Chapter 49

Lara had already opened up the shop on Tuesday morning when Don appeared, as smartly dressed and with his hair as carefully gelled as ever, but with a surprising lack of suntan to show for his vacation in the Algarve.

Alleged vacation.

“Hi,” she greeted him. “Fab time?”

“Wonderful.” Don beamed.

“You should have called me last night. I could have come and picked you and Wilhelmina up from the airport.”

He shook his head. “It was fine, we got a cab.”

“What was the weather like?”

He glanced self-consciously at his pale hands. “Not brilliant, to be honest. Quite cloudy.”

“That’s so weird.” Lara looked puzzled. “Because every time I looked on the Internet, it said hot and sunny.”

Don flushed and adjusted his tie, playing for time. She allowed the awkward silence to lengthen.

Finally he said, “Oh God. You know, don’t you?”

Slowly, Marple-ishly, Lara nodded. “Yes, Don. I do.”

“I can’t believe it. She said you would.”

“She was right.”

He half smiled. “Actually, she called you a witch.”

“Charming. I wasn’t stalking her, you know. All I did was bump into her at the stadium.”

Don was visibly taken aback. “Hang on, what? Who are you talking about?”

Lara blinked. “Why? Who are you talking about?”

His eyebrows were up. “You bumped into Wilhelmina?”

“Yes! At the firework display! That’s how I knew you weren’t staying with her in Portugal. But I still thought that’s where you’d gone… until now.” Lara looked pointedly at his untanned face and hands. “Except I still don’t understand why you’d need to lie about it. I mean, I was chatting to Nettie on the phone last night and she said you’d told her how much you were looking forward to… to… going on vacation…” her voice faltered and trailed off as she saw Don’s expression change, “to… the Algarve. Oh God, I get it now! This is like one of those dreams where nothing makes sense and everything gets weirder and weirder! You weren’t abroad, were you? You’ve actually been staying in Keswick with Nettie! But why would you keep it a secret?” She clapped her hands to her face like Kevin in Home Alone and let out a shriek of realization. “Oh my GIDDY AUNT, I don’t believe it!”

Because Don might as well be holding up a banner, his face was such a complete giveaway.

Although as a rule, her aunt was the least giddy person on the planet.

“I love Nettie,” he said simply. “And she loves me.”

“Am I dreaming?”

“Wait.” Crossing the shop, Don locked the door and put up the CLOSED sign. He twisted his manicured hands together and took a deep breath. “I fell in love with her at first sight. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I’m so happy I could burst. Every time I think of her it just feels like Christmas Day!”

Could she say it? “OK… I mean, no offense,” Lara stammered, “but the two of you are so… different.”

“I know! Isn’t it crazy? But it feels so right. She’s just the most amazing woman. She’s everything I’ve ever wanted.” He shook his head in wonderment. “And all this time I never knew. All these years I thought I should be going for a woman who was just like me… fussy, takes care of herself, elegant, and well-groomed.”

“Like Wilhelmina,” said Lara.

“Exactly. When all along I needed the exact opposite. No wonder it never felt right before.”

Now that he was explaining it to her, everything was beginning to fall into place. With her complete lack of vanity, her can-do attitude, and blunt no-nonsense manner, Nettie was the absolute antithesis of all the Wilhelminas Don had ever known. As a slightly effeminate but heterosexual man, it made a bizarre kind of sense that he should be drawn to a heterosexual but somewhat masculine female.

And, of course, vice versa.

“We always thought there might be something going on between her and Fred Milton.”

“I know, she told me you did. She thought that was hilarious.” Don smiled fondly at the memory. “But no, he’s not her type at all.” Glowing with pride, as if he could still hardly believe it himself, he added, “Because guess what? Her type is me!”

Lara made them both a cup of tea. At this time on a Tuesday morning, no customers were hammering on the locked door demanding to be let in.

“Did you like Keswick then?”

“Loved it. Stunning place.” Don blew on his tea, took a sip, then said bashfully, “Mind you, anywhere would be good that had Nettie in it.”

He was like a teenager in the grip of a thrilling new crush. It was so sweet. Apart from one major drawback…

“So you’ll take turns visiting each other, will you?” Lara secretly wondered how that would work out; having found driving too stressful to handle, Don had sold his car months ago. And if pootling around Bath reduced him to jelly, heaven knows how he’d cope with five hours on the M5.

“OK, sit down and listen. I wasn’t planning on telling you this just yet, but I didn’t know it was all going to come out so soon. And no giving me a lecture either.” His spiky hair quivered like a hedgehog’s as he shook his head. “I know what it sounds like, but it’s what we both want.”

“Go on.”

