Chapter 66

‘Muuuuum,' Georgia yells. ‘Auntie Linda's here.'

‘I'll be down in a minute, sweetheart.' I lean over the banister, catching sight of a blur of yellow swishing by as Linda clambers after Georgia in the hallway. She's wearing her new Karen Millen trench coat. Theo bought it for her. A peace-offering for giving her a hard time over that one-night-stand she had with Frank a million years ago. ‘Linda,' I yell, clipping on my right earring. ‘Help yourself to coffee or tea.'

Heading back into my bedroom, I tuck my olive-green blouse into my black skirt, throwing a glance at the time on Alexa Echo Show on my bedside table. It's eight-thirty. Daisy said she'll be meeting us at the house at half-nine. We've plenty of time, but I feel anxious as hell. It's not newbie nerves, it's more to do with the potential tenant who will be viewing the property. You'll be fine, Bella. She won't bite.

Tom had laughed when I told him Linda and I were starting our own agency. ‘I'll give you three months, tops,' he said, sardonically. ‘Sorry, Bella, but you haven't got a business brain between you.'

But I've already proved him wrong. Linda and I set up Belinda Estate and Lettings two months ago and we've already sold seven properties and let out sixteen.

Daisy was our first client. Tina Anderson was right about Daisy having plenty of her own money. It was sitting in the bank earning a pittance. Linda suggested investing it in property. So, when Zelda's neighbours, Janette and Ian, ran out of money and into debt, forcing them to put their house on the market via our agency, Daisy got in there first with the asking price. The process was swift, and they exchanged three weeks ago.

Zelda got first dibs and has moved into the first-floor flat with loft conversion. The kitchen isn't massive, but it's big enough to accommodate her cake business and a far cry from the dismal flat she rented next door, with its prehistoric kitchen, mould infested bedroom and ancient bathroom. Daisy isn't charging Zelda a penny, not even mates' rates. All she'll have to do is chip in for the bills. I swear that girl has invisible wings.

Daisy, much to Mum's annoyance because she wanted her youngest daughter to live with her forever and not just a few weeks, has moved into the basement flat. ‘I love gardening,' Daisy said when I warned her that she won't get much light down there and basements are notorious for flooding. ‘I'll be fine. Plus, I'll earn a bit more from the two-bedroom ground-floor flat.' I couldn't argue with that. The ground-floor apartment with balcony overlooking the incredible views of Green Bay gardens and lake is a bit spectacular.

A text pings through. I look at the screen. It's from Tom:

Picking Georgia up from football practice and going to Wagamama. Fancy joining us? Xx

I quickly type:

No.

I chew my bottom lip, finger hovering over send, delete it and type again:

Thanks. But you guys should spend some quality time together.?

I read it back, then press Send. Tom and I are officially separated. We agreed that our marriage wasn't working out – the trust had gone – and I couldn't live with his stinginess a moment longer. The truth is, all I've ever wanted was to be loved. To be put first. To be someone's number one priority. If I'm honest, I don't think I had any of that with Tom. I'd go as far as saying that he only married me because I was pregnant with his child. Zelda was his first choice when we met all those years ago. Tom just settled for me. Second best Bella, that's what I am. Maybe I should have it printed on a t-shirt, or tattooed inside my wrist.

A week had passed before I told my family that Tom and I were estranged. It was during a family dinner to celebrate Daisy's homecoming. I wasn't surprised by Mum's reaction. She loved Tom. She even cried. Blamed me, said I was being hasty, ‘So what if he's parsimonious?' she'd said. ‘I can think of worse traits.' Zelda agreed with the latter part of Mum's assumption and I began to doubt everything again. Until Daisy spoke.

‘I wasn't going to say anything but now I will.' Daisy set her cutlery down. ‘On the night of all that hoo-ha with Frank and Stanhope and the police visit, I walked in on Tom having, what looked like, a steamy conversation with a woman on Zoom.' Zelda gasped, looked at me, grim-faced, while Mum made a noise that sounded as if she was suffocating.

‘I thought you'd gone to bed,' I said. We all had, bar Tom who was googling smells and the afterlife.

‘My head was buzzing. I couldn't sleep. I went down to make myself a cup of camomile. The moment he saw me, he slammed the lid of his laptop down, and just sat there, deep in thought, hand still on his laptop, face all flushed and sweaty. I guess he didn't know how much I'd heard. I wasn't going to mention it, but his reaction made me suspicious. After a few moments, I asked him, casual as you like, who that blonde bird was. He laughed it off, said it was a colleague, called their conversation a bit of banter. I was like, what, at this time of the morning? Then he made me promise not to tell you, Bella, reckoned you had a bit of a jealous streak.'

A cold silence snapped around the table. Mum, Zelda and I exchanged glances. ‘I gave him the benefit of the doubt,' Daisy continued. ‘I didn't want to cause any trouble between the two of you. But he did get a bit frosty with me after that.' That was why he suddenly wanted her out. She knew too much, couldn't trust her.

Tom didn't deny it when I confronted him – called the affair stress-sex. ‘Natalie was a client,' he explained, which broke all the rules in itself. Health professionals aren't supposed to date patients, are they? He went on to say that when Liam came to our house that night looking for me, Tom had lost it, thought we were lovers. ‘I am sorry, you know,' he said, in Wendy and Gary's hallway when I went round to take him a few of his things.

‘For what? Bribing Daisy, or sleeping with someone else?'

‘All of it. I was lost, weak, and Natalie just...'

‘Took the edge off?' I finished. ‘Most people have a few large GTs.'

He inhaled deeply through his nose. ‘I still love you and I want us to fix this.'

‘It's too late, Tom. I'm sorry. I'll send the rest of your things on.'

Then as I reached for the doorlatch he blurted. ‘I know you were in love with him.' I paused, frowned at the door. ‘I heard you talking to Liam on the phone.' My frown deepened. ‘Oh, don't play the innocent. On the night of Linda and Theo's dinner party, after I'd warned him off you. You couldn't wait to lock yourself away in the bathroom and phone him, could you? Well, I wasn't tucked up in bed, as you thought. I was standing outside, listening.' I spun on my heel then, and looked at him incredulously. ‘I heard you pleading with him to give you another chance. Begging for his forgiveness. Pathetic.'

‘You're insane,' I retorted.

‘That's what all those gym visits were about, weren't they?' he hissed. ‘Losing all that weight. You wanted to look good for him.'

I shook my head. ‘You really are deluded. Hang on, I know what you're trying to do, accuse me of infidelity to make yourself look better to save face. But you're the one who got caught with his pants down.' I went to open the front door when his hand slammed against the panel. I could feel his hot breath against my ear, smell the alcohol on his breath. He was pissed.

‘But it's what you said to him next that sent me into the arms of another woman. Do you remember what it was?'

I turned around and squared up to him. ‘You were drunk then and you're drunk now.'

‘Thought not,' he whispered. ‘I'll refresh your memory, shall I?' He cleared his throat, then said, ‘Please, don't push me away. Just say the word and I'll leave him.' My face twisted in confusion and I gave a little mirthless laugh, told him he was pathetic.‘But he didn't want to know, did he? Refused to leave his wife and kids for you. And you…' He poked my shoulder. ‘Got so mad that you chucked your phone across the bathroom.' I shook my head in disbelief, told him he was mad. ‘That's how you shattered your phone screen. You didn't drop it in the Tesco carpark at all, did you?'

My phone rings on the bedside table, breaking me out of my reverie. I peer at it and my heart stops. It's Fiona, Liam's widow.