Chapter 34
Jed belatedly realised that this was the woman he’d fleetingly met earlier today when she’d arrived at the Cedars clutching a large holdall. She’d introduced herself as . . . Esme, that was it. He said to Karina, ‘You told me she’d done a fantastic job.’
‘Ah, thanks, love.’ Esme beamed at him. ‘We aim to please.’
Karina was slowly shaking her head. ‘That was when I thought she was properly qualified. My God, it could have been a disaster.’
Esme said cheerfully, ‘But it wasn’t, was it? You’re looking tip-top, if I do say so myself.’
‘You . . . you have a nerve!’
Refusing to take offence, Esme said reasonably, ‘Look, it was really short notice. I agreed to do it as a favour to Nella.’
‘You’re nothing but a fake! Wait till my followers get to hear about this. You’re in big trouble.’
‘Right. That’s enough.’ Everyone around them was laughing at Karina, who was even now tipping more champagne into her glass. Removing it from her grasp, Jed propelled her off the stool and towards the exit. He pulled open the door, turned to look at the woman from the kitchen and said, ‘I’m really sorry.’
‘How dare you apologise to her?’ Karina roared. ‘She should be apologising to me. And you should be on my side, not hers. You’re ruining my fucking birthday .’
‘Stay classy,’ the guy named Tristan called out amid more laughter as the door swung shut behind them.
Resolving the situation back at the house didn’t take long at all. Jed’s mind was made up and there was no going back. He packed her belongings – plus both lots of birthday presents – into the ridiculously expensive suitcases her third husband had bought her eighteen months ago. Enough was enough. He contacted several limo hire companies and finally found one who agreed to collect Karina and take her home to Manchester.
‘You’re going to regret this,’ she hissed.
‘Trust me, I’m not.’
‘That stuff you gave me, you’re not getting any of it back.’
‘I didn’t imagine for one moment that I would.’
She stamped her foot. ‘This is my birthday and you’ve completely wrecked it. All because you wanted to come down here and show me off so Nella Hughes could tell Tommy Kessler you’d found someone a million times better than frumpy Juliet.’
‘Don’t say that. Don’t even think it.’ Jed was forced to bite his tongue, because there was no point in prolonging the argument. He watched as Karina cleared the surface of the dressing table, tipping make-up, scent and jewellery into her cosmetics case. When she’d zipped it closed, he said, ‘You seem to have accidentally taken my watch. I’ll have it back, if you don’t mind.’
She unzipped the case and threw his watch onto the floor.
Then his phone went ding and he saw with relief that the chauffeur was two minutes away. He couldn’t wait for Karina to be gone.
*
Fifteen minutes later, he re-entered the Angel Inn. The good-looking guy called Tristan saw him and pretended to duck. ‘Oh God, is she back for round two?’
Jed shook his head. ‘Show’s over. She’s gone.’
‘Just as well. We finished off the bottle, seemed a shame to let it go to waste. Sorry about that.’
‘No worries. I came to speak to Esme. Is she still here?’
The barman said, ‘Service is over now. They’re just finishing up in the kitchen. She’ll be out in a few minutes.’
‘Great. I’ll have a glass of the Malbec, please.’
Jed carried his red wine over to a table by the window and checked his phone. True to form, Karina had wasted no time in documenting her disastrous birthday online, live from the back of the limo. A quick glance at the comments from her followers showed that some were sympathising and telling her she deserved better than a selfish pig like Jed Diamond, whilst others pointed out that she sounded drunk, the buttons on her dress had come undone and her bra was on show.
‘Hi, Marvyn said you wanted to see me?’
Jed looked up, and there she was, standing in front of him, now minus her chef’s whites and wearing a Breton striped top, jeans and non-designer trainers. Her blond hair was tied back in a ponytail and, wonder of wonders, she was still smiling.
‘Esme, I just wanted to apologise properly. She was so out of order.’ He produced an envelope from his jacket pocket and passed it to her. ‘I hope this will make it up to you.’
Esme took the envelope and opened it. When she saw the sheaf of banknotes inside, she shook her head and promptly handed it back. ‘No need for that. You’ve already paid for the job I was asked to do.’ Breaking into a grin, she added, ‘Don’t look so offended. If it really bothers you, you can buy me a drink.’
Jed was accustomed to solving all problems with cold, hard cash; he found it invariably did the trick. Taken aback, he said, ‘Anything you want.’
She turned and signalled to Marvyn, who nodded and brought over a half-pint glass rattling with ice cubes, and a bottle of apple juice.
