Chapter 42
Teddy and Boo, now best friends who delighted in each other’s company, were darting around the gravestones, tails wagging, chasing each other and having the best time. Hazy early-morning sunshine filtered down through the branches of the chestnut trees overhead, warming Lizzie’s bare shoulders as she and Matthew followed the winding path and she told him about the discovery she’d made last night.
‘The thing is, I was so excited when I was reading the book, because I knew what I wanted to do with it.’ Did this sound ridiculous? Worse, did Matthew think she was being ridiculous, either majorly showing off or having raging delusions of grandeur? She took a step sideways to avoid a tree root and her bare arm accidentally brushed against his.
God, it felt like heaven.
‘Go on,’ Matthew prompted. ‘What did you want to do?’
Hmm, maybe not-so-accidentally bump my arm against yours again?
OK, stop it. Concentrate .
‘Well, there’s someone over in LA. His name’s Niall and he’s a movie producer. We’ve been friends for years, and the whole time I was racing through the book I just knew he’d love it. Project-wise, it’s so up his street. And I know I wasn’t the one who discovered the book, but I thought maybe I could be the one to help make something amazing happen by getting it into the right hands. I wanted to make a real difference to that author’s life, give him the break he’s dreamed of, so that when he’s interviewed on chat shows for years to come, he can say none of it would ever have happened if it wasn’t for me.’ Lizzie flushed, instantly regretting her own honesty. ‘Don’t laugh. I know how selfish that sounds. But I also wanted to do something nice to help someone in need.’
Matthew stopped walking and turned to look at her, his grey eyes silver in the sunlight and bright with amusement. ‘And does any of that sound at all familiar to you?’
She blinked. Then, belatedly, the penny dropped. ‘Maybe I discovered I like feeling like a fairy godmother.’
‘What’s stopping you?’
‘That’s the thing! I found out last night who wrote the book. And we’ve met before. Let’s just say we didn’t hit it off. At all.’
Matthew grinned. ‘Still sounding a bit déjà vu.’
‘Trust me, you’re nothing like him. He’s not a nice person.’
‘Does that mean you think I’m nice?’ He gave her a teasing look.
‘I’m just trying to explain the situation. I wanted to help someone who deserved it. But this guy doesn’t. So now I feel like not doing anything after all, because why should I?’
‘Right.’ Matthew nodded.
‘So, what do you think?’
He raised an eyebrow. ‘I think it’s up to you to make up your own mind.’
‘Yes, but what do you think?’
A glimmer of a smile. ‘I still think it’s up to you.’
‘Now you’re just being annoying.’
‘Basically, you want to punish this guy by not helping him.’
‘I suppose.’
‘And will you tell him that?’
‘God, no! I’m not a complete sadist.’
‘OK.’
‘O-kaaay.’ Lizzie mimicked his voice and offhand shrug.
‘Are you getting annoyed with me?’
‘A little bit, yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I don’t know why you won’t tell me what you think.’
‘And I’ve already told you why,’ said Matthew.
‘Now you’re being really annoying.’ A sensation of heat was rising inside her. She’d never wanted to kiss him more. But here they were in the churchyard, and just up there where the path curved to the left was his late wife’s grave, so that would be completely out of order, even if it was something she could ever pluck up the courage to attempt. If she tried it, she could just picture him backing away in horror and shouting, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you crazy ?’
She said hastily, ‘I’d better get back. Cami’s going to be waiting for me. Loads of work to get through today.’
Matthew nodded. ‘Good luck with it.’
‘What are you up to?’
‘Taking Maeve into Cheltenham this afternoon. She wants to start buying some of the things she’ll need for university.’
‘Already?’
His smile was brief. ‘You know how organised she is. One of her favourite shops has a sale on and she’s made a list of kitchen items she can’t live without.’
‘Maeve’s going to be cooking for everyone in her halls of residence.’
‘She will.’ He called for the dogs.
Lizzie’s heart went out to him. ‘You’re going to miss her when she’s gone.’
Matthew nodded and fastened Teddy’s lead to his collar. ‘I will. OK, let’s go.’
Back at Pine Lodge, Lizzie and Cami sat outside and worked for the next three hours, after which Cami left to keep her antenatal appointment with the visiting midwife at the doctor’s surgery on Tin Lane.
Lizzie then did something she hadn’t done before and googled Piers Sanders.
He didn’t give much away about his private life. His home was close to the Jurassic coast in Dorset, writing was his passion and there was no mention anywhere of a wife or son. Hmm . Over the years he’d been interviewed online on several occasions about the literary fiction he’d written, which she knew hadn’t sold well. From a couple of Q she could just hear him uttering those words in that clipped, dry voice of his. Ugh, what must it be like to be him, living with that stick up his ass?
Then she found a recent video interview recorded during a small literary festival in Oxfordshire.
She pressed play and there he was, in the same grey suit he’d been wearing when they’d had their bruising encounter in London. Same inability to smile, too. Honestly, would it kill him to look as if he was happy to be there? He was answering questions about his move into ghostwriting. Having listened for a few minutes, Lizzie’s attention began to wander . . . She was picturing Matthew living alone in his cottage with just Teddy for company once Maeve was installed in her halls of residence at Birmingham University. Apart from running his IT business from home, how would he fill his days? Would the single women in the area throw themselves at him in an attempt to cheer him up?
More to the point, would he let them cheer him up? A wave of something that felt a lot like jealousy rose in her chest; this wasn’t something she wanted to imagine.
‘No, of course it isn’t always a match made in heaven,’ Piers was now drawling on the video. ‘Some celebrities have an inflated opinion of themselves and you know you wouldn’t choose to spend time in their company. If you meet one of those high-maintenance Hollywood types, for example, and just know from the outset that it’s not going to be a successful working relationship, you need to turn down the offer and walk away. Life’s too short to have to deal with that kind of person, trust me.’
With a jolt, Lizzie realised he was talking about her . She let out a shriek of outrage and shouted, ‘You skunk !’ at the screen.
‘Ooh,’ the interviewer exclaimed with glee. ‘I’m sure we’d all love to know who you’re talking about!’
Don’t you dare, don’t you dare . . .
But Piers was already shaking his head. ‘I wouldn’t dream of naming names. That would be hideously unprofessional. But I can tell you that last year when I had the pleasure of working with the charming TV historian Eustace Merryweather, every day was a joy. And if anyone is interested in reading his book, I, Eustace , it will be published and available in many good bookshops on the first of July.’
It was only a short interview. Lizzie watched to the end, just in case he said anything else awful about her, but it didn’t happen.
Lucky for him.
There was a dartboard on the wall alongside the snooker and table tennis tables at the far end of the vast living room. She went and hurled darts at it until some of the anger had been offloaded.
She imagined relaying to Matthew what Piers had said in the interview, and pictured his sympathetic expression, then Piers’s supercilious one. She then threw a few more darts at the board and accidentally managed to hit the bullseye with one of them, which was even more frustrating because it was the first time she’d ever hit a bullseye in her life and there was no one here to witness it.
The next moment, she heard the French doors open and close, signalling Cami’s return from the medical centre.
‘How’d it go?’ She turned as Cami appeared in the living room.
‘All good. No problems.’ Cami gave her bump a happy pat.
‘That’s great. Look, I got a bullseye!’
‘Well done. Unless you just put it there to impress me.’
‘For heaven’s sake, I knew you’d think that. Hey, wait till you see this video, you won’t believe what—’
‘No, stop it, no more distraction techniques. We don’t have time to look at funny videos.’ Sternly Cami shook her head. ‘Put those darts down. We still have a ton of work to do. And we need to be getting on with it.’