Sheer Mischief

by Jill Mansell

  “Any more news about your father?” she said suddenly.

  Guy, who had been pouring out the last of the Beaujolais, gave her a stern look.

  “And there I was, just thinking what a nice person you were.”

  “I’m still a nice person,” said Janey innocently. “I wondered whether there’d been any developments, that’s all.”

  “None. Every time I rang his home number, the answering machine was switched on. In the end, I stopped trying.”

  “What would you have said, though? If you had spoken to him?”

  “I’d have told him to keep away from my home and my children.” Guy’s expression was stony, unforgiving. “I’d have told him that if he ever tries a stunt like that again, I’ll call the police.”

  “But if he apologized,” she persisted, tucking her bare feet beneath her and leaning forward to reach for the refilled glass, “and begged you to forgive him, do you think you could?”

  “Oh yes.” His eyes darkened. “Highly likely.”

  “I mean it,” said Janey. “Come on, think it through. He might really regret what happened and now all he wants to do is get to know his grandchildren and make up for lost time.” Her expression was oddly intense.

  Guy, however, had made his own mind up long ago. “You’ve been watching too much Little House on the Prairie,” he told her before she could open her mouth and say more. “No, Janey. I never want to see my father again, and I don’t want the children to have anything to do with him either, so don’t even try and talk me around. This is one happy family reunion that definitely isn’t going to happen.”

  Oh well, thought Janey. Sorry, Oliver. At least you can’t say I didn’t try.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Every year in the second week of October, the traveling fair came to Trezale, setting up its comfortingly familiar pattern of stalls, sideshows, cotton-candy stands, and mechanical rides along the main street with the bumper cars, ghost train, and Ferris wheel taking pride of place at the top end. Everyone went to the fair; it was a landmark event on the social calendar. Josh and Ella, in a frenzy of excitement at the prospect of spending all their money and spinning themselves sick on the Tilt-A-Whirl, were practically counting the minutes until Friday night.

  Janey was stunned, however, by Guy’s reaction when he called her from his cell phone on the M5 on his way back from a fashion shoot in Bath.

  “Josh says you’ve promised they can stay out until midnight,” she told him. “I need a voice of authority here. What time do they have to be home?”

  “What do you mean, ‘they’?” Guy demanded. “We go home whenever we like.”

  “You mean you’re coming with us?”

  “Why else would I complete a six-hour shoot in three and a half hours?” He sounded amused. “And skip dinner with Kate Moss. Of course I’m coming with you.”

  “Gosh,” said Janey. “Somehow I hadn’t imagined you as a fairground lover.”

  “No? What kind of lover had you imagined me as?”

  “I meant—”

  “I know what you meant.” Guy laughed. “And it’s OK. You can stop blushing now. Look, I’ll be home by six, so just tell the kids to hang on. Don’t you dare leave without me.”

  • • •

  Josh and Ella had, over the years, grown used to it. Since it was practically the entire reason Maxine had taken the job in the first place, she would have enjoyed every minute. Janey, however, cringed. It was a frosty evening, her nose was probably pink with cold, and her hair had been whisked to a frenzy on the Octopus. It was all right for Guy; he was the one taking dozens and dozens of pictures with the new camera, but she wasn’t used to finding herself on the receiving end of a lens. As far as she was concerned, it was a distinctly nerve-racking experience.

  And he was using up film at a rate of knots.

  “Haven’t you finished yet?” It sounded ungracious, but she wished he would stop. Being asked to test out the latest Olympus was all very well, but this was downright off-putting. She didn’t know where to look.

  “No need to panic,” said Guy. “It isn’t as if I’m asking you to pose and smile. Just ignore me.”

  Janey scowled. “How can I ignore you when I know my nose is red?”

  “Don’t be so vain,” he chided briskly. “I’m trying out a new camera, not using you for the cover of Vogue. So relax…”

  “Quick, Daddy!” Ella, who wasn’t the least bit camera shy, screamed with delight. “Take one of me with cotton candy all over my face.”

  Janey was eating a toffee apple when a male voice behind her said, “Well, hello. Having fun?”

  Swinging around, she saw that it was Alexander Norcross, Mr. Presentable himself, looking very smart in a charcoal-gray Burberry and with a plump, shivering brunette in tow.

  “Oh, hi.” She probably had bits of toffee stuck to her teeth, but she smiled anyway. “Yes, we’re having a great time.”

  Ella tugged at her arm. “Janey, can you lend me fifty pence for the hoopla?”

  “Rip-off, these places.” Alexander glanced down at Ella, who had just proved his point. “How these people have the nerve to charge fifty pence for the opportunity to win something that costs ten, I don’t know. If you ask me, there should be a law against it.”

  Smart but mean, recalled Janey, pressing a pound coin into Ella’s gloved hand. With exaggerated politeness, she said, “Oh dear, does that mean you aren’t enjoying yourself?”

  “I’m not saying that,” protested Alexander. “Fairgrounds can be entertaining, so long as you don’t waste your cash. We’ve been here for almost two hours now,” he added with evident pride, “and it hasn’t even been necessary to open my wallet. Now that’s what I call real value for money.”

