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Freya thought of her dad and the possibility that he’d had an affair. She knew how it felt to discover something like that. Except that Tarek’s mother was gone, and his father, a widower, was free to move on with his life, if he wished. Freya had made the mistake of sharing that thought with Tarek. And now they were barely speaking.
Freya sighed.Trust me to open my big mouth, she thought. ‘Goodnight, Tarek.’
‘Good. Night.’
Freya stared at him for a full minute before she turned over in bed and stared at the wall. She wished she hadn’t come. If she hadn’t, then Tarek wouldn’t be here and he’d be none the wiser as to what was going on with his father and a woman. No wonder he wanted to get away to a hotel for a few days.
Before she drifted off to sleep, Freya’s last thought was whom they would meet at breakfast in the morning. Would Tarek’s father and the woman he was with be there? Would Wendy?
Freya’s eyes shot open. ‘I’m not looking forward to meeting her if she is here.’
‘Did you say something?’ Tarek asked.
‘No – go back to sleep.’
Chapter 44
Alice woke up, yawned, and sat up slowly. Marley was snuggled next to Hester at the end of her bed. The cat raised his head. Alice whispered, ‘Marley,’ so as not to wake Hester. She watched her cat stand up and stretch. He came over, curled in a ball on her lap, and settled in for another snooze. Alice sat for a moment and stroked him, but she had to shift him so she could nip out of bed and pop the kettle on.
She chose an English Breakfast tea bag from the little wooden box and then opened the curtains while she waited for the kettle to boil. The sun appeared on the horizon and the morning light bathed the shingle beach in a soft hazy glow. ‘The Sunrise Coast,’ she whispered as she recalled that this particular stretch of coastline in Suffolk was sometimes called by that name because the sunrises were so beautiful.
The sea was calm, and she spotted a single, solitary fishing boat bobbing on the water. She wondered if Gerald was already out there at work.
The kettle boiled. Alice poured the hot water, dunked her tea bag a few times, added sugar and milk, and sipped her tea. She stared out towards the horizon. The scene was so tranquil. She wondered what today would bring. It had been lovely to catch up with Omar over the last few days. She thought back to the previous night. After coffee in the lounge, Omar had asked if she’d go to his room for a nightcap. He’d asked every evening, and every evening she’d declined. But on her way upstairs the night before, she’d changed her mind, turned on her heel and headed to his room.
She was surprised she’d woken up this early. They’d talked into the early hours, and it had reminded them of the night they had stayed together in this guest house years earlier when they’d chatted until the early hours about their passion for archaeology.
Their shared interest was still just as strong. Omar’s work was fascinating, and Alice wished that she hadn’t given it up and become a teacher. But that was all in the past now. They’d had a wonderful evening together, and she had sensed that Omar wanted her to stay. Perhaps she wanted to stay too. But Alice’s situation was more complicated than Omar’s. She was still married. And despite the fact that Jeffrey may have had – or maybe was still having – an affair, an older, wiser Alice couldn’t spend the night with Omar because she knew, this time, that there would be no going back.
Very soon, the postman would arrive at home with her letter on headed paper from the guest house. She’d thought about that all week. Perhaps the post had been delayed or Emily’s mum had forgotten to post it. Or Jeffrey had the letter already and he didn’t care that she was there, in the very place from where someone called Wendy had written to him.
Despite still anticipating that her husband might turn up at any moment, she had agreed to meet Omar and have breakfast with him. She had her own decisions to make about her future.
Alice shifted her gaze from the horizon to the beach. Although it was early, she could see someone taking their dog for a walk. She took another sip of tea and lowered the mug. She recognised the dog; it was Donut. And she recognised the young woman. It was Clarissa. Alice frowned. She had done her best to steer clear of Clarissa since she’d returned to the guest house the previous day – although there had been one disconcerting moment when she’d discovered Clarissa sitting with Omar, a pad and pen in her hands.
She raised her eyebrows. What had they talked about? It hadn’t crossed her mind to ask Omar last night. She’d assumed Clarissa had interviewed him about his work. She hoped her named hadn’t cropped up in the conversation. Perhaps if she’d gone straight to bed and not joined Omar for a nightcap in his room last night, which had only consisted of a cup of tea, then she wouldn’t be so worried. She couldn’t see how that would get back to Clarissa, though.
Alice’s thoughts were interrupted by Marley, who had jumped up on to the windowsill in front of her. She smiled at him and stroked the top of his head. Marley purred. Her thoughts returned to her husband and Wendy.
She sighed. ‘I wonder what today will bring,’ she murmured to Marley.
‘At least come down for breakfast before we leave.’
As soon as he had woken up, Tarek had decided he was leaving. ‘Why would I want to go down for breakfast and see them together?’
He had a point. Even so, selfishly, Freya didn’t want to sit at breakfast on her own. And she wanted to build up the courage to confront Wendy, if she was here.
‘I don’t think now is the time for you to meet my father,’ Tarek said.
Freya was inclined to agree, but for a different reason. It didn’t seem appropriate to intrude on a romantic liaison. Freya gave Tarek a sideways glance. She decided to keep that thought to herself.
She made them both a cup of tea. They sat in their beds and drank their tea while they decided on how they would play the day. Freya had opened the curtains while she was making the tea. She’d spied a young woman walking her dog on the beach, and she felt like at least having breakfast and exploring the little cove before they set off back to Cambridge. It was a beautiful morning, and it was going to turn out to be a lovely, bright winter’s day. Despite Tarek’s foul mood, she didn’t feel inclined to drive straight home. And she had unfinished business of her own.
Freya shifted her gaze from the window and looked at Tarek, who was drinking his tea in silence. She decided that perhaps she should come clean about what she was really doing there; about the fact that he wasn’t the only one who’d discovered his parent had a secret.
‘Tarek.’
He looked up.
