Trust Me - Sheryl Browne Page 0,25
notes adorning her screen.
Emily gave her an indulgent smile back. The girl was doing her best. Still, though, she was easily distracted. She hoped she didn’t forget.
As it was lunchtime, there were no patients currently in with Jake, so she tapped on his door and went in. ‘I’m off to my dental appointment,’ she said, determined to remain professional despite their personal situation. ‘Nicky’s up to speed regarding your appointment schedule.’
‘Oh, right. Thanks.’ Jake got to his feet and walked around the desk towards her, then stopped. Normally he would kiss her. Sometimes, a mischievous smile curving his mouth, he would push the door to and kiss her thoroughly. Now, though, his expression was awkward as he lingered a step away from her, and he didn’t appear to know what to do.
She should tell him everything. A hard lump expanding in her chest, she almost closed the door herself and stepped further in. But she couldn’t bring it all out into the open here and create the very scenario she was trying to avoid: confrontation, arguments, accusations. Not until she absolutely had to. She would convince this woman to back off, praying that they could then salvage their marriage. If she could bring herself to trust him again, and feel secure that Jake thought their relationship was worth saving, then she would talk to him. She would have no choice. She couldn’t bury her head in the sand and hope it would go away and just be grateful when it did – until the next time.
‘Tom’s popping in,’ she reminded him. ‘He needs to get some data together for the clinical commissioning group. Nicky’s on her own so you might want to keep an eye on things,’ she suggested, hoping he would get the point about his father’s tendency to ogle their receptionist at every opportunity without her spelling it out.
‘Right,’ Jake said again. She could tell by his long intake of breath that he understood.
Her heart ached as she climbed into her car and headed for Apple Tree Farm. For herself, but mostly for Millie and Ben. She and Jake had worked to protect them from anything that might damage them growing up, particularly the harm parents could wreak. What had happened? she wondered, feeling still as bewildered and disorientated as she had when she had first glimpsed that bloody email. She wasn’t sure what she was doing here, other than to try and corroborate what her head was telling her: that Jake was having an affair, despite the promises he’d made never to be like the father whose behaviour he claimed to detest.
If it did turn out to be true, she only prayed he would never utter the words he’d spoken years ago, telling her his association with the woman meant nothing, quite clearly indicating that nothing was worth risking his marriage for, ruining his children’s lives for. She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to forgive him that.
Driving into the farm, she passed the field Michael Jameson had left to fallow this year and on past the hops that were beginning to establish themselves on their strings. Michael had broken his back rescuing the farm that had been handed down to him from his parents. Emily knew that growing hops was one of the hardest crop choices in farming, the hops requiring attention all year round. Even then, farmers were at the mercy of the weather and yields varied. Michael had often joked that hop growers were resilient folk, supplementing their income with other horticultural crops such as apples. Emily wondered how resilient his heart would be if he discovered the woman he’d not long been married to, and who he’d refurbished the farmhouse for, possibly overstretching himself financially, was cheating on him.
Hoping Michael was out and about on the farm, she parked a little way down the track leading to the house. She noted Natasha’s brand-new Mini Clubman parked outside and the anger that had been simmering inside her rose. She had no doubt that the purchase of that car had pushed Michael further into debt.
Bracing herself, wondering what she hoped to gain if the woman denied an affair outright, she climbed out of her car and made her way towards the house. She was severely tempted to gouge the shiny Mini with her keys as she neared it, and was shocked by this new viciousness inside her. This wasn’t her. No matter what people had thought her capable of, silently accused her of, she’d