Vacation with a Commanding Stranger

‘George did telephone last night—from Japan,’ she heard Gale telling her, ‘but he rang off before I could tackle him about the farmhouse. I’ve a good mind to go and see Robert Forrest myself and ask him what he thinks he’s playing at. George has a responsibility towards us as well as to his work.’

Livvy frowned as she caught the unfamiliar tremor in her cousin’s voice. The situation was obviously placing far more of a strain on Gale than she had initially been prepared to admit.

‘Livvy, I just don’t know what to do,’ Gale told her, confirming her suspicions. ‘George has never behaved like this before. He’s always put us first. I know his job’s important… But he missed the boys’ parents’ day. He’s never done that before… I went, of course, but I could tell how upset they both were by his absence. Roderick even asked me if…if George and I were going to get a divorce. I told him we weren’t, but for all the time George is spending at home these days we might as well already be divorced.’

Beneath Gale’s anger, Livvy could sense her bewilderment and pain. Her cousin needed her husband far more than she wanted to admit, Livvy recognised.

‘He’s still there, I suppose,’ she asked Livvy, changing the subject. ‘I hope you’ve made it clear to him that there’s no way he can buy the farmhouse without my agreement. Really, the man must have the hide of a rhinoceros to persist in staying when…’

‘He knows the situation, Gale,’ Livvy cut her cousin off, all too conscious that Richard Field could probably hear what Gale was saying.

‘Mmm… Well, I shall have a thing or two to say to George about what he’s done when he does eventually come home. He should have discussed it with me first—giving the man a key and not saying a word to me about it…without giving any consideration at all to the situation he’s placed you in.’

‘George didn’t know that I would be staying here, Gale,’ Livvy felt bound to remind her cousin. ‘I think I’ve managed to get everything sorted out with the plumber,’ she added, wanting to get Gale off the subject of Richard Field. ‘I’ve asked him to send the estimates direct to you. It sounds as though it’s going to be rather expensive,’ she warned Gale. ‘Perhaps in the circumstances you should wait…’

‘As I’m having to wait for George to come home,’ Gale demanded crossly. ‘No, thanks. I’ll ring you just as soon as I’ve spoken to him and found out what’s going on,’ she added. ‘I must go now. I’m taking Roderick to his tennis lesson in half an hour.’

‘That was Gale,’ Livvy told Richard Field unnecessarily after she had replaced the receiver. There was no need for her to explain her actions, nor to feel uncomfortable about them, and yet, idiotically, she did.

The smell of his freshly brewed coffee tantalised her taste-buds; without discussing it or drawing up any formal rules, they had somehow managed to evolve a routine which brought them into as little contact with one another as possible.

Richard Field spent most of his time away from the farmhouse, exploring the region, Livvy assumed, but today for some reason he had not gone out.

‘How is she?’

The question caught her off guard. She stared at him in surprise, searching his face for some sign of the irritation and dislike she had previously seen him exhibit when he talked about her cousin but, a little to her surprise, she could find no evidence of it.

‘She’s f… She’s very upset and worried,’ she told him quietly, pushing to one side the polite fib she had been about to voice. ‘I think she’s just beginning to recognise how much she needs George. The boys are missing him too… I think she must be getting pretty desperate. She was talking about getting in touch with George’s boss herself…’

She paused as she saw the quick frown he gave her.

‘She’s desperate to talk to George,’ she told him defensively. ‘Surely you can understand that? I know you don’t have a very high opinion of the female sex, but Gale is George’s wife and she has every right…’

She tensed with indignation as he turned away from her. He might at least have the courtesy to hear her out instead of turning his back on her and walking away, even if he didn’t like what she was saying, but to her surprise, before she could protest at his rudeness, he had reached for a clean mug and was filling it with a second cup of coffee… When he turned back towards her, handing it to her, her jaw dropped slightly.

‘Here,’ he told her wryly. ‘If we’re going to have an in-depth argument on the subject of the rights that go with marriage in general, and your cousin’s application of them in particular, then you might as well fortify yourself with this. If nothing else, it will give me an opportunity to have my say while you’re drinking it.’

Livvy gaped at him. It almost sounded as though he actually enjoyed the thought of arguing with her…of being with her.

‘There is nothing for us to argue about,’ she told him loftily, as she tried to control the dizzy, heady feeling that was threatening what should have been far more rational thoughts. ‘It’s Gale’s right as George’s wife to expect him to discuss his plans with her. To share…’

‘To share… It’s easy to see that you’ve never been married nor involved in a long-term relationship. Ask anyone who has; they’ll soon tell you that only foolish idealists believe that marriage is about sharing; the reality is that it’s about power, power and control. Up until now, Gale has controlled George and their relationship, and now she’s afraid that George might be escaping from her control she’s starting to panic.’

‘That’s not true,’ Livvy countered hotly. His cynicism appalled her. What must his own marriage have been like, for him to hold such views? Not a happy one, obviously. ‘Gale loves and needs George. She might not always show it…it might not be obvious on the surface…she might have seemed to be the stronger one, the more powerful one,’ she added as she caught the small sound of derision he made, ‘but in reality…’

‘In reality, what? She treats him like a child, orders him around and generally publicly humiliates him. Is that how she shows her need and love for him?’

‘All right, she might sometimes seem to be slightly domineering,’ Livvy admitted reluctantly, ‘but that’s only on the surface. Underneath…’

‘You’re obviously a hopeless romantic,’ he told her roughly. ‘You have to be if you think that.’

A hopeless romantic. Less than a week ago he had been accusing her of having a very different personality. As though he too was remembering that, he suddenly added abruptly, ‘Mind you, you do have a vested interest in taking your cousin’s side, don’t you? You are both women.’

‘I’m not taking her side,’ Livvy told him. ‘I’m just trying to point out that deep down she needs George.’

‘Financially perhaps, but—’

‘It isn’t anything to do with money,’ Livvy interrupted him angrily. ‘It’s emotionally that Gale needs George, although I don’t suppose someone like you could ever understand that. You seem to be obsessed by money, determined to believe that it’s the pivot of a relationship. Well, I for one would never put money before…’