Sorry about the long wait. It took me a little while to get going again after passing my exam (yay!) and this was a tough chapter to write. I think there's only going to be one more though... :)
Thanks for all of your emails and comments—and for being so patient!
Lily
-x-
*
"Lissy?
Lissy
!"
Hearing the accelerating pace of Matt's feet crunching through the gravel, Melissa broke into a run. This wasn't happening. It
couldn't
be happening. This was all part of some weird and wonderful dream and any second now she'd wake up, thrashing against the bedclothes.
"Lissy, please!"
"Let her go, mate," Jason called. "For God's sake, give her some space."
Jason, the voice of reason, she marvelled, aware of Matt's footsteps slowing even as she sped up. Who'd have thought? If her head hadn't already been reeling, she might have found the notion amusing. But this wasn't funny. Not even close. No, this was a cruel, cosmic joke. After all they'd been through, after everything they'd shared, Matt had kept a secret like that from her? But Jason had known. Clearly he'd known all along.
Charlie told me on the day of Suzie's funeral.
The words slammed into her chest like knives, the wall of pressure building in her lungs at last forcing her to stagger to a halt on the driveway outside the bungalow. Suzie's funeral? Melissa closed her eyes, gasping for breath. He'd known for fourteen years?
A familiar pain rose from the pit of her stomach. It was happening again. Just as always, she'd been the last to know. Matt had known Charlie had cancer, he'd had months to prepare for his death, but she'd been left in the dark. He'd been actively involved in the preparation of Charlie's Will but she'd known nothing...
"Oh God," she whispered, opening her eyes to find herself staring at the front door through a haze of tears. Though she'd been aware Matt had attended the signing of the Will, his presence on that occasion now took on a whole new significance. Despite her surprise at being a beneficiary to half of Charlie's assets, she'd accepted Archie's explanation, that as she was Suzie's niece, Charlie had felt she should receive an equal share.
But Matt was Charlie's son.
Suddenly conscious of the weight in her hand, Melissa looked down to discover she was still clasping Matt's mobile phone. And almost before she realised she'd made a decision, she flicked it open and punched in a long ago memorised number.
*
"What are you doing?"
Though she'd heard him charging in through the front door, the sound of Matt's voice still made her jump. As usual. Biting her lip hard, she bent to haul out her suitcase from behind the ottoman and threw it on to the bed. Actions spoke louder than words.
"You're leaving?"
Melissa winced, steeling herself to ignore the dismay in his tone. "It's for the best," she muttered, flinging the lid open and beginning to stuff in the clothes she'd piled upon the bed. No time for careful folding, she reasoned. No need either. After days spent working with dust and grime, the whole lot would need washing when she got home.
"For the best?" he echoed incredulously. "Lissy!"
Though it was pointless to pretend she hadn't heard him, she tried anyway. The last thing she needed now was a fight.
Just hold it together for another five minutes
, she urged herself, staring at the already half-full case.
Think Melissa, think... What else do you need to pack?
"Toothbrush," she remembered aloud and turned to find Matt standing in the doorway, blocking her exit. "Do you mind?"
Instead of moving aside, Matt took a step backwards, planting a hand on either side of the doorframe. "This is crazy. You can't go. Not like this."
"I can't go?" For the first time, she lifted her gaze to his, a fresh surge of anger infusing her words with venom. "Why? Thought of something else you should've told me? Come on then, out with it. Get it off your chest."
"Lissy, please." Matt looked pained. "Give me a chance to explain. You don't understand..."
"Oh no, I get it," she fired back, holding up a hand. "Believe me, I get it. Now get out of my way."
In the silent stand-off that followed, Melissa feared he might actually refuse to budge. But when he sighed, his arms falling to his sides in resignation, her relief at being able to edge past him was short-lived when he followed her out into the hall.
"Do you have any idea how many times I've wanted to tell you?"
"And yet you didn't." She shook her head as she headed into the bathroom. "It must've been
so
tough on you."
"Yeah, it was." The immediacy of Matt's retort caught her off guard. "He told me about ten minutes before Suzie's funeral kicked off. Can you imagine what that was like? Sitting there, in a church full of people, knowing something that no one else knew—knowing something that even Suzie didn't know? Because she never knew, Liss. He never told her."
Melissa found she couldn't turn around. The very idea of Charlie having an affair was unthinkable. That he'd had an affair with Ruth, of all people. His brother's wife. Suddenly she couldn't decide which was worse, Matt keeping the secret all these years, or Charlie not being the man she thought he was. "Well there's a surprise," she murmured, voicing the ironic thought that promptly dropped into her head. "Like father, like son."
But the moment she spoke the words, she realised their bitter truth and as the shock of understanding rippled through her anew, she swept up her toiletries and hurried back to the bedroom, ignoring Matt's pleas for her to wait. Better not to stop and think. Better to keep moving, keep packing. Not much longer now.
"We're going to have to talk about this sooner or later."
"Matt!" He'd followed her again? "For God's sake..." She groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Don't you get it? I don't want to talk about it, okay? There's nothing to talk about."
"Look." Matt's tone was softer now, conciliatory. "I know you're angry. I don't blame you, I'd be angry too."
"Angry?" Inexplicably, Melissa wanted to laugh. "I'm angry, is that what I'm feeling? Well hey, thanks for pointing that out. I'd never have figured that out on my own."
