has a pretty face.’
Janey, determined not to rise to the bait, gritted her teeth. ‘But it’s OK for you to defend his father, just because he’s mad about you and stinking rich? Mum, what he did was wrong!’
‘Oh Janey, don’t get your knickers in a twist.’ Thea banged her coffee mug down on the table. ‘What happened wasn’t tragic. The real tragedy is Guy Cassidy’s pig-headed refusal to let bygones be bygones, because the children are the ones who suffer. All Oliver was trying to do was make it up to them.’
‘Really?’ Janey remained unimpressed. ‘And what’s he planning to do for an encore?
Whisk them out of the country for a few months?’
This was ridiculous. Thea’s expression softened. ‘Oliver would never do anything like that.
He’s a wonderful man, darling.’
Janey, who had thought Bruno was wonderful, replied unforgivingly, ‘I’m sure he is. As long as he’s getting his own way.’
There was a long silence. Finally, Thea said, ‘All right, so what happens now? What are you going to do for an encore?’
Janey, having already considered the options, shrugged. ‘You mean am I going to tell Guy?
I don’t know, Mum. The thing is, can you be sure his father isn’t, in some obscure way, just using you? I’m serious,’ she went on, when Thea started to smile. ‘It’s all highly coincidental, after all. You’re Maxine’s mother, and Maxine looks after Josh and Ella. How do you know he hasn’t hatched some sinister plan?’
‘Dear me.’ Her mother shook her head and gave her an indulgent look. ‘And ‘I thought Maxine was the drama queen of the family. Janey, take it from someone old enough to know.
There’s nothing even remotely sinister about Oliver Cassidy, and there are no ulterior motives on his part. He loves me, and I love him. I’m sorry if that doesn’t meet with the approval of Maxine’s employer but as far as I’m concerned, my private life is none of his business anyway.
And if you feel you have to tell him, then do it, though personally I can’t see the point. From what I hear, hugs and smiles and forgiveness-all-round is pretty much off the cards, so all you’d be doing would be stirring it up again for no useful reason. Still,’ she concluded with a take-it-or-leave-it gesture, ‘Those are just my thoughts. As I said, it’s entirely up to you.’
Janey was now more undecided than ever. What her mother had said made sense. Keeping quiet, on the other hand, meant assuming responsibility for the secret. And it also meant not telling Maxine, who would be sure to tell Guy herself. If anything should ever go wrong, she thought with unease, she would be at least partly to blame.
But Oliver Cassidy had seemed charming, and imprinted in her mind was the expression on his face as he’d written the brief message to accompany Thea’s flowers.
‘How do you know he loves you?’ she asked, gazing into her mother’s dark eyes.
‘I’ve had nearly thirty years to learn from my mistakes in that field,’ Thea replied simply.
‘This time it’s the real thing. Trust me, darling. When it happens like this, you do know ...’
In that case, thought Janey as memories of Alan and Bruno flooded back, why don’t I?
Torrential rain the next day meant an early wrap for the fashion shoot Guy had been working on in the Cotswolds. Home by four-thirty, he found Janey on the phone in the kitchen, the receiver tucked under her chin whilst she mashed parsnips with one hand and stirred a pan of gravy with the other. Her blond hair was loosely pinned up and the violet sweatshirt she wore over white jeans was slipping off one shoulder. Her cheeks, pink from the heat of the oven, turned pinker still when she realized he was back.
‘Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. Dinner won’t be ready for another hour yet ... but there’s tons of hot water if you’d like a bath.’
Maxine, on the other end of the phone, groaned. ‘Uh oh, enter the dragon. Don’t tell him it’s me.’
‘Who are you talking to?’ said Guy, his tone deceptively mild.
‘Nobody.’ Janey’s innocent expression was foiled by the tell-tale deepening flush. ‘A friend.’
‘Did anyone ever tell you you’re a hopeless liar?’With a brief smile he crossed the kitchen, took the phone from her and said, ‘Hello, Maxine.’
‘Oh God.’ In London, Maxine sighed. ‘Are you still mad at me?’
‘What do you think?’
‘You’re still mad,’ she said penitently. ‘And I know that what I did was wrong, but you just didn’t understand how important this job is to me. I’m sorry Guy, but I really was desperate ..
‘Hmmm.’ Glancing across at Janey, who was frenziedly tackling the parsnips and trying to look as if she wasn’t listening, he drawled, ‘Lucky for you you’ve got an understanding sister. I hope you appreciate the favour she’s done you.’
‘I do, I do.’ Maxine’s tone was fervent. Much to her relief, the expected bawling-out hadn’t happened. Not yet, anyway. Deciding to chance it, she added, ‘And aren’t you glad she’s there, too? She’s so much better at cooking than I am.’
‘She could hardly be any worse.’
‘And Josh and Ella think she’s terrific!’
‘Carry on like this and you’ll end up talking yourself out of a job. Or was that what you had in mind?’ he enquired evenly. ‘If you’ve landed the lead in some dazzling West End production, Maxine, I’d rather you told me now.’
‘Oh, but I haven’t! And I really don’t want to leave, Guy. I like working for you.’
‘But?’ he prompted, when it became apparent that Maxine hadn’t the courage to say the word herself.
She crossed her fingers, hard. ‘But we aren’t going to finish shooting until Saturday, so I won’t be able to get back before Sunday morning’ The words came out in an apologetic rush.
