I pulled up my lapels around my neck and thrust my hands deep inside my coat pockets. My mind was whirling as I powered the short distance up the lit path to the hotel. Henry’s text didn’t sit right with me. He hadn’t sent me a text like that for ages. Why now? And where was Marcus? There was still no word from him.

  I swung open the door to the hotel and stamped my feet on the mat. I welcomed the warmth and placed my hands on the radiator in the hallway for a split second to jolt them back into life.

  The foyer was littered with clusters of people dressed to the nines in suits and sparkly dresses, and Christmas music seeped out of a room just off it. The music became louder when the double doors swung open to reveal multi-coloured flashing disco lights and a dance floor rammed with sweaty bodies flinging their arms and legs about in every possible direction.

  It must be a work Christmas party, I thought, joining the back of the reception queue. I laughed softly to myself as a woman tottered past me on her high heels wearing a tight silver dress, fake eyelashes and the largest hoop earrings I’d ever set eyes on. She was swaying from side to side while her husband – or so I assumed – did his best to keep her upright and led her over to the leather chesterfield in the corner.

  ‘I’m not drunk,’ she kept saying in a high-pitched voice while sipping what looked like neat whisky from a glass. I watched her collapse on to the sofa and the man perched on the arm, breathing a sigh of relief.

  I checked my phone for the umpteenth time today and found there was still nothing from Marcus. I was getting worried but also a bit agitated; surely he’d know I was waiting for a reply.

  Henry’s message stared back at me. Truth be told, I didn’t have a clue how to reply to him. I quickly punched in a short message to Marcus. ‘I hope you’re OK. Please text me when you have a minute x’ Hopefully that would give him a nudge.

  ‘Can I help you?’

  I looked up to see the flushed face of the harassed receptionist.

  ‘It’s a bit lively in here tonight!’ I offered a friendly smile.

  ‘Yes,’ she agreed, glancing down at her watch. ‘I have a headache from hell and another hour until my shift finishes.’

  ‘That’s why I’m here,’ I said.

  The receptionist looked at me, puzzled.

  ‘Well not quite. I’m in the need of painkillers – paracetamol, anything really.’

  The receptionist raised her eyebrows and looked a little alarmed.

  I laughed, suddenly realising how desperate that must have sounded. ‘Let me start again,’ I said. ‘My friend needs something. She had a mad moment this afternoon and decided to strike having a tattoo off her bucket list, and now she’s in dreadful pain.’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ the receptionist said, chuckling. ‘Unfortunately it’s against hotel policy to administer any sort of drug,’ she explained sympathetically.

  I nodded. ‘I did think that might be the case,’ I replied, disappointed, and flicked my eyes towards the clock on the wall behind the desk. ‘I’m assuming all the shops’ll be shut now? Though I don’t fancy wandering out there in the freezing cold.’

  ‘I don’t blame you! Every time that door opens the cold air wafts in and I shiver.’

  She paused for a moment.

  ‘I might have some paracetamol in my handbag,’ she said, ‘but strictly speaking, I shouldn’t be giving them to you. I’ll get myself in trouble so please keep this to yourself.’

  She bent down to open the bottom drawer of the cabinet behind her and rummaged quickly inside her handbag.

  She nodded. ‘Here we go,’ she said, handing over a box.

  ‘Thank you very much – you’re an absolute lifesaver.’

  She smiled. ‘You’re welcome. I hope your friend feels better soon.’

  I decided to take a different route back to our room, exploring a little, and spotted a very amorous couple on my way back.

  They were staggering with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists, and I wasn’t entirely sure who was holding up whom. It didn’t look like they’d been at the party as they were all trussed up in their coats and hats.

  I watched the man while he fished around in his coat pocket and pulled out the room key. When the door swung open, the woman fell inside, giggling. ‘Hurry up,’ she said, squealing in delight.

  A little further on I noticed one of them had dropped a sheepskin glove on the carpet. I swooped down to pick it up and hollered, ‘Excuse me,’ to the man, who was just about to disappear in after her. He spun round with a smile on his face.

