Sorry this is so long. DH and I, late 50s, moved a couple of years ago, once the children had flown, to a coastal area popular with holidaymakers.
Last week DH had a call from someone who used to work in the same company as him ages ago. He left that company in 2009. He'd barely known this man when they worked together but they were part of a work fantasy football league and they occasionally went with a few other guys from work to watch the football in RL. So they had each other's numbers but hadn't had any contact for years.
Out of the blue the ex-colleague called saying he and his wife and son and son's girlfriend had been staying in a holiday chalet in our area, but the roof had started leaking badly in torrential rain, the beds and carpets were damp and the owner had been unable to organise alternative accommodation. Could DH help them?
I wasn't around when this guy called. I came home from work to find four strangers in my living room and DH looking anxious — I assumed because he thought I'd be furious, which I was, it was the last thing I needed to have to deal with. DH was like 'What was I supposed to say?' and got defensive when I said that what he should have said was 'No.'
I suggested I find them an AirBnB and they said they hadn't budgeted for that. DH kept saying we could all manage for one night, surely, and so they ended up having dinner with us and then staying. We have a spare double room that the parents slept in, and a single room/office that the girl slept in and the son slept on the sofa. I was working an early next day. According to DH they got up late and sat around watching Netflix and scrolling all day. They hadn't brought food with them (odd as they were supposed to be self-catering) so he fed them and texted me to do a shop on my way home because we were practically out of everything and he didn't want to leave them in the house alone. They said they were negotiating with the owner of the chalet and they hoped they'd have alternative accommodation by the end of the day but when I got back with a full load of shopping they said they'd heard nothing and could they stay another night.
There was something weird about them: they weren't friendly or helpful and they avoided giving any info about themselves. The son and girlfriend were almost mute and spent a lot of time up in the room she was using unless they were eating or watching TV. The wife was silent and sullen, even when I took her aside on my own and tried to talk to her one-to-one, and her husband was edgy. I asked where they were living, for example, and he said they lived in the Rugby area but they hadn't lived there long and weren't planning to stay there — and that was it. It was all strained and odd. DH was reminiscing about things that had happened when they worked together and the ex-colleague couldn't seem to remember much at all.
DH and I were terse with each other but he was 'Well, they'll be gone tomorrow'. Next day they had things packed and ready to go when I went off at 11.30am for a later shift, but when I got back that evening they were still there, finishing dinner and DH looking very stressed. I said this was getting ridiculous, they needed to be out by 10am the following morning and surely they'd be happier at home than hanging out here. They all disappeared to their rooms. DH took me aside and said I was embarrassing him. We had a horrible night not speaking to each other and not able to discuss what was going on in case they heard us.
Next day I was off work and they left after breakfast. Barely made eye contact, thanked DH, got in their car and left. DH and I had a huge row. He said I was unreasonable and had been unwelcoming. He stormed off into town and left me to strip beds and sort stuff out.
Yesterday, five days after they left, DH said that he was beginning to wonder if the guy was who he said he was. He hadn't recognised him when he turned up on the doorstep with his family, but as they'd both gone grey and the other guy had lost a lot of hair and grown a beard, it was difficult to say for sure. They'd barely known each other when they worked together, maybe he'd muddled him up with another colleague. He'd grown suspicious when the man has said he worked for a different department to the one DH remembered he was in and couldn't remember one of the managers who had been very prominent during their time there and is now quite well-known.
Both DH and I have tried phoning the number they used to contact DH but the phone hasn't been answered. DH has tried contacting the old number he had for his colleague back in the noughties but it doesn't appear to be in use.
I have the registration number of their car and I took some sneaky photos of them when they were here because I'd felt something wasn't right. They're also on our doorcam.
There must be some connection somwhere. This guy knew DH's number and where he'd worked and the name of another colleague, but not much more than that. I can't make up my mind whether to follow this up and try and trace him and find out what was going on or whether to let it go. What would you do? DH is now thinking we need to replace the door locks.