75

Leah watched Toby materialize, foot by foot, first his big feet in thick socks, then his calves, his knees, his hips, his stomach, his shoulders, his head, as he descended the stairs. She felt a surge of pleasure and smiled.

He led her into the kitchen and she gasped. ‘Oh, my God. What an absolutely amazing kitchen.’

‘Thank you,’ he said, caressing the granite work surface. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’

‘Stunning,’ she agreed. ‘Must have cost a fortune.’

‘Not as much as you might think. Damian got it for me at trade.’

‘Ah,’ she smiled, ‘good old Damian.’

‘Yes,’ said Toby, ‘indeed. And luckily for me he is good old Damian. Otherwise I’d be on my way to court by now.’

Leah threw him a questioning look.

‘Someone’s stolen Gus’s money. My money. All of it. Every last penny.’

‘No!’ Leah slapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Who?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I thought it might be Joanne, but I confronted her about it just now, when she got back from work, and she would have to be an extraordinarily good liar to have pulled off such a convincing denial. And then I thought maybe it was Ruby, that she’d taken it before she left. But then I remembered that I’d seen the money on Saturday, that it was still there after she moved out. And besides, why would she need to steal my money when she’s got Tim to pay for everything? So now I’ve got no idea. There was no sign of forced entry and nothing else has gone missing.’

‘Could it have been one of the builders, perhaps?’

‘No,’ he shook his head. ‘No. The money was still there on Saturday and I realized it had gone on Monday morning before I’d been out of my room. No – whoever it was took it sometime between Saturday afternoon and Sunday night. It has to have been someone in the house. But I can’t think who.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I can do. Damian’s taking my furniture in lieu of a third of what I owe him and he’s taking the rest when I’ve sold the house. And in the meantime I’m left, stranded, in this bare shell of a house, without a penny to my name.’

‘Aren’t you going to finish it?’

‘No,’ he said, ‘I’ll have to put it on the market as it is, half-finished. I shouldn’t imagine it will affect the value …’

‘No, but that’s not the point, is it? It’s about the house. About knowing that you did it justice. You can’t just leave it like this. Where’s your closure?’

‘My closure?’

‘Yes. This house has been your best friend for the past fifteen years. You can’t just abandon it, half done. You need a proper ending.’

‘Well, yes. I agree. I do. But how? I can’t afford to pay anyone and it’s too big a job to take on by myself.’

‘Well, then, ask the others.’

‘No. They’ve all got full-time jobs. I can’t expect them to take time off work.’

‘Well, then, do it over the weekend. You could have a painting party.’

‘A what?’

‘A painting party. Invite everyone you know, give them a paintbrush, a beer and some pizza. The place’ll be done by Monday morning.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know quite enough people to pull that one off.’

‘Oh, surely you must. What about all the people who’ve lived here over the years. You must have stayed in touch with some of them?’

‘No,’ said Toby, ‘not really. I’m not really a staying-in-touch kind of person.’

‘But you must know where they are?’

‘Well, most people left forwarding addresses, yes.’

‘And phone numbers?’

‘In some cases.’

‘Well, then phone them up!’

‘And say what? Say, hello, remember me, well, I’d like you to come to paint my house?’

‘Yes! Tell them you’re in trouble. Remind them how you helped them out when they were in trouble. Tell them that they owe you.’

Toby shook his head. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I can’t. Absolutely not. I would rather die. I mean, I hate the phone as it is. The thought of phoning all those people, all the questions, the how are yous and the what are you doings and the catching up and the … the … chatting. It just … urgh, no, I cannot do it. I’m sorry.’

‘Well, then, I’ll do it. Give me your address book and I’ll do it.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. Really. I want to see this house finished every bit as much as you do. Tell me who to call, and I’ll call them.’

‘Half of them probably don’t have the same number any more, you realize. I mean, I don’t suppose you’ll really be able to track any of them down.’

‘Stop being so negative.’

‘Well, really, I just don’t want you to waste your time. It’s so nice of you to offer and I’d hate you to go to so much trouble for nothing.’

‘It’s not trouble. It really isn’t. I’ll enjoy it. It’ll take my mind off … things.’

‘Things? What sort of things?’

Leah paused, wondering whether or not to tell Toby about Amitabh’s proposal. She shook her head and smiled. ‘Nothing,’ she said, ‘nothing. Just, you know, work and stuff. Here,’ she said, reaching into her handbag for the cottage details, ‘I brought this back. You left it at the pub, the other day when you, er …’

‘Stormed out inexplicably?’

‘Yes,’ she smiled, ‘when you stormed out inexplicably.’

‘Hmmm.’ He rubbed his chin and smiled. ‘Yes. I’m very sorry about that. And I’m afraid I can’t really offer you a particularly satisfying explanation for it. I was just, er, feeling a bit overwhelmed.’

‘Overwhelmed?’

‘Yes. It’s been a strange year so far. So much has happened, so much has changed. I think something just sort of combusted in my head.’ He took the paper from her hand and gazed at it for a while. ‘This is the one that you liked, isn’t it?’

‘Mm-hmm,’ she nodded. ‘I’ve become a bit obsessed by it, actually. Thought I’d better give it back to you before I did something stupid like buy it.’ She flashed her eyes at him and laughed.

‘That wouldn’t be stupid,’ said Toby.

‘Well, yes,’ she said, ‘it would, actually. I haven’t got any money, for a start. Let alone the two hundred and twenty-five other reasons I could give you for not moving to the country.’

‘Like what?’

‘Oh,’ she said, ‘like not having a job and not being able to get a decent curry and not being near my parents and Amitabh …’ She paused. ‘Well, he would rather gouge out his own eyeballs than live in the country. So …’

Toby nodded. ‘Yes. I see.’

It fell silent for a moment. Then Toby sighed. ‘Ah, well’ – he folded the paper back into four – ‘maybe I’ll buy it and then you can come and visit.’

She smiled. ‘Good plan,’ she said. ‘And I would like to stay in touch, you know. Once you’ve gone. It would be a shame not to.’

‘I agree,’ he nodded, ‘whole-heartedly. Utterly. Whatever happens. Let’s stay in touch.’

‘Yes,’ said Leah. ‘Let’s.’