'Sensible girl,' Robert nodded, and returned to his kitchen.
Nona looked pleased at having done something to lift her friend's spirits a little. 'I'll come and help you with your flathunting,' she said cheerfully. 'Well find you something really nice. Now,' she went off on a thinking bout again, 'what day is it? Thursday. Mmrnm, I'm working late tomorrow night, but I've only my shopping to do on Saturday. Tell you what,' she suggested brightly, you come round about tea time on Saturday and we'll clean the flat through together. Robert can easily borrow a van from the store topick up your stuff, when he's finished.'
'Oh, that's awfully nice of you,' Janet protested. 'But you don't have to help me clean up the flat, Really!'
'Why shouldn't I?' Nona bulldozed aside her arguments. 'It's just as much my responsibility as yours. I used to live there, remember?'
Seeing that she was determined to be of some assistance Janet capitulated with a smile and assented to the arrangements.
The coffee arrived and the three of them sat chatting over various topics, until Janet decided it was time for her to leave. She would have been quite happy to walk to the tube station on her own, but the couple insisted on accompanying her. And so they strolled, Robert with his arm around his wife's waist, along the lamplit streets, coats buttoned against the keen night air.
Leaving the pair to catch her train, Janet walked down the steps to the underground, her eyes glistened at the overpowering force of Nona's happiness. She knew how she felt. She had known a brief taste of that heaven herself once. The one difference was that hers was a love destined from the start never to work out. She swallowed back her misery. That was life, she supposed. Not everyone ended up happily ever after.
As the train rattled on its way below ground she sat staring out into the nothingness over the rawness inside her. It was almost a week now since she had left Ibiza. What would it be like in two weeks? A month? A year? Would she be feeling like this in twenty years' time?
Janet contrived to work over on Saturday afternoon answering someone's cry for a rush typing job, so that when she arrived at the flat Nona practically followed her in on her heels. Rain was falling steadily from a dull gunmetal grey sky—a fitting accompaniment, they grimaced, for their dismal task.
They bad a light snack to cheer themselves, then set to work. Janet had packed all her possessions the night before. With her cases and boxes standing in the hall there was nothing to do except take each room in turn and dust it and 'weep and generally clear out excess rubbish.
Janet noticed that the task was nowhere near as overwhelming with Nona's willing presence. They got through the rooms quickly, leaving the kitchen until last because it was in the worst state.
There was the hall to do, and as it was fast growing dark Janet went to switch on the light. Nothing happened This bulb must have gone,' she remarked casually. I'll have to try and manage without it.'
Nona, coming out of one of the bedrooms, flicked the switch on there. She went on flicking. 'That's funny, there's no light here either.' She went round all the rooms with the same result and came back to look blankly at Janet. There's no electricity.' She lapsed thoughtful for a moment, then said suddenly, 'I wonder if that scatterbrain Angela paid the bill? I left the money for her on top of the old biscuit tin in the kitchen.'
They rushed to find out, and sure enough the notes were still in the envelope gathering dust on the kitchen cabinet. 'That girl!' Nona expostulated. 'I told her half a dozen times not to forget to pay it.'
'The landlord must have let the man in this morning to turn the electricity off,' Janet surmised. 'It was on last night.'
They stood around in the gathering gloom until Nona shrugged philosophically, 'Oh well, we've practically finished anyway. There's some tatty candles round here somewhere. Been here for years. We can get enough light from ' them to tidy up the kitchen.'
They searched around and found a packet of half a dozen bent, yellowing candles in a cupboard under the sink. They lit two and stood them in the front room. The other fourgave sufficient glow to allow them to do a reasonable job in the kitchen.
They had whittled the tasks down to the last one of washing up the bits and pieces gathered on their purge of the rooms when the phone rang.
Its harsh sound dropped like a bolt on the silence, making them both jump almost into each other's arms in the gloom.
'I'll get it,' Janet said, groping her way along the hall. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling it was her mother calling. She always waited for the cheaper rate in the evening to ring, and this would just be about her time. She picked up the receiver. There was a knot of apprehension in her stomach whem she heard the familiar tones coming over the line. 'Mother?' she asked worriedly. 'Are you all right?'
'All right, dear? Why, yes, I never felt better.' Her laughter sounded clear.
