Dougie, I’m not lying! And I’m sorry, so sorry I hurt you. But it was your mother’s idea — she was the one who offered me the money. And trust me, she was desperate,’ Lola pleaded. ‘If I’d turned it down she’d only have found some other way to get rid of me.’
‘Jesus! You could have mentioned it! Did it not even occur to you to tell me what was going on?
Did you not think it might have been fair to ask me how I felt about it?’
‘I was going to.’ Lola’s fists were clenched with frustration; not being able to tell him the truth meant he was always goingto think she was a mercenary bitch. Helplessly she said, ‘But you were moving up to Edinburgh, you’d have started socialising with all those girls up there ...’
‘What?’
‘We were so young! What were the chances, realistically, of us staying together? I knew I loved you,’ Lola rattled on in desperation, ‘but what if I’d said no to the money then a few weeks later you’d met someone you liked more than me? How stupid would I have felt if you’d sent me a Dear John letter then?’
In the darkness Doug raised his hands.’Fine.You did absolutely the right thing. Let’s just forget it, shall we?’
Did he mean that? ‘Let’s.’ Lola nodded eagerly, wondering if now might be a good moment for a lovely-to-see- you-again kiss. ‘From now on all that stuff’s behind us, right? We can start afresh.’
‘Start afresh?’ There was a smidgeon of sarcasm in his voice. ‘No need to go that far, surely.You’ll be leaving soon enough.’
‘I don’t have to.’ Hurrying after him as he abruptly turned and headed down the path leading back to the house, Lola said, ‘I’ve only just got here! Dougie, it’s fantastic to see you again, we’ve got so much catching up to do.’
‘Trust me, we haven’t.’
‘But I want to know what you’ve been doing!’ Desperation made her reckless. ‘And you came outside, so that means you wanted to talk to me too.’
Dougie reached the front door and paused to look at her. ‘I came outside for a cigarette.’
‘You smoke now?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘You should give up,’ said Lola.
A muscle twitched irritably in his jaw. ‘I did give up. Six weeks ago.’
So her sudden reappearance had jolted him. Lola sniffed the air but could only detect cold earth and aftershave. ‘I can’t smell smoke.’
Dougie pulled a single cigarette and Bic lighter from his shirt pocket. ‘I was about to light it when I heard you talking on the phone.’
‘So you didn’t smoke it, you listened to me instead. See? I’m coming in useful already.’
Reaching out and snatching the cigarette from his hand, Lola snapped it in two and tossed it over her shoulder into a lavender bush.
Dougie heaved a sigh and pushed open the front door. ‘If you hadn’t been here I wouldn’t have been tempted in the first place. If you want to do something really useful you’ll leave.’
‘There you are.’ Adele, flinty eyed, was standing in the hall with Sally beside her. ‘We were wondering what had happened to you.’
‘We’ve been catching up.’ Dougie’s tone was brusque. ‘I’ve just been hearing about the ten thousand pounds you paid Lola to stop seeing me.’
Adele shot Lola a look capable of shrivelling grapes. ‘So she told you, did she? Ten thousand pounds, is that what she said?’ Lola’s heart sank like a dropped anchor.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Doug demanded.
‘I offered ten thousand. But that wasn’t enough for her. She demanded fifteen.’ Adele shrugged elegantly. ‘And then, when I refused, she started haggling.’
Oh God.
‘So did you,’ Lola whispered.
Doug shook his head. ‘I don’t believe this. How much did you end up with?’
‘Twelve.’
‘Twelve and a half,’ said Adele the hateful witch.
‘OK, but I needed that—’
‘Stop.’ Dougie held up his hands. ‘I’ve heard enough. Now I definitely need a drink.’ He turned and strode back into the drawing room.
Lola watched him go. It probably wasn’t the moment to be thinking this, but he was even more irresistible when he was angry.
‘Now see what you’ve done: said Adele. ‘Why don’t you leave before you ruin the entire evening?’
It might have been a tempting proposition earlier but that was before Dougie had turned up.
Since leaving was no longer an option – because what if she never saw him again? – Lola said,