“This last week has been the best of my entire life. And it’s been stress-free. I feel twenty years younger,” said Don, “and twenty times happier.” He exhaled heavily. “I don’t know how you’re going to feel about this, but Nettie’s asked me and I’ve said yes. I’m moving up there and we’re going to live together. For the good of my health. And my heart. Because we’ve found each other, me and Nettie, and we can’t bear not to be together, and who knows how long we’ve got left?”

Lara’s mouth was dry. How could she argue with that? On the one hand, it was all wonderfully romantic.

On the other hand, it rather sounded as if she was about to be out of a job.

She hugged Don. “It’s fantastic news. I’m so happy for you. And you’re three years younger than Nettie, so that makes you her boy toy, which is extra cool!”

“I know.” He beamed.

“So it all started on that Sunday when you came over to lunch. If I hadn’t invited you, the two of you would never have met.” Yay, that gave her such a feeling of power. Realizing something else, Lara exclaimed, “And then you bonded at your neighbors’ party when you got up and sang all the karaoke together!”

Don hesitated, drank some more tea, then carefully put down his cup. “Are you going to be shocked if I tell you we didn’t go to the party?”

“But you said… oh.” Lara closed her mouth. Wow, they really hadn’t hung about. Hastily changing the subject, she gestured around the shop. “So you’ll be putting your house on the market, selling this place…”

“Actually, I’m going to rent out the house for now. We thought students wouldn’t mind the noise from next door. And I’m not selling the shop,” he went on, causing her heart to leap into her throat. “I was hoping you’d run it and we’d take on someone to help you… arggh! Get off me, woman, it’s like being smothered by a Labrador…”

“Sorry!” Grinning, Lara let him go. “Got a bit overexcited there. And relieved. I thought you were going to tell me I was out of a job.”

“Darling, you’re joking. You have to keep the business going, bring in the money.” He spread his arms and burst joyfully into Abba-style song: “Money, Money, Money!”

Were there two people with more wildly differing tastes in music? But he was so happy. Lara said, “When will you be leaving?”

“Soon!”

“Oh God, I’m going to miss you so much. But we’ll still see you.” She wiped away a soppy tear. “This is so brilliant.”

“Isn’t it just? And Nettie won’t let me eat rubbish, you know. She’s the most amazing cook. You won’t believe all the healthy food I’ve had this week.”

“Actually I would,” said Lara.

“I feel better already. My blood pressure’s down. And guess what?” Don patted his stomach with pride. “I’ve lost four pounds!”

***

It had been another blissful evening at Ray and Bonnie’s house, complete with fish pie and sticky toffee pudding. Leaving them in the living room arguing over which TV program to watch, Evie was filling the dishwasher when she heard Joel coming into the kitchen.

Her heart quickened; it was definitely him. The sound of his footsteps on the flagstoned floor was unmistakable. Then she jumped as his hands came to rest on her waist.

“Careful,” Joel murmured, “you almost dropped that cup.”

“And if I did, I suppose it would be my fault. Pass me those bowls, would you?”

“Yes, ma’am. Anything you say.” But as he gave them to her, he managed to brush against her hip, by no means accidentally. As the weeks had passed, so the levels of flirtation between them had increased. But this time she was the one setting the pace. Evie had discovered the thrill of being in control and it was a heady experience.

“Listen to that.” She grimaced as the downpour outside reached the next level; freezing rain had turned to hail and was now rattling against the windows.

“Hey, no problem. I can drop you home.”

They pulled into Arlington Road twenty minutes later. In the darkness, with the engine still running, Joel turned and idly lifted a stray strand of hair away from her face. “OK, can I just say something? This is killing me.”

“What’s killing you?” As if she didn’t know.

“Being here, with you. The two of us together. Not being allowed to do what I want to do…”

This, this was the moment to open the passenger door and jump out of the car. Nature, intervening, produced another torrent of hail so ferocious it bounced off the hood like gunfire. The noise was deafening.

“Evie. How many more times do I have to tell you I’m sorry?” His voice was low and genuinely regretful. It was also playing havoc with her hormones. Without meaning to, she gave a shuddery sigh.

“A hundred? A thousand? Because that’s fine,” Joel went on. “Just say the word and I’ll do it. As many times as you like.”

Evie shook her head, glad he couldn’t read her mind. He was still stroking her neck and it had been ages since anyone had done that. Basically, physical contact of any kind had been pretty thin on the ground for the past few months. And she was only human…

“Your hair smells fantastic, by the way.”

“It’s Head and Shoulders,” said Evie.

Joel laughed. “And that’s why I love you.”

She didn’t reply. All around them, the hail continued to hammer down.

“Look,” Joel said finally, “it’s only ten o’clock, not even late. Come back to my place for a coffee and a chat. Give it an hour and all this will have stopped. I’ll drive you home then.”

There was direct access from his garage into his flat. It was a definite plus point.

Having hesitated, Evie heard herself say, “OK, that sounds sensible.”

Well, her hair did get dreadfully frizzy when it was wet.