Eleven
Since the appointment at the medical centre, thoughts had been swirling around in Gill’s head. She had found it difficult to sleep, visions of what might happen if the bump was cancerous preying on her. Eventually she had found the light sedative she’d been prescribed when Max left – and which she’d refused to take. It helped. She slept. But the nightmares were even more horrific than her waking fears.
She was glad the appointment with the oral pathologist was only a week away. Then she would know the worst. Meantime life went on, and Gill forced herself to carry on as usual, swimming in the early morning, dealing with clients and spending her evenings on paperwork. It didn’t help matters when she received notification Max’s solicitor had requested a new valuation on the apartment, citing the increase in values since the last one. She sent back a terse reply via her solicitor but knew she couldn’t prevent it happening. He seemed determined to bleed her dry.
But this morning as she ploughed through the ocean, she had other things on her mind. Today it was her turn to host the monthly lunch with her three friends, and she was looking forward to it. She planned to cook a favourite Nigella Lawson recipe. Italian chicken with peppers and olives was one she used to cook as a special birthday treat for Max and Freya, and she hoped that concentrating on cooking would help her forget about her worries for a time, at least.
Gill felt invigorated as she towelled herself dry, listening to the other women discuss a television programme most of them seemed to have watched the previous evening when she’d been poring over her client files and silently raging about Max’s latest demand.
‘Heading to another day at the office?’ Olivia asked, as they walked up to the car park together.
‘Not today. Lunch with friends,’ Gill said.
‘Half your luck. Well, see you tomorrow.’
‘Yes.’ Lucky… was that how others viewed her, Gill wondered as she started up the engine of her Prius. It was the car she’d treated herself to after Max left and took the Subaru Outback with him, telling her she’d be able to replace it. He probably wanted to count it among her assets too, she sighed.
She supposed, to many, she would appear lucky. She was a successful lawyer, lived in an expensive apartment, dressed smartly. They had no idea of what went on behind the elegant image she presented in public, the sleepless nights, the loneliness…
As she left the car park, she almost collided with another car, a white Jeep. There was a dog leaning out the passenger window, a vaguely familiar chocolate labrador who looked happy, its tongue hanging out as if it was grinning at her. She found herself smiling automatically and wishing her life was as simple as the dog’s clearly was.
Back home, Gill showered and changed into a pair of black pants with a grey and white patterned top. She headed to the kitchen where she donned an apron, turned on the oven, then took the chicken out of the fridge, pausing only to set up her iPad and turn on the audiobook she’d started listening to in the small hours when she couldn’t sleep. It was the one chosen for next month’s book club, The Dry by Jane Harper – a very different choice from hers the previous month – and she’d managed to lose herself in the tale of the murder/suicide in a small country town until the sound of the narrator’s voice had finally put her to sleep.
Now, she picked up where she left off, following Aaron Falk’s adventures as she placed the lemon halves and sprigs of rosemary into the cavity of the chicken which was sitting in the roasting pan, and added the sliced leek and peppers. Once she’d added the olives and oil, she slid the pan into the oven and set the timer for the required one and a quarter hours.
Gill had set the table the night before, and dessert was a pear frangipani tart from the local patisserie, so there was nothing left to do. She poured herself a glass of wine and went out to sit on the balcony to continue to listen to the audiobook.
*
Exactly one and a quarter hours later, Gill reluctantly turned off her iPad. She took the chicken out of the oven, leaving it to rest, and was in the process of sliding the tray of vegetables back into the oven when she heard the door. Rachel and Poppy arrived together. They hugged Gill, told her she was looking well and sniffed appreciatively.
‘Mmm, roast chicken,’ Poppy said.
Gill smiled. It was good to have people to cook for again. Perhaps she should make time to cook properly for herself, but despite her resolve it didn’t seem worth the effort. ‘Wine?’ she asked.
She had just poured three glasses of wine and cut the chicken into chunks for serving, when Liz arrived. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said. ‘I got caught up.’ She blushed. ‘Finn’s moving in, and I was tidying up. I know it’s very sudden, but… when you know, you know.’ She looked around the group as if seeking their approval.
‘We’re happy for you,’ Poppy said, ‘aren’t we?’ She glanced at the others.
‘Of course,’ Rachel said warmly.
Gill didn’t speak. She was at a loss to understand how Liz could fall in love again so quickly. It was true Finn Hunter was a good man. Look at how he had managed to get the entire community around him, how he’d revived the local paper, how he’d provided support to his daughter and grandson when his son-in-law died. He’d become a legend in their small community. But for Liz who, like Gill, had experienced how duplicitous men could be, to get involved in a new relationship so quickly, to give up her independence… Gill mentally shook her head.
‘Gill?’ Poppy said.
‘Of course,’ Gill said. ‘But it is rather sudden. Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’ Liz beamed. There was no other word to describe the glow on her face. ‘The girls are all happy about it too,’ she said, referring to her three daughters, ‘and Finn’s family. I can understand your reluctance, Gill. I was like you for ages after Tommy. I never expected to find someone like Finn. There may be someone out there for you too. You never know what the future has in store.’
‘The future!’ Gill scoffed. ‘My future seems to be entangled with Max and his never-ending demands.’ And do I even have a future ? ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to put a downer on the conversation. Lunch is ready. Why don’t you all go through to the table, and I’ll bring in the food?’
The three women trooped through to the other room and, by the time Gill carried in a tray containing the chicken and vegetables, she had calmed down and the others were chatting about a photo shoot which had taken place on the beach the day before.
‘You should have seen it, Gill,’ Poppy said laughing. ‘Rachel and I were there with our dogs, Finn was there with his grandson and his dog, Rhana Black brought along a pair of her spaniels, and the mayor had his labrador. There were several others too, and it took ages for the photographer to get all the animals to sit nicely.’
‘What was it about?’ Gill asked.
‘Oh, of course, you wouldn’t know,’ Liz said. ‘It seems a couple of the councillors have been speaking out against allowing dogs to access the beach off leash, so our mayor and Finn got their heads together and The Echo is going to feature a group of some of the dog owners who use the beach.’
‘Oh!’ It seemed a lot of fuss about nothing to Gill, but she supposed it was an important issue for dog owners. Dogs had been free to run on the beach for as long as she could remember, and they didn’t do any harm.
Then something Liz had said, caught her attention, something about the mayor and his labrador. It had been a labrador in the car which she had almost run into on her way home from her morning swim, a chocolate labrador, and a chocolate labrador which had comforted her when the mayor had found her in tears outside the medical centre. She hadn’t paid any attention to the driver of the car. Could it have been him? Had she made a fool of herself in front of him again?