Amanda snorts and reaches for the half-empty bottle of rosé on the table. ‘Well, if Rupert isn’t happy about you going out to a full-time job – although honestly, Emily, I wouldn’t let Will dictate to me like that – charity work is better than nothing, I suppose. Caro did charity work, so I don’t really see how Rupert can be against you doing something similar. Until you have a baby, at least.’
Heat creeps up my neck and I feel a blush stain my cheeks as I open and close my mouth uselessly, the words not there when I need them. Eventually, I hold out my glass for Amanda to fill it. ‘I’m sure I’ll find something,’ I say, brushing away Amanda’s comment about babies. ‘I have plenty of time.’
It’s not until later, once Sadie and Amanda have finished the bottle of rosé, and we’ve spent the afternoon discussing the honeymoon and how I am going to fill my time now that I’m not working, that I remember what Amanda said when she first arrived. It was probably your cleaner woman. My mind flits back to the bedroom earlier today, stepping over Rupert’s dirty laundry to get to the bathroom. The thing is, I am pretty sure that Anya wasn’t supposed to be working today.
Chapter Fourteen
Rupert is exhausted when he gets home on Friday night – this week has flown by and it feels like the honeymoon was months ago, although to be fair, he carried on working from his sun lounger for most of it. He felt less relaxed when he got back than he did before he left.
‘Honey, I’m home!’ He chuckles to himself under his breath, as he lets himself in through the front door. He always used to call the same thing out to Caro, and she would call back with some witty remark, but now there is only silence. ‘Em? Are you about?’ He drops his laptop bag by the front door and peers into the sitting room, where he sees Emily tucked up in the huge armchair, her feet curled up underneath her. ‘Are you OK?’
Emily has lit the candles that line the mantelpiece, and switched on the tiny Tiffany lamp that Caro bagged at a flea market in Brooklyn years ago, but the dim lighting does nothing to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She looks up at him, almost as though she hasn’t realized he was there. ‘Oh, you’re home.’ Her eyes wander to the clock on the wall and then back to his face. ‘Yes, I’m fine. I didn’t hear you come in.’ She gets to her feet, and as she goes to pass by him, he pulls her into his arms.
‘I missed you today. What did you get up to?’ He nuzzles her hair and she leans against him, her arms loosely round his waist.
‘I had a bit of a day, actually.’ Emily sighs, pushing her shoulder-length, blonde hair behind her ears as she wriggles out of his grasp and heads towards the kitchen.
‘Oh, why’s that?’ Rupert follows her, watching as she opens the fridge door and pulls out a bottle of Sauvignon.
‘Just silly things, really.’ She blinks, as if to hold back tears, and shakes her head. ‘I went to the yoga class today with Sadie. It was kind of her to invite me. It must be hard for her to see you move on after Caro.’
‘Yes, Sadie is lovely. So, what was the problem with the yoga class?’ Rupert reaches over to take the wine bottle from Emily’s hand as she struggles with the corkscrew.
‘Oh, it’s stupid.’ Emily shakes her head, tugging a tissue out of her sleeve and blowing her nose. ‘I feel ridiculous even mentioning it.’
‘Try me.’
‘Well… the instructor knew Caro. I know, I know, I shouldn’t feel weird about it, but I did. It just made me feel a little out of place, that’s all. Like, everyone is comparing me to Caro.’
‘Don’t be silly, no one is doing that. It’s just a coincidence – surely there are only so many yoga teachers in the area? And Caro did do a lot of yoga, so she was probably taught by most of them at one point or another. But if it makes you feel uncomfortable, maybe no more yoga, eh?’
‘Maybe.’ A cloud crosses Emily’s face and she opens her mouth as if to speak before closing it abruptly again.
‘Was there something else?’
‘You’re really going to think I’m daft if I tell you.’ Emily lets out a little half laugh, but Rupert can tell there is something on her mind that’s bothering her.
‘Tell me.’
‘Well, I thought I heard someone in the house today, and I almost thumped Sadie over the head with a poker, but it turned out it was just Anya.’ She tries to smile. ‘I told you it was silly.’
‘You almost thumped Sadie over the head with a poker?’ Rupert gapes at her, as he wonders how on earth Sadie coped with that.
‘Almost. I didn’t actually do it. See, I told you you’d think I was an idiot. I thought she was an intruder, I was trying to defend myself.’ Emily folds her arms across her chest.
‘Well, if you thought you heard something…’ Rupert says, trying to keep the doubt from his voice. He doesn’t want to tell Emily that she was probably imagining it, not when she’d told him she’s received horrible letters and strange text messages, but he’s been through this stuff with Caro before. ‘Who could blame you, eh? I bet you gave Sadie a right old fright.’ He gives a huff of laughter, trying to show Emily that there was nothing to worry about, but when he looks at her, her mouth is turned down, and there is a faint shimmer at the corner of her eye.
‘Sod it,’ he says, throwing down the corkscrew next to the still unopened wine, ‘let’s go out
