Design For Loving (5 page)

It
was brief and to the point.

Dear Aunt Alice,

I
’m sorry to let you know like this, but something’s cropped up and I’ve got to move on. These past months in Lyndhurst have been good, but now it’s time for me to leave. Thanks for everything and please don’t think too badly of me.

Jack.

P.S. I’ve taken the silver cigarette box. You told me Uncle George had left it to me anyway, so I didn’t think you’d mind.

‘If only he’d asked I’d have let him have it then and there,’ Aunt Alice said, shaking her silvery head sadly, her blue eyes misting over. ‘He’s a young scallywag, but I’ll miss him, sorely.’ She reached out and took Katie’s small hands between her own gnarled ones. ‘And what about you, dear? I had such hopes for the pair of you.’

Katie
looked at her in surprise. ‘We made a good team, Aunt Alice, but if you mean what I think you do, then there was never anything more than friendship between us. I thought of Jack as a loveable, but sometimes irritating, younger brother. Anyway, this has certainly taught me one thing.’

‘
What’s that, dear?’

‘
Never to trust a man, and I won’t, not ever again,’ she vowed bitterly.

‘
Oh dear, that sounds very final. I suppose what with Peter and now Jack you must be feeling very let down.’

K
atie nodded, remembering with sadness, how Peter had led her to believe they would be married just as soon as they had saved enough, and then had gone off on a conference up north and met a woman ten years his senior with a young child. Before Katie could get her head round it, he had left his job in Dorset and moved in with her. Katie blinked, surprised at how vulnerable she still felt where Peter was concerned. She had moved to Lyndhurst to make a fresh start and because her grandmother needed her, but now Gran was gone, Jack had let her down, Lyall Travis had appeared on the scene, and life was getting complicated all over again.

‘
Katie?’ Aunt Alice peered at her anxiously.

‘
Oh, sorry, Aunt Alice. It was just such a shock to find Jack had cleared off like that, and I realise it must have been for you, too. We didn’t want to say anything until you returned home. Thought you’d got quite enough to deal with as it was.’

Aunt
Alice shook her head. ‘Strangely enough I’d been half expecting it, but don’t judge all men to be the same, dear. I’ll admit that I’d hoped that you and Jack might make a go of things because I’m fond of you both, but it’s probably just as well you didn’t, the way things have turned out.’

Katie
smiled ruefully. ‘I learnt a very salutary lesson where Peter was concerned, and I’m just not prepared to make that mistake again.’

But,
even as Katie spoke these words, the image of a tall, fair-haired man with piercing hazel eyes and a devastating smile came unbidden into her mind and she knew that Lyall Travis had somehow managed to get under her skin.

Alice
Mason poured more tea. ‘Oh, you don’t really mean that, dear. Yes, you’ve been hurt, but eventually time heals and Mr Right will come along.’

She
handed Katie her cup. ‘Now tell me how you’re getting on with Lyall Travis. Thank goodness he was around when all this happened!’

Katie
had been wondering when the subject of Lyall would crop up. ‘Now I’m glad you’ve mentioned him, Aunt Alice...just who exactly is he? I know he and his family came to stay with you when he was a child, but I suspect there’s more to it than that. It was a bit of a shock to find he’d moved into the flat and taken charge of things whilst I was away, I can tell you.’

Aunt
Alice looked positively taken aback. ‘You mean he didn’t explain?’

K
atie shook her head and the old lady continued to look puzzled.

‘
Well then he must have assumed I had. I’m sure he’d have said, if you’d asked. He was very straightforward with me, which is what decided me to rent him the flat and, in the circumstances, it’s just as well he was here to sort things out.’

In
exasperation Katie prompted, ‘So who is he then?’

‘
Why he’s a friend of Jack’s, of course.’

K
atie was flabbergasted. She stared at Aunt Alice open-mouthed. Suddenly things began to slot into place, at least she thought they did.

Slowly
she said, ‘Some friend he’s turned out to be. If he’s caused him to disappear. What exactly did he have on Jack to make him run off like that?’ Alice Mason seemed startled by Katie’s words. ‘Oh, you mustn’t blame Lyall, dear. I’m sure it wasn’t his fault. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Anyway, fond as I was of Jack, still am for that matter, I think it’ll be for the best in the long run.’

‘
What will?’ demanded Katie.

Aunt
Alice reached for the sugar.

‘
That he’s gone, of course. After all, I hardly thought he’d stay for ever...a pity though. If only things could have worked out differently, but it wasn’t to be.’

K
atie was tempted to ask her, ‘What things?’ and ‘What wasn’t to be?’ but thought better of it. Inwardly, she was seething. Just wait until she saw Lyall!

After
extracting a shopping list from Aunt Alice for the following day and stooping to stroke Sheba, she went out into the sunshine.

A
few minutes later, Katie stormed into the workshop to find only Shelley at the bench. ‘Where’s Lyall?’ she practically shouted at her.

‘
He’s gone over to Sevenoaks. Says he can’t do anything further until tomorrow morning. Whatever’s wrong, Katie?’

