The Birds and the Bees(51)

‘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.'