Chapter 35

Despite Louisa's efforts to keep their argument private, Michael's shouting could be heard clearly by both her next door neighbours. The few villagers who happened to be walking by heard the shouting and slowed their pace so they could hear his side of the row as well. Louisa had kept her voice low enough so that no one heard her side, but the local gossips were more than happy to fill in the gaps.

By the next morning, news of their fight had spread throughout the village all the way out to Joan Norton's farm and the coastal home of Stefan and Alicia. Alicia called Louisa immediately after hearing the news, offering a shoulder to cry on and a bottle of wine to wash away her troubles at dinner that night. Joan was a little more compassionate, waiting until the next night to call and ask Louisa over for dinner Friday night.

Louisa took both Alicia and Joan up on their offers. Stefan was away on business so it was just Louisa and Alicia at dinner Wednesday night. After they finished off two bottles of wine, Louisa decided she needed to spend the night rather than risk a drive home "under the influence". They laughed over the extreme scenarios the village gossips had come up with and then they talked about the merits of both Louisa's men. Alicia was of the opinion that Martin was far too staid and somber for a free spirit like Louisa. Michael was much more likely to make Louisa happy in the long run. She encouraged Louisa to push him to remain in Cornwall as the village GP and marry him so she could raise her family in Portwenn. She reminded Louisa that it was even more unlikely that Martin would agree to move to Portwenn, a fact to which Louisa reluctantly agreed.

But Louisa was not easily swayed. She agreed with Alicia that Martin was not a lively soul, but perhaps because of that, he had depths to his character that Michael might never have. She found Martin's gravitas comforting, knowing that she would always be able to depend on him. She was an extremely independent woman, more than capable of caring for herself, but she found that she loved the way that Martin cared for her, trying to anticipate what she needed and provide it. She wasn't sure that Michael would or could be as dependable. And she hinted to Alicia that she had seen passion in Martin that no one would ever guess was there. Of course, if thirty-two, almost thirty-three years of life experience had taught her nothing else, it was that a long-term relationship could never be built on physical attraction alone.

She promised Alicia that she wouldn't jump into a relationship with Martin before getting to know him better...in every way...and then they laughed. With the serious talk over, they went onto other topics, from who was shagging whom in the village to the latest funky fashions that neither of them would ever wear to their favourite musical groups. It was so much fun to have an old fashioned sleepover. Too bad she had to go to work the next morning!

Dinner with Joan was comforting as well. It was a reminder that Martin had deep ties to Portwenn and that he would always be willing to return for holidays, perhaps even more frequently if they had children. And Martin would have the means to maintain homes in both London and Portwenn. Joan was like a second mother or a close aunt, and she confided to Joan things that she might not tell another soul. Joan had a straightforward pragmatic approach to life, and Louisa found her opinions and advice extremely valuable.

She confided to Joan what the row with Michael was really about and the two of them also laughed at the extremes some of the gossips made. However, Joan made the point that Michael had good reason to be upset that Louisa had not told him about the Parsons' party. Although Louisa wasn't happy to have Joan take his side, she agreed in hindsight that she should have told Michael that she had gone to the Parsons' party with Martin, but she avoided telling him because she didn't want him to know just how much time she had actually spent with Martin over the holiday. She was discovering that Michael could be extremely jealous and she wanted to avoid his ire. She had forgotten that Chris was head of the PCT and that Michael would see him at their monthly meeting always held on the first Tuesday of every month.

Before he left, Martin had told Joan that Louisa was planning to visit him in London in a few weeks, and Joan asked Louisa if she had told Michael of this visit, and if not, when did she plan to tell him.

"No, I haven't told him yet, but I guess I must. He'll notice I'm not in the village and I'm sure the village grapevine will be full of it before the train leaves Bodmin station. He just might kill me if the village knows before he does. I guess I'll tell him just before I tell Maura that I'll be taking Friday afternoon and Monday morning off. It won't be pleasant, but it needs to be done. You're right."

