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TWELVE

RUTH

The shimmering tea lights floated in the crystal bowl of water that Eric had placed in the centre of the table. Ruth stood speechless at the entrance of the dining room, instantly forgetting the weird woman standing outside the leisure centre earlier.

No one had ever gone to this much effort to make her happy. Eric came up behind her, his polo shirt covered with her stripy apron. ‘Hello, my love,’ he whispered. ‘I’ve made you a really special dinner. It’s beef bourguignon.’

‘Is it my birthday?’ she joked.

‘It’s better than that.’ He nudged alongside her to finish laying the table, then he stood to face her. His neatly cut grey hair and beard melted her heart. A thought went out to Gary, her ex. He was definitely still upset that she was with Eric, but that wasn’t set to change anytime soon. She had a right to be happy. The years were slipping away and she’d been apart from Gary for eleven months now. She was in her sixties and, for once, she was living life for herself.

She swallowed as she tried to put her past pain out of her mind, then she kissed Eric gently on the lips. ‘I’m sorry about the other night. I got nervous about jumping in too soon but I also know I hurt you. You mean everything to me and I don’t want to lose you. You’ve really been my rock and I know I haven’t appreciated you as much as I should have but I’ve had so much on my mind.’ She paused. ‘I love you, Eric.’ She looked at him. He was her sunshine in the storm . Gosh, that sounded corny in her head. She was so glad she hadn’t said that out loud to him.

‘Good, because I love you.’ He turned towards the table and started to make a swan out of a serviette. It wasn’t working, but she admired his attempt and laughed as he dropped the scrunched-up tissue on the table.

Gary still hadn’t moved on and she knew he’d do anything to have her back, but their relationship had become one based on trauma and pain. It had festered for years and turned toxic. She felt guilty at wanting to jump for joy that her decree absolute had arrived in the post earlier that day.

Eric was the complete opposite to Gary: he was lovely and attentive to her needs, faithful – she had to add that to the list. Gary had regularly come back with another woman’s hair stuck to his clothing or smelling of perfume, and he always lied to her, saying it was nothing. It almost drove her crazy in the end.

She trusted Eric not to cheat on her.

He cooked and cleaned too. With Gary, she’d felt like the hired help without any pay.

‘Thank you,’ she said with a smile. Forget Gary, if only for tonight.

Eric pulled the dining chair out for her, taking her jacket as she passed. Once she’d sat, he nudged the chair in.

It had been a long day at the leisure centre. She’d stayed late to oversee a badminton match, but she was home now. Her mouth began to water as he brought the casserole dish through and placed it on a trivet. Moments later, he returned with a dish of buttered greens and creamy mash, which he served to her.

‘Right, I hope this is to your standard.’

He grabbed a bottle of champagne from under the table. She gave him a toothy smile: it wasn’t just any champagne, it was Dom Pérignon. No supermarket brand for this meal. Eric was so sweet he made her heart melt.

‘To my standard? It smells wonderful, besides, just you cooking for me means so much.’

‘Right, I want to propose a toast.’

As the cork popped, Ruth let out a tiny shriek of excitement. ‘A toast. How exciting.’ She knew he was also excited about her divorce coming through. He carefully filled two flutes and passed one to her. As she sipped, the bubbles tickled her nose and made her giggle like she was twenty again.

‘Yes, my love. A toast to us. It’s been a whole three months, and they have been the best of my life, which is why I’ve made this meal. You know I love you with all my heart.’ He paused.

‘To love.’ They clinked glasses. ‘Can I try this lovely food now? The smell is making my mouth water.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, I hope it’s okay.’ He waited for her to try it, nervousness etched across his face.

She popped a bit of everything onto one forkful, and the moment it hit her taste buds she was in heaven.

‘This is amazing . Now I know you can cook this well, the job is yours.’

She started telling him about her day; about the match and the players, about some woman who had complained that her kids kept getting verrucas.

‘I don’t know which bit of “we disinfect the floors all the time,” she didn’t understand. They’re probably not washing their floors or towels at home. Anyway, she went off on one, screaming and shouting that she was going to complain to the manager, then she cancelled her membership. People!’

Again, the strange woman outside came to the forefront of her mind. Her long mac and the child standing next to her. Who was she? Ruth went to tell Eric about her but changed her mind. The woman was probably just waiting for someone.

Eric laughed as he finished his champagne and the last of his meal. ‘It’s been a long day for you. Nothing eventful happened at home. I had to pop to the shop and put a few orders in, then I came here to cook.’ He placed his napkin on the table. ‘But, I hope you’ll remember this day forever, and not because of some woman screaming about verrucas.’

She scrunched her brow. ‘I’m never going to forget this meal. You know…’ A tear formed in the corner of one of her eyes. ‘No one has ever cooked for me like this before.’