There was something much more than just the usual animation in her voice as she prattled, 'Oh, Jan, I wish you'd been here this week. The things that have been happening! The whole length of the track has been levelled and tarmacked and walled in as part of my meadow and garden. I've got one of those lovely Spanish overhanging gateways at the front. They asked me if I wanted to give the house a name so that they could hang it over the drive. I thought of Casa Content. Do you like that, Jan? I think it's got a nice ring to it.,.'
'Mother, I'm not with you.' Janet pulled her up, dazed and confused 'Are you saying that the track is yours ... ? I don't understand... How can it be when it was bought for the villa?'
'Well, that's just it, dear,' Mrs Kendal! explained confidingly. 'It was bought for the villa. But guess who owns it? I thought it was the Fords, but it turns out that they were only renting it for the summer.' She waited a moment togive spice to her words, before she added, 'It's Bruce's property!' And on a ripple of laughter, "So naturally he can do what he likes with it. He must have known when he went to see about the business of buying the track of course, what he was going to do ... but, my dear, who would have thought... ! I'm sure I never suspected...'
'Wait a minute.' Janet cut across her mother's chatter, feeling faint. 'I have to get this straight... Are you trying to tell me that Bruce has owned the villa all the time, and that he went to Madrid for the sole purpose of turning the track over to us?'
'Yes,' Mrs Kendall admitted in a word, then she bubbled on again, 'He wouldn't let me tell you until everything was finished ... he flew out this afternoon. I only ...'
'I can't believe it ! Nothing makes sense...' Janet began to gabble, dreamily competing with the stream of talk coming over the phone. Though her eyes shone she was too stunned to make anything but incoherent remarks while her mind tried to grapple with the one beautiful, blinding, heartSoaring realisation. Bruce hadn't betrayed her after all.
In the midst of them both talking across one another, with neither listening, the door bell rang. Janet was startled almost as badly as she had been when the phone had rung. Everything was happening tonight. Her breath cutting off in her throat at a sudden wild thought, she said in strangled tones over the wire, 'Mother, the door bell's ringing...'
'Oh well, dear, I'm going now,' Mrs Kendall chuckled down the earpiece. 'I just wanted to let you know. 'Bye, Jan!' Promptly she rang off.
Janet's hands trembled as she hung up. Though she was terrified of going to the door she couldn't keep herself away.
Battling with all kinds of conflicting emotions, she opened up. A lean shape looking slightly unfamiliar in white raincoat and trilby danced before the dazzle in her eyes. Her senses bursting into stars of joy she fell into the open arms. 'Bruce!'
The kiss was long and satisfying. When she could bring herself to, Janet drew away to look at him. His face, in the light of the street lamp, was thinner. There was a strand or two of grey in the dark hair under his hat. Her soft gaze on him, he gleamed ironically, 'Can I come in? It's raining.'
Janet laughed and stepped inside with him. To hide her starryeyed confusion she
said, 'Mother just phoned.'
Nona was in the hall, the candle in her hand lighting up her rather quixotic smile. 'I thought I'd better come along and see who was ringing the door bell,' she said, twinkling.
'This is Bruce,' Janet said shyly. And to him, 'This is Nona, my flatmate.' She explained the candle lamely, 'The electricity's been cut off.'
'Hello, Nona.' Bruce gave her one of his rare white smiles, unbuttoning his raincoat. To Janet he moved towards the front room as though he had been entering candle lit interiors all his life and asked, 'Can we go in here?'
'I'll go and finish washing up.' Nona took herself off discreetly, shooting an amused look Janet's way.
They entered the bare, cheerless room, devoid now of all personal possessions, the dim lights casting ghostly glows over the ugly oldfashioned furniture.
Pushing; the door to behind him, Bruce drew Janet into his arms. They embraced long and ardently. This week has been like a year to me,' he said gruffly, his lips against her throat
'It's been like ten to me,' she choked, half laughingly, resting her head against him. She looked up into his blue eyes and scolded lightly, Why didn't you tell me about the track?'
'You weren't exactly in a listening mood, if you remember,' he said drily. I flew to Madrid as soon as I heard because I knew you'd never manage the legal side yourself. I planned to tell you on my return that I'd bought it in your mother's name,' he sloped his smile, 'but my little surprise backfired.'