"Good." Joan was concerned about Louisa and stared at her for a moment. "You don't have to answer, but have you thought about what you will do about Michael if you and Martin decide you aren't compatible? Or if you decide you are? You can't keep stringing him along forever."

"No. If I'm honest, I am confused by it all. I really like them both and I know I will have to choose eventually, but I'm just not ready. Alicia thinks I should stick with Michael; she thinks Martin is too staid for me and that I'd be much happier with Michael, and he really is such a lovely man, or he was until this jealous monster inside him emerged. And I'll admit that Martin is quite staid, perhaps even stuffy. But that's partly why I like him so; he's solid and dependable and I know he'd always be there for me. You're right; I need to think all of this through very carefully."

Louisa had one more thing she wanted to ask Joan, "Joan, does Martin know that I have been seeing Michael? I just don't understand why Chris Parsons was asking Michael if I was seeing anyone. Do you think Martin asked him to check up on me?"

"No, I doubt it. Martin knows that you have been seeing Michael. I even told him that the village wags had been certain that you were headed to the altar until he showed up."

"Oh. I guess I should have realised the village assumed we would marry. What do they know? How did Martin react to that news? I can tell he doesn't like Michael, but I was never sure why."

"He wasn't happy; I can tell you that. And he would probably have left you alone if I hadn't told him that you weren't sure there was a future with Michael because you didn't want to move to America. I hope you don't mind that I told him that."

'No. That's okay as long as you keep most of what we share in these talks to yourself."

"I'm the soul of discretion," Joan lied.

Louisa dropped by Michael's surgery Wednesday evening before her trip to London. They hadn't spent any quality time together since their big fight about the Parson's Boxing Day open house and he was hopeful that her visit portended reconciliation. He was delighted to see her and greeted her warmly, hugging her gently and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Louisa; it's so good to see you. I'm sorry I was such an ass about the Parson's party. I've thought about it a lot, and I realise now that I should have been more understanding. I apologise."

Louisa was surprised and pleased at his greeting, and somewhat embarrassed, given the nature of her call. "Apology accepted. And I apologise for not telling you about it. I should have remembered that Chris was your boss and that he might mention it. Sorry."

"So. Are we all better now? Want to go get some dinner, maybe make some plans for the weekend. I hear there's a great new band at that club up in Tintagel; we could check it out."

"Um. Yeah, about this weekend. That's what I'm here about actually." She paused. Michael was being so sweet that he was making this much harder than she had imagined. "Um ... I'm ... uh ... going up to London for the weekend."

"Oh. What's up? Need someone to join you?" He hadn't caught the hesitation in her voice and thought perhaps she was going to ask him to spend the weekend with her as a peace offering.

She looked pained, and then added, "No. I'm going to visit Martin."

He pulled away from her, "You're kidding me, right?"

She shook her head, "No. I'm leaving Friday at noon and coming back early Monday."

Suddenly he realised what she was telling him, and he snipped, "I'm surprised you didn't go there to be with him over the holidays."

"Martin did ask me to go for the New Year celebrations, but I couldn't. I had too much work to do."

He walked over to his desk, putting some distance between them and added snidely, "Ah. You use that excuse with all your suitors, do you?"

"Michael, don't be sarcastic. Except for the party New Year's Eve at Alicia's, I worked hard that entire week. It's also one of the real reasons I couldn't go with you to America.

"Right, and here I was thinking you had come over to make peace after our terrible argument."

"I do want to make peace, and I thought you should know about my trip before I made arrangements to take Friday afternoon off. There are no secrets in this village and I didn't want you to be caught unawares."

"Isn't that sweet of you? Thanks for the favour. Just don't expect me to be here waiting with open arms when that jerk drops you like a hot potato once he tires of you, because he will. He has a terrible reputation, you know."

"So you keep telling me."

He started yelling, shooing her toward the door. "Just go. Go. Have a good trip."

Exasperated, Louisa turned to leave. As she reached the door she turned around and gazed at him sadly. "Michael?" He was still glaring at her and didn't respond. She shook her head slightly, then tenderly whispered, "Take care."