Page 33 of My Husband’s Wife

Thirty-Two

Theo collapses the pram and wedges it into the boot.

Spring has emerged from nowhere and Madison loves the cottage when the daffodils begin to grow.

They cheer up its creepy exterior, almost making it look pretty.

As always, the birds squawk in the woodland that surrounds them but that doesn’t wake Emily.

Madison strokes her soft baby hair as she places her in the car seat and straps her in.

Emily has a round face and a dimple in her chin, like her.

Her heart hums when she sees their baby changing every day.

She grieves for yesterday’s Emily but is excited to see future Emily. Why do babies have to grow so fast?

‘Right, let’s do this,’ Theo says as he gets into the car.

She appreciates the effort he’s making lately.

He’s going out more and is even speaking about them going on holiday again, which excites Madison as she keeps dreaming of having a honeymoon in Loch Ness or should she say, a familymoon.

His setback in December was nothing more than that.

They are back on track and she couldn’t be happier. His phone beeps.

‘Are you going to see who that is?’

‘Nope,’ he replies as it beeps again.

He ignores his phone a lot, which is worrying.

Madison fears he might be missing out on work and, with a new baby, they need all the money they can get, which is why Madison is already back at the salon a couple of days a week.

She also wonders if the messages are work related.

He looks anxious every time his phone beeps.

She glances back at the cottage, watching Buster standing on the top of the lounge chair, barking at them from the other side of the window. ‘Be back in a bit,’ she shouts to him, knowing full well that he can’t hear or understand. She checks her watch. ‘We have time to pop to the salon first.’

‘Really?’ Theo begins to reverse the car to get out of their tight drive.

It’s then she notices how overgrown the ivy and shrubs have become around the house.

All the daffodils in the world won’t make the exterior look better given the mess it’s in.

They were never tackled in the winter and with Emily coming early, it had slipped both of their minds.

Theo spent far too much time in the cabin and out in the woods filming the wildlife to sell to his network of wildlife YouTubers.

What he really needs to do is make the cottage look nicer.

She’d do it herself but managing the salon and most of Emily’s needs has been all-consuming.

‘I just want to see how Orla and Tammy are coping today. I know we’re overbooked. ’

‘I thought you sorted that yesterday?’

She shrugs. It’s her salon and it’s down to her to keep it going.

Times have been tough and if she didn’t keep a close eye on spending, it could easily get out of hand.

Orla is terrible with figures and Tammy is worse.

Besides, she’s had an offer on the salon, again, and she’s considering selling in the near future, but there’s no need to mention that to Theo yet because she’s still not sure about whether to go ahead.

He will only get excited and she has to be sure before properly considering a move to Scotland with him.

She doesn’t even know if she’ll ever take the offer, but it is a good one and she knows that Theo would be overjoyed at it.

Besides, she hopes the familymoon will help her make a firm decision.

‘I ended up cutting hair and doing nails yesterday. I just want to check the purchase orders today. I’ll literally be five minutes.’

‘You should be enjoying some maternity leave.’

She presses her lips together and smiles at him sarcastically. ‘I work for myself. It’s not as easy as that and you know it. If it was that easy, why are you in the cabin most of the day working? You could take more paternity leave instead.’

‘Point taken.’

‘See, we both value our businesses, and Camille has been great at looking after Emily for us.’ She’s become reliant on Camille when it comes to being able to get back to work.

As a childminder and mother of two under-fives, Camille welcomed her baby niece into the fold and Madison knew the extra money helped her lovely sister out.

She’d find it hard to tell Camille if they decided to move.

Within minutes they arrive at the salon. Madison runs in, checks the purchases and runs back out. Everything was okay and she was worrying over nothing. ‘Let’s get to the Sea Horse.’ She rubs her hands together with excitement.

Theo takes a few breaths and undoes the top buttons on his polo shirt.

‘Are you okay?’

