by Susan Lewis
‘And I was definitely wrong about the married man?’
‘Definitely.’
‘Good. Then we’ll leave it there.’ She was watching Tom, now sitting on the edge of the pool and clearly waiting for her to join him.
Chapter Twenty-One
FOR LAINEY, THE very best part of being back at Bannerleigh Cross was seeing her father’s face light up as she walked through the door. It moved her straight to tears as he wrapped her in his arms, seeming almost like his old self for those few precious moments.
‘How was the show?’ he asked. ‘Were they good?’
‘Excellent,’ she assured him, having no idea what or who he was talking about. ‘You’d have loved it.’
‘I’m sure I would,’ he beamed. ‘Did your mother enjoy it too? Where is she?’
Hugging his arm, she led him back to his chair. ‘She’ll be here soon. She stayed on for some shopping, but the children are with me.’
‘Sarah and Esther? I don’t ever see them now.’
‘Actually, they popped in yesterday,’ Daffs corrected, her kind, fleshy face creased with affection as she shared her brother’s pleasure at having his eldest daughter home.
‘They did?’ Lainey said, surprised. Her sisters almost never came.
Daffs continued to smile as she shook her head. ‘I find it distresses him less if he doesn’t feel neglected,’ she murmured.
Having no argument with that, Lainey said, ‘So how have you been, Dad? It looks as though Aunt Daffs’ cooking has agreed with you.’ In truth, he appeared to have lost weight, and her aunt confirmed it when she asked.
‘He doesn’t seem to have much of an appetite,’ Daffs confided, as Tierney and Zav hauled their bags in through the door.
‘Grandpa!’ they shouted in unison, and as Peter looked up in confusion Tierney flew into his lap, while Zav collapsed over Sherman.
‘It’ll probably come back now you’re home,’ Daffs added.
‘How has he seemed otherwise?’ Lainey asked, glancing past her aunt to where Tom was outside, still unpacking the car, while talking to someone on the phone.
‘Well, actually, I was a bit worried yesterday,’ Daffs confided. ‘He wasn’t himself at all. He couldn’t hold his cup, or get his food to his mouth. We wondered if he’d had one of those mini-strokes again, you know, like he had a few months ago, but by the time the doctor came he seemed much better.’
Concerned, Lainey turned to look at him, but he was smiling so happily at the fuss being made of him by his grandchildren that apart from the weight loss, she could see nothing to be alarmed about for now.
‘Did Tom come back with you?’ Daffs asked, going to put the kettle on.
‘Yes, he’ll be in shortly,’ Lainey replied, suspecting he was talking to Kirsten, and trying not to resent the fact that she’d barely allowed him to get off the plane before she’d started ringing again. Over the past few days it had felt almost as though she was in Italy with them, she’d called so often. Whether they were sightseeing in Perugia, barbecuing with the Stefanis, or struggling to watch the Palio in Siena, she was constantly on the phone, and though Lainey was trying to be understanding it wasn’t always easy.
‘I don’t want to pry,’ Daffs said quietly, ‘but is everything OK between you two now?’
Brightening, Lainey said, ‘Yes, it’s fine. I’ll explain it all later, but we’re more or less back to normal. Where’s Uncle Jack?’
‘Oh, he’s taken Marty to the garden centre to pick up some plants for the old people’s home. They were here playing cards this morning. Your father actually managed a snap!’
Looking suitably impressed, Lainey began unloading the olive oil and pasta she’d brought back for her aunt, looking up curiously as Tom came in with more bags. ‘Is she OK?’ she asked.
‘Actually, it was Max,’ he responded as he dutifully embraced Daffs. ‘He wants you to text instructions on how to make a tagliata, and if I can get his Internet reconnected by the time he comes home he’ll be my friend for life.’
Lainey couldn’t help but laugh at the drollery in Tom’s expression.
‘So Max stayed on, did he?’ Daffs asked.
‘For another week,’ Tom confirmed, starting to carry the heavier bags into the hall. ‘Come on you two,’ he called out to Tierney and Zav, ‘let Grandpa breathe and help get this lot upstairs.’
‘Can Maudie come over?’ Tierney asked, as she sauntered past her mother to scoop up the smallest of her bags.
