Separate Rooms by Diana Hamilton

Author:Diana Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1994-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

It was a strange game they were playing, she admitted to herself a fortnight later. There had been no more business dinners, lengthy or otherwise, and Ben had stopped patronising her. And she, in turn, seemed to have got her volatile temper under control. At least, he didn’t say or do anything to annoy her any more. Though whether by design or accident she didn’t know.

Whoever returned first in the evenings made the meal and afterwards, if the weather was fine, they walked by the river or drove into the countryside. If it was wet or chilly Ben lit a fire and they listened to Honey’s catholic selection of tapes. And talked. They always seemed to be talking and if they disagreed on a subject they didn’t fight about it. Which was nice. He had somehow become her friend, Honey thought with a warm glow. Her best friend, quite probably.

Ben had few possessions; all the furniture, the pictures, linen and knick-knacks were Honey’s, brought from her flat, and when she commented on the fact that all he seemed to own was his clothes he merely shrugged, giving her that wonderful, melting smile.

‘I travel light. It’s easier to move on if you don’t have to haul packing cases around with you.’

‘Sensible,’ Honey agreed with an approving smile which successfully masked the sudden anguish of her thoughts. When the time was right, for both of them, their paper marriage would be over, she knew that; it was part of the bargain. Ben would only need to pack a suitcase, collect his briefcase, and leave. It would probably take about ten minutes, if that.

But it wouldn’t be yet, she thought, unwilling to question why she should immediately feel more cheerful. She hadn’t seen Henry or Graham since her marriage but her mother would have told her if Graham had started to date someone else.

And she still didn’t know the real reason behind Ben’s need to marry so she had no way of knowing when the time would be right for him to call it a day. And she wasn’t going to ask. She was deeply reluctant to start another fight. Not that he had ever been really angry with her, she recognised; the rage had all been on her side.

Shrugging out of her introspective mood, she began to stack the supper dishes.

‘Why don’t we redecorate? We could make this place so much more like home if we got rid of all the ghastly wallpaper.’ The rented property had been newly decorated when they’d moved in but the overpowering wallpaper combined with the ugly shade of pale puce used for the paintwork was definitely not to Honey’s taste and Ben had admitted it was all a florid nightmare. ‘It’s Sunday tomorrow so we could make a start. Strip the walls. And we could meet up on Monday, at lunchtime, and pick out something we could both live with.’

‘Sorry, tomorrow’s out, I’ll be knee-deep in paperwork.’ He helped her carry the debris of their meal through to the kitchen.

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