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‘Wait, I thought his mother died when he was little?’
Emily looked confused. ‘What did he tell you?’
‘That she died when he was small and that his father was an alcoholic; he said he hadn’t seen him for years. In fact, he always said he had no family apart from his father.’
Emily laughed dryly. ‘Wow. His mother died last year. Went into hospital for a routine operation, but sadly didn’t ever come home. She was pretty old, though. She hadn’t seen him since he left Oban, when he left me. She adored him; he was her only son. He had a sister too, well, half-sister, but we lost touch not long after he left. I think she was done with him too. But I stayed in contact with his mother, she was lovely. She lived just outside Oban, was born and raised there.’
Stella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Everything she thought she knew about her husband’s life before they’d met was based on lies. ‘And what about his father?’
‘I don’t think he’d ever been in Simon’s life, his mother told me he’d left when she was pregnant. She raised him on her own until she married his stepfather.’
Stella swirled her glass, watching the liquid move around inside. ‘Jesus, he told me such a different story.’
Emily stood up and threw another log on the fire. She sat back down and patted the side of the sofa next to her. Bertie curled up beside her, his head on her lap. ‘I think, when I knew him, Simon wanted to create a life completely unlike his own. He wanted to be the perfect father, the perfect family man and when he found out he couldn’t do that with me, he moved on, taking my money on his way out.’
‘But we have three children. Three!’ Stella threw her hands up in despair, then suddenly caught herself. ‘God, Emily, I’m so sorry, that was really insensitive.’
Emily smiled gently. ‘I knew what you meant.’ She took a sip of her whisky, then poured a little more water from the jug into the tumbler. ‘I made my peace with the fact I might never be a mother a while ago. It’s fine… most of the time, anyway.’ She sighed. ‘When he first left, I tried to find out if he’d met someone else. More than anything, I think it would have helped me knowing there was a reason. It’s the not knowing that was so hard.’
‘But why would he walk away from a family, the thing he said he wanted most of all?’ Stella grabbed the bottle and topped up her glass.
Emily thought for a moment, weighing up whether to say what she was thinking. ‘Obviously we don’t know, but I think he won’t have left you unless there’s something better out there for him, whether that’s money or meeting someone else. He’s lied to us both. He’s stolen from me—’
Stella cut in. ‘And from me.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yes, I found out just recently. He’s been taking money out of the business, skimming it so no one would notice.’
‘Do you know why?’
Stella shook her head. ‘Well, I guess so that he could spend it on things I wouldn’t know about. We have a joint account for everything else.’
Emily shook her head in disbelief. ‘What an arsehole.’ She looked up at Stella. ‘How much?’
‘Thousands over time.’
They both sat in silence for a moment, staring at the flames in the fire.
‘You know,’ said Emily, ‘I wasted so much time after Simon left. I didn’t want to see my friends, I was too embarrassed to see my family for a while, couldn’t face anyone saying “told you so”. Turns out no one had been that keen on him. My parents certainly weren’t. So I threw myself into work instead and closed myself off from people, relationships of any kind, really. I didn’t trust my own judgement. I really loved him, or at least whoever he was when we got together. But, after that, I didn’t let myself get close to anyone.’
‘Have you had any relationships since?’ Stella said, immediately worrying she was prying too much.
‘A few, but nothing that went anywhere. I fell in love with another chef about five years later, but that was a disaster. It was a relief when he moved on to another job, to be honest. Then I did have an on-and-off relationship with a hotel guest for years; he was a writer and used to come and stay at the hotel when he was doing his research. But he clearly had no intention of ever settling for one person, so I ended that for the sake of my own dignity. My friend Lou, she works at the hotel, forced me onto a dating app, but the problem is island life doesn’t really lend itself to finding someone you don’t already know.’ Emily grimaced, making Stella laugh. ‘So, what will you do?’
‘I’m not sure yet. I’m getting my head around the fact that he’s not coming back, and even if he did, I know I can’t be with him any more. The damage is done. But he is the father of my children, so I guess when – if – he does pitch up in our lives again, I have to be prepared to have some sort of civil relationship with him for their sakes.’
‘It must have been really hard, I’m sorry.’
‘I’ve had to tell the children a version of the truth, there’s no point in lying. He’s been gone too long for me to be able to cover it up for him. But, obviously, I can’t tell them why he left because I still don’t know the answer. Sometimes I wonder if I married a psychopath, but to be honest, I think I married a very damaged, dishonest man. He’s just very good at hiding it. Until now, that is.’
The women let that thought sit between them for a moment. Bertie yawned, loudly.
‘What time is it?’ asked Stella.
Emily looked at her watch. ‘Just past eleven.’
‘Really? I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise it was so late. I should leave you, get up to the hotel.’
