by Jill Mansell
It was like a great weight being magically lifted from her shoulders. Up until this moment, Majella had been wondering how on earth she was going to get out of seeing him again without hurting his feelings. Now she didn’t have to worry about it anymore. Released from the obligation, she said cheerfully, “Well, what a shame we didn’t find out earlier. If I’d known beforehand that you were tedious, finicky, ungrateful, and rude, I would never have agreed to meet you either.”
* * *
In the crowded kitchen, Seth opened another bottle of wine. As he poured it into the glasses held out by Lainey, his hand brushed the inside of her wrist and he felt an actual physical charge from the brief contact. Could she feel it too? Was the sensation as powerful for her as it was for him, or had she not even noticed? Oh God, this was like being back at school; what was happening to him? So much for always being in complete control of his emotions.
But no one else was paying him any attention, which was something to be grateful for. As soon as Justin had stormed out of the house, the atmosphere had lightened. Majella had announced, “Well, I’m just heartbroken that I won’t be seeing him again.”
Harry, giving her an enthusiastic hug, had said, “Don’t worry, Mum. I told our dinner lady at school that you were looking for a new boyfriend and she said if you want her husband you’re welcome to him.”
And now they were here, back in the kitchen, gathered around the scrubbed-oak table. Since Lainey had made a vast pear-and-almond crumble, there was enough for everyone. When Majella had finished describing the details of Justin’s pre-choking awfulness, they took it in turns finding microscopic things to criticize in a pained, Justin-style manner. Then Majella said to Lainey, “Seriously, though, he could have died. You saved his life. What you did was amazing.”
Lainey’s shrug was dismissive. “I took a first aid course a few years ago. You never know when it’ll come in handy. Anyway,” deftly changing the subject, she pointed across the table at Harry and said in a Justin voice, “I can’t help noticing, young man, that your left shirt collar is sticking up at a seventy-eight-degree angle, whereas the right shirt collar is at eighty-four degrees.”
Harry grinned. “I think you should sort out your eyelashes because you’ve got two hundred and forty on that eye and three hundred and twelve on the other one.”
“No, I can’t bear it!” Lainey clapped her hands over her eyes. “I demand a massive eyelash transplant this minute.”
The others were laughing, but Seth was still recalling the scene he’d witnessed in the dining room, where, without panicking, Lainey had reached around the chest of a man a fair bit taller than herself and successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver. Now she was making light of what she’d done, but his estimation of her had risen higher still. She was quick-witted and funny, empathetic and kind, hardworking and efficient. Everyone who met her adored her. Well, apart from Justin.
And she was living with Kit, who might or might not be gay and might or might not have shared this information with her.
Because that was the thing, wasn’t it? You never really knew what was going on in other people’s private lives.
Seth said, “Where’s Kit? He should be helping us celebrate getting rid of Justin. Shall I give him a call, get him over here to join us for a drink?”
But Lainey was shaking her head. “He isn’t in the flat. He went off to the gym, said not to expect him back until much later.”
Was this even true? Seth wondered cynically. “He seems to be enjoying going to the gym,” he said.
Lainey smiled and nodded in agreement, her gaze heartbreakingly open and trusting. “Oh yes, he really does.”
Chapter 15
The summer season was well underway now; the warmer weather had brought the tourists streaming down to Cornwall, and the beaches were getting noticeably busier.
Lainey had swum across from Menhenick Bay to Mariscombe Bay and back again. It was six in the evening, and she’d been in the water for an hour; hopefully her towel would still be there where she’d left it above the tide line on the sun-warmed powdered-sugar sand.
Approaching the shore, she spotted the purple towel waiting for her. Hooray!
It wasn’t until she was emerging from the water, though, that she saw someone waving to attract her attention.
Sunglasses, pale-blue shirt, flowing amber skirt, long dark hair. Moving closer to the shoreline, Lainey realized it was Dawn. And now she was making her way across the gently sloping sand toward her, as if she’d been waiting for Lainey to appear.
