Read Online The First Wife by Emily Barr - Free Book Online Page B

in the end I thought someone must have left a tap running. And I came in. Sorry.’ I took a breath.
    ‘Please,’ he said, and I saw him looking me up and down. My trousers were still wet, and they felt all clammy on my thighs, and my hair was half-straggly, half-frizzy. ‘Don’t think anything of it. It’s made my morning, to be frank with you, Lily. In fact, it’s made my week. I had my ears underwater. Didn’t hear a thing. I see you straightened out my disgusting mess while you were up there. No need to, but thanks.’
    ‘Milk?’ I said. ‘Sugar?’
    ‘Cream. It’s in the fridge. Join me?’
    I hesitated. ‘Um, I would love a coffee, if that would be OK, but I have to clean at the same time.’
    ‘They work you hard, my darling brother and his wife?’
    ‘I work. They pay me. I have a few jobs but this is my best one.’ I found a tub of double cream and held it up. ‘This?’
    ‘That’s the baby. Why on earth is this your best job?’
    ‘It’s the nicest house and they don’t have children,’ I said, as I handed him the tub. I was horribly embarrassed by this entire encounter, but I liked this man, too.
    ‘Well, those things are both true. Children do make a vile mess, don’t they? I’ve got two of my own, for my sins.’ He looked cheerful as he said this, as if he did not really mean it. ‘So, you like them? They treat you well?’
    ‘Um,’ I said, ‘I haven’t met them.’
    ‘Oh,’ he beamed, taking the pot of cream, his hand brushing mine as he did so. ‘Now this is getting better and better. You have met me, naked – me naked, not you, admittedly – while my brother has no idea that his house is ordered by a beautiful young lady with enormous chocolatey eyes, if you don’t mind my saying so.’
    I felt myself blushing, and I looked at the floor. I could not think of a single thing to say, so I kept quiet.
    ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you,’ he said. ‘That’s the last thing I’d want. Look, this is the way you do it.’ He was holding the cream tub high above his mug, letting a narrow stream of thick liquid swirl into his coffee, twirling it around to form a spiral. I was vaguely aware that he was showing off. ‘Want me to do yours?’
    ‘No, thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll stick to milk.’ I tried to think of something to say. ‘So,’ I muttered. ‘You’re staying a few days?’
    Fergus sat down at the chunky wooden table. ‘I am indeed, Lily. Not necessarily out of choice. There are, to be honest with you, more harmonious households in which to take one’s vacation. But . . . well, trouble in Paradise, rather than a holiday. Steer clear of the Summer men, that’s my advice. We’re not good with women.’
    I opened the fridge and started taking things out so that I could clean the shelves. I piled artisanal cheese, a tub of olives, two bottles of white wine, and lots of bottles of beer onto the counter, wondering, as I did so, how they could stomach all the wine they seemed to drink. There were different bottles in there every week.
    ‘Trouble?’ I said politely, without looking up.
    ‘How old are you, Lily?’
    I looked over my shoulder, my guard up.
    ‘Twenty,’ I said.
    ‘Boyfriend? Husband? Kids?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Lucky you. Sensible girl.’ I cleaned the inside of the fridge for a while, before he spoke again. ‘Just a bit of marital trouble,’ he said eventually. ‘Been married since I was two years older than you are now. I was just a puppy, you know, a fucking puppy. She had my best years.’
    ‘Did you have her best years too?’
    ‘I did. She could have done a lot better for herself than me. That’s for sure.’
    I was hesitant over how much I should ask.
    ‘Have you left?’ I tried tentatively.
    He laughed. ‘Not so much “left” as been evicted. We’ll sort it out – we always do. But in the meantime, I thought I’d come down here and give her a bit of breathing space. Sarah seemed to think that looking at the sea would