  Our eyes locked.

  I sucked in a breath and narrowed my eyes at him. Suddenly my hands were clammy, and my heart began to beat widely. I felt my throat go tight; I couldn’t speak. I met Dave’s bewildered gaze and saw the penny drop that it was me staring back at him.

  The joyous smile slid from his face.

  ‘Hello, Dave.’

  He didn’t say anything for a moment; it was like he was paralysed.

  The realisation that Ann’s dependable Dave was obviously having an affair hit me slap bang in the face.

  ‘Who’s that woman?’ I spat. My voice was shaky.

  ‘Lizzie, what are you doing here?’

  ‘Who is that woman?’ I repeated.

  ‘I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about,’ were the only pathetic words he could muster.

  I could feel my pulse beginning to throb in my temple and I pressed my hand to it then raised my eyebrows at him, waiting for him to answer.

  ‘It’s not as bad you think.’ His voice was a hushed whisper as he glanced back towards the bedroom. ‘Let me explain.’

  ‘This should be good.’ My voice was raised. ‘Let me guess: your wife doesn’t understand you. That would be the same wife who’s just lost her mother and is away recuperating in the same place her husband is carrying out his sordid little affair,’ I hissed, shaking with anger.

  ‘I didn’t know you would be here,’ he said in an anguished whisper.

  I was just about to ask how long it had been going on for, but before I could, a female voice shouted from inside the room, ‘Come on, Dave, what’s keeping you?’

  Dave seemed to be lost for words.

  The door to room fifty-six was suddenly yanked open and I gasped.

  A sly smile slid across Corinna’s face. It was the woman I’d witnessed giving Ann the death stare across the bingo hall, the night I’d won my money. Dressed in next to nothing, she swayed on her kitten heels then seductively leant against him. The smell of booze oozed from her every pore. She hooked a finger around his tie and stood on her tiptoes, her chin wobbling as she smacked her red-stained lips against his, then stared at me. Dave didn’t move a muscle.

  ‘Whoops,’ she said. ‘Busted! Or have you come to join us?’ She hooted with drunken laughter, not an ounce of remorse in her body. The evil glint in her eye turned my stomach and my heart sank as she disappeared back into the room.

  I stared him straight in the eye. He grabbed my arm. ‘Lizzie, what are you going to do?’

  A sudden surge of emotion flooded through me, and I wriggled free from Dave’s grasp.

  ‘Please don’t tell Ann,’ he begged in a whisper.

  I ignored his plea and strode away, leaving him standing in the doorway. The empty silence of the corridor felt deafening, and I wondered what the hell I was going to tell Ann.

  40

  The short walk back to the cabin seemed like a million miles, a journey I didn’t want to take. My head was spinning and my stomach lurched queasily. I watched my breath mist around my face in the cold air as I muttered the word bastard over and over again. How could he do this to Ann?

  After my sudden discovery, thoughts of Henry had seeped through my mind. How would I feel if he was sneaking around in hotel rooms with another woman? I shuddered at the thought and didn’t like the jealous feeling that suddenly gripped my stomach. What the hell had I done? I was no better than Dave.

  I gazed earnestly at my phone. A little seed of doubt had been worming its way into my brain all day. There was still no word from Marcus and I knew, deep down, that no matter how busy he’d been during the day, he’d have been able to send at least a quick text, even just to say he was busy and would call me later.

  I unlocked the cabin door to find Ann fast asleep, curled up on the rug in front of the fire. She looked so peaceful lying there, and here I was about to smash her whole world into smithereens.

  I slipped off my boots and coat and slumped down onto the settee. I finished off the glass of wine I’d left behind and sighed before I knelt down beside Ann and shook her gently. It took a couple of shakes to wake her up, and when her eyes met mine, she smiled. ‘I’m so sorry. The warmth of the fire must have put me to sleep,’ she said, the pattern of the rug imprinted on the side of her face.