‘I don’t know. It’s coming out to a hotel. It’s a big venue and there will be lots of people and the sea.’

She should have known how hard this would be for him.

The therapy had been going well and he was able to come to the salon and go out for the day with her – at a push; but is this a push too far?

‘I’m proud of you, Theo. We have to get used to the Sea Horse because we’re getting married there.

It’s going to be the happiest day of our lives’ – she glances back at baby Emily – ‘except for when that little one was born, of course.’

‘You’re right, as usual.’ He steers with one hand and places the other on her knee.

She gives it a reassuring squeeze. ‘Just keep breathing like you were shown. You can do this. We can do this. Okay?’

As he pulls up outside the hotel, he stares at the sea beyond the main building. ‘It’s vast, isn’t it? The sea?’

‘It is, and it’s also exciting and beautiful.’

‘I’m ready.’ He steps out of the car and gets the pram from the boot. ‘Let’s get you in your pram, Pumpkin,’ he says to Emily.

Madison leans in and gently lifts Emily from her car seat.

She inhales the lingering scent of milk caught in the creases of her baby’s neck.

Emily’s lips pucker into a pink rosebud before she yawns and goes back to sleep.

Madison places the little one into the pram and then Theo pushes her towards the entrance.

He uses the pram like a crutch as he grips it tightly.

A young woman called Hallie leads them to a pretty room where she makes drinks while Madison casts reassuring looks Theo’s way. If she could place a hand on his heart, she knows it would be thrumming. ‘Eva will be with you in just a minute. Take a seat. If you need me, I’ll be at reception.’

‘It’s stunning here.’ Madison glances at the very gardens she’d dreamed of getting married in as soon as they saw them at the wedding fair. With the sea view in the background, they are perfect.

Emily fidgets in her pram. Theo leans in to check on her. ‘She needs changing.’

Madison goes to grab the changing bag that hangs over the pram handles.

‘It’s okay, I’ll do it. Make a start without me.’ He picks up Emily and leaves the room.

She knows he’d rather not be here, and she also knows that he has to keep facing his fear.

He’s been doing well but she has no idea why today of all days seems so challenging for him.

It’s like he’s regressed. In her mind’s eye, she pictures him behind a locked door doing breathing exercises as he changes Emily, dreading coming back out.

Madison’s sundress is crumpled already. She sits and waits for Eva, the wedding planner, to arrive; it feels like forever. Maybe her own anxiety is acting up because all she wants to do now is run to the toilets and see if Theo is all right.

Eva makes her flinch as she breezes in from behind.

She offers them another drink and asks about their wedding plans.

Madison isn’t listening properly; she’s half listening out for Theo and Emily.

Eva seems nice, like a perfect wedding planner.

Her suit is charming, if not slightly tight around the bust, and her smile is welcoming.

Her blonde hair frames her face though her ends are a little split.

Being a hair stylist and beautician, Madison can’t help but notice these things.

There’s a tap at the door and Theo walks in holding Emily.

He manages to half push a hand out from underneath our baby to hold out to shake Eva’s.

‘Lovely to meet you.’ He frowns and clears his throat.

Madison is sure she catches him doing his breathing exercises discreetly.

In her head, she can almost hear him counting.

He withdraws his hand. Emily is asleep in his arms until the clumsy wedding planner drops her cup, waking her.

Eva stares directly at Theo, and she’s shaking.

Emily is whimpering, and all Madison wants to do is take her from Theo and cuddle her.

Theo bobs their baby up and down, and the wedding planner looks like she might keel over as she backs away from them.

‘Eva, are you okay? Are you ill?’ Madison helps Eva to her seat despite Eva looking like she wants them to leave. There’s no way Madison would leave her looking like this. Eva could pass out and then she’d be on her own. ‘Can I get you some water?’

‘No, no. I just felt a little dizzy, that’s all. I skipped lunch.’

