Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (30 page)

Daniel had
wanted to confess all to the children, had wanted to get Toby and
Sarah together and tell them the whole story. But Rebecca had
refused. She felt so bitter and angry, not at Daniel having the
affair, she had recovered remarkably quickly from that news, but
from the frustration of losing five years of her life. No
confession could bring that back and no amount of 'sorry' could
alter the fact that Daniel's lies had taken those years away from
her. She didn't want the children to feel the same and she told
Daniel firmly that he would have to live with his guilt. He wasn't
going to make himself feel better at their expense. So Daniel had
kept quiet and if Sarah had wondered at the change in her father
she said nothing.

Eventually Toby
had visited as well, He had taken the move to Darlington hardest of
all and his relationship with his father had never really
recovered. He had never been back to Darlington for more than a
couple of days since he had left for Bristol but the lure of Leeds
was different and he finally agreed to join Sarah and his parents
for a weekend.

Knowing about a
lottery win was one thing, seeing a lottery win was a step further
and like Sarah he had wandered round the house in shock, examined
the cars on the driveway in a daze and shook his head in disbelief
as he took in all the new signs of wealth. He had been as cool as
ever towards his father and Daniel kept to his word and said
nothing. No excuses about why he had taken them away from the life
they had loved, no reason as to why he had been such an overbearing
unpleasant man for the last five years. Rebecca had caught the
regret in his eyes more than once but she stood firm. Daniel would
have to rebuild the relationship with his children without
revealing that the cracks could have been avoided.

They had spent
the weekend as a family for the first time in years, chatting late
into the evening and enjoying a family meal around the kitchen
table. Daniel had been subdued but pleasant and Rebecca could feel
the curiosity burning in both her children but she smiled her way
through their visit and hugged them both tightly to her, relishing
the feel of having her family restored.

Rebecca had
told the children she would take them into Leeds on Sunday evening,
drop Sarah at her flat and take Toby to the train station. As they
gathered in the kitchen before leaving she had sat them down at the
table and discussed finances. She’d already told them that their
student loans would be paid in full. She had already started paying
a monthly allowance into their accounts for which they had both
declared their undying thanks and gratefully resigned the jobs they
had been holding down to pay their way through the term.

But now she
placed a set of papers in front of each of her children and gently
explained about the trusts she had set up, the money that they
would receive on their birthdays.

Daniel had said
nothing and Rebecca thought that she could still detect the
disapproval in his eyes but he had smiled and nodded as in tears
both of his children flung their arms around their mother and
thanked her over and over again. And if anyone had noticed that
Daniel wasn't part of the conversation they had said nothing. And
if Daniel had felt isolated as they all wept and hugged, he had
said nothing.

Eventually Toby
had leapt to his feet and said that he was going to miss his train
if they didn’t get moving at which Rebecca had smiled and taken
them both by the hand to the large garage where she had opened the
door and showed them the two cars that were waiting for them. More
tears followed, more laughter, more hugging and this time Daniel
was slightly more animated as he joined them in exploring the
interior, lifting the bonnet so he and Toby could examine the
engine.

Eventually Toby
and Sarah had left. Toby had decided it was too late to set off to
Bristol and he was going to spend the night with Sarah in Leeds and
leave the next morning. Laughing at their good fortune and grinning
at the prospect of a night in the Student Union Bar with their new
found wealth, Toby and Sarah had waved goodbye and set off down the
long driveway. Rebecca had stayed in the doorway for a while,
shivering slightly at the slight wind that had picked up and
staring into the distance still able to feel the excitement of her
children.

She had smiled,
this was what she had expected from winning the lottery and she had
finally had the moment, albeit several months late.

And the moment
had continued when the following week she had invited Helen, Emma
and their families to Sunday lunch. She had asked Annie to join
them too and the afternoon had come straight from her daydreams as
her friends sat at the huge wooden table, drinking wine, laughing,
chatting and putting the world to rights with the smell of roast
beef filling the air and a feeling of happiness and goodwill
filling every corner of the room.

Daniel hadn't
joined them. He had suggested that he might play golf that day and
Rebecca had agreed. Meeting her old friends with her new knowledge
was something that she could handle better without Daniel being
present and Daniel had no desire to be the object of everyone's
contempt for the afternoon. When the afternoon had finished and
everyone had finally gone, shouting their goodbyes as they drove
away, Rebecca had flung open the kitchen doors and wandered into
the courtyard with a glass of wine. She trailed her fingers through
the mint and the basil and inhaled their aromas before lifting her
face to examine the full moon rising in the sky. This was
perfection.

Rebecca arrived
back from Parklands, parking the 4X4 next to the Fiat and sat in
the car for a moment before taking a deep breath and climbing out.
Daniel was in the kitchen. He was staring out of the window, his
hands thrust deeply into his pocket.

‘Hello.’

He turned in
her direction.

‘I was waiting
for you.’

Rebecca nodded.
‘Sorry, I just had so much to do, I had...’

She trailed
off. For a long moment they just stared at each other, Daniel
eventually breaking the silence.

‘Right, well.
Okay then.’

He walked
slowly into the hallway, Rebecca following him.

It had been
after the Sunday lunch with Helen and Emma that she had asked him
to leave. He had started to argue and then stopped. He started to
plead and then stopped. In the end he had simply nodded. His
shoulders had drooped and his face suddenly aged.

She had known
all along that they couldn't survive the events of the last few
months. But part of her, the part that still felt guilt when she
thought of how badly she had behaved, decided that she ought to at
least allow some time to pass. Give her battered emotions some time
to recover. But it had made no difference.

‘I need to
start again Daniel - you have to understand I can't forgive and I
can't forget but I can start again and it has to be without
you.’

