United State of Love (27 page)

Tex screwed his eyes up and rubbed his temples. A bit of straight-talking wouldn't go amiss.

Zoe continued. ‘Why don't you ask her yourself?’

‘What is the point? She obviously doesn't want to speak to me.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘Standing me up. Ignoring my calls. Moving to America. I get the message, loud and clear!’ Tex could feel the frustration zipping through every part of his body. Zoe was looking at him as if he was talking another language.

‘Whooaaa! Wait a minute, Tex,’ said Zoe, frowning and holding her hands up. ‘Just run that by me again.’

‘Forget it,’ snapped Tex. He should go. This conversation was just making him more frustrated. He needed to be alone. He really wasn't good company. He stood up to leave. ‘Just make sure Anna gets the stuff, please.’

‘Anna hasn't gone to America,’ said Zoe evenly. She raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded towards the chair.

Obediently, he sat back down again. ‘She’s not in America?’

‘No. Not at all. She’s still here in the UK. Still here in Chichester in actual fact.’ Zoe crossed her arms in front of her, cocking her head slightly to the left. Another raised eyebrow look.

Tex looked at her, trying to decipher the meaning of the subtly placed eyebrows. They seemed to be saying ‘what do you think to that then?’ What did he think? He wasn't sure, but he was aware that his heart had done a three-sixty flip.

‘But her neighbour, Mrs Meekham. She said they had gone to America. Luke had told her.’

‘Luke and Mark have gone to America. Anna hasn't.’

A moment of relief, quickly replaced by the feeling of his heart now dropping to the pit of his stomach. ‘She didn’t turn up on Sunday. Sent me a message.’

‘Under the circumstances, it's hardly surprising. I think you're being unreasonable.’

Tex shook his head. ‘What circumstances?’ He fished out his phone and scrolled through his text messages, finding the one from Anna. ‘I don't think I am being unreasonable.’ He handed the phone over to Zoe. She read the text a couple of times, pursing her lips and tapping the table slowly with her fingernail.

‘Anna sent you this?’

Tex nodded.

‘Did she ring or text you again?’

A shake of the head this time.

‘And did you try to contact her?’

‘Once. It went to voicemail. Obviously she didn't want to speak to me.’

‘And you didn't leave a message?’

‘No.’ Tex felt like he was being cross-examined by the Counsel for the Defense. Any minute now Zoe would shout ‘Just answer the question. Yes or no?’ or ‘Objection!’ or maybe ‘Do you honestly expect the court to believe…’

‘So you received a text from Anna, dumping you in effect?’ Zoe was summing up. ‘You received no further contact from her, and you only tried to contact her once.’

Tex opened his hands, palms up, before dropping them back to the table. No words needed.

‘Did you notice anything strange about the text?’

Bewildered, Tex shrugged. Zoe was in full courtroom mode, leading him down a path which he had absolutely no idea where it went. The only certainty was that the Defense Counsel was about to trip him up or state the blatantly obvious, dismissing his version of events.

‘Look at the text, Tex. When has Anna ever sent a message in shorthand?’ She paused. Obligingly, Tex shrugged. ‘Never, is the answer,’ said Zoe. ‘Anna always texts in full.
To
is never the number two.
You
is never the letter u. Come on, Tex. It's obvious. Anna didn't send that message.’

Tex felt like his heart was on a yo-yo string. Shooting up one minute, dropping the next. Case dismissed? Not quite. ‘Why didn’t she turn up on Sunday then?’

‘Luke ended up in hospital. She spent Saturday night there and most of Sunday morning. He had alcohol poisoning. She couldn't just leave him.’

‘But he’s okay now? I mean, if he’s gone to the States.’

‘Yes. He's fine.’

‘She hasn't contacted me though.’ No matter what explanations Zoe could offer, Tex couldn't get away from the fact that Anna had neither turned up nor tried to contact him at all.

‘Not for lack of trying. She's adamant that she sent a message and phoned you, but you didn't reply.’ Zoe frowned. ‘Look, something's not right, I don't know what it is but it all sounds a bit odd.’ She paused for a minute, holding Tex's gaze, then nodding, as if coming to a decision. ‘Look, there's something you should know. Anna made me promise not to say anything but I think that promise has been overtaken by events. I'll make you another coffee.’

Tex politely sipped his second, equally unpalatable, coffee as Zoe told him about Mark's blackmailing scheme. Tex shook his head, mumbling expletives directed at Mark and exasperations towards Anna.

‘She should have told me,’ he groaned. What a mess. He could have put it all right in an instant. He should have told her about Mark blackmailing him. They could have sorted it out together, sooner. It hadn’t needed to come to this.

