Chapter Sixty #2
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door of the gallery open and in came Cassie and Ben with Venetia and Ronnie following behind. Weaving her way through the guests, Nina went to greet them.
‘Thank you for coming,’ she said, ‘especially on such a chilly night.’ She could feel and smell the sharp icy cold of the evening which they’d brought in with them on their coats.
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Cassie, ‘we wouldn’t have missed this for anything. How’s it going? You look like you have quite a mob here.’
‘I had them at free wine and nibbles,’ Nina said with a laugh.
‘That’ll do it every time,’ said Ben. ‘Never fails.’
‘But are they buying any pictures?’ asked Venetia, glancing around the gallery.
‘Yes,’ said Nina, lowering her voice. ‘Jakob’s been busy with the red stickers. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. Anyway, let’s find you something to drink and then you can have a browse, see if there’s anything that takes your fancy.’
‘Oh, here we go, here’s the hard sell,’ said Ronnie with a chuckle, ‘time now to empty our wallets!’
‘Behave yourself,’ Venetia warned him, ‘you’re mixing with the great and the good of Cambridge now, not the hoi polloi of Majorca!’
Nina smiled, genuinely happy that her friends had come, and while trying to catch the attention of a waitress, she said, ‘No Emily, then?’
‘No, she had a better offer,’ said Cassie. ‘Remember that hot barista in the coffee shop I told you about, the one who put a cute heart in her latte?’
‘Yes, I remember you mentioning him. Didn’t you also say that she applied for a job at that place?’
‘She did. She started work there a few days ago and was asked out today by Franco-the-Hot-Barista-from-Vicenza.’
‘Who’s from Vicenza?’
The question came from Jakob who, and with perfect timing had materialised with a tray of drinks which he immediately began handing out.
‘The guy with whom Emily is on a date tonight,’ said Cassie. ‘But never mind all that, let me at this wine and then I’m going to look at the paintings.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Venetia.
‘That leaves you and me to do a reconnoitre, Ronnie,’ said Ben. ‘Shall we?’
‘Lead on, lead on!’
Nina watched them go and was about to ask Jakob if he knew how Saul was coping, and if there was any chance that he might actually be pleased with the reaction to his pictures, when once more the door opened.
This time it was Keith and Hilary who came in.
Nina had invited them ages ago, as she always had when she held an exhibition, but she hadn’t expected either of them to come. And certainly not together.
Aware that Jakob had discreetly melted away, she welcomed her in-laws.
‘This is a lovely surprise,’ she said, noting that Hilary was looking infinitely better than a few weeks ago.
She was smartly dressed in a camel-coloured full-length coat, make-up applied, and her hair washed and nicely styled.
The transformation was extraordinary. As was the change in Keith.
But not in a good way. He seemed drawn and haggard, his shoulders hunched, perhaps from the cold, but nonetheless she thought she perceived a trace of the familiar old twinkling light in his eyes.
A twinkle that had not been there the last time they’d met, when she’d harangued him about stepping up and helping Hilary.
‘We’ve never missed one of your exhibitions,’ Hilary said, ‘so of course we thought we’d come along and support you, as we’ve always done.’
‘But weren’t you collecting your puppy this week?’ Nina said.
‘We’re doing that tomorrow,’ Hilary replied, her face brightening with a smile. ‘I have everything ready,’ she went on. ‘I’m so looking forward to bringing him home. You’ll have to come and see him. He’s so sweet, a gorgeous little bundle of fluffy joy.’
‘I’ve seen plenty of photos, and I can vouch for the high cute factor,’ Keith joined in.
There was a lot to unpack in what Nina was hearing and quite apart from Hilary sounding girlishly excited, there was Keith’s apparent inclusion in what was going on.
Were they reconciled? And what of Keith’s relationship with Diane?
But now wasn’t the time to delve into all that.
So instead, she said, ‘Do you have a name for the puppy?’
‘I’m calling him Teddy,’ Hilary said, ‘because that’s exactly what he looks like.’
‘It sounds perfect,’ said Nina. ‘Now then, what can I offer you to drink?’
‘I hate to be a party pooper, but would it be possible for me to sit down, please?’ asked Keith.
Nina looked at him concerned. ‘Are you feeling unwell?’
‘Can you believe it,’ Hilary said, ‘he hurt his back earlier in the week playing the hero when he came to stack a delivery of logs for me.’
It was such a typically Hilary thing to say, and it made Nina smile.
‘Oh, so you think me being in agony is funny, do you?’ remarked Keith in his old good-humoured way.