‘If you like,’ Lainey responded, looking curiously at Tom as he beckoned her to follow him into his study.
Once the door was securely closed, he caught her in his arms and pulled her against him.
‘Wow!’ she smiled, feeling how aroused he was.
‘All the way back on the plane,’ he murmured, ‘I kept looking at you and thinking how damned lucky I am to have you.’
She nodded agreement. ‘Yeah, I suppose I can’t argue with that,’ she teased, ‘but do you think now is the right time to do something about it?’
He had to shake his head. ‘I guess not, but you look so damned sexy in those shorts and with a tan that I don’t know if I can wait till I get back.’
She frowned and pulled away. ‘Back from where?’ she asked.
The expression on his face was answer enough.
‘Oh Tom, we’ve only just got here . . .’
‘I know, I know, but I promised I’d be there for when Julia gets home.’
‘Exactly when did you make that promise?’ she enquired frostily.
‘Last night. I didn’t say anything sooner, because I didn’t want to spoil what little time we had left and I knew you probably wouldn’t be happy.’
Sighing, she said, ‘You’re right, I’m not, but if Julia’s expecting you I suppose you can’t let her down. I just want you to remember that we need you here too, and if I’m going to support you through this, which I am, I think we need to start setting a few ground rules.’
‘Anything,’ he declared rashly.
She smiled. ‘I’ll work on them while you’re gone, but most importantly, both you and Kirsten need to understand that no matter how sick she is, not everything can be about her and Julia.’
‘I’ll remember that,’ he promised, sliding a hand into her hair, ‘and with any luck the worst of it’s already over now her treatment’s complete. Anyway, I ought to get the heavy stuff upstairs before I go, and I haven’t even said hello to your father yet.’
‘Aunt Daffs thinks he might have had another of those mini-strokes,’ she told him.
Turning back, he said, ‘When?’
‘Yesterday, but he seems fine now. He’s obviously glad to have us all around him again.’
‘Are you going to tell him what you found out in Italy?’
She shrugged. ‘What’s the point? He won’t understand it, and even if he did, how’s it going to help him now?’
Pulling her back into his arms, he said, ‘I haven’t forgotten how hard all that must have been for you.’
‘I’m sure I’ll survive.’
‘Of course you will, but knowing what your mother went through . . .’
‘The good thing is she ended up meeting Dad, and we can’t ever doubt how happy she was with him.’
‘As happy as you are with me?’
Her eyes narrowed teasingly, but before she could answer there was a loud thump on the door behind them.
‘Mum! Are you in there?’ Tierney called out. ‘Alfie’s dad’s on the line wanting to say thanks for everything, and you told me to remind you to ring Skye’s mum.’
‘Coming,’ Lainey called back. Tom’s eyes were still on hers, and as he smiled she could feel herself starting to melt. ‘I love you, Tom Hollingsworth,’ she whispered, and after kissing him lingeringly, she went off to deal with the phone.
‘So where is he now?’ Stacy was asking the following day, having come over for coffee.
‘Still over there with Kirsten,’ Lainey repl
ied, popping a chicken into the Aga. ‘You’re staying for lunch, I hope?’
‘I’d love to. How many will we be? I’ll set the table.’
Counting on her fingers, Lainey said, ‘Actually, only five, unless someone turns up out of the blue. You, me, Tierney, Maudie and Dad. Zav’s over at Alfie’s, and Aunt Daffs and Uncle Jack set off early this morning. Poor Aunt Daffs, she was really shaken up when I told her what I’d found out in Italy. She was certain Dad never knew, or if he did he never told her. I guess it’s not a secret you really want to share with anyone, is it? I almost wish I didn’t know it myself.’
‘But you had to have answers,’ Stacy reminded her gently. ‘It’s been driving you nuts for years.’
‘Maybe it’s a lesson in being careful of what you wish for,’ Lainey commented wryly. ‘Anyway, there’s no unknowing it now, so I’ll just have to live with the fact that my real father was a rapist, my grandmother was a she-devil, and my mother could never look at me without remembering how she’d come to have me. In other words, my Italian roots have sadness and shame all over them, and what little family I still have there might very well not want to be reminded of how badly they treated their daughter. However, on the up side, I’m probably the luckiest person alive to have been adopted by Peter, because I defy anyone to have a more wonderful father.’
