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‘Oh,’ Edie said as she watched the man look around and make his way towards the cabin.
‘And you’re not going to believe this, Edie. Do you know who it is?’
Edie shook her head in irritation. In fact she had a good idea who the man was. This did not sound good at all. Sighing, she said, ‘No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.’
‘It’s Amelia’s husband. I mean, did you even know she was married?’
Oh dear, thought Edie, the poor girl’s head must be all over the place. ‘Well, that’s really none of our business, Doris, is it?’
‘Well,’ Doris spluttered. ‘I thought you might be interested to hear a bit more about the woman living in your garden.’
Edie shook her head. ‘Well, I’m not, Doris. I’ve never been interested in gossip. I thought you realised that. Whether Amelia is married or not is neither here nor there.’
‘But this is all happening right under your nose. Aren’t you intrigued to know what is going on?’
‘No. And you shouldn’t be either. Amelia worked wonders last night for you. If it hadn’t been for her, you would still be trying to shift all those bottles of festive gin. She helped you because she is kind and has more integrity in her little finger than you do in your entire body. Please remember all of that.’ Edie slammed down the phone angrily. No doubt that would be something else for Doris to gossip about, but honestly, sometimes she just went too far.
Edie looked out into the garden again. She couldn’t help wonder what was going on in the cabin. Had Amelia’s husband come to beg forgiveness and declare his undying love for her? And would she give him another chance? Perhaps their relationship was worth another go? Although what about the bond between Amelia and Fergus? Their gentle flirtation had surely done wonders to help heal their broken hearts? Edie didn’t want Amelia to leave, for her own selfish reasons, but she was old enough and wise enough to know it was none of her business. Amelia needed to make the choices that were right for her.
In her reflective moments, she asked herself what she would have done if she had known about Jim’s affair with Christine before he died. Would she have turned a blind eye? Or would she have left him? She would never know the answers and had decided that those questions were better left alone. There was no right or wrong, and she couldn’t change the past. Instead, she had managed to forgive him and let it go for her own sake, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to move forward with her life. Being bitter would have destroyed her. She had coped with her sister’s betrayal by pretending she didn’t exist. That had been a good coping strategy until Christine got in touch.
Life, she’d learned, wasn’t straightforward, and she couldn’t throw away all those happy years of marriage they had shared together. They didn’t simply disappear because of his betrayal. Jim had died but it didn’t mean their marriage had to be erased, and the fact she could still feel his presence so strongly had to mean something, didn’t it?
‘Oh, Molly, I hope Amelia does the right thing for herself. I hope she puts her happiness before any sense of expectation or duty.’ Molly wagged her tail and pressed her nose against the window. She started barking when she saw who was walking down the path.
‘Oh dear.’ Edie’s eyes widened. ‘It never rains but it pours.’ Fergus was heading straight to the cabin. ‘Time we busied ourselves elsewhere, I think. Come on, Molly, I need to go and do some sorting out upstairs.’
Chapter Fifty-Two
‘You don’t need to tell me your decision right now. Take some time to think,’ said Declan.
‘But what about my life here?’
‘You’ve only been here for five minutes, Amelia. We’ve got a past and a history. We have a future to build. Remember our plans? To buy a house and settle down? We can start a family and even buy the puppy we always talked about.’
Amelia smiled sadly, but Declan took that as a sign to kiss her again. She flinched when she realised someone else now stood in the open doorway. Pulling away, her face flushed crimson when she saw Fergus watching.
He looked from her to Declan and back again. ‘Sorry. I’m obviously interrupting something. I’ll come back later.’ His brow furrowed and he scowled. ‘You’re clearly busy.’
Amelia remained frozen to the spot.How could this actually be happening?
Declan watched him for a moment, assessing and thinking. He held out his hand. ‘Hello, I’m Declan. Amelia’s husband. And you are?’
‘Fergus.’ His voice was tense.
‘Nice to meet you. Well, we’re in the middle of something, mate.’
‘I can see that.’ He glared at Declan. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’ His voice was sharp.
‘I’ll catch up with you later.’ Amelia kept her voice even, reminding herself that Fergus was the one with the girlfriend. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘Don’t worry — it’s not important. Enjoy your time together.’ His voice was flat and he wouldn’t look at Amelia. He banged the door shut behind him.
A surge of anger rippled through her. How dare he act as though she had done something wrong. What about him? She may have a husband but he also had a girlfriend. At least she had been honest about Declan. Unlike him.
Declan raised an eyebrow. ‘Something you want to tell me?’
The way he looked at her accusingly . . .