‘You all right, Tex?’

‘Yeah, I’m good. Everything is falling into place now.’ He regarded the envelope. ‘The photos are in there.’

The incredulous look on Zoe’s face warranted an explanation. ‘Mark was blackmailing me too. Looks liked he played us both for jerks.’

‘Neither of you two told the other? How come you ended up with the photos?’

Tex exhaled. ‘Trade-off. He’s got secrets of his own, you know. Looks like he’s had the last laugh though, sending that message.’

‘It would be typically spiteful of Mark to do that.’

‘But what I don’t understand is why Anna didn’t contact me during the week.’

‘She told me she did. Sent you several texts. Tried to phone you a couple of times but your phone was always switched off. She thought you didn't want anything to do with her.’

‘My phone is never off. She knows that.’

‘I'm only telling you what she told me,’ sighed Zoe. She leant back in the chair and absently pulled her hair into a ponytail before letting it drop back down. ‘I don't understand either. Why don't you just ring her now?’

There was nothing Tex wanted to do more than to ring Anna. To see her. To take her in his arms and tell her everything would be all right. That there had been a misunderstanding. He was there to make things better. But instead, he shook his head slowly. Sad eyes looking across the table at Zoe.

‘No. I’m not gonna ring her.’ Now it was Zoe's turn to look confused. ‘She needs to ring me.’

‘Isn't that a bit childish?’

‘Not at all. Look, she’s been under a lot of pressure. I don’t want to add to that, make her feel she owes me something. Just give her the envelope; I’ve put a note in, there’s other stuff there too. She may not take too kindly to my interfering. If she wants me, she’ll know where to find me. But it has to be because it’s what she wants.’

‘You're making this very difficult,’ said Zoe, a slightly impatient tone creeping in.

‘Please give her the stuff, and tell her just to remember what I said the last time I saw her.’ Tex stood up. ‘Thank you for the coffee.’

‘So where will you be? How can she get hold of you?’

‘She will find a way. If she really wants to.’

Anna rummaged around in yet another box, in what was increasingly becoming a futile effort to find her phone charger. It was a cardboard box with the words ‘work files’ written across it in black marker pen. Huh! Work files, that was a laugh, she didn't exactly have a heap of it. Not since she'd resigned from Jamie's company. At the time it had seemed the only option. She couldn't face the possibility of bumping into Tex unexpectedly. Okay, it was a slim chance, but a chance all the same she wasn't prepared to take. She had to be strong now and focused. Seeing Tex had the potential to totally unnerve her.

However, the reality of resigning meant that she needed to find a new job. Thank goodness she hadn't burnt all her bridges with the translation company. Boring as it was, translating electronic manuals and property contracts was a steady income. Mark had given her some money from the house sale which, although unexpected, he had insisted upon, and she had been grateful. It took the immediate financial pressure off her, but she was responsible for paying her own rent now and she needed to be careful.

Anna closed up the work box. Her phone charger wasn't in there. Where on earth had she put the blasted thing? She'd charged her phone Friday night, leaving it in the sitting room of her new flat, but couldn't remember seeing it since. She was beginning to think it must have been scooped up with the rubbish from unpacking some of the boxes. The rubbish that was now in the communal wheelie bin downstairs. She didn't relish the thought of searching through everyone's thrown out potato peelings, leftover curry and yucky nappies just to find her phone charger.

It was now Monday and her phone had been dead since Saturday night. Anna hadn't needed to make any calls and was working on the principle that if anyone wanted to get hold of her, they would either ring back, hopefully when she'd found her charger, or they'd ring Nathan, to get him to pass on a message. Failing that, they'd come round to the flat. She'd give it until tomorrow and if the charger still hadn't turned up, well, she couldn't face the neighbours' rubbish, so she'd just have to buy a new one.

Wandering into the kitchen, Anna opened the small cardboard box that she had left on the end of the worktop. In it were a few tins and packet sauces, pasta, and a few jars that needed putting away. Luke had packed this box for her, the last-minute clearing of the kitchen cupboards at Coach House Cottages. Without much enthusiasm, she began putting them away. A tin of baked beans, Heinz of course, packet cheese and broccoli pasta, handy in an emergency, a pot noodle, yuk. Throw that out. Luke liked them but no one else did. A tin of tuna, great for baked potatoes, peanut butter, crunchy, a jar of olives. Not just any jar, but
the
jar of olives that Tex had bought. Two weeks of an olive a day and she had to admit she was actually getting used to the taste. Couldn't say she liked them, not quite, but they weren't making her screw her nose up when she popped one in her mouth any more.

