“Everything is in here, as usual.” Betty passed me the standard file of information for me to familiarise myself with. “I reckon he’ll be here for a good few weeks before he’s transferred to Seven Oaks.”
Seven Oaks was the rehabilitation home my patients resided in while they received therapy and care. It was a private clinic owned by Genesis Convalescence, who I worked for. Usually each case we took on was paid for privately by family, but in rare extreme circumstances, such as with Judd, the local authority contracted out to us, especially if no relatives were able to pay.
“I’ll be back in tomorrow.”
She had expected my answer. My therapy started straight away, not when I started to get paid for it. Betty knew this, and she gave me a knowing smile as I walked out of the door.
BEN GLARED AT ME WHEN I rushed up to our table. “Sorry,” I breathed as he stood up to greet me with a barely-there kiss to my cheek. Forcing a smile I turned to our guests. “Hi, I’m so sorry. Big case came up at work.”
Ben harrumphed quietly and I lowered my face, hiding the blush to my cheeks.
Sarah, Ben’s PA, stood and held out her hand, the usual disdain in her eyes glaringly obvious. “Better late than never, Kloe.”
“Large Chardonnay,” I told the waiter when he came to take my order. By the looks of the empty plates on the table it was obvious my dinner companions hadn’t waited for me.
“Anything to eat, madam?”
Shaking my head as I dropped my hand into Ben’s client’s huge hand to shake, I said quietly, “Just a drink, thank you.”
“Mrs Grant.” Ben’s client smiled. “It’s so good to finally meet you.” If his words hadn’t been accompanied by a soft twinkle in his gaze I would have thought he was being sarcastic. Apparently it was only Ben and Sarah who were annoyed with me.
“Ah, we’re used to Kloe’s time keeping.” Ben chuckled as if telling a joke but I could hear the underlying irritation with me. Then turning to me, he finally introduced his client. “Kloe, this is Hugh Barnstable. Hugh, my wife, Kloe.”
“You weren’t kidding when you told me how beautiful she is.”
I laughed, nudging Hugh gently with my elbow. I didn’t miss the fierce glare Sarah shot at Ben. A pain severed my chest, but coughing, I slapped a smile on my face and turned back to Hugh. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr Barnstable.”
“Please, call me Hugh.” He was a typical elder gentleman, his white bushy eyebrows the only hair left on his head and his round body making me see him as a jolly grandfather.
Gesturing for me to sit, Hugh pushed my chair in under me and took the seat beside me. I didn’t fail to miss how Ben and Sarah sat closely at the other side of the square table.
“So, tell me,” Hugh spoke with an enthusiastic voice. “What do you do, Kloe?”
Thanking the waiter when he placed my drink in front of me, I took a large gulp before answering. “I’m a therapist.”
His eyes widened. “Really? In what forte?”
“Post-stress rehabilitation.”
He nodded, giving me more smiles. Usually Ben’s business dinners focussed around his work as a lawyer, and it was refreshing to be included. I liked Hugh instantly. I did notice, too, how his angry glare kept cutting to Ben and Sarah who were engrossed in their own private discussion. Sarah’s frequent giggle made my skin crawl.
“I would garner that a very hard but productive job, Mrs Grant.”
“Please, call me Kloe. And yes, it’s thoroughly hard work, but so worthwhile. To see a once withdrawn and frightened client finally make a home and a family, for them to be able to smile every morning, it then becomes the best job in the world.”
Hugh took a sip of his brandy after giving me the biggest smile. “Are you aware of the man who has been found after twenty-one years?”
Taking another drink, I gave him a nod. “It’s hard not to, really. He’s a popular subject with the media right now.”
“So, is that the kind of client you work with?”
It was nice that Hugh was interested in my work. Ben and I didn’t really talk much about our jobs. We’d both come to the conclusion that neither of us had an inkling what the other was on about. But sometimes it would just be nice to curl up after a hard day and vent to each other.
The evening followed much the same, Hugh and I talking about everything in general, and Ben and Sarah lost in their own little world. Hugh looked ready to launch for Sarah by the end, a bit like me, really. Her never-ending fits of flirty giggles with my husband had given me a damn hernia after all the muscle tension.
“Well, it was lovely to meet you.” Hugh reached in and gave my cheek a lingering kiss. “Please don’t act the fool, Kloe,” he whispered in my ear before he pulled away.
I blinked back the tears and gave him a nod.
“And I hope we can catch up soon.” He handed me his card which I slipped into my bag.
“Me too,” I told him honestly when he gave my hand a soft squeeze.
After dropping Sarah off at her ‘condo’ as she stupidly referred to it, Ben was quiet on the way home. I guessed he was angry that I had turned up an hour late. Oops.
Shutting the front door behind me, I followed him into the kitchen. His back was to me as he fixed a drink. “You want one?”
My heartbeat had been rampant with rage all night after my husband and his secretary’s behaviour. But, right then, as I looked at my husband’s strong back, a back I had embedded my nails into, a back I had stroked soothingly when his mother died, a back that had carried me, laughing, across the beach on our honeymoon, the furious rhythm of my heart slowed and acceptance curled around me.
“How long have you been screwing Sarah?”
He tensed but didn’t turn around.
Stumbling, I sat at the kitchen table. “You at least owe me honesty, Ben. How long?”
Finally, he turned around. His eyes were rimmed with tears and remorse but he still didn’t meet my stare. “I’m so sorry, Kloe.”
I nodded. My throat hurt and I forced myself to swallow. “Sorry for lying, or sorry for screwing your secretary?”
Wincing, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the counter. “Both.”
“Both, huh?”
I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel. I wasn’t sure if I felt anything right then. Other than nausea.
“So you’ve been fucking her at work, and then coming home and fucking me as well.”
Again, he flinched.
Laughter burst from me, a hysterical cackle that finally made Ben look at me.
“What a stud! Eh? Christ, I’m surprised your dick hasn’t fallen off!”
He stood his ground when I shot up and advanced on him.
“So tell me, how long?”
“I don’t know. Once or twice.”
“You don’t know?” I stared at him in shock. “You don’t know! Jesus, Ben.”
His throat bobbed up and down when I slapped him in the chest.
“And the baby?” I asked with pure hatred. “Why the fuck were we trying for a baby when you’ve been fucking that… that slag behind my back?”