“Why not?” asks Paige.
“P…” says Noah, warning her not to push it.
“I’ve got my reasons” is all that Jack says.
Rachel leans forward, her brow furrowed. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
Jack sighs heavily.
“There’s clearly something playing on your mind,” says Paige, doubling the pressure.
He looks resignedly between Paige and Rachel. “I think she’s cheated on him.” His words are almost inaudible.
“What?” exclaims Rachel, followed by a deafening silence from Paige. She daren’t look to see the “I told you so” expression on her face.
“How do you … how do you know?” asks Rachel, as her heart breaks into a thousand pieces for poor Will, who’s like a brother to her.
“Rick at work,” said Jack. “He told me he’d been sleeping with her for a couple of months.”
“But does he know…？” starts Rachel. “That she’s with Will and he’s your brother?”
Jack shakes his head. “When they started going out, I told Ali I didn’t want anyone at work to know there was a connection. I wanted to keep everything professional.”
“So, this Rick guy didn’t know he was revealing anything untoward?” asks Paige.
“No,” says Jack. “It was just one of those situations in the pub after work and he said to a few of us that he had been ‘banging the hot girl who used to work in A&R,’ for want of a better expression.”
“Well, when did this happen?” asks Rachel. “Was it recently or before her and Will got together?”
Jack shrugs his shoulders as if he’s physically trying to unburden himself of the knowledge he’s been carrying for all this time. “He told me in the summer,” he says. “I don’t know if it’s still going on, as he left shortly after.”
Rachel can hardly think straight as her mind desperately tries to unravel the news and put it back together in a form that she’s happy with.
“Does Will know?” she says, when it doesn’t work.
“I don’t think so,” says Jack. “And I don’t want him to either.”
“You can’t let him marry her,” says Paige, her voice high-pitched.
“Listen,” says Jack, sounding suddenly authoritative. “I’ve had this going around on a loop in my head for months, wondering what I should do.”
Now, it’s all beginning to fall into place, thinks Rachel. He’s been so wound up lately. “But don’t you think he deserves to be told?” she offers meekly.
He turns to face her. “You said yourself, that you’d never seen him so happy.”
She nods miserably.
“He’s a grown man who can hopefully see Ali for what she is,” says Jack. “And if he’s happy with that, then who am I to stand between them? It doesn’t mean I have to like her, but I can put the face on to get through this weekend and I’d ask that you all do the same.”
He looks at Paige with raised eyebrows, knowing that she’s the most likely to struggle with such a request.
“I’ve never liked her,” she hisses.
“I shouldn’t have told you,” says Jack, raking a hand through his hair.
“I wish you hadn’t,” says Rachel, wondering how on earth she’s going to stand by and let her trusting brother-in-law marry a woman who has been unfaithful to him.
“But you have to promise to keep it to yourselves and not let it ruin the weekend.”
“It just goes to show that you never know what goes on behind closed doors,” says Noah.
The four of them fall ominously silent when Ali and Will appear at the top of a flight of stairs leading onto a darkened corner of the patio. Rachel immediately feels herself going hot at the thought of them having heard what they’ve been saying. She searches their expressions for any telltale signs. There are none.
“Oh my God, you guys,” shrieks Ali, as irrepressible as ever. “You need to see our room.” She claps her hands together like an excited child on Christmas morning.
“Another drink, anyone?” asks Paige, not even trying to disguise her indifference.
“I’ll help you,” says Jack, getting up. “What are we having?”
“Just a glass of water for me, please,” says Ali. “I’m still recovering from the flight.” She pulls an apologetic face.
“Will?” asks Jack.