Page 106 of Wife After Wife

“I’d have to see the figures, projections. Put something together— a proposal. Make it look good, then the finance guys might take it seriously.”

Well it wasn’t a no, at least.

October 1998

Ana had to look hard to identify Merry, waiting in the arrivals area of Edinburgh Airport. It had been five years since she last saw her.

“I’m not as I was,” her sister had said over the phone. “Think country matron.”

Merry was wearing a tweed jacket and jeans, and her hair was loosely tied back. Rosy cheeks hinted at long walks across the heather with the dogs.

“It’s so good to see you!” said Ana. “Here, hold your niece so I can give you a hug.”

“Well, hello there, wee bairn. I’m your auntie Merry, and you are so adorable I might just have to keep you with me, locked up in a high castle tower.” She pronounced ittoo-er.

Ana sensed a relief in Merry as profound as her own as they settled into the familiar comfort of their pre-Harry relationship, chatting onthe scenic drive from Edinburgh to Kindrummon. Eliza was asleep, and didn’t wake when they stopped at a picnic site overlooking the Cairngorms.

The air was chilly, but Merry fetched Ana a fleece from the car, saying, “Och, ye Sassenach softie, it must be at least eight degrees today—prrractically tropical.”

Ana hunkered into the jacket and looked out across the mountains, their tops dusted with snow. Clouds scudded across the sky, casting quick-change light and shade across the hills and glens. The only sound was the breeze whistling through the grass.

It was lovely to be up here, with Merry and Eliza, and she felt the loss of the wasted years.

“So, sister,” said Merry as they tucked into sandwiches. “Now that normal relations have been resumed, dare we risk dipping our toes into heart-to-heart territory?”

“Let’s give it a go.”

“How are things with you and Harry—truth only, please.”

Ana sighed. “Truth. OK. I don’t know. Tricky. Working for him has been difficult. I want to leave Rose Corp. and set up on my own, but I need Harry’s financial support to do that. Otherwise, well, he’s so busy. Gets home late, doesn’t switch off at weekends. He’s fantastic with Eliza, though. He loves her to bits.”

“Does he love you to bits?”

“You can’t keep that initial passion thing going forever, can you? Truth is, I think he wanted me a lot more when I didn’t want him. I wasn’t playing hard to get, I honestly didn’t like him an awful lot. But then I got to know him better, and I liked him more. And then I fell in love with him.”

“He’s hard to resist. Any other women?”

The blunt question took Ana by surprise. “No! He doesn’t even have time for me, how would he fit in another woman?”

“Good. Does Mum keep telling you Ways to Keep Your Husband Happy?”

Ana laughed. “Oh yes. The whole ‘full makeup and a welcoming smile when they come home’ thing. Dinner on the table five minutes later. Shame I don’t cook. Harry loves to remind me what a good cook Katie was.”

Merry gazed out over the mountains. “I still feel bad about Katie. I thought I was so clever, nabbing gorgeous Harry from his boring little wife. Now that I know how that feels, I often wonder about her.”

•••

Ana was more relaxed than she’d felt in years. Evenings were spent lounging in front of the fire in the drawing room, Merry’s two setters stretched out on the rugs. The chef brought them dinner on trays, which they ate in front of the TV. In the mornings, while Merry saw to estate business, Ana would carry Eliza down to the loch, only a tiny portion of her face visible between a warm coat and woolly hat. She’d put her down and she’d wobble around, delighting in the pebbles on the beach, the waves, the waterbirds, her red curls poking out from beneath her hat.

Afternoons were spent rambling over the mountainsides with Merry, Eliza in the baby backpack. Sometimes they chatted; often they walked in companionable silence.

On Wednesday morning, just after Ana had returned from her walk, the bedroom phone rang. It was an ancient-looking thing with an old-fashioned dial.

It was Megan.

“Hi, darling! How lovely of you to ring. Gosh, you and Charles should come up here with your girls. It’s glorious. I—”

Megan had started crying.