senses and realized she couldn’t live without him, was delighted and only too happy to forgive her.
Within twenty minutes of putting the phone down he arrived, jaunty, freshly showered and bright-eyed with anticipation, on her doorstep. Janey and Anna, peeping out from behind the curtains, marvelled at the indestructible nerve of the man and struggled not to laugh out loud.
‘Come on up,’ Janey called huskily down the stairs when Alan had rung the bell. ‘Door’s open.’
The next moment, having rushed upstairs two at a time, he appeared in the living-room doorway. The expression on his face when he saw who else was waiting for him was out of this world. Indescribable, thought Janey. Better than sex .. .
‘Surprise, darling,’ said Anna brightly. Lifting her face, she sniffed the air. ‘Oh how sweet,’
she added, turning to Janey. ‘He’s wearing my favourite aftershave. Isn’t that a thoughtful touch?’
Alan looked like a cornered animal, Janey decided, the flickering narrowed eyes reflecting his fury at having been caught out. Having come here expecting reconciliation, he had been made to look foolish instead. In a small way, they had succeeded in turning the tables. This time, he was the one facing humiliating rejection.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ he hissed at Anna, but the trembling, nerve-racked girl who had entered the shop an hour earlier, inspired by Janey’s lead, had undergone an almost magical transformation.
Now, casually confident, she gave him a sweet smile. ‘It was urgent, darling. Remember that competition I entered you for? Well, they phoned. You’ve been short-listed for the finals.’
This was so far removed from the reply he’d been expecting, Alan couldn’t take it in.
‘What?’ He stared at her, confused. ‘What competition?’
‘Don’t you remember, sweetheart?’ Anna protested good-naturedly. ‘Father of the Year.’
Caught yet again, made to look even more foolish, he snarled, ‘Oh, clever. Ha bloody ha.
How did you find me, anyway?’
‘Easy,’ Janey murmured in an undertone. ‘Just follow the trail of aftershave.’
Alan rounded on her. ‘And you can shut up, spiteful bloody bitch. Was this your idea? I suppose you think it’s funny.’
Janey’s gaze fell briefly on the still-sleeping Justin. If she had her way, Alan would be indelibly tattooed -- in the appropriate place — with a government health warning so that in future at least other women could be spared. Any minute now, no doubt, he would storm out of the flat.
Oh well, she thought, at least they could make the most of the opportunity while they still had it.
‘Funny?’ With a quizzical glance in Anna’s direction, she shook her head. ‘Oh no, Alan; you’re way too sad to be funny. In fact I’d probably call you pathetic. How about you Anna, any other suggestions spring immediately to mind?’
‘Gosh!’ declared Anna, her dark eyes alight with enthusiasm. ‘I can think of loads ...’
‘Goodness, I enjoyed that,’ Anna said happily when Alan had left, almost taking the door off its hinges as he went. ‘How do you feel?’
Janey heaved a sigh of pleasure. ‘Free.’
‘Me too. Here we are, young, free and single. Not to mention starving ...’
The baby, who had slept peacefully through the whole showdown, began to stretch and stir.
‘Come on,’ said Janey, feeling the need to celebrate. ‘My treat. Let’s go somewhere wonderful for lunch.’
Chapter 55
The first week of January was always the quietest of the year. Nobody wanted to buy flowers, nobody was getting married ... or even dying. Janey, alone in the empty shop, was perched on a stool twiddling her hair around her fingers and reading an old magazine when the door bell went and Guy walked in.
It was awful; her heart almost leapt into her throat at the unexpected sight of him. Having taken Josh and Ella to Klosters for a fortnight’s skiing over Christmas and the New Year, he was incredibly tanned. The contrast between grey Trezale and Guy Cassidy — brown and breathtakingly handsome in a white shirt and faded, close-fitting Levi’s -- couldn’t have been more marked. His eyes seemed bluer than she remembered, the teeth whiter, those faultless cheekbones more pronounced. Damn, be even smelled wonderful .. .
Hastily shovelling the magazine under the counter, Janey prayed she didn’t look as overawed by his glamour as she felt. Not having seen Guy since the day of his father’s funeral, when she had made the excruciating discovery about the bracelet, she had no idea what to expect now.
His smile was brief. ‘Hi. Good Christmas?’
‘Fabulous,’ said Janey. She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic but that was how it came out.
With Guy and family away in Switzerland, Maxine and Bruno had closeted themselves in Mole Cottage and – according to Maxine – had spent the week screwing themselves into a blissful stupor. With only a grieving mother for company, it hadn’t been the jolliest of times for Janey.
As far as she was concerned it had been a festive season to forget.
Guy, however, detected the raw edge to her voice.
‘Well,’ he said, softening slightly, ‘maybe this will cheer you up. Childsafe are launching their campaign next week. They’re holding a charity ball at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The organizers chose to go with the shot I submitted so if you can stand the thought of being surrounded by a million posters of yourself, you’d better start thinking what to wear.’
He handed Janey a thick, silver-embossed invitation. Gazing at it, the words ‘For two people’ leapt out at her.
‘Um ... I don’t have anyone to take with me.’ Hating having to say it, she mumbled the words in an apologetic undertone.