Stacy smiled fondly as she looked over to where Peter was sitting quietly in his chair, gazing at a newspaper he could no longer read. ‘So when are you expecting your children’s father back?’ she asked, going to fish out the cutlery.
‘I’m still waiting to hear,’ Lainey replied, checking the oven’s temperature. ‘He texted last night to let me know he’d arrived, and to say that apparently Julia isn’t coming back until Tuesday or Wednesday now.’
Stacy’s eyebrows rose expressively.
‘I know what you’re thinking, and I’ve no idea if Kirsten knew that before she asked him to go, or she found out later. I’m trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.’
Stacy’s expression mirrored Lainey’s irony. ‘So when are you meeting her?’
‘I don’t know yet,’ Lainey replied, and scooping up the phone, she said, ‘Hi, Max, how’s it going over there? Yes, we’re all OK this end. Missing you like crazy, of course.’ She laughed at his response, and after giving him directions to the supermarket nearest to the villa, she rang off. ‘OK, enough about me,’ she declared, as Stacy seemed about to return to the subject of Kirsten and Tom. ‘I want to hear how things are going with the launch. Have you set a date for it yet?’
‘Actually, we’ve hit a few problems,’ Stacy confessed, ‘all to do with finance, of course, but the guys are on it so we’re definitely not giving up yet.’
Lainey regarded her sympathetically.
‘It was to be expected,’ Stacy insisted. ‘These things never go without a hitch, you know that. It’ll be fine, I’m sure. It’s just in this current climate everyone’s playing safe.’
Lainey looked at her father as the paper slid from his hands. ‘He has so many contacts,’ she said, going to prop his head against a cushion. ‘I’m sure he’d know who to call if only he could remember. I wonder if Marty could go through his address book with me . . .’
‘You’ve got enough to be dealing with,’ Stacy told her, ‘but don’t worry, if things get really bad I might come back to you on that. And there goes the phone again.’
‘Tom,’ Lainey said, reading the caller ID. ‘Hi darling, how’re things?’
‘. . . if you can . . . then I’ll give you . . .’
‘Sorry, you’re breaking up.’
‘. . . hear me now?’
‘Only just.’
‘. . . to say that if . . . Kirsten feels . . .’
‘It’s no good, Tom. Can you go somewhere with a better reception, or maybe try sending a text?’ Before she’d even finished the line had gone dead.
Putting the phone down, she said, ‘There’s surely got to be a landline over there, so why doesn’t he use that?’
‘Some people have cut them off since mobiles,’ Stacy reminded her. ‘Except that doesn’t make much sense in Kirsten’s case, if she can’t get a reception. Unless she has a different server, of course.’
With raised eyebrows Lainey picked up the phone again. ‘Hi Nadia, this is a nice surprise. How are you?’
‘Yes, I’m fine,’ Nadia replied hoarsely. ‘Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a cold, nothing serious. I wasn’t sure if you were back yet . . .’
‘We arrived yesterday, but Tom’s not here I’m afraid, if that’s who you’re looking for. You can always try him on his mobile, though I’m not sure you’ll get through on that either.’
‘It’s OK, it’s not urgent. Just have him call when he gets home.’
‘Of course. You do sound rough, I hope you’re taking something?’
‘It’ll pass, I’m sure. These things always do. Actually, before I let you go, I should probably tell you that Guy and I have decided to go our separate ways.’
Shaken, Lainey said, ‘Oh no, I’m really sorry to hear that. Are you OK? Do want to come over?’
‘I’m fine. Well, I’m probably not, if the truth were told, but I know it’s the right decision. On a different subject, did Max come back with you, by any chance?’
Wondering at the question, Lainey replied, ‘No, he stayed on with his girlfriend, but I’m not sure how long they’re going to last trying to fend for themselves.’
With a weak laugh, Nadia said, ‘Is he . . .? Do you know . . .? Sorry, I’m a bit scattered at the moment. I should ring off, but if you could get Tom to call that would be lovely.’