The familiar pang of loss poked its sharp fingers into her heart as a wave of sadness swamped her, the olives taking her back to that wonderful week at the ranch with Tex. Anna's grip on the jar tightened. She paused. Somewhere in the back of her mind a little voice of reason was trying to make itself heard. She ignored it and held the jar to her chest with one hand, the other hand on top of the lid, then closed her eyes and leaned back on the worktop, before sliding down to the floor in a heap, the tears racing each other down her face. This was as close to Tex as she could get. All that she had left of him.

After a few minutes the voice of reason was finally making itself heard. Yes, she must pull herself together. Banish all thoughts of Tex. She needed to look forward, not back. Still, she couldn't help herself kissing the lid of the jar before dropping it into the pedal bin.

Creek Cottage, that in the past had always brought Tex peace and contentment, seemed to have lost its magic. He'd been here since Monday, having caught a flight over straight after what turned out to be lunch with Jamie and Yvonne. Usually, once he was here, any worries or concerns seemed to pale into insignificance, but not this time.

He took his black coffee outside, sitting on the wooden steps that rose to the front door. It was another hot September evening, even though the sun was just starting to dip behind the trees. Tomorrow he'd ring the UK and check everything was running smoothly at both restaurants. He knew the Guildford one was able to operate extremely smoothly without him, but he had always been close on hand to the Arundel restaurant. This would be a real test. Bookings had steadied out now after the initial surge of opening and it was running according to the business projections, so that wasn't a worry for Tex. It was just whether the staff would rise to the challenge of keeping up the high standards. He had faith in his restaurant manager and, to be honest, there was not a lot he could do about it here in Brenham.

His mind turned to other things. Well, one other thing. A person. A person who seemed to be occupying his mind pretty much all the time. Anna. The feeling that he had a lead weight chained to his heart, dragging it down continually, had been with him for so long now he couldn't remember what it felt like to be carefree and happy. Maybe coming to home hadn't been a great idea after all. It just reminded him of the last time he was here with Anna.

‘Halle-bloody-lujah!’ cried Zoe. ‘You're a difficult one to get hold of.’

‘Could say the same about you,’ replied Anna, wedging her mobile between her chin and shoulder as she peeled an orange. ‘How are you feeling? Better?’

‘Better than what I was, but not exactly one hundred per cent. Having said that, a stomach bug does wonders for the old waistline.’

‘Poor you. I called round the other day.’ Anna dropped the peel into the bin and began breaking the orange up into individual segments. ‘You were fast asleep and your mum seemed to have everything under control, so I didn't stay.’

‘She's been an angel. Actually, Nathan has been pretty good too,’ said Zoe appreciatively. ‘I'm convinced it was something I ate at that anniversary party I went to at the weekend.’

‘Well, if there's anything you need, just give me a shout.’ Anna readjusted the phone that was threatening to slip from her shoulder.

‘Actually, I need to speak to you about something. I did try to get hold of you on Sunday but your phone went straight to voicemail.’

‘Oh yeah, I lost my charger. Had to buy a new one in the end,’ explained Anna. ‘It was quite nice in a funny sort of way, not being contactable. It was quite liberating. As soon as it was charged enough, I had Nathan ringing as he hadn't been able to get hold of me, then Mark, then work. All within an hour.’

‘Mark? What did he want?’

‘It's all right, don't sound so alarmed,’ chuckled Anna. ‘He was only seeing how I was.’

‘And Luke, is he okay?’

‘Yeah, he's great. Really enjoying it over there. Still it's early days. I miss him, but I'm pleased that he and Mark are at last having a proper father-son relationship. I think Luke felt a bit sorry for me. He asked me what I was doing, was I going out anywhere and had I seen Tex. A bit odd, but nice to know he's thinking of me.’ Rather awkwardly, with her phone still lodged in place, Anna rinsed the juice from the orange off her fingers. ‘Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about before we got sidetracked?’

‘Any chance you could pop over? I don't feel up to coming out just yet. Besides, there's nothing like your own bathroom when you're feeling rough.’

Good job he was on the end of the phone a few thousand miles away, otherwise Anna wasn't sure she would be responsible for her actions. Only Mark had the power to make her feel violent.

‘Anna, let me explain,’ said Mark.

‘Where have I heard that before? I know exactly what you were doing. How could you blackmail him?’

‘Anna, I’m sorry. I was desperate. Really desperate. I wasn’t thinking straight.’ He was practically pleading. ‘You know I’ve turned things around since then.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me Tex had the photos?’

‘He didn’t want you to know, and I didn’t want him to blab his mouth off about my business. See, me and him, we’re not that different after all.’

