‘Now, you two...’ Catherine beamed at them both indiscriminately, and Elena wondered if her mother-in-law was so blinded by what she wanted to believe that she couldn’t sense something was wrong. ‘I didn’t invite myself here just to play gooseberry. There’s something I need to discuss with you both. I could have said it on the phone, or written, but I wanted to see you...’
As the older woman’s voice trailed uncertainly away Elena knew her present contentment was a fragile thing, with dark grief lurking beneath the surface of her courage, waiting for the opportunity to reclaim her.
‘We’re delighted you came,’ Jed put in swiftly, briefly squeezing his mother’s plump shoulder as he walked past to stand by Elena. ‘We haven’t done any sightseeing at all, so your being here gives us the ideal opportunity—we can do it together. I know Elena’s anxious to show us her favourite places.’
Elena knew no such thing! Playing the devoted ecstatic wife for an audience of one while they trotted round the countryside would kill her! And when Jed went on to ask, ‘So, what was it you wanted to discuss, Ma?’ Elena shot to her feet and grabbed the first excuse to get out of there she could find.
‘It’s time I made a start on supper. You must be hungry, Catherine. You can tell us what’s on your mind while we eat.’
She took her wine and fled, closing the kitchen door behind her, her heart punching against her breastbone. Catherine had mentioned staying a few days. Not long. But it would be purgatory. How could she pretend she and Jed were devoted newlyweds? Yet how could she do anything other? She couldn’t heap more misery on that poor woman’s head!
She and Jed would have to find a way out. She didn’t know how, but she’d come up with something. She’d have to. The present situation couldn’t be borne.
Tiredly, she carried her glass to the sink and tipped the wine away. Jed had been right, of course. Pregnancy and alcohol didn’t mix.
His cool voice slid over her. ‘I’m glad you agree I’m right.’ He took the empty glass from her nerveless fingers and watched the last of the wine drain away.
Elena shuddered. She hadn’t heard him follow her, and the coldness of his voice made her feel as if a wave of icy water had washed over her. How could he have forgotten everything they’d been to each other so completely and so callously?
Yet hadn’t she, over this last endless week, been trying to do the same?
It was probably the only way, she conceded now, and turned away from him. ‘Of course you were right. But you’re not always, and you’d do well to remember that.’ And he could ponder that, or not, as he chose. He had refused to hear her side of the story, walked all over her attempts to explain. She wasn’t going to put herself in the position of being humiliated all over again. ‘Why don’t you go and entertain Catherine? Leave me to make supper.’
There were things she needed to say to him, but they would have to wait. Right now she wanted him and his icy voice and his tight-boned face well away from where she was. Her emotions had been in a mess ever since she’d discovered she was pregnant, and his return—with Catherine—had sent them skittering around, completely out of control.
She couldn’t handle it, and didn’t even want to have to try.
But Jed had other ideas. ‘She’s on the patio, soaking up the sun and the rest of the wine. She’s not as young as she was and travelling tires her.’
‘Then she shouldn’t have come!’ Elena bit out as she swung round to face him. ‘What do you think I felt like when I saw you arriving together? The least you could have done was phone and warn me!’ The moment the words were out she wished she could swallow them back. The poor woman had only made the journey to reassure herself, remind herself that there were things to be happy about. This situation with Jed had got her so she didn’t know what she was saying or thinking.
‘I didn’t know you were so selfish.’ Cold eyes raked her with glittering dislike. ‘But then there were other things you made sure I didn’t know.’ His mouth twisted bitterly, his eyes continuing a brutal assessment. ‘You look a mess. Freshen up while I make a meal. And behave yourself in front of Catherine. If you upset her I’ll make you wish you’d never been born.’
Elena stalked out before she exploded. By the time she reached the relative sanctuary of her room her heart felt big enough to belong to an elephant, big enough to burst. How dared he treat her as if she were scum? How dared he?
She kicked her shoes into a corner, dragged the faded old cotton skirt and gardening shirt from her quivering body and stamped into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, wrapped in a towel, she knew what she had to do. For her unborn child’s sake she had to stay calm. And to have any hope of achieving that she had to be careful not to sink to Jed’s level, not to say vile and hurtful things, and not—most definitely not—rant and rave and throw things!