Chapter 6: Contrarian

Wednesday

"Honestly, sometimes I think Martin just enjoys being a contrarian."

Louisa placed a glass of wine and a glass of sparkling water, plus a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, on the little table on the balcony at the Crab. She pulled open the packet and bit into a crisp, washed down by the water.

"I thought you both were getting on together, now that you've done the couples therapy. What is it this time?" Pippa sighed, sipping her wine.

"Oh we are, getting on well that is, but no thanks to the couples therapy though. In the end Dr. Timoney wasn't very helpful at all but in a funny way that's what brought us together. She was so ready to give up on us as a couple I think it forced us to realize we couldn't give up on each other."

"Maybe that was her plan all along?"

"Oh I doubt that. She was pretty snide when we last saw her." Louisa expressed her displeasure with a loud crunch on another crisp. "And then when Martin was kidnapped by the crazy Winton family, everyone else thought he had just taken off but I knew he would never give up on me and James, I just knew it. And it made me realize how precious he is to me."

Pippa had always been sceptical about what Louisa saw in the gruff doctor, but she could see that her friend was deeply affected by these events. "So how is he being a contrarian?"

"Well for one thing we argued about whether to know the new babies' genders. He thinks it's best to know as much as possible ahead of time. I want to keep the mystery and surprise until the babies are born, as we did with James.

"But you won on that one, didn't you."

"Yeah, Martin actually has been very accommodating lately. And when we found out it was twins he was happy to at least know that."

"Your ob-gyn could hardly keep that little fact from you."

"Oh I know, of course not. Still, it's kept Martin busy fussing twice as much over my health and my diet and whether I'm getting enough rest."

"Louisa, he's just concerned about you and the babies." Pippa put aside her misgivings about Martin and helped herself to a crisp. "I suppose being all clinical about things is how he shows he cares."

"And then I worry about how James Henry will react once the twins are born," Louisa continued. "He's always playing by himself at his preschool. When you see James Henry, does he seem to you to be… on track with his development? Martin doesn't see any problem with that."

Pippa's misgivings about Martin were coming back. Of course, he doesn't see any problem, like father like son, she thought, but she figured it was best to keep that to herself. "Um, every child develops at his or her own pace. James Henry seems to have an excellent vocabulary for his age, when he actually speaks that is. Why don't I go get the next round?"

She came back with two more glasses and a bowl of nuts and changed the subject. "So how is your child psychology course faring?"

"There's been a few snags along the way but everything's going swimmingly now," Louisa said. "I'm looking forward to a course starting next week with a new professor, Dr. Stephenson. She's supposed to be an expert on interpersonal skills."

Sounds like a course Martin could benefit from, Pippa thought, but fortunately Louisa changed the subject this time. "And how is the school getting on without me?" she asked.

"We're coping. Still waiting for the governors to find your permanent replacement. Of course, all anyone can talk about lately is this outlet mall plan."

"Oh yes, the outlet mall," Louisa rolled her eyes. "That's another way for Martin to be a contrarian. I was sceptical at first, but when I actually heard the presentation at the Village Hall I started to think maybe it's really a good idea. We need something to shake up this place economically. Martin was for it at first, but when he heard I had changed my mind, and lots of other villagers are being won over, then he changed his mind."

"But he's far from the only one to oppose it."

"I suppose you're against it too," Louisa said.

"Not really. I'm still weighing the pros and cons. I think most people in Portwenn are."

"Well, to be honest," Louisa had to admit, "I think the real reason he changed his mind is… it turns out the developer behind it all is his cousin. There seems to be some bad blood there."

"Really? Malcolm Bellingham is Martin Ellingham's cousin? That's so funny, Bellingham-Ellingham."

"Well, don't bring it up around Martin. He doesn't see any humour in it at all."

To be continued…