Page 98 of The Honeymoon Affair

‘Why? Has Paula gone off her?’ I’m shocked. Nobody goes off Lucy. Even though some readers describe her as a guilty pleasure, once they’ve read one, they read them all.

‘Paula and I have split up,’ says Josh.

‘What?’ I’m even more shocked. Josh and Paula have been together for twenty years. ‘I thought you two were the perfect couple.’ It occurs to me that I’m using the same phrase people used about me and Charles, and I think how nobody really knows what goes on in a relationship.

‘No such thing.’ Josh pushes the uneaten portion of his steak sandwich to one side. ‘She’s found someone else.’

‘Oh gosh.’ I give him a sympathetic look. ‘Here I am banging on about divorces and remarriages and you’ve got this to contend with. What happened?’

‘She met him at her book club.’ Josh snorts.

I wince. I don’t like to think of a book club being something that broke them up.

‘Their eyes obviously met over a romantic read and she decided I didn’t match up.’

‘I’m really sorry.’

‘So you should be.’ This time he gives me a rueful look. ‘It was one of Charles’s books.’

‘Not really?’

‘That damn novella of his that I thought was rubbish but the book club decided was beautiful.’

It’d be funny if it wasn’t such a horrible thing for him, so I say nothing. In any event, whatever was going on with Josh and Paula was deeper than Charles’s novella.

‘When did this happen?’ I ask eventually. ‘You didn’t mention anything when we were doing the taxes.’

‘November.’ He shrugs again. ‘It was a bleak Christmas.’

‘Have you moved out?’ I ask.

‘Living over the office.’

‘You should’ve told me. I would have . . . you could have called me.’

‘You were in Mallorca for Christmas, remember?’

‘Only for a few days. You should’ve got in touch if you were at a loose end.’

Although I understand why he wouldn’t. We get on well, but we’re not close friends. I remember Charles once saying that men don’t have close friends in the same way women do. Not friends they can cry with. But I don’t cry. Not if I can help it. Besides, my closest friends are in London, and that’s a long way to go for a few tears.

‘Maybe we could meet for a drink sometime,’ says Josh. ‘Compare divorce notes.’

‘I’m not sure how helpful I’d be, but happy to meet whenever you like.’

‘I’ll give you a shout,’ he says. ‘I’m juggling stuff at the moment.’

‘I’m flexible,’ I assure him. ‘Whenever suits.’

Josh gets the bill and we leave the deli. He heads back to the office and I hail a cab back home.

There are another five unsolicited manuscripts in my inbox when I return.

Maybe one of them will turn out to be the mega author who replaces Charles as my main income stream in the future.

Though none of them will ever replace him as a person.

Chapter 27