Silence. Dulcie heard a brief scuffle at the other end. Then Kit came on the line.
‘Dulcie, Liza’s sorry she had a go at you. I’m sure you’re sorry too, for those cruel and uncalled-for remarks you made.’
Wincing, Dulcie wondered if he knew the remarks had been about him.
She cleared her throat.
‘Well, I—’
‘You are? Good, that’s that sorted out. Now you can be friends again,’ Kit announced cheerfully.
‘Now, what are you doing at the moment?’
‘Trying to have a bath.’
‘Okay, so put the phone down and go and have one. We’ll be round in twenty minutes. And make sure you’re decent when we arrive.’ Kit sounded amused. ‘I’m far too young to cope with the sight of a middle-aged woman naked.’
Chapter 44
‘I’m sorry I was a cow,’ said Dulcie.
Liza gave her a hug.
‘Me too.’
‘And I’m not middle-aged,’ Dulcie told Kit, who was carrying in two bottles of Bollinger.
‘You are to me.’ He grinned. ‘But never mind, I’ll let you off. If you find some glasses you can help us celebrate.’
It wasn’t hard to guess what they were celebrating. Liza was looking radiant and ridiculously happy.
‘You made up. You’re back together.’
‘Back together for good,’ said Kit. ‘All very Mills and Boon. Even her parents like me.’
‘Good grief. How about your father?’ Dulcie asked him. ‘Oh well, no change there. He’s a stubborn old bugger but we’ll work on it. Give him a few years.’
‘I can’t believe you’ve met Liza’s parents.You are honoured,’ Dulcie marvelled. In the past, the rapid turnover of men in Liza’s life had meant she’d never bothered.
‘That’s nothing,’ Kit winked. ‘I met their next-door neighbour too.’
Although Dulcie was glad to see them back together, she refused their offer to take her out to lunch. The sexual chemistry between them was overwhelming. They were having difficulty keeping their hands off each other and Kit was clearly dying to take Liza home to bed.
By the time both bottles had been emptied and all the gossip caught up on, it was almost a relief to stand on the doorstep and wave goodbye.
Depressed and light-headed from drinking on an empty stomach, Dulcie dozed on the sofa. She woke up at four o’clock depressed and heavy-headed instead, and with a raging thirst to boot.
Worst of all, it was still Sunday. Talk about dragging on.
There was nothing on television. To pass a bit of time she meticulously painted her nails a dramatic shade of red. Only when she’d finished the third coat did she remember she couldn’t work in Rufus’s kitchen wearing nail polish. It all had to come off.
This time when the phone rang, it was Rufus.
‘Oh hi,’ said Dulcie listlessly. She was currently trying to decide whether to peel off the kitchen wallpaper just for something to do, or have another bath.
‘I wondered what you were doing,’ said Rufus. ‘Any plans?’
‘No.’ Dulcie made it sound as if she’d had hundreds of offers, of course, but she’d actually wanted to stay in and go out of her mind with loneliness and boredom. ‘Why?’
He said eagerly, ‘I wondered if you’d like to come to the theatre with me. They’re doing a special charity performance of the new Poliakoff with Brian Blessed.’
Dulcie was almost certain Poliakoff wasn’t her cup of tea. And she absolutely knew she hated going to the theatre.
She frowned. ‘Brian Blessed? Is he the one with the beard? I can’t stand beards.’
‘Okay,’ Rufus replied equably, after a moment’s silence. ‘Are you saying you’d prefer a night in?’
‘I’m saying I’d prefer the cinema.’ Brightening, Dulcie said, ‘The new Demi Moore film’s on at the Odeon. It’s supposed to be great.’
‘Demi Moore? Does he have a beard?’
Dulcie hesitated, wondering if Rufus was joking. ‘I’m joking,’ said Rufus.
Dulcie grinned. It wasn’t until they had arranged to meetoutside the cinema and Rufus had hung up that she realised what she’d said.
What was it Patrick used to murmur whenever she made one of her famous faux pas? ‘Dulcie, are you sure you want to be a diplomat when you grow up?’
Dulcie experienced a brief pang of guilt. Rufus, bless him, hadn’t said a word.
‘Oh my God ...’
Any faint hope she might have harboured that the remark had slipped by unnoticed was extinguished when Dulcie spotted him waiting for her on the pavement outside the Odeon.