  The brunette didn’t just have a red nose; she was almost blue with cold all over.

  “You mean he hasn’t bought you a cup of coffee?” Janey looked shocked. “Alexander, this poor girl is going to end up with frostbite. What she needs is a hot espresso and a couple of stiff brandies to warm her up.”

  The girl, looking almost pathetically grateful, said, “That would be nice. Alex, could we do that?”

  “Are you cold?” He sounded surprised. “Well, maybe it is time we made a move. I know. We’ll get back to my house and have a nice cup of tea.”

  Janey had the urge to scream: “Make him take you to an expensive restaurant! Better still, tell him to take an almighty running jump into the sea…”

  But she didn’t, and the next moment Josh and Guy arrived back from the shooting gallery. Guy, realizing that she was talking to someone she knew, hung back and maintained a discreet distance. Josh, who was far more interested in money than discretion, charged up to Janey and yelled frantically, “Quick, I’ve run out of change!”

  “Two kids,” Alexander remarked when Josh had pocketed another pound coin and shot off to join Ella. “Well, well. So you found yourself a family man. Bad luck, Jane.”

  Janey risked a glance over his shoulder. Ten feet away and eavesdropping shamelessly, Guy grinned.

  “Bad luck?”

  “Oh well. Maybe you get on well with them.” Alexander shuddered with disapproval. “Some girls don’t mind that kind of setup, after all. But you do want to be careful, Jane. Single mothers are bad enough, but single fathers are an even dodgier prospect. Is he interested in you, or is he just desperate to find someone to look after the house and kiddies?”

  “Gosh.” Not daring to meet Guy’s gaze, Janey bit her lip and looked worried. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. You mean all he’s really after is some kind of substitute nanny?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean,” Alexander declared with a knowledgeable nod. “You see, nannies don’t come cheap, and they aren’t always 100 percent reliable. As far as the man’s concerned, it’s simpler and more economical in the long ru
n to find himself a new wife.”

  Guy, approaching them, gave Janey a ghost of a wink. She didn’t even flinch when he slipped his arm around her waist and gave her a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

  “Darling, I thought I’d lost you. We really should be getting home, you know. It’s way past Ella’s bedtime.”

  Janey gave him a cold stare. “Oh dear, is it? Well, in that case, we’d better run.”

  “What’s the matter?” Guy raised his eyebrows. “Is there a problem?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied evenly. “But I think I’m about to find out. Let me ask you a question, Guy. Did you invite me to move in with you because you loved me or because you needed someone to take care of your children?”

  His smile faded. After some consideration, he said, “Well, sweetheart, if you think back, I didn’t actually invite you to move in with me at all. As far as I recall, I arrived back from Amsterdam one night and there you were, unpacking your suitcases and generally making yourself at home. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but—”

  “But you do love me?” A note of hysteria crept into Janey’s voice. “If we’re going to get married next week, I need to know if you really love me.”

  Alexander and the brunette stood in fascinated silence. Janey prayed Josh and Ella wouldn’t pick this moment to come back.

  “Sweetheart, of course I do.” Guy gave her a placatory hug. “We all do. In fact, the kids are so smitten, I’ve decided to sack the nanny. From now on, you can look after them all by yourself. Now, isn’t that just the most wonderful surprise?”

  “That’s it,” she said flatly. “The wedding’s off.”

  The brunette, who had been staring at Guy, snapped her fingers. “I know who you are. You’re Guy Cassidy, the photographer.” Her eyes widened. “You’re famous.”

  “Doesn’t stop him being a cheapskate double-crossing toad,” Janey snapped.

  “Guy Cassidy?” said Alexander, deeply impressed. “The Guy Cassidy? Of course you are! Hey, it’s really nice to meet you.”

  “I don’t believe I’m hearing this.” Janey glared at Alexander. “You’ve just told me not to marry him, and now you’re fawning all over him like some kind of groupie!”

  Guy frowned. “He told you not to marry me? Whyever would he say a thing like that? Janey, you’re making it up.”

  “Look, I’m sorry.” Alexander shook his head. “I didn’t know it was you.”

  “Too late,” declared Janey, prying Guy’s hand from her arm. “I wouldn’t marry him now if he were Chris Hemsworth.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “And I thought Maxine was the actress.” He caught up with her by the win-a-goldfish stall, where Ella and Josh were engrossed in the task of flipping rubber frogs onto lily pads. “Carry on like that and you’ll end up starring in toilet-roll commercials.”

  Janey grinned. The expression on Alexander’s face had been superb. It was a shame Guy couldn’t have captured it on camera.

  “You started it.”

  “Couldn’t resist it. My God, when I heard what he was saying to you—no wonder you’re wary of men.” He shook his head in disbelief. “I must say, you certainly know some extraordinary people.”

  At least he didn’t know how she’d met Alexander, Janey thought with some relief. He’d already caught her out once, and that was enough.

  “My bloody frogs keep falling in the water!” complained Ella, unaware of Guy behind her.

  He tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Oh, sorry, Daddy.” She gave him an angelic, gap-toothed smile.

