Rob twisted, glaring at Ben.
“The whole village has flocked to the bookies,” he continued, unperturbed. “Myself included. I thought you’d get together as soon as you returned, but had another flutter.”
“I hope your new bet is ‘never’.”
Just as he never should have trusted Anjuli would change or see the restoration through. Friends, she’d said. Fuck that. She didn’t care about him even as a friend. The word was wasted on her. All she wanted from him was sex, and only when she was drunk. Well, if she thought he would service her again she was sorely mistaken.
She was right about one thing though. The more Ben told him of Mac’s reaction to Craig’s adultery the more he agreed the situation was like a horror film. Mac was lashing out and oddly, she seemed to want Anjuli’s blood more than she did Ash’s.
Chapter Sixteen
Anjuli stared at the two-week-old baby girl in her arms. The pain of holding her was no longer as acute as when Ash had first brought Saffron Marie Carver home, but it was there, lurking inside her. She smiled sadly at the baby’s soft skin, her delicate eyebrows and tiny rosebud mouth. She was rooting beneath Anjuli’s breast in hunger.
If she shut her eyes, she could imagine Chloe in her arms instead of Saffron, feel her plump body as she burped her after a feed.
Pat, pat, pat and small, gentle circles to soothe.
Ash opened her arms for Saffron. “What are you wearing tonight and who’s your date?”
The annual Common Riding Ball had finally arrived, marking the end of the festival. “Beats me and I don’t have one. Damien’s busy. I’ll be a wall-thistle tonight, so prickly nobody will ask me to dance.”
“Viking will dance with you, although I recommend not getting too close to his feet. He thinks Scottish dancing is like the polka, the big barbarian. He’s rented a kilt and—” Ash hissed, grinding her teeth as Saffron latched on to her breast. “God, that hurts like hell sometimes.”
“Yeah.” It might be easier to watch Ash with Saffron, but sometimes she had to step away, go to the window and look at something else. Anything. Nothing. Mrs. Wilson, at her usual spot behind her net curtains, observing the world while she drank sherry from a teacup. She waved and Anjuli waved back. Would she also one day sit alone, made up to the nines, expecting no one?
She cut her gaze across the green. The Town Hall ledges were dressed in summer flowers. Two large pots, either side of the double doors, provided a riot of burgundy and purple violets, courtesy of Mrs. P. and the Heaverlock in Bloom Club.
Anjuli handed Ash a muslin square to wipe Saffron’s mouth. “Councillor Hamish popped into the pub yesterday and asked me to officially declare the Common Riding Ball open tonight. He’ll lead the first reel with the new Provost.”
At least some people didn’t care about the gossip. Anjuli’s smile faded. Mac, as Chairman of the Common Riding Committee, would be on stage with her.
“Why the woeful face, Babes? At least they didn’t ask you to sing. Someone from Edinburgh’s been hired so you can relax. You can sashay up there, say a few words of welcome, thank the village, blah, blah, and then you can find Rob and talk to him.”
Easier said than done. “After what I said to him on the phone? He must be wondering why I haven’t paid his invoice but he hasn’t bothered to ask. He hasn’t phoned or come by...”
Ash’s face tightened. “Give it some time.”
Rob was one of the customers who didn’t frequent the pub anymore, as were a lot of people who sympathised with Mac and wanted to show their support. Had it not been for the busy tourist season, custom would have been dangerously low for Ash’s bank balance. Villagers were choosing to travel to Halton to enjoy a night out, but Anjuli hoped that once the days got shorter, they would drift back to the Heaverlock Arms.
She injected a positive note into her voice. “Damien is sure the hype will die down once people have something else to gossip about.”
“There’s a man who seems like he knows what he’s talking about. Why aren’t you going to the Ball with him?”
Anjuli grinned. “I set him up with Murran Harris. She’s nice.”
“And she’ll put out.”
“Well, there’s that too. All she talks about is that very impressive bulge of his. A weapon of female destruction, she calls it, hoping he’ll point it at her.”
The sisters laughed. “It might go off tonight,” Anjuli said. “Damien’s libido is on overdrive, poor man. I think no sex in months has done something to his brain. He’s become broody and quiet.”