He had given in
without a fight.

Rebecca offered
to sell the house and split what money was left but Daniel had
refused. She offered to set him up in business somewhere and he
refused. He wanted to walk away empty handed and she refused and it
took several hours of talking before Daniel agreed to take one
million pounds and the sale of their Darlington house. He had
decided not to return to Darlington which annoyed Rebecca although
she couldn't quite say why. She didn't ask where he planned on
going, she found that she has very little interest. It was
over.

His cases were
packed and standing neatly by the front door and in silence he
carried them out to the Mercedes and stacked them in the boot and
on the back seat.

Putting in the
last one he closed the door and turned in Rebecca's direction.

Rebecca bit her
lip.

‘Daniel...’

He took a step
towards her, a minute, hopeful step.

‘Thank you,
Daniel.’

He stopped,
nodded and turned back towards the car.

For a moment he
stood staring at the driver's door, fiddling with the key in his
hand and then turning he strode towards Rebecca, reaching out to
wrap his arms around her and press his face into her hair.

‘I'm so sorry
my darling, so very sorry.’

And then he was
gone, the sound of his car wheels making their way down the
driveway all that was left.

The air was
still warm, pleasant, silent and Rebecca smiled. She decided that
it was time for a coffee in the courtyard and turning around with a
serene smile on her face she walked into her house and closed the
door.

###

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Other Books by
Julie Butterfield

Google Your
Husband Back

Read first
chapter now

Google Your
Husband Back

When Kate’s
husband announced that he was leaving her, she was only mildly
surprised. He broke the news as he stood in the doorway of the
kitchen and Kate was preoccupied with the large smudge of porridge
she’d just noticed on her shoulder and the butter that was
dribbling down her fingers. She’d just remembered that she was
starting her new diet today, one that would shift the baby pouch
still sitting on her midriff – and butter on her toast had not been
part of the plan. In fact, there should be no toast at all, she was
meant to start the day with half a grapefruit and some hot water
with a slice of lemon. She looked at the toast, already half eaten
and decided it was a shame to waste the rest. The diet could wait
until tomorrow. As for the porridge, well the jumper could join the
rest of Kate’s crusty tops in the washing machine. Porridge smeared
shoulders seemed to be par for the course with a baby in the
house.

‘Did you hear
me Kate', asked Alex impatiently.

‘Yes, I heard.
I thought it was next week?’

She wiped the
runny butter from her fingers before deftly catching Millie’s cup
as it flew towards the floor.

‘Next
week?’

‘Yes, next
week.’

She was
confident that it was next week Alex was going away. She remembered
because a few weeks before he’d been very grumpy, claiming she
didn’t pay enough attention when he was talking about work and
they’d had a brief but intense argument about just how much
interest she should pay when he came home at the end of the day.
Kate was of the opinion that having spent her day with a grouchy
nine-month old baby, washing, cleaning, singing lullabies, playing
with squeaky toys, washing some more and cleaning again - she
deserved more than a re-run of Alex’s day. But she had accepted the
rebuke, smiled apologetically at her husband and resolved to pay
more attention in future. She had even taken to writing down
snippets of information so she could have a quick read before he
came home and remember to ask him how his meeting had gone or what
his boss thought of his latest report.

So Kate was
very confident that it was next week that Alex was going to spend
four days in the North of England, looking at demographics showing
why the population all seemed much happier living in the South of
England.

Alex was
staring at her and with a sigh Kate finished the toast, put the
feeder cup back on Millie’s highchair and grabbed her cup of
tea.

‘You said that
you were going to Northumberland next week …Tuesday morning for a
lunchtime start, meetings through until Thursday evening, round up
Friday morning, lunch, arrival home Friday evening,’ she repeated
parrot fashion.

Alex carried on
staring.

‘You said,’
repeated Kate a little impatiently, ‘that you would definitely be
back on the Friday evening but you would be away on the Saturday
morning for…’ she paused. Actually she’d stopped listening at that
point and wasn’t sure what Saturday had in store for her overworked
husband. ‘Er, for something else. Anyway, it was Tuesday coming
home Friday. I listened,’ she finished triumphantly.

There was a
moment of silence. Millie was tipping her cup so that contents
sprayed onto her hand and Kate was sipping her tea, watching Alex
who stood in the doorway watching Kate.

‘Kate I – I -
that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m leaving. I mean I’m actually
leaving. You. I’m leaving you. Today, now. I’m… well I’m
leaving.’

Kate stared at
him.

‘What?’

He ran a hand
through his hair, the floppy fringe that neither Kate nor gel had
ever managed to control and she suddenly noticed how tired he
looked. How absolutely drained of colour he was. She noticed how
the groove between his eyebrows seemed to have deepened overnight.
And she noticed the two large suitcases that stood by his feet.
They were the suitcases they used when going on holiday, not the
small one Alex always used when he had to spend a few days away
with work.

‘What do you
mean? Leaving to go where? Northumberland is next week. You said
Northumberland was next week, I was listening!’

There was a
bang as Millie threw the cup back onto the floor but Kate didn’t
turn round.

‘What are you
talking about Alex? Where are you going?’

‘I’m sorry
Kate, I’m so sorry. I have tried to tell you, to explain. I’m
sorry…’ he shrugged, trailing into silence.

Kate frowned,
fairly certain she would have remembered a conversation that
involved her husband telling her he was leaving. She waited but it
seemed Alex had run out of words. With a loud sigh he shrugged his
shoulders again, a helpless look crossing his face. Refusing to
meet her eyes he turned, grabbed the handles of the cases and with
a few steps he was across the hallway and out of the front
door.