‘
Shelley, did you know that Lyall and Jack were so-called friends?’

Shelley
shifted uncomfortably and lowered her eyes beneath Katie’s searching gaze.

‘
You did, didn’t you? Why on earth didn’t you tell me?’

Shelley,
who had never seen Katie so angry before, remained silent.

‘
Come on, Shelley. It was because Lyall told you not to, wasn’t it?’

Shelley
nodded. ‘Sorry, Katie. What was it he said now?’ She screwed up her pretty face in concentration. ‘I know, that you’d misconstrue the situation because you’d been away when he arrived and you’d think he’d had something to do with Jack going off like that.’

‘
Too right! If you ask me, Lyall’s the conman, not Jack. Just wait until I catch up with him. He’s got an awful lot of explaining to do. He’s certainly taken me for a ride!’

Shelley
looked worried. ‘Lyall’s a nice guy, Katie. I’m sure he wouldn’t have done anything to make Jack go off like that. He’s done everything in his power to help us, after all.’

‘
And you’re a nice trusting girl, Shelley, but if he can deceive me over one thing then he can deceive me over another.’

Five

On
Wednesday, Katie usually went into the next village to do some shopping. She finally caught up with Lyall in the local mini market.

‘
Just dong a bit of shopping for Mrs Mason,’ he said by way of a greeting.

Surprised
at suddenly meeting up with him like this, she said inanely, ‘Snap, so am I, ought we to compare shopping lists?’

He
laughed. ‘Hardly, Mrs Mason’s offered to cook my supper tonight so I said I’d get the ingredients. You look as if you’ve bought the basics. She obviously didn’t want to hurt either of our feelings. Nice she’s back, eh?’

‘
It certainly is. So why did you go off yesterday afternoon just when she’d returned?’

‘
I naturally assumed you’d want to spend a bit of time with Aunt Alice on your own.’

‘
Mrs Mason to you,’ she flared and his eyes flickered with amusement.

‘
As a matter of fact, I took my friend’s niece out to dinner. She’s just returned to England after backpacking round Australia. Such an interesting girl.’

Katie
told herself that she couldn’t have cared less what he did in his private life, but, deep down, knew that this wasn’t true and was annoyed with herself for even registering this fact.

Murmuring
something about teabags, she marched off down the aisle.

A
few minutes later, having got through the check-out in record time, she swept up her carriers and went off to stow them in the boot of her car. She had a strong feeling that Aunt Alice had contrived to send them both shopping at the same time so that they would inevitably meet up.

Lyall
came across to her from the opposite end of the car park. ‘OK, I’ll admit it was hardly a coincidence, us bumping into each other like this. Mrs Mason told me where to find you. Said this was your usual routine midweek, and that you were out for my blood. I always believe in getting matters out in the open, so let’s discuss what’s bothering you in a civilised manner over coffee, shall we?’

She
glared at him. ‘You know perfectly well what’s wrong,’ she said angrily, ‘If you care to examine your conscience!’

‘
Coffee,’ he said and marched off in the direction of the nearby cafe.

Katie,
followed him reluctantly, irritated by the way he had taken command of the situation. She was an independent girl and didn’t want to be manipulated. He assumed she would join him for coffee and some perverse part of her made her want to refuse, but she knew things needed sorting out once and for all. She stored all her grievances up, waiting to fire them at him at the first opportunity.

The
village cafe was excellent and the coffee and homemade biscuits helped to restore her to her usual calm self.

‘
Well, go on then, I can see you bursting to say something,’ he said.

‘
Too right I am. Why didn’t you tell me you and Jack were friends?’

He
sipped his coffee. ‘Didn’t I?’

‘
You know perfectly well, you didn’t. All this time I’ve been wondering why Jack took off like that. Well, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?’

‘
Tell me.’ He leant back in his chair, hazel eyes narrowed, watching her with interest so that she felt uncomfortably aware that she was the one being interrogated.

‘
You found out that Jack was living here and came to see him. The pair of you had a disagreement, probably about something that had happened between you in the past. You put pressure on him and he felt he couldn’t cope so he went off. Why on earth couldn’t you have left him alone? Everything was going so well until you appeared on the scene!’

He
shook his head, knowing that he was going to have his work cut out to convince her of what he was about to say. ‘Are you quite sure about that? I think you’ll find that Jack would have gone off regardless of whether I’d turned up or not. Let’s say that I might have hastened his departure, but only fractionally. The chances are he would have disappeared into the sunset at any time anyway, because he’s a bit of a rolling stone.

‘
Yes, I suppose you could say we were friends, at one time at any rate, but he let me down badly. Seems to be making a habit of it. He’s very unreliable, Katie, always has been, although I thought perhaps he’d changed. He seemed happy enough in Lyndhurst, more mature somehow, but, unfortunately, a leopard doesn’t change its spots.’

K
atie remembered that when Jack had ‘phoned her, he’d said he was in trouble. She felt an odd prickle at the back of her neck. Could Lyall have some kind of hold on him?

