laughed. ‘Oh, this is ridiculous. I don’t know what you imagined you saw, but…’ He softened his voice to a croon. ‘You’re not well, darling. You need a bit of TLC, that’s all. And then we’ll get everything sorted out, take a delayed honeymoon, whatever you want.’
‘And how were you planning to pay for that, Ethan?’ Jack asked brightly.
Ethan blinked at him. ‘Sorry, what?’
He yanked the bank statement he’d been looking at earlier out of his pocket and held it out. ‘Kitty, take a look at this.’
‘Give me that.’ Ethan tried to snatch it off him but Jack held it high above his head.
‘You know there’s a law against reading people’s confidential documents?’ Ethan demanded. ‘I could have you in court, whoever you are.’
‘Is there a law against Kitty reading it? Because from what I hear, a good chunk of what’s in this account is hers, regardless of your name being on the front.’ He barged Ethan out of the way and pushed the statement into my hand.
I stared at it in shock. ‘Six grand overdrawn! What the hell is this, Ethan?’
His cheeks had flushed crimson now. ‘That’s my business.’
‘Your business? It’s my fucking money!’ My fear of him was entirely swallowed up in a sudden, white-hot ball of anger. ‘You told me we had thousands put away. Where is it?’
‘I invested it. Stocks and shares.’ He took my hand in his. ‘For both our sakes, Kitty. You know you were always stupid with money.’
I snatched my hand away. ‘How would you know? You never let me manage my own money.’ I stared at the statement again. ‘All our savings, and six grand besides! How could you lose all that?’
‘Just a couple of duff investments,’ he said, staring at the floor. ‘I was still learning how it all worked then. Now I’ve got the hang of it, if we apply for the money in your ISA—’
I actually laughed. ‘You think you’re getting your hands on my dad’s money? Oh, no. Not a chance.’
‘You selfish—’ He looked angry now. ‘Of course. I should’ve known you’d find a way to make this all my fault, when for a year you’ve been bleeding me fucking dry, demanding the big white wedding from hell plus all the trimmings. How much was that dress, eh?’
‘Me? You were the one who planned the whole thing!’
‘Because I thought it was what you wanted. Isn’t that every girl’s dream? God, I’ve nearly bankrupted myself trying to make you happy,’ he snapped. ‘You can be an ungrateful bitch, you know that, Kitty?’
I shook my head. ‘Christ. Did I really love you?’
It almost felt like a dream now, those feelings, that life. When it came to Ethan, my eyes had been well and truly opened.
‘Right. That’s enough.’ Jack held out his hand to me. ‘Come on, Kit.’
‘Where the hell do you think you’re going?’ Ethan demanded as I took Jack’s hand and turned to go.
‘Anywhere that isn’t here. Anywhere that doesn’t have you in it,’ I said. ‘Bye, Ethan. Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear the last time, I’m leaving you. Expect to hear from a lawyer at some point.’
‘Kitty, please!’ He made his eyes wide. ‘What about me? What will I do about all this debt? We’re six grand overdrawn here.’
‘No, Ethan, you’re six grand overdrawn.’ I smiled brightly. ‘See, I don’t actually have a bank account.’
I let Jack lead me back down the stairs and out of the front door.
‘Wait!’ I heard Ethan shout. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him running after us. ‘Kitty! Don’t you dare walk away from me!’
‘Come on.’ Jack took my arm and we burst into a sprint. I think he could sense I was too drained for another confrontation, and Ethan sounded dangerous.
‘You’re my wife, Kitty!’ he shouted after us, drawing a shocked stare from Mrs Bartholomew in her garden. ‘You’re my fucking wife! Hear me? Mine! Get back here, now.’
‘Drive,’ I said to Jack as soon as we were back in the camper. Ethan chased us down the road until we eventually sped out of sight, leaving him an angry speck in the distance.
‘You okay?’ Jack asked once we were back on the road. I was panting heavily, and I could see in the mirror that the blood had drained from my face.
‘No. Not really.’ I summoned a wobbly grin. ‘But God, that felt good.’
I rang through four old uni friends from out of town before I finally got hold of someone who was willing to give me sofa space for a little while.
When it was all arranged, I hung up Jack’s mobile and beamed at him. ‘Sorted. Surinder says I can stay with her.’
‘Didn’t sound like she was too happy about it.’
‘Well, hopefully it won’t be for long. I’ve got nowhere else I can go.’
‘You know, you could stay if you want. Here, with me. I kind of like having you around.’
His keen eyes flickered over my face, and I felt my cheeks pinken.
‘I can’t live in this thing forever though, can I?’
‘Why not? I’m going to.’
‘But you’re… you. And we can’t all illustrate books for a living. I need to find some work.’
Plus there was the other thing. I’d been noticing it more lately: the lingering looks, the… the something. Not just on his side, from me too.
What with one thing and another, we’d been together in the van nearly a month. And the natural result of our confined quarters was an intense closeness, both physically and, increasingly, emotionally. I could sense there was something building between me and Jack, something inevitable, and with my head still reeling from the fallout of my relationship with Ethan, I was worried I was in danger of… let’s say, of making choices that might not be for the best right now.
‘Okay,’ Jack said, dropping my hands. He looked disappointed. ‘If that’s what you want. I’ll miss you though, Kit.’
‘We’ll stay in touch, won’t we?’
‘Course we will.’ He smiled. ‘For you, I might even keep my phone switched on.’
***
We set off that afternoon. We’d been camping near Derby and Surinder and her husband lived down in London, so we had a long drive ahead.
‘So how did you say you knew this girl?’ Jack asked when we were almost halfway there. ‘University, was it?’
‘Jack…’
‘Hmm?’
‘Jack!’ My voice was urgent. ‘Can you pull over?’
‘Not car-sick, are you?’
‘It’s the puppies. I think they might be coming.’
In the rear-view mirror I could see Sandy squirming, shifting her hindquarters constantly from one side of the van to the other. I’d noticed her at it for a good quarter of an hour, looking steadily more uncomfortable as the van rocked on its way. Her mouth hung open, and a whispered, wheezy moan was coming from the back of her throat. As I watched, a shudder ran across her tight, round belly.
Jack glanced