Caught in the Act (30 page)

Diana beamed. ‘Oh, Hedley, it's so good to see you. But what about evensong?'

‘Got Godfrey Fielding in to cover for me. How did it go?'

‘Like a dream,' she said, clambering down off the stage. Diana didn't add that some parts had been closer to a nightmare.

Hedley leaned forward and kissed her. ‘Missed you,' he said. ‘The place isn't the same without you about.'

Diana laughed. ‘You mean you couldn't find anything?'

He pulled a face. ‘I didn't say that but now you come to mention it, do you know where my gardening hat is?'

‘Hedley,' she said, pretending to be cross.

Hedley shrugged. ‘I know, I know—is there any chance of a cup of tea, only I'm parched?'

Diana nodded. ‘There certainly is. Come with me and meet the rest of the gang. Did you bring Dylan with you?'

‘No, I thought it would be nice to have some time to ourselves—I've left him in charge of catering and cat control.'

Slipping her arm through his, Diana led him off towards the dining room. ‘So do you know where my gardening hat is?' he said.

On the other side of the dining room George Bearman lovingly refilled Callista Haze's teacup and offered her another chocolate éclair. ‘Well, my dear, all in all it has been a rather interesting weekend, wouldn't you say?' he asked.

Callista smiled. ‘It has been good, hasn't it? I thought that the play went really well, although I'm not sure what happened at the end exactly. Who was that Irish chap who punched Gareth Howard?'

George Bearman laughed. ‘God alone knows.
Just a bit of high spirits, I think,' he said. ‘But no harm done. I thought it went down rather well, actually.' And then he caught hold of her hand. ‘You know, I hadn't realised just how much I'd missed you. It's been damned good to see you again, Callista.' His fingers tightened a little. ‘Damned good.'

Very gently Callista slipped her hand out of his. ‘Yes, it has. You will be all right, won't you, George? I mean
you will be, won't you?
' she asked.

George nodded. ‘Yes, of course. I'll be fine.' He paused. ‘I was wondering; is there any chance that I might see you again?'

Callista smiled, choosing to be a little oblique and deliberately misunderstand. ‘Who knows? But, George, one thing—whatever else you do, don't waste any more time waiting for me. Grab hold of life, don't pine for any more might-have-beens or fantasies. It's time to get on with whatever you want to do and make use of whatever time you've got left.'

He took a bite of a buttered scone. ‘Sounds a little bit morbid.'

Callista laughed. ‘I don't think so. For me, being aware that we don't live for ever has been the greatest spur of all. It's one of the benefits
of getting older. Get on with the things you've dreamed of doing now, before it's too late—better to try and fail than never to have tried at all.'

‘Very inspirational,' George laughed, ‘but I do know that you're right. I've wasted so many years. There is a rather attractive woman who works in our local building society, who has been giving me the eye for months. Maybe I'll ask if she'd like to join me for a spot of lunch. And I've always fancied travelling more, but Judy was never a very keen flyer—besides, I never wanted to go with her and I doubt now looking back that I would have been ideal company.'

‘There you are then. Chasing women and travelling. That sounds like a jolly good start to me,' Callista said warmly.

George lifted his teacup in a toast. ‘I'll drink to that.'

Outside, away from the babble of voices, under the shade of a chestnut tree, Diana and Hedley, Jan, Adie and his partner Mike, Netty and Peter Fleming, Leonora and Jasmine sat with Carol and Raf, Ollie, Jake, Patrick and Maisie, watching the world go by and eating their
strawberries and sipping champagne. No one said anything.

Out on the lake ducks dabbled and paddled and bickered in water that reflected the cerulean sky. No one could wave a magic wand and put things right for Leonora or Jasmine, but at least they had had the satisfaction of seeing Gareth's face when he realised that the game was up. And, of course, there was always Fiona.

The late afternoon air was still and heavy, fragrant with the perfume of hot clipped lawn and warm gravel; it was a perfect summer's day. On the grass Raf lay flat out, eyes closed, with his head in Carol's lap. She stroked his hair, totally at peace with the world.

‘You know I've been thinking. This would be a great place for a wedding,' said Raf suddenly, rolling over onto his belly. ‘What do you think? It would be fantastic. Out here in the grounds. Under these trees, down by the lake. Could we book the place for a whole weekend, Diana, or do you have to be something to do with the Church?'

Diana looked up in surprise. ‘No, I don't think so, do you, Hedley? And I'm sure Hedley wouldn't mind officiating, would you?'

Hedley lifted eyebrows the size of baby walruses. ‘I'd be delighted,' he said.

‘I could find out for you, if you like,' said Diana. ‘The food here is wonderful. I'm sure they'd do the reception as well if you wanted them to.'

‘Well, there we are then,' said Raf triumphantly. ‘What more could a person want?'

Carol didn't ask him what the hell he was on about, but then you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to work it out.

‘Can we all come? You could book Teddy Towers for the bridal suite as well, if you like,' said Adie. ‘All those bunk beds to romp about on. I'm going to miss sleeping with this lot.'

Raf looked up at Carol with a grin. ‘So how about it then?'

Carol pulled a face. ‘So how about what?' she asked, being deliberately obtuse.

‘Oh, come off it. Getting married. You and me. How about it?

‘Oh right, well, that's very romantic, isn't it? Very Hugh Grant,' growled Netty from behind a rising pall of cigarette smoke. ‘“How about it?” They don't write them like that any more.
I thought you Celts were famous for your way with words.'

Carol looked down at Raf and shrugged, although her eyes were alight with mischief. ‘Maybe. I don't know. I'll think about it,' she said casually.

Raf looked delighted. ‘Do you really mean it? Will you really?'

Netty slapped her forehead. ‘Oh please, what are you people like? For fuck's sake, Carol, put us all out of our misery. Say yes or no. What sort of answer is maybe?'

Carol raised her eyebrows but before she could say anything, Raf jumped in. ‘For God's sake, don't knock it, Netty. At least it's a step in the right direction,' he said cheerfully. ‘The last time I asked her she told me to bugger off.'

This novel is a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities, is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollins
Publishers
77-85 Fulham Palace Road,
Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

FIRST EDITION

Copyright © Gemma Fox 2005

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Set in Sabon by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Polmont, Stirlingshire

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © AUGUST 2009 ISBN: 978-0-007-34343-0

Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com