Chapter Twenty-Six
It was a solid month before James rang her mobile again.
They’d seen each other, of course they had, chance meetings in the hospital corridors or the car park, when Diane’s heart would do a hop, skip and jump. Occasionally, Valerie rang and begged Diane to call in to prevent her going stir crazy and once James had been there, making the visit bitter-sweet. Tamzin came to the house for fittings of the dresses, tops, skirts and cropped trousers that Diane made for her. She was swimming to the surface of her depression and Diane had even got her helping with some of the cutting-out for the Unity’s order. And she could pump her gently for precious news of James.
James had played fair. There had been no more midnight phone calls and only one text: I miss you . And so it was a surprise to see, when the phone rang, James . Her breathing quickened.
‘It’s me,’ he said.
‘Yes.’
‘I need to see you.’
She hesitated. It would be so easy.
‘It’s not . . . it’s to do with you rather than us.’
Her eyebrows rose. ‘Me? What?’
He hesitated. ‘I really can’t do it over the phone because there’s something I have to show you. Come and have lunch with me at The Old Dog. I’ll behave. No unwelcome declarations, no heartfelt persuasions.’
The beginning of the school holidays had brought a cold spell. Diane let James install her in a cosy corner of the bar while he collected drinks and menus. She stared out of the window at clouds marching across the sky and the pub sign swinging in the wind.
James brought over lager for him, pink grapefruit juice for her and cappuccino for them both.
He didn’t try to touch her or kiss her cheek but his haunted eyes scrunched her heart.
‘How are things?’
He dropped onto the banquette beside her. ‘Tamzin’s transformed and spends one half of her life with George and the other half talking about him. Valerie is fruitlessly dreaming up ways to get the CAA to reinstate her licence. Neither of them seems to need me. Remind me exactly why we’re giving up what we’re giving up?’
She picked up her teaspoon and made a pattern in her cappuccino froth. This didn’t sound like no unwelcome declarations, no heartfelt persuasions . ‘Tamzin’s only going through a good patch. She’s in love and she’s ecstatic. But ecstasy is tenuous. And what if the relationship ends? I’ve already had her at my house in floods of tears because she’d had a silly spat with George — you must know that he isn’t a miracle cure. There’s a risk that her moods will confuse him, she’ll be too needy. He’s a nineteen-year-old boy, not a saviour and he won’t always want a girlfriend he has to wear around his neck like a baby chimp.’
She stirred the chocolate flakes and cream into the coffee with angry little chops. ‘She’ll need you more than ever when it ends.’
James blinked. ‘Don’t sugar the pill, will you?’
Without missing a beat, she continued, ‘And in a few weeks Valerie will be home from hospital and need care. I know—’ She put up her hand. ‘You’ll hire a nurse. So she’ll want company. She’s bored out of her skull in hospital and the boredom won’t lift until she gets her mobility back. It’ll be a while before she can drive her sports car and what’s she going to do to replace flying? And you’ll find yourself watching her booze intake because she’ll soon be on crutches and able to get about the house and find it, if not at home then in this pub which is, conveniently, just across the green. You’ll rage at her about it and you’ll fight her every inch of the way but you won’t leave her to drink herself into a hole in the ground because that’s not how you’re made.
‘And I’ve made an undertaking to Bryony that I’ll stay with her father, at least for now. She’s going to be a single parent. A grandchild will be living with us, a grandchild who deserves the nearest to a happy home that we can give it. And, anyway — I thought the thing you had to talk about wasn’t us?’
James picked up his cappuccino and drank, sipping slowly, flinty gaze fixed on something outside.
She’d infuriated him. She knew that she’d been blunt, but he’d promised . And then made her go over all the hellish reasons that they couldn’t be together. Again. He shouldn’t be saying things to make her eyes smart and her heart stretch out to him in longing. His eyes shouldn’t be spreading heat through her. He shouldn’t be tying her in knots.
When his cup was empty he replaced it carefully on the table. ‘Natalia spent the weekend in London.’
‘Lovely,’ she said, automatically.
‘She visited Covent Garden Market, she always does. She loves the street performers and the quirky shops. She’s a mug for even the most expensive. She brought home a dress she fell in love with.’ He dragged out a carrier bag from under the table and turned it upside down, letting fabric slither out.
After a pause, Diane picked it up.
It was bronze grosgrain with fat, chocolaty lacings up the front and the back. The label sewn into the neck said, DRJ , embroidered in turquoise on a bright yellow ground. Bewildered, she stared at him. ‘Was it a shop that sold second-hand clothes?’
‘No. I checked.’
‘But this is something I made for Rowan.’
‘Thought so.’
She was aware of a slight nausea, disorientation, like the onset of travel sickness. ‘So it couldn’t be for sale in Covent Garden.’
James reached into his pocket again and came out with a receipt. For ￡209.
She gasped. ‘Oh . . .’
‘I’d say he’s ripping you off. He’s buying stuff off you for a song, then selling it on to this shop for a significant mark up.’
Anger made the backs of Diane’s eyes burn and her vision of the dress wavered. She clenched her fists. ‘ Bastard .’
James smiled the first real smile of the evening. ‘If you want to leave him to me I’ll be happy to put the fear of God into him—’
Diane almost knocked the table over as she leapt to her feet. Her breath came choppily, making her feel dizzy. ‘When did I ask you to take it over?’
He gazed up, looking injured. ‘I’m trying to help.’
‘Well, forget it. It’s my business and I’ll sort it.’ She saw that she’d caught the attention of quite a few of the other customers and sank back onto her seat, fighting to regain her composure. It took several deep breaths. ‘I’m very grateful both to you and Natalia for bringing it to my attention, but I’ll take it from here. OK?’