Page 47 of The Perfect Blend
It was Boxing Day. Christmas day at Sharons had been a nice distraction - after all, how could Christmas day with three children who still believed in Father Christmas be anything but entertaining and wholesome? But now I needed some space and time to process my feelings. So I drove up into the Peaks, taking Beanie with me on a well earned hike. I promised myself that I would mull everything over whilst we walked, and I would feel better for it. Soon this would all seem like a bad dream I could put behind me.
The snow was crisp beneath my feet, making that delightful noise everytime I crunched through it. Beanie bounced beside me, tail wagging as she jumped over the snow. She was acting like she was well, but the vet and I knew better, this wouldn’t be a very long walk, I didn’t want to overexert her. I was going to do the majority of my thinking up on a bench that had the most beautiful view across the snow covered hills, before walking back to the car. I kept Beanie on her lead though since I no longer trusted her to stay close. We needed some serious training sessions for me to risk her off lead again.
We climbed over a stile into the next field, and I spotted a walker with their dog coming towards us, their dog on a lead. A few paces forward and surprise shot through me, quickly turning to shock then panic, as I realised it was Zach. Whose dog was he walking? Snakes writhed in the pit of my stomach as I walked forward, focusing on keeping an even pace and a calm expression. How would he explain this away? What was I going to say to him? I wondered where his secret family was - although actually I supposed I was the secret - before pushing that thought down as it wasvery unhelpful.
We drew closer to each other, and the nearer we got the more ill I felt. Soon we were close enough to see each other properly, and he smiled at me. A bright, happy smile. Oh, this was going to be awful. I felt sweaty over the confrontation I knew was coming.
“Robin!” he called, still smiling.
I didn’t say anything and his smile faltered and he looked a bit confused. Not as confused as I had been the other day. Instead of looking at him as we drew closer, I looked at the dog he was walking. A brown and white collie, quite a young and boisterous one by the look of it. The dog was bouncing on the end of the lead, eager to meet Beanie.
Finally, the dogs met and immediately started sniffing each other, and there I stood, right in front of Zach.
“Robin?” I looked up and focused on one of his cheeks so I wouldn’t have to look him in the eye.
“Hello Zach,” I said, voice icy. I didn’t know myself what I was going to say next. All my half formed plans seemed to fly out the window now that he was actually standing there in front of me. Next to us the dogs had started playing, but we ignored them.
“What’s going on, are you alright? Is everything ok?” his voice sounded concerned. He should be. I used that anger and channelled it to find my words.
“I should ask you that,” I spat. “What’s going on, Zach? How was your Christmas?”
“What do you mean? I’m so confused, Robin. What are you on about?”
He had some nerve to try and manipulate me like this. Fury hit me from within and I finally met his stare, looking him straight in the eyes.
“I’ll spell it out for you, Zachary Spencer. I know your dirty secrets. I’ve seen you with them! I’ve seenyour child!” my voice was pure fire now, edging on hysterical. “Did you even go down to visit your sister’s at all?” Next to us the dogs were getting more boisterous, but this conversation wouldn’t be stopped. Zach’s face paled - the bastard knew he’d been caught.
“Look, Robin-”
“‘Look Robin’ what?! What lies are you going to tell to explain this one away!? I should’ve known there was something fishy about all of this. The sudden business opportunity, the shady phone calls from your ‘young friend’, you trying to keep John Spencer from telling me just how awful you are. He saw right through you, didn’t he?”
“Look, this is just a big misunderstanding-”
Mid sentence Zach lunged toward me, shock in his eyes. He reached out to steady himself on my shoulders but the second he touched me I jerked away and suddenly there was a dog right behind me, catching me in the back of my knees and they buckled immediately. I fell backward, Zach falling with me and we landed in a heap on the snow. The two dogs continued yipping and growling and causing chaos all around us. I could barely figure out what was going on.
I was, however, still absolutely furious.
“I understand quite clearly actually!” I gritted out as I tried to prise away a lead that had gotten tangled between my legs. “You’ve just been using me! You’re a married man! You have a child! You’re a scumbag! It’s quite simple!” I was getting louder and louder with each sentence until I was shouting the last word. I looked at him with fury and saw a face of pure astonishment as he paused mid trying to separate the dogs.
Maybe he’d conned plenty of women and finally it had caught up with him and he couldn’t quite believe it.
“I’m a what, now?” he stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language, playing stupid.
“M-A-R-R-I-E-D. MARRIED. Beanie come on, get away.” I pulled my dog away from his, who was still bouncing all over.
“Mocha!” he called firmly, and my brain couldn’t keep up, who randomly shouts out the name of a coffee drink? It took me a moment to realise it was the name of the dog.
“Sit!” The dog completely ignored him and he decided to switch tactics and focus his attention back on me with a harassed expression. “Where on earth have you gotten all this from? The child was a secret, fine, but you have to just let me explain why-”
“What on earth can you say to explain why you hidyour secret childfrom me?!” I was reaching pitches only dogs could hear now.
“She’s notmychild-”
“What are you talking about?! First there’s a secret child then there’s not-” There were tears in my eyes now and I wiped them furiously away. His face softened and I hated him for it, how dare he feel pity for me. Or pretend to anyway, who knew what was real with him. “Why can’t you just tell thetruth?” My voice broke on the last word and I wished I was stronger.
Zachs mouth was set in a grim line and he looked torn. “We need to sit down and get to the bottom of this. It’s complicated. We need to go and speak with my sister.”
I was utterly lost. “Go? Down south? What’s all this got to do with her?”
