‘It’s a bit rickety.’ I feel I have to apologise for the state of the chair. ‘But we’re hoping that with a makeover …’ I shrug.
He considers the chair on its spindly legs from all angles. Then he grins. ‘Do you think it would take my weight?’
I groan. ‘Oh, don’t!’
‘Rowena’s got a load of furniture and crockery to sell, you know,’ he says.
‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.’ Rowena, a lovely woman in her fifties, ran the busy ice-cream parlour on Hart’s End High Street for the past three years, but recently decided it was time she retired. The shop has been vacant for a couple of months now and every time I walk past its blank façade, I feel sad. ‘That’s a great idea. Thanks, Jason. I’ll phone her and find out what she’s done with it.’
‘You should. I spoke to her the other day and she was thinking of putting it all for sale on-line, but if you get in quick, you might find some stuff you can use at a bargain price.’
I smile and offer him a mint, which he takes. They happen to be his favourite brand, and we exchange a look, acknowledging this. Even after all this time, there are so many little things I remember from our time together. I can’t help but wonder if Jason feels this, too.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Lucy giving us shifty looks, so I turn away from Jason and get back to my sanding. I don’t want to get him into trouble. She’s probably desperate to know what we’re talking about.
‘So, I brought some curtain material for you to look at,’ says Lucy, finally announcing the reason for her impromptu visit. She comes over with a plastic bag from a high-end fabric shop and shows me the material inside. It’s a vertical stripe pattern in pretty pastel shades of lilac, pink and blue. ‘Paloma mentioned you were needing curtains and I remembered we had this curtain material that we never used. You can have it if you like it. I could measure up and make the curtains for you.’ She glances around at the room’s four large windows, two ranged either side on opposite walls. ‘Consider it an opening gift.’
I’m confused. Why is Lucy being nice to me?
I shake my head. ‘I couldn’t possibly – unless you let me pay you.’
‘I said you can have it,’ she says, snippily, looking anywhere but at me. And it suddenly occurs to me that maybe she finally feels guilty for making my life a misery at school. ‘I bought it to deck out our summer house, but I went off it, so it’s going spare.’ At last, she meets my eye. ‘Do you like it?’
Feeling pushed into a corner, I nod. ‘It would tone in with the colour on the walls perfectly.’
‘Right, well, have it. As I said, I can run up some curtains and bring them back in good time for your opening day.’
‘Well, I will definitely pay you to do that,’ I tell her firmly.
‘Okay. Fine. I’ll stick the money in the charity fund. You open on 1st June, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’ I paste on a smile. ‘Gosh, news travels fast. I’ve only just decided the opening day myself. However did you find out?’ I swivel my eyes at Paloma, but she shrugs, disclaiming all responsibility.
‘Oh, it’s all round the village.’ Lucy waves her hand impatiently. ‘You can’t expect to keep anything quiet for long round here.’
‘Right, well, thank you.’ It costs me to say it. I hate being beholden to bloody Lucy Slater. Whatever Paloma might say about me being paranoid, I still can’t help being suspicious of her motives in suddenly being nice. But I suppose people do change sometimes …
‘It’s fine.’ Lucy waves her hand dismissively ‘We’re going to be moving soon, to a much larger property in Lake Heath. Five bedrooms. Triple garage. So we’re hardly likely to need that.’ She looks down her nose at the stripy fabric, which – frankly – is a godsend to me. Then she links arms with her man, gazing up at him adoringly. ‘We can’t wait to move, can we, Jason?’
Jason pats her hand and smiles. ‘Whatever you say, darling. You’re in charge of the purse strings.’ He grimaces jokingly at Paloma and me.
Lucy’s message to me is very clear: She has her man and they’re doing brilliantly well in life. I catch Paloma’s eye and she does a funny finger-down-the-throat mime from her perch on the stepladders, which makes me feel slightly better.
‘Help me measure up and then we’ll be off,’ Lucy orders, and Jason dutifully toes the line.
I watch as he humours her. He’s so patient and doesn’t seem at all put out by her domineering manner. Perhaps he’s so used to it by now, he’s able to let it wash over him.
‘Right, come on, the Jag awaits!’ Lucy gives a little screechy laugh. ‘I’m terrible, I know, but I never get tired of saying that. Do you have a car at the moment, Twilight?’
‘Yes, she does,’ jumps in Paloma, before I can open my mouth. ‘It’s a Lamborghini but she doesn’t drive it much because she doesn’t like to show off.’ She smiles radiantly at a bemused Lucy, and I clamp my lips together to stop myself smiling.
Jason shakes his head at Paloma, clearly amused.
‘So where is it?’ Lucy wants to know. ‘Is it in the garage?’
‘Let’s go.’ Jason grins at me and starts steering Lucy towards the door.
As they walk out to the Jag, Lucy’s voice drifts back: ‘Oh, I see. She was making a joke. Well, it wasn’t very funny.’
Paloma makes a comical face at me. ‘Lucy never could understand irony.’
I shake my head. ‘I just wish you wouldn’t talk to her about my business, that’s all.’
‘But I don’t.’ Paloma sounds indignant. ‘I just happened to bump into her on the high street the other day and it’s kind of hard not to answer
