A Sense of Guilt ✔

Chapter 38 Part 2

Katherine sat back down on the bed watching as Joe continued to pack. Her mind was whirling but she was almost dumbstruck, incapable of more than a few monosyllabic responses. When she'd spotted Joe's car parked alongside the grass verge anger had coursed through her veins. She'd pounded up the stairs ready for the fight of her life, Danielle's words spurring her on. Then she'd found Joe, clearly packing his bags, and she'd been blindsided. She didn't know what she had expected but it wasn't that, especially after he'd emptied their savings account.

She watched as he zipped his gym bag up and a sudden surge of energy broke through her lethargy. There was so much more she wanted to say, wanted to know, and this would possibly be the last chance she'd ever have to talk to him.

'Why don't you take one of the suitcases?' she suggested standing up and opening the built-in wardrobe where all their rarely used belongings were kept. 'You've got far more stuff than that, you might as well take it now.'

'I don't really have anywhere to keep it at the moment.'

'Leave it in the trunk of your car,' she said and he hesitated. 'I don't want it here.' That did it, he immediately relented and she placed the case on the bed, throwing it open.

'Joe, what's brought all this on?' she asked as he began to empty the drawers, packing with more speed now.

He looked at her blankly. 'Are you talking about Shannon?'

She shook her head. 'No, I was thinking...about the rent. Why have you paid it all, I mean in one go?'

'It had to be paid,' Joe said dismissively.

'But if you'd decided to leave, you didn't have to pay it. Or all of it?' She bit her lip, warning herself to tread carefully, she didn't want to make an impulsive offer to contribute towards it. At least not until she knew where she stood financially, who knew how much her expenses might be when she'd found another place to live?

'We signed a contract, we couldn't leave without paying the remaining rent,' Joe said with a shrug. 'It's not worth the aggravation.'

She nodded wondering why she'd ever thought differently. He had the means to pay, why wouldn't he? She hadn't wronged him, she was the injured party. She needed to pay a bit less attention to Danielle, she was jaded by her own bad experiences.

'So do you think you might stay on here?' Joe asked startling her by actually initiating the conversation. 'You could have a friend move in or something.'

'I wasn't intending to,' she said mulling over his words. It wasn't something she'd considered but maybe it was a possibility? She'd have to sit down and do some number crunching.

'You always liked this house, more than I ever did,' Joe said.

Katherine frowned looking at him. 'Since when didn't you like it?' This was news to her, it had been a joint decision to move in. If she remembered rightly Joe's only stipulation was that they didn't move into one of his dad's properties, whatever the inducement.

'It's overpriced for this neighbourhood, and it was a bit big for what we needed,' Joe said glancing around him.

'I guess,' Kat admitted although at the time she'd wanted a guest room imagining her parents might visit, and if they'd started a family the extra space would have come in useful. Her eyes flitted to her left hand which felt naked without her engagement ring, she had a hell of a lot of adjustments to make. If only her brain could be reprogrammed.

Joe began to fold up the last of his clothes and Kat knew her time was running out. 'Can I ask you something?' she said, and he turned around his face wary. 'I looked at our savings account yesterday...it was empty.' Her face heated up. 'Why did you take all the money?' He looked momentarily baffled and she crossed her fingers hoping that he wouldn't realise what she had been contemplating doing.