‘Oh no, you're not!' said Will, appearing from the side and leading his wife masterfully off inside the house for some soft drinks and a cheese sarnie. Despite appearances, Will could handle Pam quite efficiently when he needed to.
And as Adam's brain processed this new, albeit confusing, information, it occurred to him that maybe he didn't know the real Stevie Honeywell at all.
For the remainder of the party the pretend lovebirds managed to give the perfect semblance of a truly together couple. They spent a fair bit of time apart with their separate groups of friends, but the clues were there in the times they sought each other out – in the small touches, the considerations which spoke far more than grandiose displays of snoggy-type affection. Then all too soon it was time for them to go home. Adam had been talking to Will and the gym guys, once again battling the merits of Well Life versus Gym Village, when he looked over and caught Matthew staring over at Stevie, who was chattering happily away to Catherine and a well-sobered-up Pam. It wasn't the look of someone who had lost all his feelings for her, and Adam didn't know why, but it annoyed him. He made his way over to Stevie, put his arm possessively around her and squeezed her, then bent his head to her to say that they were being observed. She felt for his hand and decided to put on a good show in that case. Stevie had never been one for holding hands, so she knew that if Matthew was watching this, it would strike a loud chord. Being swallowed up by Adam's big meaty mitt, though, wasn't anything like the rare slim-fingered Matthew-hand experience. Adam was stroking her knuckles with his thumb absently whilst they were talking to Catherine. It felt as intimate as a kiss, almost more so, and for that reason, she felt herself pulling away, just before Danny came along, yawning. She gave Catherine and Eddie and her host and hostess a goodbye hug, then they wended their way back to Adam's car.
Danny was asleep as soon as he was buckled into the back seat and Stevie wasn't far behind him. She hadn't drunk much alcohol; the first glass of champagne had gone straight to her head and she didn't trust her actions if her feelings were booze-distorted, so she'd mostly drunk tonic water. Still, she felt dizzy and exhilarated. She'd had such a lovely time and it had been more successful on the Matthew/Jo front than she could ever have thought possible. Jo had spent most of the evening trying not to look cross and Matthew just looked weary. His disgruntled face and Jo's obviously snipey asides had added very much to the enjoyment of her evening, and if that made her a bitch, then so be it. She had caught Matthew staring over at them quite a few times, and once she thought he had been about to come over, until Jo had stopped him. What would he have said, she wondered.
And Adam had been … well, lovely actually. Even though he was faking the affection, it had been nice to imagine what it would be like to be wanted and touched and fussed over by someone who had her interests at heart. Matthew had liked to be touched and fussed over, but he rarely gave back the affection he expected. Every day, Stevie was becoming more aware of how much she had given out and how little she had received in return. It made her feel even more lonely and unwanted and stupid than she did already.
Adam drove in silence. The buzzing little mosquito had landed and he had swatted it in his head and examined it. It had been a very interesting little bug.
He carried Danny into the house for her, and deposited him gently on his bed. Stevie took off her son's shoes and threw his cover over him. Then she asked Adam if he wanted a coffee and he said that he wouldn't mind. She put a half-packet of ground beans through the percolator, then they went into the lounge and flumped down. Stevie reclined on the sofa and kicked off her sandals. Surprisingly, she had only been aware of her feet hurting since she had walked in through the door. She wiggled her toes and relaxed.
‘What sort of coffee is this then?' asked Adam, taking a great big dreamy sniff.
‘Chocolate ice-cream. It's nice iced, with a big blob of cream on the top.'
‘Sounds lovely.'
‘It is.'
They drank in a silence that was surprisingly companionable. For a while, she almost forgot she didn't like him. However, that wasn't to last.
‘You seem to like these books,' he said, picking up a Beatrice Pollen Midnight Moon from a stack at the side of his chair. ‘I wouldn't have thought someone like you might be into crappy romances like these.'
Had Stevie been a puffer fish, she would have swollen up to twenty times her normal size then and grown spikes.
‘Yes, but you don't know me at all to judge me, do you?'
Adam couldn't believe she had snapped at him. He had actually meant what he said as a compliment!
‘No,' he said, thinking back to his conversation with Pam, ‘you're right, I don't. But I think I might get to know you quite a bit better soon.'
‘Oh, do you really think so?' drawled Stevie, as all thoughts of goodwill towards him disappeared in a puff of smoke. Cocky git! The party was over, so was the pretence, and now he was back to being the local Loss Ness Monster representative.
‘Yes, I think we need to capitalize on the impact we've made tonight.' He calmly sipped from his cup in stark contrast to Stevie, whose eyebrows appeared to be doing a tango.
‘Meaning?'
‘Meaning, it's working so we have to give it our all.'
‘So, Mr MacLean, how exactly do you propose to do that?'
‘Easy, Miss Honeywell. Tomorrow I'm moving in with you.'
Chapter 39
‘Well, that was another great evening!' Jo grumbled, throwing her clutch purse down on the sofa and ripping off her shoes. ‘I can't believe Adam would even think about going out with her. Obviously, he's doing it out of spite. What does he think he's bloody trying to prove? I mean, as if I'd be jealous of a fucking ugly fucking dwarf!'
‘You think he's trying to actually do that? Make you jealous?' said Matthew, wincing at her foul expletives. Not even Jo with her posh accent could make them sound acceptable to him.
‘What else? He can't actually like her, can he? He's obviously using her and the stupid bitch can't see it.'
‘Don't be cruel,' said Matthew with a weary huff. ‘Stevie hasn't done anything wrong. She's a good person.'
‘She can't be that great if you left her at a minute's notice,' sneered Jo waspishly.
‘I didn't leave her because she was horrible,' said Matthew, but quietly because Jo was being quite scary and her comment hit his conscience in the bull's eye.
‘You're standing up for her?' Jo looked at him with an expression so twisted it made her sweet face look quite ugly.
Matthew decided not to say that he was worried to death about Stevie and would have to step in soon to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life. He knew it would cause this row to get even bigger and he was too tired, physically and emotionally, for that tonight. His head felt heavy and mixed-up and fit to burst. It was as if Jo was two different people sometimes and he was seeing less of the sweet, lovely one every day.
‘All I'm saying is that she didn't deserve what she got from us and does anyone deserve to be a punchbag for him?'
‘Oh, don't be stupid! Adam wouldn't-' Jo snapped off what she was going to say and flew into a different fury instead. ‘How dare he? With her! How long has it been going on, that's what I'd like to know.'
‘Does it matter?'
‘Yes, of course it matters! No one is unfaithful to me. No one!'
She thought once again of how easily Stevie had let Matthew go. And she thought of how undramatic the scene had been when she had told Adam she was leaving. He had listened without saying a word and made no attempt to follow her when she went upstairs to pack her cases. He had even carried them downstairs for her and put them in the car. She saw that sadness was heavy in his eyes, but he still had done nothing to stop her going. In the car, she had pressed her nails into her arm in frustration and anger, hardly feeling the pain. How dare he let her go so easily? She had despised him as weak at the time but now she was sure this was all part of some greater plan, and it excited her. No one had ever let Jo go without a fight.
‘Jo, please explain to me why exactly would you be cross that Stevie and Adam have got together? How can you be bothered, after all he put you through?'
Jo's mouth opened and then shut tight again. Then she started up the stairs, saying, ‘I'm going to bed, Matthew. Come if you want.'