Which was a tad unlikely, wasn’t it? Unless Dawn’s quicksilver legal brain had detected the attraction to Seth that she’d been working so hard to conceal, and she’d come here to warn her off.
Well, you never knew.
Reaching the beach at last, Lainey mentally pictured a screeching, EastEnders-style showdown in front of the many holidaymakers surrounding them. That wouldn’t be Dawn’s way, though, surely. Plus, she was smiling.
Besides, when you were that beautiful, why would you even begin to feel threatened by the idea that someone else, someone less perfect than you, was harboring a secret crush on your man?
“Lainey, look at you. You’re like a Bond girl striding out of the water!”
Except a Bond girl probably wouldn’t be wearing a pink polka-dot swimsuit from Costco. Lainey padded across to the dry sand, reached for her towel, and wrapped it around her torso.
Dawn went on. “You don’t have to rush back, do you? I wondered if we could have a chat. I called Seth, and he mentioned you’d gone for a swim, so I thought I’d come on over and find you.”
“Fine.” Still mystified by the friendly manner, Lainey led the way up the beach. When they were sitting on a secluded section of dry sand facing the sea, she said, “Is this about yesterday?”
“Kind of. Well, Seth told me all about the choking thing, of course. About what a heroine you were and what a prize prat the guy was.”
“I wasn’t a heroine. I just did something I’d learned how to do.” Twisting her hair into a rope, Lainey squeezed out a thin stream of seawater. “But I’ll agree with you about him being a prat.”
“Well, let’s just call you impressive. Which was what made me realize I needed to come here and talk to you today.” Dawn’s expression grew serious. “Seth doesn’t know I’m doing this, by the way. He doesn’t think I should. But I have to, because you deserve to know the truth.”
Weirder and weirder. Lainey shook her head slightly. “The truth about what?”
“Look, I’m really not one for gossip. I don’t want you to think it’s that. But there are certain situations with potentially life-altering ramifications and then it’s only fair to share the information, but I’m so sorry if this—”
“What is it?” Lainey cut through the elongated explanation.
“OK.” Dawn removed her sunglasses and visibly braced herself. “We think there’s a possibility your boyfriend might be gay.”
Boyfriend…
For a split second, Lainey thought she meant her last actual boyfriend, Anton, who was no doubt currently sleeping his way around every bikini-clad beach babe in Saint-Tropez. Then she came to her senses and realized she was referring to Kit.
So that was what this impassioned intervention was all about. What to do? How to react? Quick, think… To lie or not to lie?
Misinterpreting her panic as shock, Dawn said, “I’m really sorry. We saw him at that busy bar down on the harbor, with the good-looking guy who runs it. They were definitely flirting with each other.”
“Right. Thanks.” Lainey jumped to her feet. “Thanks for…um, telling me.”
“Hang on.” Dawn was studying her curiously. “Did you already know?”
Why did she have to be such a rubbish liar? Licking her lips and tasting salt, Lainey said, “Sorry, I have to get back. I need to
talk to Kit.”
“Oh my God,” Dawn exclaimed, realization spreading across her face. “You do already know.”
* * *
“What?” Kit looked baffled when Lainey switched off the outside tap attached to the garden hose, dragged him away from watering the hanging baskets, and gestured for him to follow her up to their apartment. “What’s going on?”
“Dawn’s worked it out. She and Seth saw you at the bar with Tom, and now she knows and she’s going to tell Seth.” Lainey’s mouth was dry, her heart thudding. “And Seth’s going to be mad at us because we lied to them, and he’s going to kick us out, I know he will. Because how can they trust us if we’ve been lying to them for weeks? We may as well pack our bags now.”
Dawn didn’t waste any time telling him either. Less than fifteen minutes later, Seth appeared in the kitchen. “I think we need to have a word, don’t you?”
Lainey blushed and gave the floor one last vigorous scrub before resting back on her heels. “About what?”