‘Never,
ever
, compare yourself to him.’ She almost spat the words out. ‘And what about the text message you sent?’

‘Message? What message?’

‘The one you sent Tex. That night Luke ended up in hospital. The one telling him I didn't want to see him anymore. Don't pretend you don't know anything about it.’

‘I honestly don't though. I certainly didn't send him a text. I mean, why would I?’

‘Oh, come off it, Mark, it's so your style.’

‘Anna, listen to me.’ Mark sounded calm, not spiteful or vindictive like he usually did when he had been found out. ‘I did not send a text to him, not on your phone, not on my phone, or anyone's phone for that matter. Absolutely, categorically, did NOT send one.’

‘Well, if you didn't, then who did?’ Anna stopped pacing around the coffee table. Mark's calm and convincing voice was making her doubt the accusations she had just levied at him.

‘I don't know but it wasn't me. Promise. Hang on a minute. Luke, I'm just in the middle of a conversation with your mother. Why would I … ?’ Mark stopped and again Anna could hear him speaking to Luke. ‘Can't this wait, mate? I'm just … ’

She could hear Luke's voice in the background but couldn't make out what he was saying. More muffled voices as Mark must have put his hand over the mouthpiece. Then Mark’s voice was clear again. ‘Sorry Anna, Luke’s trying to tell me something. Hang on a sec.’ More indistinct dialect before Mark spoke to her again. ‘Err …  Anna, you better speak to Luke.’

‘What? Now?’ Anna began. Couldn't it wait? She was in the middle of a dingdong with Mark and now he was handing her over to Luke.

‘Mum?’

‘Hi, Luke. You okay?’ She tried to sound upbeat.

‘Yeah, err, Mum?’

‘Yes?’ Anna waited but there was silence. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘Erm, well, that message …  to Tex …  Dad didn't send it.’

It was a moment or two before Anna responded, totally thrown by Luke's comment. ‘It's all right Luke, you don't have to back your dad up. It's nothing to do with you,’ she said kindly.

‘But it is,’ mumbled Luke.

‘Ignore us. It's not a major row, honestly.’

‘No, Mum, you don't understand.’ He sounded quite upset. ‘It wasn't Dad who sent that text. It was .…  me.’

Anna gulped. Luke? Luke sent the text? How ridiculous! Protecting his dad no doubt. ‘Please, there's no need to cover up for Dad.’

‘Mum! Listen! It was me. I sent it. I told Tex you didn't want to see him anymore.’ Luke's confession came gushing out faster than a split water balloon. ‘I wanted you and Dad to get back together. I thought if you weren't seeing Tex then Dad would stand a chance. You and Dad were arguing about him. I took your phone out of your bag when you went upstairs, and I sent a text to him. I was cross and angry. That's why I got drunk. I'm sorry.’

‘Oh Luke,’ sighed Anna. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Luke had sabotaged her relationship with Tex. Silly, silly boy. Stupid boy. Poor, desperate boy. Argh, she could throttle him!

‘That's not all. I changed Tex's number in your contact list. Just by one digit in the middle.’ Luke sounded suitably contrite. ‘I thought that way, you wouldn't notice the number was different, I mean, no one knows other people's mobile numbers off by heart, you just go by the name in the contact list. So if you sent another text to him, it wouldn't reach him and you'd never know.’

Anna closed her eyes and sunk down onto her sofa. So all her messages to Tex since that Saturday had just gone off to a random number. Tex hadn't received a single one of them. Oh God, what a mess.

‘I'm sorry, Mum. I forgot all about it until the other day when I spoke to you. Trouble was, I didn't know how to tell you. And then when I heard Dad just now, I knew I had to own up. Sorry.’

Anna had to force herself to speak civilly to him. ‘I can't actually believe you thought that was an okay thing to do. I am seriously peed off.’

‘I am sorry.’

Anna took a deep breath, no way could she condone what Luke had done, but she didn't really want to get into a transatlantic argument with him or end the call on a bad note. ‘Apology accepted. Now put your Dad on, I need to speak to him.’

Mark's voice came on the line. ‘Hi again.’

‘Sorry, Mark, I shouldn't have gone off on one like that, well, not about the text message anyway.’

‘Hey, that's okay. I would have assumed it was me too.’ There was a small silence before Mark spoke again. ‘I’m sorry about all the business with the photos. I was in a real bad place, both mentally and financially. I was desperate.’

‘I know that but it doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you. Yet.’

‘I know that too. Maybe one day you can,’ he said softly. Then, in an upbeat way, he added, ‘Anyway, what are you doing still on the phone? Haven’t you got a cowboy to track down?