After putting the phone down Lainey turned to Stacy, her expression drawn into a frown. ‘She didn’t sound good,’ she said, glancing round at the sound of Tierney and Maudie coming down the stairs. ‘Apparently she and Guy have broken up.’
‘Oh no, that’s really tough,’ Stacy commented, ‘especially when she’s already been through it once. Not that I ever thought he was right for her, but it’s not what I think that counts. Did he meet someone else?’
‘Who?’ Tierney asked, sailing into the kitchen and helping herself to an apple.
‘Guy Whittaker,’ Lainey answered. ‘Apparently he and Nadia are no longer together.’
Tierney’s face paled. ‘Oh my God,’ she mumbled.
Putting an arm around her, Lainey said, ‘I know break-ups are painful, but they’re a part of life, and Dad and I . . .’
‘I know. It’s not that.’
‘Then what is it?’
‘Nothing. I’m cool. Come on, Mauds, let’s go.’
As they reached the door, Lainey said, ‘Lunch in an hour. Don’t be late.’
‘We won’t,’ Tierney replied without turning back.
Watching them crossing the garden to the footpath, Lainey said, ‘I hate the fact that she hides things from me, but I guess I have to get used to it.’
‘I’m afraid you do, now she’s the age she is.’
Sighing, Lainey reached for her mobile as it bleeped with a text. ‘I always thought we’d be able to talk about anything, no matter what age she was,’ she remarked, ‘but I guess that was a bit delusional.’ After reading Tom’s message she passed Stacy the phone for her to read it too.
Kirsten is asking if you’d be willing to come here tomorrow?
Stacy’s eyes went to Lainey’s.
‘You don’t know how much I wish I could say no,’ Lainey told her, ‘just so we’re not doing everything her way, but that would be petty, wouldn’t it?’
‘You’ve got a busy life,’ Stacy pointed out.
‘True, but I guess I’d rather get it over with, so for the moment I’m prepared to let her call the shots. It might all be different after I’ve met her. We’ll see.’
Chapter Twenty-Two
IN SPITE OF TOM’S careful directions, Lainey wasn’t surprised when Kirsten’s rural retreat turned out to be almost impossible to find. For some reason it s
eemed likely that Kirsten would be at the back end of beyond, though quite why she’d chosen to live so remotely, and for so long, Lainey guessed only Kirsten knew.
During the drive through Herefordshire she’d struggled with so many conflicting emotions that she knew her perspective was in danger of slipping. Everything was seeming disturbingly surreal, as though this charade – and that was what it felt like, a charade – was happening apart from her, because she surely couldn’t really be about to visit her husband in the home of another woman. A woman with whom he had a child, and God only knew what kind of relationship now.
One step at a time, Lainey, she cautioned herself. Remember, you’re supposed to be keeping an open mind, and you trust Tom, you really do.
By the time she finally turned off the leafy lane she’d already driven up and down twice on to a bumpy track leading to a sprawl of ramshackle outbuildings with a slightly shabby, but quaintly thatched cottage at their heart, it was already past midday. She was half an hour late. She looked more closely at the cottage. Not exactly the kind of dwelling she’d imagined for the glamorous Kirsten Bonner, but then what did she know of her today?
Spotting Tom’s car next to an old Range Rover she felt herself being drawn into a knot of apprehension, which only tightened when he came out of the cottage to meet her. He, and his car, gave the appearance of being very much at home here.
‘I was starting to get worried,’ he told her as he opened her door. ‘Did you get lost?’
‘A little,’ she admitted, picking up her bag and wondering if Kirsten was watching from behind a curtain.
‘Thanks for coming,’ he said, wrapping her in his arms. ‘Is Peter OK? Who’s with him?’
‘Marigold,’ she replied, referring to one of the agency nurses she called on in times of need.
‘That’s good. He always seems to relate well to her. So, are you hungry? There’s some soup for lunch. I could say I’d made it myself, but I know you wouldn’t believe it.’
Hating the way he was playing host, making her feel as though she was no more than a casual visitor, rather than his wife, come to meet his ex-mistress and please God it really was still ex, she said, ‘I’m fine, thanks. You seem very comfortable here.’