Eva stares at Theo and Emily, which seems odd. Madison feels her own heartbeat start to ramp up. It’s like the atmosphere changed as soon as Theo entered. Eva seems woozy, like she’s about to pass out. Madison glances at Theo but all he does is shrug.

‘I’m feeling better. So sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.’

Eva eats a sweet, and Madison can see that Theo wants to leave. The rise and fall of his chest shows her that his breathing isn’t under control. He places Emily in her pram and decides to take her outside, which Madison is grateful for. Maybe she should have come alone.

Eva seems to be back on track after her strange little episode, so Madison answers a few questions about Theo and herself.

‘How many guests are you looking at inviting?’ Eva asks.

A part of her now wonders if Theo will be able to get through a wedding.

He couldn’t even stay in the room for this discussion.

‘On my side, friends and family – about fifty. As for Theo’s side, I’d say about ten, if that.

He has no family. There will be sixty guests at the most.’ She doesn’t want to explain the tragedy of Theo’s past, and she wonders if any of Theo’s friends will come.

He has his friends around now and again, the local wildlife filming club, but they’re more like acquaintances.

He gets some work from a company and is mildly pally with a couple of men there, but again, she wonders if they will turn up. Theo truly is a loner.

‘No family?’

Eva’s face is intense. Madison carries on speaking in the hope that the meeting will be over quicker.

‘I know, it’s all so sad. He lost his family in a house fire.

’ Madison waffles on about the wedding package, but Eva looks distracted.

She wonders if it has anything to do with the blood smear across the top of Eva’s fingers.

Madison tries not to stare because that would be rude, so she keeps the conversation going by talking about having the ceremony and celebrations in the garden, and asking about the falconer.

She knows how much Theo likes birds of prey and that his dream would be to have an owl at the ceremony.

It might put him more at ease on the big day.

Madison taps her manicured nails on the desk, hoping to wrap their meeting up, but she’s not sure if Eva has got the hint that the meeting needs to end.

‘Eva, is that sorted? Can I leave the falconer with you?’ Phew, it seems like the meeting is a wrap.

Madison passes one of her business cards to Eva.

She’s always trying to promote the salon everywhere she goes, and Eva’s hair looks like it could do with a bit of love.

It’s dull and a bit frizzed up at the back.

Her roots need touching up too. ‘I have a salon on the outskirts of Ilfracombe. Can’t blame a girl for trying to get more business, especially now I’ve upgraded our wedding package.

Everyone has to have their hair cut at some point.

’ Madison forces a nervous laugh. Self-promotion isn’t natural for her, no matter how many years she has been in business.

She notices how shaky Eva’s hands are as she holds the card.

Something isn’t right but Madison can’t put her finger on it.

Maybe Theo’s nervous behaviour started Eva off, or maybe it was the other way around. Madison can’t tell.

Eva leads Madison out to the car park. She hoped that Eva would leave her to it so that she could see if Theo was all right but Eva seemed insistent on coming all the way to the car – awkward.

Theo sings ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ while rocking Emily, which makes Madison instantly forgive him for leaving her alone with the wedding planner.

Again, she has had to handle all the arrangements; it’s basically what she signed up for when she chose to spend the rest of her life with Theo.

Madison gently takes Emily from him and clips her into her baby seat while Theo closes the boot.

‘Hugo?’ Eva calls as Theo gets into the car, but he ignores her.

Madison thinks that was strange, but Eva sees so many people a day, she must have mixed him up with someone else.

As he drives, he has one eye on the mirrors as they get further away from Eva. Madison glances in the wing mirror her side, to see Eva staring like a weirdo. It sends a shiver through her.

‘That woman is strange. She called you Hugo. Did you hear that?’

He nods. ‘I don’t like her. She kept staring at me which is why I had to leave.’

‘Me neither.’ Madison can’t deny his account of what just happened. Eva is weird and the last thing she ever wants is to go back to the Sea Horse Hotel, let alone get married there.