edited - sorry it took so long. i've tried to work some of the ambiguity out of it, whilst keeping it succinct, but these editions are from so far back that it's been hard to keep the original sense of the story.

Lillies
They were her favourite flowers and he'd bought them to please her, but in my mind, they evoked memories of the Lady of Shalott. They had been placed artistically on his kitchen table, though no doubt through some perfect accident: one of the kitchen lights had blown, so the leaves appeared half light and half dark.
He set out tea and biscuits for us, with another place set for Tam, his wife, and I, the mistress, sat with him in his and Tam's modern kitchen, till we’d finished our tea. I brushed up the crumbs with my thumb.
“How’re you gonna tell Tam?”
“Actually Alice, would it be better if you…?”
Sudden colour flushed to my cheeks as I stood up, my chair scratching against their varnished wooden floor.
“Joe, I’m her best friend. You’re her husband – and I’m only your – “
I hovered before our swear word, in unspoken acknowledgement that, although we shared the guilt, he’d take the blame. He was the married one in our relationship.
“No, you’ll have to tell her.”
The door clicked open, cutting our conversation short.
“Joe, Lillies! How beautiful.”
Tam saw me and my presence tightened her smile. I wondered if she already knew.
“Lillies can mean so many different things. Do you remember, Alice, how we used to talk about that?”