Page 58 of Beautiful Ugly
“A lot of people fantasize about what their life might be like if they hadn’t married their partner, or if they were to start a new life without them. It’s actually perfectly normal and nothing to feel guilty about,” she says, but I’m not sure that I believe her. “I’m curious to know whether that’s all this is. Just a fantasy because your marriage is going through a rough patch—again, perfectly normal—or whether a separation or a clean break is something that you are serious about. A lot of people don’t know the answer to the next question, and that’s fine too, butifyou were to leave your husband, where would you go? What would you do?”
The answer was bittersweet.
“There is only one place I’ve ever thought of as home.”
“Where?” she asked.
“The Isle of Amberly.”
CLEARLY MISUNDERSTOOD
GRADY
“It was nice meeting you, Grady. Apart from the bit where you knocked me off my bike. But I need to lock up and head home to my better half,” Abby says.
My wife needs to get home to her new husband.
I can tell I have outstayed my welcome but I can’t leave. I’ve only just found her. The walkie-talkie on the counter crackles to life and we both stare at it.
“Has anyone seen them?” asks an unfamiliar female voice.
I’m probably being paranoid, but for a moment I wonder if they’re talking about us.
“I hate these bloody things,” Abby adds, interrupting my suspicious thoughts and snatching the contraption. “Aubrey here. I’m at the pottery withthe author,” she says, winking in my direction. “Is everything okay?” She hits a button and turns back to me. “The people on this island campaigned and voted not to have a mobile phone mast, but they’re obsessed with these bloody things instead.”
The walkie-talkie crackles again and the ghostly voice of a different woman speaks.
“Has anyone seen Sandy? I’m worried something might have happened to her.”
Abby’s body language changes and she answers instantly. “I’m on my way.”
“Thank you,” she says when we are back in the Land Rover and on the road.
“Not a problem. It sounds like an emergency and me driving you there will be much quicker than you cycling up that hill.”
“I’m sure Sandy is fine,” Abby says, to herself as much as to me. “I hope she is—she’s the beating heart of the island, our unofficial leader I suppose. Sandy is like family to me.”
Like family? The only family my wife has is her godmother.
“How do you know Sandy and Midge?” I ask.
“Everyone knows everyone on the island. You must have figured that out by now.”
I don’t ask her any more about that. I have other more important questions. Like, “Does yourbetter halflive on the island too?”
She hesitates. “Of course. Life would be a little lonely if they didn’t.”
“Have you been married long?”
“Long enough,” she says, sounding wary. At first I feel clearly misunderstood, but my questions probably do sound a bit strange if she doesn’t remember who I am. I try to rein in my jealousy but it’s running around my head at full speed. “I’m surprised you haven’t met Travers already,” she says, and now I know his name.Travers.It sounds familiar. I think Midge must have mentioned him that night at dinner, but that was over a month ago and she talked about a lot of people. I can’t remember them all.
“Why is it a surprise that we haven’t met?” I ask.
“Well, Travers is often hanging around in the forest, not too far from Whitty’s old writing cabin where I believe you’re staying.”
I remember the face I saw in the window and all the other weird things that have happened. “Why does Travers hang around in the forest?”
“It would be strange if the island’s tree doctor didn’t visit theredwoods; monitoring and taking care of them is the biggest part of the job. Protecting those ancient trees is so important to the whole community. You need to take the next left-hand turning.”