stared straight ahead, her knuckles white and her lips pursed as he appeared at her right-hand window.
Tom rapped on the glass. ‘We need to talk.’
Holly opened the door and he stepped back to avoid being knocked over.
‘You’re damn right we do. Who is she?’
‘Let’s go inside.’ Tom walked towards the cottage, his hands in his trouser pockets.
Holly slammed the van door shut, her hands sweaty, her heart pounding, as she told herself to stay calm.The gravel crunched under her feet as she overtook Tom and opened the varnished front door.
Once inside she removed her boots and padded in her thick socks along the rug-covered, wooden floors, through to the kitchen. Tom followed. All she could hear from him was the tap of his brogues on the kitchen tiles. It was a large room, a mish-mash of units and dressers collected by her ancestors. The cottage had been in the family for four generations. Pulling a chair from her large oak table, she sat down and Tom took the seat opposite.
‘Well then?’ Holly said with a quiver in her voice. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I er …’
‘Who is she?’
‘Grace.’ Tom put his fist to his mouth and coughed.
The aroma of tobacco and mints filled the room as he spoke.‘We met at an exhibition.’
‘A customer?’
‘No. A hot tub model.’
‘Hot tub model?’ Holly slammed her hands on the table and stood up. ‘I didn’t realise you were putting girls in the tubs! That’s so sleazy.’
‘Everyone does it.’ Tom shut his eyes.
Holly shook her head. ‘I doubt that very much. How dare you spend my savings on girls.’
‘She’s a model, not a prozzy.’ The chair scraped as Tom stood up to face her.
‘How old is she? Eighteen?’
‘Nearly twenty and we’re together.’ Tom’s Adam’s apple moved up and down.
Holly clutched the table. ‘I can’t believe you’re ruining everything we have for someone you’ve been seeing for what? Two weeks?’
Tom raked his hand through his hair.
‘Oh.’ Holly sat down and clutched her forehead, feeling she was an idiot for not seeing it.‘How long?’
‘Two months. I wanted to tell you but –’
Holly placed both hands on the table in front of her. ‘You said you needed time to think.’
Tom raised his eyes to the ceiling.
‘So much for us starting a family.’ Holly’s voice became louder. ‘How could you?’
‘Oh, come on. Things haven’t been great for a while. Have they?’ Tom paced the room.
‘Not surprising is it? If you’ve been at it with little Miss Hot Tub. No wonder you’ve gone cold on me these past few months.’