  ‘There’s no need to be sorry,’ I said gently and perched on the edge of the settee.

  Ann sat upright and stretched out her arm.

  ‘How’s the shoulder feeling?’ I asked, sliding the painkillers across the table to her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, washing two of the tablets down with a gulp of her wine. ‘It’s actually a little bearable now I’ve been asleep.’

  I didn’t respond; my mind was churning and I wished I’d never left the cabin.

  ‘Are you OK, Lizzie? You look kind of pale.’

  I nodded but it mustn’t have looked convincing.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said, lying through my teeth.

  ‘I’m not convinced,’ she said.

  I smiled at her. That was why Ann was my best friend – she knew me inside and out.

  ‘Are you worried about Marcus? Is there any word from him yet?’

  I shook my head. ‘No, nothing.’

  My eyes met hers and I couldn’t keep it from her any longer. I searched for the right words but there was no way of making this better. It was going to destroy her.

  I held my breath and shimmied with fear, then the words came tumbling out. ‘Ann, I need to tell you something.’

  The tone of my voice must have alarmed her. ‘I knew you didn’t look right,’ she said, immediately sitting up straight.

  For a moment we just stared at each other until I finally mustered the words together.

  ‘I don’t know how to tell you this.’

  ‘Lizzie, you’re frightening me now. Come on, you can tell me anything.’

  ‘I’ve seen Dave tonight.’

  ‘Dave who?’ she asked, looking very confused.

  ‘Your Dave.’

  ‘My Dave?’ she said slowly. ‘Where?’

  ‘Here, at the hotel.’

  ‘Are you sure? Maybe it was just someone who looked like him? It can’t be him – look, he sent me a text just after you left.’ She opened up her messages and passed her phone over to me. I read the message out loud. ‘I’m working late, been hard at it all day, no rest for the wicked and yet another early start in the morning.’

  ‘No rest for the wicked indeed,’ I muttered under my breath.

  ‘Lizzie, if you have something to say, please tell me,’ she begged.

  ‘There’s no easy way of saying this.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘When I went to reception to try and find you some painkillers, I spotted them.’

  ‘Them?’

  I paused.

  ‘Dave and Corinna.’

  She looked confused.

  ‘What would Dave be doing with Corinna? She’s the one from bingo, the one with the death stare.’

  I nodded.

  ‘I didn’t realise it was them at first. They’d dropped a glove outside the room and I noticed just as he was about to go in. I called out and when he turned round, I saw it was Dave. He was just as shocked to see me as I was him,’ I said.

  Ann’s lips began to quiver. ‘Please no,’ her voice faltered.

  ‘She appeared a couple of moments later, dressed in – well not very much actually,’ I said, shuddering. ‘She stood there as bold as brass, gloating that they’d been busted.’

  Ann’s face crumpled. ‘Is this some sort of sick joke?’

  I shook my head. ‘I wish it was.’

  ‘What did Dave do?’ she asked, her voice quavering.

  ‘He begged me not to tell you.’

  Her eyes let go of their tears and she sobbed.

  ‘I don’t believe it.’

  ‘I’m so sorry, Ann, but I wouldn’t lie to you. It’s true,’ I whispered sadly. Moving from the edge of the sofa I knelt down beside her and took hold of her hand.

  ‘I don’t get it, why would he do that to me? He loves me, I love him,’ she said.

  I didn’t know what to say. Dave was the last person on earth that I would ever have suspected of cheating on his wife. He was such a hard-working family man.

  Ann’s face turned white. ‘I feel sick.’

  ‘It’s the shock,’ I said, stroking her hand and wiping the tears away from her cheeks.

  ‘Why would he throw away nearly twenty years of marriage? What must he be thinking? And with her,’ she spat, her sad face now turning thunderous with anger. ‘What’s she got that I can’t give him?’

  I probably wasn’t the best person to answer that question, I thought, as images of Marcus and Henry suddenly popped back into my mind.

  ‘What are you going to do, Ann?’

  ‘I’ve no idea.’