‘Good, because I want to spoil you like mad. There’s more.’

‘More? Oh, Eric, you’ve done enough.’ She struggled to contain her emotions. ‘I am so happy and silly.’ She wiped the trailing happy tear away.

He stood and cleared his throat, then he instructed the smart speaker to play ‘Endless Love’.

‘You’re my first love. I know we found each other late in life, but I have never felt like this, Ruth. I thought I’d loved before, but now I know I haven’t. This is the real thing for me, and I hope it is for you too.’ He began fiddling in his pocket, going red in the face as his hand got stuck, then he fell to one knee beside her. ‘Ruth, will you marry me? I love you more than anything or anyone in this whole world.’

Tears began to fill both her eyes this time. This was her chance to start again. She’d never forget her loss, but she deserved happiness.

Maybe they could pool their assets; sell both of their houses and move into their very own home. She wanted to move away, to start again with Eric. Most of all, she loved him. That was all that mattered.

‘Don’t keep me waiting. Besides, I might not be able to get up soon. You know I have an arthritic knee.’

‘Yes.’ As he stood, she flung her arms around him. ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,’ she kept saying between kisses. Her gaze landed on the chess strategy book that sat on a pile of other books on the dresser. She pulled away. ‘How did that get there?’

Eric looked back. ‘The books?’

She nodded. ‘The chess book.’

‘I forgot to put those back in your cupboard when I was looking for the napkins. Sorry.’ He paused and scrunched his brow as he looked at the books. ‘I didn’t know you liked playing chess.’

She thought she’d given Gary all his things but she must have missed the chess book. It wasn’t hers. ‘I don’t.’

The doorbell rang. ‘Who could that be at this time?’ Eric walked towards the front door and peered through the spyhole. ‘It’s Gary.’

Her stomach dropped. She hated that he’d moved into the house opposite after they split their assets. She got the house and he got all the money, which amounted to enough to buy his own house. He could have gone anywhere, but he chose the house on the opposite side of the road, where he could see through her front windows all day long. That was another reason to sell up and go.

She snatched up the chess book and placed it on the sideboard before opening the front door. ‘What do you want?’ He’d been drinking, she could tell, and she knew it was because he would also have received his decree absolute in the post.

‘You’ve left your bin out. It looks unsightly. Oh, and that dirty snake’s car has a flat tyre, someone probably slashed it.’

‘I hate you, Gary. Mind your own bloody business and don’t come to my door again.’ She grabbed the chess book and pushed it into his chest.

Gary turned and staggered off with the book under his arm. All she could see was the back of the denim jacket she had always hated, the one with the picture of two horses that he thought made him look like a cowboy. Ridiculous. They lived in modern-day Warwickshire, not the Wild West. She slammed the door.

‘That bastard!’ Eric went to open it again, but Ruth held it closed.

‘Don’t, he’s not worth it. We knew this would happen when he opened his post.’

‘You need to move out of this house. I can’t keep coming here with him living so close. Every time I pull up, he glares at me from that grimy bay window and now he’s slashed my tyre.’

She nodded and smiled. ‘You’re right. I will put the house on the market tomorrow and Gary will never harass us again. Please don’t let him spoil this moment.’ She went to kiss Eric.

He responded, but he seemed a little sad. Ruth knew that he wanted to storm out there and have a go at Gary for slashing his tyre, but she was grateful that he didn’t. She was already the centre of all the gossip in the cul-de-sac.

‘Good, because if this carries on, I won’t be responsible for my actions. I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. I’m a peaceful person, but he… he’s pushing me to my limits, and if he ever hurts you…’ He sighed. ‘We need to call the police.’

She scratched her nose and sighed. ‘We can’t prove he damaged your tyre. They won’t do anything.’

The police were the best option, she knew that deep down, but Gary had been through hell just like she had, and despite his behaviour, she couldn’t bring herself to report him. He needed time to be able to move on from his feelings for her. When two people had such a tragic shared history, time was a gift, one she was willing to give Gary.

‘Fine, but I’m getting you a camera tomorrow and putting it up. You shouldn’t have to take this. I mean, his behaviour isn’t on and it’s not the first time he’s done something like this. These are the kinds of things that happen in inner cities, not in quaint little villages. You can’t keep letting Gary get away with things.’

She shivered. She couldn’t tell Eric the whole truth, that Gary was watching her. She’d seen the outline of someone in her garden last night. It had to have been Gary.

‘Okay. Tomorrow we camera the place up, and if we catch him in action we go to the police. Agreed?’

She didn’t have the heart to tell Eric that she still wouldn’t go to the police. Gary would come around. Their divorce was just raw and he was suffering.

‘Agreed.’