‘Not at all,’ Nina said, pleased that he had tried to help, even if it had gone painfully wrong for him. It explained why he looked so drawn. ‘I’m just picturing you in your Superman cape.’
‘Now you’re making fun of me.’
‘Maybe just a tiny bit. Come with me and I’ll find you a nice comfortable chair, and a drink.’
She had rounded up some glasses of wine and had Keith seated when she heard a sudden noise that cut through the buzzing hubbub of people enjoying themselves.
She scanned the gallery, seeking out the source of what had sounded like somebody in distress.
Her gaze eventually settled on the farthest corner from her.
She wasn’t the only one whose attention had been attracted by the noise.
Amongst others, Jakob was also staring in the same direction as Nina and in unison, they both began moving towards the focus of the commotion.
Once there, they found Venetia on the floor with Cassie kneeling on one side of her and on the other side, of all people, was Saul.
Instructing everyone to stand back and make room, and sending Jakob off to fetch a chair while wondering if she should call for an ambulance, Nina was relieved to see Venetia open her eyes.
Clearly dazed, and the colour drained from her face, Venetia looked up at Nina, then Cassie, and then, turning her head to look into Saul’s face, she gave a small gasp.
‘It is you, isn’t it?’ she murmured.
‘I’m afraid it is,’ he said, his voice low and shaky.
‘In that case,’ Venetia said, easing herself into a sitting position, ‘you have some explaining to do.’
As well as finding a chair, Jakob returned with a glass of water and at her own insistence, Venetia was soon declaring herself perfectly fit and well and telling everyone to stop fussing.
‘I fainted, that was all. And don’t you dare think of calling an ambulance!’ This was aimed at Ronnie, who had now joined them with Ben and had his mobile in his hand and an agitated expression on his face.
‘But what made you faint?’ he wanted to know. ‘Nobody faints without there being a reason. And usually it’s a bad reason.’
When Venetia didn’t answer, it was Cassie who spoke. She pointed an accusing finger at Saul, and said, ‘Ask him. He knows why Venetia fainted; it was because she was so shocked at seeing him.’
With all eyes now on Saul, he said, ‘I’m an old friend from way back.’
‘You were a bit more than that,’ Cassie said sharply. ‘I heard what she called you when she recognised you, and it wasn’t Saul!’
‘Cassie, darling,’ said Venetia, ‘I expect he’s as shocked to see me as I am at seeing him after all this time. After all, it is more than sixty years since we last saw each other. I’m just sorry I overreacted by fainting. It was most undignified of me.’
‘Is Saul your childhood friend, Lucien?’ asked Nina in astonished disbelief.
Venetia looked up at the grizzled man standing next to her and when he gave a small nod as though giving her permission to go ahead, she nodded in turn. ‘Yes, Nina,’ she said, ‘he’s the very dear friend I told you about.’
‘The one who ran off and never had the decency to let you know where he was or that he was okay?’ said Cassie.
‘Cassie, my dear, you sound so cross, please don’t be. Not when there’s so much to be happy about.’
‘But I am cross,’ Cassie said, heatedly, ‘because when you fainted, I thought you’d died! And I think you’ll agree, that was pretty upsetting!’
‘But it wasn’t his fault.’
‘It was his fault for running out on you all those years ago.’
Nina realised that the anger Cassie was displaying echoed the way she had reacted when Nina had told her all that Venetia had shared with her about Lucien, how he’d disappeared and left Venetia broken-hearted as a sixteen-year-old girl.
Understandably, abandonment to Cassie was practically the worst thing that anyone could do to another person.
Stepping forward, Ben put a solicitous arm around Cassie. ‘I think maybe we should let Venetia and Saul, or whatever his name is, have a few minutes alone together, don’t you?’
Reluctantly, they did just that, but not without casting curious backward glances. Nina and Jakob were immediately approached by several guests keen to make a purchase and it was when the necessary paperwork had been completed that Nina felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Cassie.
‘Come quick,’ she whispered, ‘they’re leaving!’
‘Who’s leaving?’
‘Venetia and Lucien!’
They hurriedly made their way over to the gallery door, just in time to see snow softly falling in the darkness and Venetia and her childhood friend, Lucien, walking away down the cobbled street of St Anne’s Court.
‘Look!’ hissed Cassie. ‘She’s resting her arm on his! Oh, it’s just so romantic!’
‘That wasn’t what you thought a few minutes ago,’ said Nina.
‘Well no, then I was still recovering from the shock of thinking Venetia had died. But,’ she went on, craning her neck yet further to get a better view, ‘this could be the start of their happy ever after.’