Roses Are Red - Miranda Rijks Page 0,75

head on the table and looks as if he’s fast asleep. Mia is typing furiously on her phone.

‘Happy birthday, gorgeous.’ Cassie gives me a kiss on the cheek.

‘Has Fiona gone?’ I ask Cassie, realising that she didn’t say goodbye.

‘Yes, she left before the coffee arrived.’

‘Oh,’ I say.

‘She said she wasn’t feeling well.’

‘Anyway, I just want to thank you for a wonderful evening.’ Cassie smiles.

‘It’s me who needs to thank you,’ I say. ‘And you need to thank this man.’ I loop my arm through Patrick’s, and I think I see Cassie’s smile quiver. I feel for her. I hope that both she and Fiona find partners as gorgeous as mine.

‘Right, we need to go. Mia, can you wake your brother?’ Patrick says. With his arm around my shoulders, we walk out of the hotel, to where another taxi is awaiting us.

Half an hour later, we are home and I am slipping out of my dress. ‘That was a truly wonderful evening and such a surprise. I can’t thank you enough.’

‘It was fun to meet your friends and family,’ Patrick says, undoing his shirt buttons.

‘You should have invited your sister. I can’t believe you still haven’t introduced us.’

Patrick has his back towards me. ‘I didn’t want to ruin your day by telling you, but she’s back in hospital.’

‘Oh no. I’m so sorry. Is the treatment not working?’

‘I think it is, but she has terrible side effects. I visited her earlier in the week.’

‘You did?’ I frown. ‘You didn’t tell me.’

‘You had quite enough to worry about with the business and Ajay. No need to burden you with more concerns.’ He drops his shirt onto the floor and strides towards the bathroom.

‘I’d like to meet Sandra,’ I say. ‘Next time you’re visiting her, can I come?’

‘Sure.’

A few minutes later we’re both in bed. I turn towards Patrick and kiss him. He sighs and pulls back.

‘I’m really tired, Lydia. Do you mind?’

‘Of course not,’ I say. But I do. Tonight of all nights we should be making love. Tomorrow is Saturday and we don’t even have to get up early. Perhaps in the morning, I think to myself.

At 8.30 a.m., Patrick bounds out of bed and offers to take Oliver to football practice. I eagerly accept. Mia still hasn’t surfaced, so I have a couple of hours to sort through bills and do all the mundane household stuff that I used to share with Adam, but now have to do alone. I switch on my laptop and click onto online banking. I have three accounts. My current account, a savings account and the new joint account that Patrick and I set up together. I click onto that and notice with dismay that it’s overdrawn. How is that possible? And then I see the two very substantial payments. Three and a half thousand pounds was spent at a jeweler’s in Horsham earlier in the week. My new earrings, I suppose. And just under five thousand pounds was spent at the luxury hotel where my party was held yesterday.

‘Shit,’ I mutter out loud. It’s not as if I can’t afford it. I can. There is a large six-figure sum sitting in my savings account, but that’s not the point. Naturally, I assumed that Patrick would have paid for my earrings and the party himself and not taken the money out of our joint account, which is predominantly topped up by my money. Well, perhaps it’s fair enough to use our joint money for the party, but to use it for my earrings…

It feels mean, especially as he knows that I will see how much he spent. Patrick doesn’t have anything like as much money as I do, but then again, I don’t know how much he earns, or exactly what he has. I assumed he was well off, because how else could he afford to pay for his sister’s immunotherapy?

I sit there for a long time trying to quell the unease. Eventually, I decide I must let it go. Money must not become an issue between us. Patrick is a kind, loving man and, as I reiterate to myself, what is mine is his.

23

On Monday morning, I stride into work feeling positive. I have had lots of messages from friends and family thanking us for the dinner, commenting that Patrick is a delightful man, and how happy they are that I’ve found happiness again. I’ve forgiven him for using my money on the earrings and the party. It’s not as if Patrick has ever taken