“I’m twenty-four. I’m not ready to settle down yet. She’s a year younger than you are, and she wants to get married and have babies. I can hear my youth flying out the window every time she says it, along with my freedom.”
“Why don’t you date someone else for a while? Give yourself a breather?” He liked the idea but felt guilty about that too.
“It would probably kill her. And my mother would kill me.” He smiled ruefully at Coco and she laughed. His mother was fierce when she wanted to be, and she ruled her family with an iron fist. “My mother is crazy about her. She’s more like my mother than either of my sisters. Sabra is marrying Liam. Rebecca told my father she wants to convert and become a Catholic. And not even for a guy, she said it’s more in keeping with her personal beliefs. Last year she was considering becoming a Buddhist. And Jacob still wants to be a rabbi. They’re all driving me crazy. I miss you, Coco. It’s not the same without you. I have no one sane to talk to except when I call you.”
“It isn’t the same for me either,” she admitted, and they both knew she had made a mistake with Nigel. His lavish spending terrified her. He wanted all of London society to be impressed by them, but that was a costly venture, and Coco was footing the bill.
Nigel was different with Sam when he came home that night. He was quieter and less engaging, and seemed slightly annoyed that Sam was there, as though Sam was spying on him. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate, but he was really there to see Coco and offer her whatever support she needed, and help her figure out what was going on. Things had changed since she and Nigel got married.
“That’s quite a house you two are working on,” Sam commented with a smile when they sat down to dinner at a pub nearby.
“Coco thinks it’s too big for us,” he answered glumly. “But it won’t be when we start having children. And we can give some spectacular parties there. We’ll be the talk of the town,” he said, lighting up as he said it. It was all there in what he said and his facial expressions. He wanted to make a big splash, a very big splash, at her expense. It didn’t embarrass him that she was paying for everything. He wanted to show off at any price. It was his way of making up for his brother inheriting everything. Now he had more.
Sam commented the next day when they drove to Sussex that he could see that Nigel was different. He blamed the magazine for firing him, and was bitter about it. But he liked not working. And he was annoyed that Coco was making a fuss about buying two houses at once, and thought he should get a job. He was well aware that she could afford what she’d spent, and had no remorse at all over pushing her to do so. He felt entitled to all of it, and was no longer funny and charming, and he was drinking way too much, with an edge to him when he did. And he made constant references to how rich Coco was, which embarrassed her and made Sam angry on her behalf.
The property in Sussex was beautiful and had a sense of history to it, but needed a lot of work due to deferred maintenance. The bones were there, though. When they got it fixed up, it would be an impressive estate, which it once had been, a long time ago.
“He got a great deal on it,” Coco said, trying to make her peace with it. They owned it now, so there was no point complaining. They had to either fix it up and use it, or sell it, maybe even at a profit. Sam was impressed when he saw it. Coco had agreed to keep it and do the work, so they could give the weekend parties that Nigel was dreaming of, like those his wealthy friends gave. He had found a rich American wife to help him achieve his dreams. Sam suspected that had always been his intention, but he didn’t say it to Coco. It was too late for that now, and it would only upset her. She was married to him, and said she loved him, although things