‘If it makes any difference, he hasn’t been to see Beau in about a year now,’ Erica said, breaking into Cathy’s thoughts.
Cathy gave a small smile as she reached for her coffee and blew to cool it down. There was one burning question in all this that she hadn’t asked. She was afraid to ask it but she wanted to, and she wasn’t sure she’d get a completely honest reply from Matthias himself. Not because he would want to deceive her, but because he might be afraid to hurt her. Cathy wasn’t sure she’d get much more honesty from Erica either – for pretty much the same reasons – but maybe there was a greater likelihood of getting to something like the truth. She braced herself and decided to go for it.
‘Did Matthias leave Sidonie or was it her who ended the marriage?’
Erica shook her head sadly. ‘That was one thing I didn’t keep from you – all the women in his life have let him down in one way or another.’
‘And that includes Sidonie?’
‘Yes. He was a mess when he moved back to England.’
‘So he lived in France with her?’
‘They’d started out living here when they were first married, but she got restless and wanted to go home. Matthias would have done anything for her so he agreed and they spent the last couple of years in the village where she was born. I think he hated it, but he wanted to make her happy. Turns out, nothing he did made her happy.’
‘Did you like her?’
‘I tolerated her. She was alright, but sometimes I found her demands frustrating and I wanted to tell Matthias what a pain I thought she was but it was none of my business. Sometimes I wish I’d made it my business – I might have spared him a lot of heartache if I could have made him see what she was really like. Not that he would have listened, I expect; he was besotted.’
‘Does he…?’ Cathy hesitated. No, she decided, it didn’t matter and it wasn’t a question she was going to ask. She wasn’t going to put Erica on the spot like that. Whether he still had any feelings for his ex or not, it did look to Cathy as if she was firmly out of the picture.
‘So,’ Cathy said instead. ‘It doesn’t look as if Tansy is going back home any time soon?’
‘Is that wishful thinking?’ Erica asked, the hint of a wry smile on her lips now.
‘It might be,’ Cathy admitted, smiling herself now. ‘Does that make me a bad person?’
‘No, I wouldn’t blame you. She’s a handful for us; I can’t imagine how she’d be for you, especially when she…’ Erica shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I’ve spoken to Michelle and she says Tansy overreacted. She says she can go home any time she likes but she’s not going to beg her and she’s not going to apologise because she says she’s got nothing to apologise for.’
‘Do you think that?’
‘I don’t know what went on so I’m not going to make a judgement. I know what my sister’s like when she gets in with a new man, but I think Tansy often makes herself quite unpopular too. I wouldn’t like to comment on what happened between her and Shane.’
‘Matthias seems to think Tansy was scared of him.’
‘I think sometimes Matthias misses having Beau to care for. Obviously, Beau wasn’t his own son but he raised him as if he was and I think Tansy is an outlet for those paternal instincts. If he feels she’s in trouble, he’s there, and she takes advantage of that too. I think she plays up to him a lot more than she does me.’
‘How old is Beau?’
‘He’d be about twelve now, I’d say.’
‘And how long is it since Matthias and Sidonie split up?’
‘About two years now. He was going over to visit at first, but then Sidonie started to see another man and she asked him not to go because she said it was confusing Beau. I don’t personally agree and I think she was using Beau as an excuse because she didn’t want to keep having to deal with Matt’s visits. I think he knows that too, deep down. But he always did do everything she asked and this was no different.’
‘Do you think he feels guilty about not seeing Beau?’
‘Oh God, yes. I think he’ll feel guilty for as long as he lives.’
Cathy was thoughtful for a moment. ‘You know you said you didn’t think Tansy wanted to come back to cookery club? Do you think you could persuade her to change her mind?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Erica said with a vague frown. ‘You’d really want her back there after everything that’s happened?’
‘I just feel like it’s a good place for us to bond. It would be a bit obvious if I started going over and asking her to spend time with me, but I do think that we need to do that. Maybe if we knew each other better she wouldn’t be against me seeing Matthias. Being at cookery club is a way to do that without her realising I’m trying to do that. Do you think it could work?’
‘I’ll mention it to her but I can’t promise anything. What about Iris and Dora? I’m sure they won’t be thrilled to see her back.’
‘They’ll be alright,’ Cathy said, as certain as she could be that her previous threat to pull the plug on the cookery club would still be enough to keep the opinions of Iris and Dora on the matter private, if not completely in check. ‘I’ll have a quiet word with them.’
Erica reached for her coffee. ‘Well, if you’re sure…’
‘No, I’m not sure at all,’ Cathy said with a small smile. ‘But I’ve got nothing else up my sleeve right now so it has to be worth a try.’
Twenty-Eight
By some miracle, Erica did persuade Tansy to come back to cookery club, and they arrived together the following Friday. Cathy beamed as she went over to greet them and Erica was her usual bright self, whereas Tansy – though not quite as closed as usual – was more cautiously reserved.
‘Hello!’ Cathy said. ‘Got everything you need?’
‘We have!’ Erica held up a bulging carrier bag. ‘Raring to go, aren’t we, Tans?’
‘I don’t like carrot cake,’ Tansy said.
‘Yes, but Matthias loves it,’ Erica replied cheerily. ‘It’ll be a nice surprise for him when he gets home from work, won’t it?’
Erica glanced beyond her and gave a little wave to Iris, who was watching them closely as she unpacked her ingredients. Cathy had briefed Erica on a need-to-know basis about what Iris had said the last time Tansy had been there and sabotaged her bake (inadvertently or not). She wasn’t planning to tell her but, considering they couldn’t discount the possibility of more trouble with Tansy’s return, she’d decided that she probably had to give Erica a bit of warning. Erica had nodded gravely and seemed to understand that she had to let it slide for now. She was no fool when it came to her niece.
‘I’m really glad to see you here,’ Cathy said, smiling warmly at Tansy, who seemed confused by the sight, which gave Cathy a private moment of amusement. If Tansy thought Cathy was going to fight fire with fire, she was in for a shock. Cathy had decided on the complete opposite tactic – the more difficult Tansy was, the nicer Cathy was going to be to her. She was going to get through to this girl if it killed her.