A smile spread across my face. At least I didn’t have to worry about what to wear.
Chapter Five
I awoke the next morning wrapped in a strong pair of arms with a smile on my face. The previous night had been a reminder of what our marriage had been like before James turned into a medium whose body was possessed by work. He kissed me lazily on the head and I relished in his warmth.
‘Morning,’ his voice croaked to life.
‘Morning yourself.’ I tilted my head to kiss him back.
‘I’ve missed you.’
‘Me too.’ I smiled, snuggling back down into his arms. It had been too long. ‘We need to make more of an effort, you know – like have a date night, once a month – no ifs or buts?’
‘Will you be wearing that little number you had on last night?’ He nuzzled my neck.
‘Probably not that exact one,’ I said, smirking at the memory of him ripping it off my body.
It was nice to feel like Charlotte and James again.
After James left for work, I started up my laptop. After my own love life had been reignited, I was eager to see if Megan had received any interest on the Me & You dating site. There were two new messages. A twinge of excitement poked at my chest as I opened the first one.
Hi, loving your profile picture and smoking body and saw your local. Fancy getting to know each other over a few drinks at mine? Tom.
I winced at the grammatical error but, unsure as to whether or not Megan would care, I took the time to look at the tiny thumbnail picture of him just in case. It was of a very impressive, tanned, muscular torso, and you could just see the top of his tight designer boxer shorts, which sat far too low. Was that supposed to be his unique selling point? What had happened to good old-fashioned personality? ‘It’s a no from me, Tom. You’ll have to at least show your face.’ I hit the dustbin icon without a second thought and took a deep breath before opening the second message, my mind full of online dating doubt after Try-not-at-all-Tom’s message.
Megan, me and you, Netflix and chill. Hit me up – I’ll show you a good time. Mr Luvva x
I didn’t even bother looking at his profile picture. Mr Letchy Luvva definitely wasn’t going to be breaching any proximity boundaries with Megan. I knew what Netflix and chill meant. I slammed my laptop shut, feeling a little perplexed and disenchanted by the whole online dating debacle. Everyone seemed to rave about the Me & You site, but I couldn’t think why – it was going to be harder than I thought.
My intercom startled me, cutting my disappointment short. I walked over to the screen and saw my gardener’s van – Smith’s Landscaping. Without speaking, I opened the gate and went to the front door, wondering what on earth the gardeners were doing working on a Monday when they weren’t due until Thursday. I admired their eager work ethic though – it was certainly an improvement on not turning up at all.
‘Sam?’ I said, surprised to see the company owner. Despite knowing Sam for years, we weren’t close friends or anything and he’d never turned up on official gardening business before.
‘Mrs Emsworth, I do apologise for turning up out of the blue. I just wanted to check on everything and apologise about Jim. He’s been unwell. I also wondered if you wanted anything new planting as I’m going to the nursery tomorrow morning?’
I eyed him with suspicion. He was dressed in khaki combats and a ‘Smith’s Landscaping’ navy T-shirt. Sam hadn’t done manual garden work for years – since his business had grown, he’d been very much office-based, sourcing the contracts and such for his employees. He had a fleet of vans and everything.
‘That’s kind of you,’ I said. ‘James has had this thing about planting a eucalyptus tree so perhaps find a spot near the pagoda.’ I turned to go inside, but as I reached the threshold I turned back. Something about him was off. He was usually so sparky and bright. Something about the way his shoulders slumped bothered me. ‘Is everything okay, Sam?’
‘Yes, everything is fine.’ He pulled the corners of his mouth into what I assumed he thought was a smile and wandered off around the side of the house. I went inside, unable to shake the niggling feeling that something wasn’t right. All kinds of things ran through my mind, but with budget cuts to council funding, pay caps and everything else, I was concerned he might have lost some of his big contracts. There had to be something I could do to help. I took a jug of some strawberry, mint-and-lime-infused water from the fridge, grabbed two plastic beakers from my picnic set, and went back outside.
‘I’ve brought you some refreshment. You must have worked up a thirst,’ I said, using a tone that suggested he’d better come over and sit down.
‘I’ll be right with you.’ He was scribbling some notes in a small jotter. I sat in one of the patio chairs and looked out over the garden. It was always immaculate thanks to Sam’s team – when they turned up. The generously sized lawn was framed by a variety of plants and shrubs, which I couldn’t name if my life depended on it, adding colour and texture. Behind the shrubs was a redbrick wall that stood six feet tall and ensured privacy and security all the way around. Sam stuffed his pad into his back pocket and headed towards me.
‘Take a seat.’
He sat down dutifully and gulped down the water. ‘Thank you, Mrs Ems—’
‘Charlotte. Please, I’ve told you countless times, call me Charlotte. We go way back, for goodness’ sake,’ I said. Though James and Sam had never been close, they had mutual
