‘Em, it’s only been a week! Once you get in the swing of things, you’ll be OK. There’s always plenty of stuff to do at home; Sadie and Amanda are always busy.’
‘Well, Amanda still works, so of course she is.’ Rupert had forgotten about Amanda’s little interior design company she’d set up after marrying Will.
‘Sadie, then. Sadie always has stuff to do – I’m sure she can give you some ideas on how to keep busy. I mean, if you really want to work then of course you can, but I won’t lie to you, I am quite old-fashioned about things like that. I loved coming home to you tonight, seeing you curled up in the armchair waiting for me.’ Rupert reaches across the table and grasps her hands in his.
‘Well, Sadie has given me a few things to think about.’ Emily pauses as Gino brings over the wine and Rupert is made to taste it and approve it. She waits until Gino leaves. ‘We were talking about charity work and I know you have one that you like to donate to regularly… it might be something to consider.’
‘Hmmm,’ Rupert says, sipping at the wine. It really is excellent – he’s sure Gino has brought them over a better vintage than they ordered. Presumably to make up for the faux pas when they arrived.
‘I think if I have things to do then perhaps I won’t have time to dwell on things so much… you know—’ Emily looks at him from under her lashes ‘—the feeling that someone is… there all the time.’
‘Yes, of course I understand. Look, Em, I just want you to be happy.’ And he does, but more than that Rupert just wants to eat, his veal has arrived, and the smell is driving him mad.
‘I am happy. I don’t want you to think I’m not, it’s just that I need to keep myself occupied. So, you’ll be OK if I contact the charity and see if there’s something I can do for them?’
‘Hmmm?’ Rupert looks up, his mouth full of food. ‘No, I don’t mind. You go for it. Have you tried this yet? It’s fantastic.’
The mood lightens for the rest of the meal, both of them enjoying the spark of electricity that still leaps between them every time their hands accidentally meet, although Emily doesn’t manage to finish her veal, meaning Rupert gets to eat the rest. It’s an unexpected pleasure – Caro would only ever order a Caesar salad, and while she would never finish it, Rupert doesn’t find leftover salad quite so appealing. They talk about Sadie and Miles, about how Emily must meet the children properly soon (a statement that Emily admits makes her nervous – she has zero experience when it comes to entertaining children), and Emily asks about Rupert’s job, but he changes the subject. He really doesn’t want to talk about work on a Friday evening, even leaving his phone in his jacket pocket so he can’t check his emails.
‘I could get used to this married life lark,’ Emily says with a grin, nudging him in the side as they head back home, and Rupert thinks that maybe, just maybe, he’s won her over on staying at home instead of working. They are both a little tipsy, after the wine, some grappa, and Rupert’s bright idea of an Irish coffee to finish the evening off. The walk back to the taxi rank takes longer than anticipated as they keep stopping to kiss under the streetlamps, like teenagers, unable to keep their hands off each other.
As they step out of the taxi, Emily sighs and leans against Rupert’s shoulder. ‘Are you going to take me out for dinner every Friday night?’
‘I don’t know about that,’ Rupert laughs, ‘what will I get in return?’ He leers at her and she shrieks, kicking up gravel as she runs up the driveway towards the front door, before he catches her and they crash against the solid oak door, kissing, bodies pressed hard together. Emily breaks away, her cheeks flushed and pink as she fumbles for her key.
‘Come on, it’s bloody freezing out here now.’ She shoves open the door, kicking off her shoes and making her way towards the sitting room. ‘I forgot to tell you,’ she calls out as Rupert takes off his jacket and moves to follow her. Maybe they can go straight upstairs and finish what they started on the doorstep? ‘Your mother left a message. Something about Christmas… Oh.’
‘What is it?’ Rupert stands behind Emily, where she is frozen in front of the fireplace. He follows her gaze, to where, on a mantelpiece that Rupert is sure held only candles and a tiny Tiffany lamp earlier this evening, Caro’s face beams out from a photograph. Not just any photograph – framed in heavy silver, it’s Rupert and Caro’s wedding photo.
Chapter Fifteen
‘Did you put that there?’ My voice is strangled, and I rest my hand lightly at the base of my throat, my pulse jumping wildly under my fingers. The shock of seeing Caro’s face staring out at me from above the fireplace has made my chest tighten, my throat close over.
‘Me? No, I didn’t put it there.’ Rupert steps past me and I catch a whiff of his aftershave. Hugo Boss. I bought him a bottle of some swanky Tom Ford aftershave before the wedding, but he rarely seems to use it, instead reaching for the bottles of Hugo Boss that Caro bought him, left in the bathroom cabinet. Habit, I hope, but part of me wants to smash every bottle in the cabinet.
‘I’d rather you were just honest with me, Rupert. If you want a photograph of Caro on display, then that’s fine. You don’t have to sneak it onto the mantelpiece while I’m upstairs changing for dinner.’
‘I didn’t put it there, Emily! Do you really think that I’d put up a photograph of my dead first wife without speaking to you about it? Did you not