Jed frowned.
‘Is that all?’
‘I’m looking after a few of my grandchildren for a couple of hours, so I’ll need to keep my wits about me.’
‘A few ?’
‘Four. I have seven altogether.’ Esme sat down at the table and took a thirsty gulp of the apple juice.
‘You can’t have seven grandchildren.’
‘You can if you start young enough, my darling. I’m forty-six. Had my twin girls when I was seventeen. Bit of an oops at the time, mind you, but we muddled through.’ She waggled her left hand and gazed fondly at the narrow gold band on her third finger.
‘And you’re still together after all this time. That’s quite an achievement.’
‘We would have been if he hadn’t gone and died on me.’
‘God, I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s fine, my darling. Happened a long time ago now. No one’s ever matched up since. But the family makes up for it. They keep me on my toes. By the way, you can tell your lady friend I used to work on a beauty concession in Debenhams, years ago. I’ve made up more faces than she’s had hot dinners. And I’ve been doing hair for the people around here for the last twenty years too. Not had any complaints so far.’ She surveyed Jed’s shoulder-length locks and added, ‘Yours could do with a bit of a trim.’
He nodded. ‘I know. And Karina’s no longer my lady friend. We’ve parted ways. She’s on her way home as we speak. Bad-mouthing me to her many thousands of fans on social media, I’m sure.’
‘I’m not much of a one for reality TV, but my girls watch it. They’ve seen her on that show and heard me say her name on the phone last night when Nella called and asked me to do the job. They gave me the heads-up on her, but she was actually fine with me this morning.’ Esme paused and gave him a sympathetic look. ‘Is it really all over between you two? You must be upset.’
‘It’s really all over, and I’m glad. She was the wrong person for me, and if I’m honest, I knew that from the start. She was only with me for my money.’ Jed grimaced, because when Karina had flung the accusation at him earlier, she’d been right. ‘And I was really only with her to show everyone I was over my last girlfriend. Basically, because I’m an idiot.’
‘My girls told me about that too. She left you for Tommy somebody, who was Nella’s old boss. And everyone thought you’d torched his house, but it turned out it wasn’t you.’
Jed nodded. Being left by Juliet had been unbearable at the time, not to mention hurtful and humiliating. But that had happened back in December. Five months on, it no longer kept him awake at night. ‘That’s the one. I’m over her now.’
‘And they’re still together. Which is a good thing,’ said Esme. ‘At least you know she didn’t do it for a meaningless fling.’
He hadn’t thought about it like that before. ‘I guess. I was pretty angry at first. But you’re right.’
‘Oh, I’m always right.’ She laughed comfortably. ‘Ask anyone around here. I’m like the local agony aunt. My girls have got up to all sorts over the years. If people have any kind of problem, they know they can always come to me for advice. Which reminds me, Nella also mentioned you had Alastair Blake booked to come over to the Cedars and cook for you tonight. You should let her know she needs to cancel him.’
‘Why? Is he no good?’
‘He’s extremely good. But the birthday girl’s on her way back to Manchester. If Alastair has enough notice, he might be able to find another taker for this evening.’
‘You know him?’
‘I do. He’s an excellent chef, does a king prawn and asparagus risotto to die for.’
‘That’s what I asked him to make for us tonight. No way am I cancelling him,’ said Jed.
‘Good for you.’ Esme checked the time and knocked back the rest of her apple juice. ‘The cappuccino mousse is out of this world too. Right, time I was off to collect my little angels. Thanks for the drink, and make sure you enjoy your dinner tonight.’
‘Don’t worry, I shall.’ He watched as she dug into her raffia shoulder bag for a lipstick and applied a speedy coat of pinky-beige to her mouth without a mirror. When she’d dropped the lipstick back into the bag and located her keys, he said, ‘How long are you looking after them for?’
‘Until six, for my sins.’ She beamed. ‘No, I love them to bits.’
‘And you’re free after that?’ She was moving towards the door now. Jed called after her, ‘Because if you are, you’d be welcome to join me.’
Esme stopped, then turned.
‘Really?’
‘Really. Why not?’
‘OK, great.’ She nodded brightly. ‘Seven o’clock OK? I’ll see you then. Cheerio!’
Cheerio . Who even said that these days? Jed watched her leave, saying friendly goodbyes to everyone and exchanging jokey comments along the way. They all loved her, that was for sure. She was a widowed grandmother-of-seven with a strong work ethic, a huge heart and a genuine appreciation of good food.
He was already looking forward to tonight.