He gave her a long look. “Don’t even try it. How about the truth?”
Still on her knees, she dropped the cloth into the bucket of hot soapy water. “Fine. I’m sorry. Kit and I aren’t together. We’re just friends. We badly needed a job and somewhere to live, and you were advertising for a couple. A couply couple,” she amended.
“So you’re here under false pretenses.”
“I suppose so. And we didn’t like lying, because we’re both honest people. But we wanted to work here even more.” His all-seeing gaze was intimidating and Lainey turned her head away, wiping her wet hands on the sides of her shorts. “Like I said, I’m really sorry. If you want us to leave, that’s completely understandable. We’ll go.” She wasn’t going to cry or beg; some small amount of dignity needed to be maintained. But at that moment, Glenda came pattering into the kitchen and bounded right up to her, resting her small front paws on Lainey’s lap and wagging her tail like a metronome. Oh God, she was going to miss them all so much, the family and the animals too. She stroked Glenda’s ears and swallowed hard. Where was Kit? Still working in the garden? Why hadn’t Seth called him in here too?
The silence lengthened. “OK, now listen to me,” said Seth at last. “I don’t appreciate the fact that you weren’t honest with us. Is there anything else you think we might need to know?”
Lainey shook her head vigorously. “No, nothing, nothing at all, I promise.”
“Well, let’s hope your promises are more reliable than the story of your personal life. What you did wasn’t great,” Seth went on slowly, “but I suppose I can understand why you felt compelled to do it.” A longer pause. “Nothing like this ever happens again, do you hear me?”
She’d been holding her breath for so long that her head was starting to swim. She exhaled. “Yes…I mean, of course not. Thank you.”
Seth’s phone began to ring. Before turning to leave the kitchen, he pointed to the paw prints left by Glenda’s enthusiastic skid across the wet floor. With the very faintest of smiles, he said, “You’ve missed a bit.”
* * *
“So there you go.” Dawn’s expression was smug; she was clearly delighted with herself. “Aren’t you glad I spoke to Lainey now? All sorted, everything out in the open, and everyone’s fine about it. That’s what I call a result.”
“You were right, and I was wrong.” Seth, who prided himself on never being wrong, nodded because it was expected of him. But inwardly he was torn. On the one hand, it was obviously good news for Lainey that she wasn’t being cheated on by Kit. On the other hand, this meant she was now single. On the other other hand—and assuming she would even be interested in him—he still couldn’t risk getting involved with someone who lived and worked here, because if the relationship didn’t work out, they would inevitably lose Lainey and everyone would be completely furious with him as a result.
Oh, and there was the small matter of Dawn too. Drily, Seth imagined her reaction if she knew he’d just thought of her as a small matter.
“Just so you know,” she said now with an air of triumph, “I’m always right.”
Yesterday they’d discussed their previous relationships, and he’d touched on the subject of his short attention span, subtly preparing her for the strong likelihood that this one would go the same way as all the rest. Whereupon Dawn, clearly not lacking in self-confidence, had declared, “Ah, but that was before you met me.”
Now they were gathered in the kitchen, and Majella was hugging Lainey again. He heard her say, “You poor thing. I can’t believe you’ve been sleeping on that sofa all this time! We must get you one of those proper fold-out sofa beds.”
“Honestly, there’s no need.” Lainey was shaking her head. “I’m fine with the one we have. It’s really comfortable.”
“You should have told us before now. We would still have hired you.”
“But we didn’t know that,” Lainey explained. “Not for sure. And we were so desperate to work here, we couldn’t take the risk. If a real couple had come along, you might have decided to choose them instead because it would’ve been so much easier.”
“Never. You were the only ones we wanted.” Majella gave Kit’s arm a squeeze as he topped up her wineglass.
Richard, helping himself to a huge slice of Dolcelatte, said, “You were, but before you get bigheaded, just remember that all the others were absolutely dreadful.”
