style="font-size:15px;"> They crossed the yard to the front door and Ben let them inside. The sound of intense jazz fusion and cheerful conversation were wafting down the hallway from the half-open kitchen doorway, together with the smell of fresh coffee. The track playing was ‘Miles Runs the Voodoo Down’, Jude’s favourite from the Bitches Brew album Ben had introduced him to. The voices were Jude’s and Brooke’s. Ben couldn’t make out what they were talking about.
‘I’ll hang back here,’ Roberta whispered in the hallway, nudging him.
Ben took a deep breath, walked to the kitchen door and stepped silently through it. Neither of the room’s occupants sensed him come in.
Brooke was standing with her back to the door and her auburn hair lit up by the sunshine from the window. She was wearing faded jeans and a light cotton top and holding a mug of coffee in her hand.
‘I didn’t have the heart to tell Amal that a rug that size is never going to fit in the house in Jericho,’ she was saying. ‘It’s large enough for a palace. So sweet of him to get it for us, though.’
‘Those things cost a bomb,’ Jude said. ‘I thought Amal was this struggling writer whose plays nobody wants to see.’
‘He is,’ Brooke laughed. ‘Where all the money comes from is anyone’s—’
She broke off mid-sentence as Ben walked further into the room, and turned towards him with a beaming smile.
‘Ben! I was just telling Jude about the amazing rug that Amal’s bought for us …’ She suddenly interrupted herself. ‘Why are you dressed like that?’
Ben walked over to the CD player on the kitchen surface and turned off the music, plunging the room into sudden silence. ‘Brooke,’ he said. ‘We need to talk.’
She set her mug down on the table and took a step towards him, alarmed by the gravity of his expression. ‘What? Ben – what’s up? You’re scaring me.’
‘Things may have to be put off for a while,’ he told her.
‘Things?’ She groaned. ‘Oh, no. Don’t tell me there’s a problem with your course.’
‘I’m not talking about the course,’ he said.
‘Then what?’ Her eyes suddenly widened. ‘The wedding rehearsal? The booking’s fallen through?’
‘Nothing’s fallen through,’ Ben said. ‘But we have to call it off. And …’
‘What?!’ Jude exploded.
Brooke looked as if she’d been punched. ‘And?’ was all she could blurt out.
Ben said nothing. Hoped that the look in his eyes would tell her what he couldn’t bring himself to come out with.
Her face paled. ‘Surely you don’t mean … you don’t mean the wedding too?’ she said in a low, trembling voice. ‘Call off the wedding?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ben said. ‘I have to leave. I can’t say when I’ll be back.’
‘What are you on about?’ Jude burst out. ‘Are you taking the piss?’
‘Back from where?’ Brooke asked. She sounded stunned, breathless.
‘I don’t know yet, not exactly,’ he said. ‘I just know I can’t stay here.’
‘But why?’ she pleaded.
Jude had stepped closer to stand at Brooke’s elbow, staring at Ben in dismay with his arms folded.
‘Jude, would you excuse us for a moment?’ Ben said.
‘Excuse you?’ Jude answered.
‘I’d like to be alone with her,’ Ben said. ‘So get out.’
Brooke held up a hand. ‘No. I want Jude to hear this too.’
‘Fuck, yeah,’ Jude said. ‘I’m staying right here. This is my house, remember.’
‘Fine,’ Ben said, trying to stay calm. ‘Let’s all talk.’
‘What’s this about, Ben?’ Brooke asked coldly.
‘I don’t even know what it’s about,’ Ben said. ‘All I know is that something’s cropped up and I have to leave right away. There’s no choice.’
Brooke had her hands on her hips and her face was flushed. ‘No choice!’ she yelled. ‘Ben! Have you gone mad? You made a choice! You chose to marry me – now you’re saying you want to run off again without a word of explanation? What am I going to say to everyone? “Oh, Ben just decided to go off for a few days?”.’
Ben was about to answer when he heard a light, hesitant tap on the kitchen door behind him.
‘Who else is here?’ Brooke said, looking past his shoulder with a frown. Her face went dark as Roberta walked into the kitchen. ‘Ah. Now I think I know what “cropped up”,’ she seethed at Ben, pointing at Roberta. ‘Her. Am I right?’
‘You must be Brooke,’ Roberta said, approaching her with an uncertain smile. ‘I’m Roberta Ryder. Listen, I don’t want to be the cause of any dispute between—’
‘I know who you are,’ Brooke interrupted. ‘Ben doesn’t like to talk about you. Now I’m wondering why.’
‘Roberta needs my help,’ Ben said.
‘And where the hell did she come from all of a sudden?’ Brooke demanded.’
‘Canada,’ Roberta said. ‘By way of Paris. I—’
Brooke rounded on her. ‘Do you mind shutting up for a moment while I speak to my fiancé?’ Then, turning back to face Ben: ‘And so you’re just walking out on me?’
‘It’s not as if I want to.’
‘But you’re going to all the same.’
‘Ben,’ Roberta said, touching his shoulder. ‘It’s okay. I understand. You don’t have to do this.’
‘I’m involved now,’ Ben said, keeping his eyes on Brooke. ‘I can’t just back out.’
Jude was shaking his head in consternation, staring at Ben as if to say ‘what is the matter with you?’.
‘Maybe I was dreaming,’ Brooke said, tight-lipped, ‘Or maybe I was delirious from fever. But I remember very clearly how, that day in the middle of the jungle when you asked me to marry you, you swore to me that there’d be no more of this running off on these insane adventures and scaring the shit out of me all the time, not knowing if you’re going to come back in one piece.’ Her tone began to rise. ‘Didn’t you make that promise to me, Ben? All about how you were going to change your ways? Telling me all you wanted was to be at home with me?’
‘You didn’t dream it,’ he replied. ‘You