  I held out my arms and Ann fell into them. I hugged her tightly while she sobbed.

  Eventually she pulled away and looked up at me. ‘The brochure on the table,’ she said, sniffling. ‘It all makes sense now.’

  ‘Which brochure?’

  ‘The one that was lying on the kitchen table, next to the paper. Dave must’ve booked this hotel for the pair of them. I just thought it had fallen out of the paper. No wonder he was keen for me to go away with you – that would mean I wouldn’t know what he was getting up to. He never even asked me where we were going. And you know what makes my blood boil more?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘I’ve been working every hour God sends to pay back his stupid debt and all he’s been doing is blowing money on hotel rooms with her and goodness knows what else. How long do you think it’s been going on?’

  ‘I’ve no idea, Ann. Maybe that’s a question you need to ask Dave.’ I swallowed anxiously.

  ‘I sure will, after I’ve cut up all his clothes and thrown him out on the street.’

  ‘Surely when everything doesn’t seem so raw you might be able to work through this? Every marriage has its ups and downs,’ I said, suddenly thinking about Henry again.

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s been having ups and downs with Corinna – literally. My whole world has just been shattered! It may be the season of goodwill, but there’s no way I’ll be going there again now I know he’s slept with her – he repulses me.’

  She sighed and ran a hand over her face.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ I asked.

  ‘I’m thinking I miss my mum. I just want five more minutes with her; she’d know what to do.’

  I rubbed her hand affectionately, wishing I could make it all better.

  I took a deep breath.

  ‘I’ve decided I’m going to finish it with Marcus.’

  ‘Where’s that come from?’ Ann asked, startled.

  ‘In here, I said, clutching my stomach. ‘I’m going to have to tell Henry, explain why my head was turned and pray he understands and changes his ways. We’ve been through so much together over the years. If we have any chance of salvaging anything from this mess, then I have to be honest with him.’

  Seeing Dave with Corinna had been a real wake-up call. If it had been Henry disappearing into that hotel room, my world would have shattered. Henry wasn’t a bad bloke – he was a hard worker, a good provider and a brilliant dad. Maybe we’d just become settled in our ways, and we were both at fault for that. We just needed to learn to enjoy each other’s company again.

  ‘Are you sure about that?’ It was now Ann’s turn to peer at me anxiously and squeeze my hand.

  ‘Yes. These last couple of weeks have been a right emotional rollercoaster.’

  ‘Are you going to tell Henry everything?’

  I nodded; already I could feel the weight lifting off my shoulders. ‘Yes, and I’ll have to tell Freya too. It’s better they hear it from me. Even though he shouldn’t be hearing it at all.’

  ‘What about Marcus?’

  I shook my head and glanced at the floor. ‘He still hasn’t been in touch. It’s hard to describe really, but I have this anxious pang in my heart and I don’t know why. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe I’m expecting too much from him given everything he’s been through, but I don’t want to keep waiting, checking my phone for that text. I know he’s probably busy, or something major may have come up, but something just isn’t sitting right with me. I’m probably being daft.’

  ‘You have to go with your gut,’ Ann said.

  I hesitated. ‘It feels like he’s trying to spoil my time away.’

  ‘Dave’s already done that,’ she muttered.

  ‘I feel like he wants me to fret, like he wants me to worry about him.’

  ‘You mean he’s playing mind games?’

  ‘Yes, and it’s a game I don’t want to play, but why am I thinking like this? He hasn’t given me any reason to feel that way except…’

  ‘Except what?’

  ‘Except I keep thinking back to the night of the party. It struck me as odd, his behaviour at the end of the night, even though he left the party and brought me home.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You remember I went back to the room to collect my shrug and got stuck with that slimy bastard Braithwaite.’

  Ann nodded.

  ‘Well after I’d managed to escape and lock the door, Marcus appeared out of nowhere. Braithwaite was shouting and banging on the door like a deranged animal and I had his clothes in my hands. Now if that was me and I was Marcus, I would have taken the key from me and confronted Braithwaite.’