  “Good.” Guy winked at Janey. “Because we don’t want any bloody goldfish anyway.”

  “My feet ache,” said Janey as they made their way back to the car two hours later.

  Josh and Ella, clutching helium balloons, armfuls of Day-Glo furry toys, and an inflatable giant squid, were running on ahead, the squid’s pink plastic tentacles wrapping themselves around Ella’s legs as she struggled to keep up with Josh.

  “My wallet aches.” Guy gave her a rueful look. “I’m financially destitute. And all because my daughter fell in love with a squid.”

  “And you didn’t enjoy trying to win it?” Janey mocked. “Come on, you loved every minute on that rifle range.”

  “I would have loved it even more if the sights hadn’t been ninety degrees off. Fifteen quid for a squid,” he groaned. “And what’s the betting that by tomorrow morning it’ll have a puncture.”

  “Stop complaining. You’ve had a wonderful time.”

  “OK, so maybe I have.” He grinned. The next moment, he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him, so abruptly that Janey almost lost her footing.

  “Wha—”

  “Sorry, dog shit on the pavement,” said Guy romantically. “You almost stepped in it.”

  “My hero,” Janey murmured, because although she had regained her balance, he hadn’t released his hold on her. If she moved away she would feel silly—it was hardly the romantic gesture of the decade, after all—but at the same time she couldn’t help wondering what Josh and Ella would make of it if they should choose this moment to turn around. Why, she thought with some embarrassment, was he doing this? Why wasn’t he saying anything? And why didn’t he just let go?

  Guy was deep in thought. He wasn’t normally slow off the mark, but something had just occurred to him, something quite unexpected, and it needed some serious thinking about.

  The big stumbling block, he now realized, had been the fact that Janey’s unfortunate past had rendered her so totally off-limits from the start. With a history like hers, the last thing she needed was the kind of involvement that could only bring more pain. And when you were a man with a history like his, thought Guy grimly, it was easier simply to steer clear. As he’d told her himself only days earlier, his relationships had a habit of coming to grief. He didn’t do it deliberately, but it happened anyway. He always seemed to be the one at fault. And it was always the other person who got hurt.

  But although he hadn’t even allowed the possibility to cross his mind before, Guy now acknowledged the fact that he had been deluding himself. Throughout the past week, he’d been telling himself what a great nanny Janey was. In truth, he realized, it was the simple fact of her being there that had been great.

  One of the major points in her favor, however, was also one of the major drawbacks, and it was something else with which he was woefully unfamiliar. Janey didn’t flirt, and he didn’t know if that was because she simply wasn’t a flirtatious person, or if it meant she didn’t find him worth flirting with. Consequently, he had no idea whether she was even faintly attracted to him. Their relationship up until now had been entirely platonic. Over the months—and not without the occasional hiccup along the way—a friendship had been forged. Aside from that, he just didn’t know how Janey felt about him.

  And all of a sudden it mattered terribly. The idea that she might not return his feelings was galling to say the least. It wasn’t the kind of problem he’d ever had to deal with before; he wanted Janey to like him, but how on earth was he going to find out if she did?

  Belatedly, Guy realized he was still holding on to her arm. Now he felt plain stupid. Should he carry on and see if she objected, or oh-so-casually let go? It was the kind of dilemma more normally faced by teenagers.

  It was his own daughter who came to the rescue. Ella, struggling to disentangle her legs from the tentacles of the squid, slipped off the curb and landed, with a piercing shriek, flat on her face in the gutter.

  She was shaken but not hurt. As he lifted her to her feet and brushed a couple of dry leaves from her white-blond hair, Guy was reminded of his first meeting with Véronique, in another gutter all those years ago. She hadn’t flirted with him either, he recalled; she had simply been herself, take it or leave it, and allowed him to make all the running. Falling in love with her ha
d happened so fast, and had been so easy, he would never have believed at the time that waiting for it to happen again could take so long. But finding someone else to fall in love with, he reflected ruefully, hadn’t been easy at all.

  “You’re all right,” said Janey, wiping a lone tear from Ella’s cheek with her knuckle. “No damage, sweetheart. The squid broke your fall.”

  “He’s hissing.” Ella stopped crying in order to listen. “I can hear him making a funny noise.”

  “That’s because he’s a hero,” Janey replied gravely. “He saved you from being hurt and punctured a tentacle in the process. Don’t worry. We’ll stick a bandage on it when we get home.”

  By the time they reached the car, Guy had come to a decision. He didn’t want to risk rocking the boat while Janey was looking after the children. But Maxine would be back on Sunday, and it would be perfectly in order for him to take Janey out to dinner on Sunday night by way of thanking her for having stepped into the breach. This meant he had two days in which to plan what he was going to say…

  The traffic was nose to tail along the main street where the fair had set up, so he took a left into the road that would take them past Janey’s shop and up out of the town. He would take her somewhere really special on Sunday, he decided—maybe the new restaurant in Zennor that everyone was talking about. Would vintage champagne impress or alarm her? Should he take the car, or would a cab be better? Or how about flying to Paris; would she think he was being flash? Was that too over-the-top for—?