'I deserve all I've suffered this week,' Janet admitted penitently. She asked after a moment, 'Is it true what Mother said, that you own the villa?'
Bruce nodded. 'The Westons are old friends of mine. They were anxious to be rid of all their overseas property, so I took the villa off their hands. I bought it solely for Investment purposes. Then the Fords wrote and complained that they were having trouble parking their cars, so I flew out to see what the problem was.' He gave Janet his blue gleam. 'I was determined to have the track for the villa, but you kept getting in the way of my intentions.'
'I noticed you kept me at a distance.' She slanted him a sideways smile.
'I tried to.' He gripped her. 'But I not only ended up becoming more and more settled in Ibiza, I was also in danger of losing my head over an important legal matter. I decided the only thing to do was to marry you to keep my sanity and my profession.'
'And of course that way you get to keep the track in the family too,' she teased. 'The villa being right next door.'
His gaze lapsed whimsical. 'I don't see us doing much entertaining,' he said vibrantly against her throat. 'What friends we have can come in at the front.'
'Are we really going to live there?' Janet asked dreamily.
That's how I planned it,' Bruce nodded. 'I've arranged to practise permanently in Spain, covering Ibiza and the mainlandFrancisco is handling the Madrid office. He likescity life."
Janet tilted him a look. 'I remember he used to like beach life too,' she twinkled accusingly, 'until you put a stop to our little jaunts.'
'I admit it,' he said gruffly, dropping his face into her hair. 'I've never been able to bear seeing you with another man.' As though to reassure himself that she really was his, he searched out her lips again.
After a long moment she drew away and said shyly,noticing his loose raincoat for the first time, 'You're all wet.'
He nodded. 'I took a bus and walked the rest of the way.' He glanced around the cheerless candlelit room and said in dry tones, 'Not exactly home from home, is it?'
"We're just leaving.' Janet explained. 'Nona is married now. She was going to put me up at her place for a while.'
'I have no intention of letting you out of my sight again,' he glinted down at her, smiling. 'My club is just a bus ride away. There's a hotel opposite. Well put you up there for tonight and fly out tomorrow. That's if you fancy getting married in Ibiza?'
Janet tilted her head and met his gaze. 'I think Mother would like that,' she said with a humorous twinkle.
'I think she would,' he replied with an equally humorous gleam. He turned an arm about her waist and asked deeply, 'You won't mind if our children grow up into country urchins, speaking Spanish as well as English?'
'How could I mind anything as wonderful as that?' she laughed, the pink in her checks enhancing the stars in her eyes.
There was a loud knock on the door. Nona pushed her way in and quipped, 'I'm sorry to have to butt in on you two, but I have to go now. The kitchen's all finished and Robbie's waiting.'
With Bruce alongside her Janet moved out into the gloom of the hallway. The front door was open. She followed Nona's gaze out to where a van was running gently on its engine in the light of the street lamp. She smiled humbly, 'I won't be going with you now.'
'That doesn't surprise me,' Nona quirked, as she slipped on her coat. She hugged Janet and said with a bantering smile, 'Write me a letter some time'
'Oh, I will! ' Janet replied with a starry gaze.
'I've blown the candles out in the kitchen,' her friend said, stepping outside around the luggage and packages inthe hall.
'Don't worry about these, Nona,' Bruce said, smiling. 'We'll come hack and pick them up in the morning.'
While she was going down the steps, Janet went to blow out the last of the candles. She had only to slip off her work overall and put on her coat. With everything packed and the place in complete darkness she would have to manage as she was for one night.
Nona had arrived at the van when she got back to the door. She saw Robert start to get out. He couldn't understand why his wife was ushering him back. There were several moments of whispered confusion inside the cab, then Nona waved. The van started to move slowly away from the curb. Before he took it off with a loud roar of the engine Robert waved too. Soon there was nothing to be seen but the red light receding in the distance.
Bruce buttoned up his coat against the squally night. 'Ready?' he asked quizzically as Janet stepped out with him. Nodding, she changed the key in the door and locking up she dropped the keys into her handbag. They walked down the steps hand in hand. The wind gusted along the street behind them. Droplets scattered across the glisteningpavements.
Janet knew no discomfort walking through the rainswept night. With Bruce's arm around her she was oblivious to everything but an allconsuming happiness.
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