From the other side of the table, Harry said to Kit, “So if Lainey isn’t your girlfriend, and now you’re gay, does that mean you’re looking for a boyfriend?” Since discovering his mum was ready to start dating again, he’d become fascinated by the idea of matching people—any people—up. He went on eagerly, “Because one of my friends at school, his dad’s gay, so if you like, I could ask him if he wants to go out with you.”
Kit regarded him gravely. “Thanks, I’ll let you know.”
“Do you like beards, though?”
“Beards are OK.” Kit shrugged.
“Well, Lewis’s dad hasn’t got a beard,” Harry explained, “but he could probably grow one if you were desperate.”
Seth managed not to laugh. Behind him he heard India saying conversationally, “So this has been interesting, hasn’t it? After all that chat about the importance of honesty at all times, it turns out you’ve been lying to us from day one.”
“Touché.” Lainey’s tone was rueful. “But it was only a white lie. And no one else suffered as a result, did they?”
“I suppose,” India said good-naturedly. “Just thought it was worth pointing out.”
Lainey was smiling now, he could tell from the sound of her voice. “Well, that’s fair enough. I wouldn’t have been able to resist mentioning it either.”
Seth heard India lower her voice. “We’re still glad you’re here.”
“Thanks. Me too.”
“Lainey? Lainey!” Harry was swallowing a mouthful of chips, spraying crumbs and waving his hand to catch her attention. “If you and Kit aren’t together, does that mean you need a boyfriend? Or are you gay too?”
As she turned, Seth caught the look of genuine affection for Harry shining in her eyes and felt a surge of emotion he was almost scared to acknowledge.
“I’m not gay,” she said. “But just because people are on their own doesn’t mean they have to have someone else. It’s completely fine to be single.”
“Like me.” Harry nodded. “I’m single.”
She smiled. “Exactly. And look how happy you are.”
“But wouldn’t you like to meet someone and have a proper boyfriend if you could?”
“Well…”
Clearly unwilling to abandon his mission, Harry said, “Because Mr. Elliott at my school is divorced, so you could go out with him if you want.”
Amused, Violet said, “You’re on a roll, Harry. Go on then, tell us about Mr. Elliott.
What’s he like?”
“He wears green trousers every day, and he likes cycling, and he tells really bad jokes. But he’s nice. Everyone likes him. And he makes up songs about geography.”
“Sounds perfect.” Appearing at Seth’s side, Dawn reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with his. Smiling down at Harry, she said, “How old is Mr. Elliott?”
“Same as most teachers.” With a careless shrug, Harry grabbed another handful of chips. “About fifty.”
Chapter 16
It was like sticking to a brutally strict diet for weeks on end, then finally reaching that point where you couldn’t cope with the emptiness for a minute more. Wyatt took out his mobile and felt his heart rate accelerate. It was no longer a question of should he do this. He wanted, needed, had to.
There. And now he’d pressed the button to call the number he’d been forcing himself not to call for the last month.
She probably wouldn’t pick up anyway. Right now, the chances were that she was staring in disbelief at the screen of her phone and backing away from it in—
“Hello?”
He stopped dead in his tracks. “Pen?”
“Yes. Hello, Wyatt.” She sounded breathless but not horrified, thank goodness.
“Oh, Pen, I didn’t expect you to answer. It’s so good to hear your voice.” Wyatt gazed around him at the lake, the gardens, and the bandstand in Regent’s Park and felt the lump in his throat expand. How his brothers would laugh if they could see him now, overcome with emotion because he was so happy to be speaking to the girl who had humiliated him in front of his entire family.
“How are you?” There was gentle concern in her voice, as if she really wanted to know.
“Pretty good, thanks. Getting on with life.”
“I really am sorry about, you know, everything.”
“No, please don’t, you shouldn’t apologize. I was such an idiot.” Wyatt shook his head as the words came stumbling out. Oh God, and now his eyes were prickling, causing him to blink hard. “What I did was wrong; it was just the hugest mistake. I put you in the most awful situation, and you were absolutely right to say no.”