The Little French Guesthouse Read Online Free Page B

pride didn’t want her walking in on a heart-to-heart and getting intimate knowledge of our relationship’s failings as well.
    The minute she drove off to the hospital, I collared Nathan at the bottom of the garden, where he appeared to be studying the habits of the chickens in minute detail.
    ‘Nathan. We need to talk.’
    He turned. ‘We talked last night.’
    I suppressed a sigh. ‘No, we didn’t. I talked. You said you didn’t want to. It was a bit one-sided.’
    ‘I’d say you shouted more than talked.’
    I took a deep breath and counted to five. I really couldn’t make it to ten.
    ‘Of course I shouted!’ I shouted. ‘What did you expect? I found you having sex with another woman. What was I supposed to do, burst into song? I think under the circumstances I showed incredible restraint, what with Rupert and everything.’
    Nathan nodded, conceding me that point at least.
    ‘Do I get an explanation for last night’s shenanigans or not?’ I asked.
    ‘I already gave you one.’
    I choked out a laugh. ‘“Too much to drink”?’
    He nodded.
    ‘Pathetic.’
    Nathan’s jaw set in a stubborn line. It highlighted his resemblance to his mother. ‘You really want to discuss this?’
    ‘No, I don’t want to, Nathan. Believe it or not, I’m just as reluctant to deal with what happened last night as you are. But I can’t see how we’re going to move forward until we do.’
    ‘Okay. Fine.’ He took a deep breath. ‘The fact is, things haven’t been right between us for a while, Em. We don’t talk much any more. We don’t do stuff together any more. I just don’t think you’ve noticed.’
    And with that one statement, the cold blood dripping through my veins turned into a red-hot, furious torrent.
    I took a shaky breath. ‘How can you have thegallto stand there and tell me I haven’t noticed how crappy things have been lately? If you’re so bloody observant, then why didn’t you do something about it? Oh. No, wait. You did. You slept with Gloria. Very constructive, you faithless prick !’
    Nathan paled at the onslaught. ‘For God’s sake, Emmy, keep your voice down. There might be people sitting outside the gîtes .’
    ‘I will not keep my voice down. Don’t you dare tell me to keep my voice down! I have spent the past year worrying myself sick about us, while you carried on in your smug little world. Notonce have you said anything about being unhappy, while I’ve agonised and wondered whether it was normal to barely speak two words to each other. This holiday was my idea, remember? I’d hoped it would give us the chance to get to know each other again, to get away from work and stress and see if we could be like we used to be.’ At that, my voice broke.
    ‘Yes, well, we’re not like we used to be, are we?’ he said quietly.
    ‘I should say not, after last night!’
    He shook his head. ‘You’re not going to forget that, are you?’
    My eyes widened. ‘Do you honestly expect me to?’
    ‘I’m not sure what I expect any more. I need to think. I’m going for a walk.’ He stormed off in the direction of the lane.
    Incensed, I stomped back inside. As I fought to bring my blood pressure into a safer zone, I looked around the kitchen with dismay. A huge room, it usually conveyed a sense of space and order, with its warm pine units and smart granite worktops fitted across the back half, and its large farmhouse table where guest meals were eaten set under the sloping roof of some kind of porch extension, well away from the cooking area. Now, the morning’s dirty dishes were carelessly piled up next to last night’s by the sink, Rupert’s superlative sauce fit only for the flies gathering on the plates and pans, which stretched halfway around the kitchen. Naively, I’d assumed Gloria would do something about them before Rupert got back – something other than stack them in towering piles, that is. There was a rancid smell. Under the rubble, I discovered its source to be the