Country Affairs. Zara Stoneley

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СКАЧАТЬ first.’

      ‘Didn’t Lottie tell you? Like I explained everything to her, the marriage was never, like, legal or whatever, no paperwork. So I did only get married once. Good eh?’

      ‘Brilliant. Only you could call a wedding that wasn’t legalised a stroke of luck. So was that the first one or the second? Or are there more we haven’t heard about yet?’

      ‘Oh the second, babe. Don’t think the first wanted to divorce me really, which you can understand, can’t you?’ He winked. ‘That’s why she didn’t make it absolute. But it’s done now, just been to the courts to sort it.’ He didn’t look remotely bothered. ‘That’s one of the reasons I came over to the UK.’

      ‘And you honestly think I want to talk to you? Even if Lottie is daft enough to forgive you, I’m not. You hurt her, Todd, don’t you get that? She’s my friend and if you think you’re getting another chance, dream on.’ He’d already found Lottie, gate-crashed the wedding and made himself a local celebrity. Wasn’t that enough for anybody? Tippermere was a small place. If anybody saw him here then she’d be the talk of the village as well. Murder was sounding more inviting by the second.

      ‘Me and Lots were only fooling, nothing serious.’ Which was the conclusion Pip had come to in the end, once Lottie had stopped crying, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Todd. ‘I reckon she was pleased to see me again.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter what you were doing – you were fucking married and you just abandoned her.’

      ‘Well, to be fair, I didn’t have much choice about leaving her.’

      ‘You could have sent a message, anything.’

      ‘Ah, stop nit-picking.’ He shrugged. ‘Come for a drink if you’re not going to ask me in. I need to talk to you.’

      ‘To me?’ Pip sighed inwardly. ‘Lottie didn’t tell you to come here, did she?’

      He looked confused. ‘Lottie? Why would Lots send me over?’

      Pip was actually feeling nosy and increasingly guilty that she hadn’t offered to help Lottie out. And she was feeling a bit miffed, as she’d been abandoned by Mick once again as he’d put a horse higher up in his list of priorities than her, which was why Sam had popped in. Except she hadn’t bargained on the baby and cosmetic surgery talk.

      Lottie had tried to warn her about the whole men-and-horses thing when it had started to look serious with Mick. Told her she’d need to understand, but she still wasn’t convinced she wanted to. She’d bought into a relationship with Mick, not a stable full of horses. Yes, she wanted some independence and wanted them to do stuff on their own, but she loved him. And she wanted him to ditch the horses at weekends so they could do something different for a change. Together.

      She was beginning to understand why Lottie had fled abroad, and into Todd’s bed. It did have a certain appeal.

      Her last image of Todd, prior to his unexpected arrival in Tippermere, was in Barcelona jogging across the beach with his surf board. She’d left him and Lottie to soak up the rays while she’d gone off exploring the stylish bars and boutiques in the nearby El Born district. And, much later, after a good shopping trip and a couple of glasses of wine, she’d been shocked to find Lottie in tears. It had taken quite a while to make sense of her friend’s hysterical outpourings, but from what Pip could gather he was being escorted to the airport and onto a plane bound for Australia. And now he was here. The other side of the world. And nobody was quite sure why. If she let him in she might find out.

      ‘I suppose you can come in, but don’t put your rucksack down.’

      He grinned. ‘Fair dinkums.’

      ‘Don’t dinkums me, you dingo.’ And with that she was engulfed in the type of man hug that amounted to borderline asphyxiation.

      When Todd had arrived in Cheshire his plan had been quite simple. Find Lottie, apologise for the fiasco on the beach, and ask if she could put him up for a while so he could sort out some family business. But things had gone wrong from the start. The whole wedding thing had knocked him off his stride. He’d got completely the wrong end of the stick when Tab had gone on about ancient men and ‘Lottie’s wedding’ and had decided on impulse that as he owed Lottie one, and he did really want her to be happy, he had to get in his ‘don’t’ bit before she got in her ‘I do’.

      All things considered, things has worked out quite well in the end, though. But he couldn’t ask her for a bed for the night. She and Rory, who had cropped up in more than one conversation in Barcelona, were obviously a serious item and he had a fair idea (thick- skinned though he knew he could be) that he’d outstayed his welcome.

      He grinned. This solution could be perfect, though, once he won Pip round. Even if, with Tabatha’s directions, he’d spent the best part of an hour getting lost down the lanes before finally realising that the cottage he’d driven past three times was in fact the right place. England might be cute and quaint, he decided, but it was a hell of a lot easier finding a shack in the middle of the bush than locating someone in this village.

      And one step further into the cottage convinced him it had been more than worth it. Perched on a bar stool, large glass of white wine in hand was the most glamorous woman he’d seen since landing at Manchester airport.

      ‘This is Todd.’ Sam and Todd exchanged admiring glances, which was worrying, given his track record, though at least it might stop the ‘lifting and tucking’ and nappies conversation for a bit.

      Sam beamed. ‘Wow, I’ve heard all about you. Did Tab really let you ride that horse of hers?’

      ‘Well I guess to be fair, I didn’t really ask.’ He moved in closer and winked. ‘I was on it before she had a chance to say no.’

      ‘You were with Lottie in Barcelona weren’t you? That is just so romantic, just spending time chilling and not worrying about anything. When we go away it’s always to these places with your own chef and hairdresser and stuff. It must be cool not having any of that. When I was a kid we went camping, but my mum didn’t like the mud, and then when me and Dave first went out we went to Cornwall with these big caravans, you know before he got the contract, so I suppose it was a bit like that?’ She topped up the wine glasses. ‘The only time I’ve been to Barcelona is when Dave was playing and they arranged for this coach to take us to all the sights while the boys were training, then to this really posh tapas bar with these amazing cocktails where the stuff was like in smoke and froth, but it’s not the same as just sitting on the beach is it?’

      Pip, seeing the look on Todd’s face sensed interesting times ahead. ‘Sam is married to David Simcock, the goal keeper.’ He didn’t look put off. ‘The England goalkeeper.’ Not that Sam would ever be interested in a beach bum with a penchant for bigamy. ‘Todd is a surfer, who’s married to lots of people.’

      They ignored her, Todd plonking himself on the bar stool next to Sam and ditching the rucksack, which sat like an unwelcome guest in the corner.

      ‘Cool. So you go all over the world with him, then?’

      ‘A bit, but I like it here. I didn’t at first, did I Pip? Cos I didn’t know anybody, but Pip has been lovely and we got a dog.’

      ‘And she’s thinking of getting a baby next. Well, lots of them.’

      ‘Getting? Like Brangelina? СКАЧАТЬ