‘
Were you blackmailing him?’ she asked in a whisper.

His
expression of utter incredulity told her how wide of the mark she was. He gave a harsh laugh. ‘Don’t be ridiculous! You obviously doubt my integrity, but were perfectly happy to trust Jack.’

Katie
glared at him. ‘Jack is Aunt Alice’s nephew. I don’t know what you’re implying, but you’re obviously determined to blacken his character. Aunt Alice is very fond of Jack and, just because he’s decided to move on, doesn’t alter that. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for his behaviour and suspect you could shed some light on the matter if you’d a mind to do so.’

He
shrugged. ‘Have it your own way.’

She
suddenly saw red. ‘What exactly is it between the two of you?’

His
mouth was set in a grim line. ‘You’ll have to ask Jack that question. If you ever manage to catch up with him, of course. Anyway, it was his choice to leave Lyndhurst. I didn’t force him to, contrary to what you might believe.’

They
sat in silence for a few minutes and then he said, ‘We have to accept that Jack’s gone walk-about for reasons best known to himself, and it’s pretty obvious he’s not coming back. I realise you’re continuing to find it difficult to trust me, and perhaps in your shoes I’d feel the same. Anyway, at the end of the day, it’s up to you and, if you’d rather not have my input then just say the word and I’ll move on as well.’

This
speech took Katie completely by surprise. She supposed she had been rather ungracious and deserved this. She took a deep breath. ‘Perhaps I overreacted. It was a bit of a shock, that’s all, but Shelley and I wouldn’t want you to pull out. Actually, we don’t have much option do we?’ she added honestly.

Lyall
laughed. ‘Well, you have the decency to admit that, at least. I’ll tell you what, I’ll help you out of this mess and then we’ll discuss things further, but we’ll need to call a truce. We’ll never get anywhere if we’re always at loggerheads.’

He
extended his hand and she took it reluctantly, but then was startled by the sudden intensity of feelings that flooded through her. Her eyes locked with his and she wondered if he were aware of the chemistry too.

Releasing
her hand abruptly, he got to his feet and the moment was over. ‘Must press on, I’m afraid, or Mrs Mason will never get her shopping. See you later.’

With
an effort, Katie pulled herself together. Lyall Travis might be good looking and a charmer, but she had absolutely no intention of falling for him, besides he was obviously unavailable.

* * *

After a busy afternoon in the workshop, she spent the evening in the company of Dylan and Faye, relaxing over glasses of wine and showing them her holiday photographs, whilst endeavouring to put Lyall Travis out of her mind.

‘
Don’t forget the quiz night on Friday,’ Faye reminded her as she prepared to leave. ‘Our team’s depending on you, Katie!’

Katie
gave her friend a thumbs up sign. ‘I’ll be there,’ she promised. ‘We’ll beat them hollow!’

The
quiz night in the village hall was in aid of the church roof fund. To Katie’s astonishment, Lyall was there with Aunt Alice, an elderly neighbour and a tall, elegantly dressed, willowy girl who smiled at Lyall enchantingly. He was an absolute caution, but her eyes kept straying in Lyall’s direction and she wondered if the girl had been his dinner date on Tuesday night.

It
was an enjoyable evening, and although some of the questions were taxing, Faye’s team managed to pull into third place with Lyall’s the outright winners, and the vicar and his family coming into second place.

As
they queued for refreshments, she was suddenly aware of Lyall standing beside her with the willowy girl.

‘
Olivia, this is Katherine Mead who runs the workshop I was telling you about. Olivia has just returned from the other side of the world.’

A
pair of cold green eyes surveyed her. Olivia was an amazingly attractive girl with a cap of shiny dark hair and a flawless complexion, but Katie immediately summed her up as being a spoilt little rich girl, and then reprimanded herself for being so judgemental.

The
hand that took hers was limp, and the girl said coolly, ‘I simply had to come over to see where Lyall was staying. Lyndhurst’s such a quaint place, isn’t it? Quite why he insisted on coming to this event, I wouldn’t know, but it’s so typical of him, he’s got such a charitable nature.’

Lyall
was collecting cups of coffee from the opposite end of the hatch and

Olivia
added quietly. ‘Don’t underestimate him, will you, Katherine. He may have a kind heart, but he’s not a soft option, you know.’

Katie
met her gaze levelly, wondering what message the other girl was trying to convey. ‘Oh, I’m fully aware of that. I can’t imagine Lyall doing anything he didn’t want to.’

Olivia
smiled. ‘Well, we go back a very long way. We met up again in Australia recently, and as soon as I returned to England he came to look me up.’

K
atie had an inspiration. ‘Do you also happen to know Lyall’s friend, Jack Mason, Alice Mason’s nephew?’ she asked casually, watching for the other girl’s reaction.

She
frowned, ‘I don’t remember a Jack, but I’ve met a number of Lyall’s friends. He’s extremely popular, you know. I’m so pleased he’s decided to stay here. It’ll be such fun having him around.’

The
queue had moved on leaving the two of them chatting.

‘
So what exactly do you do, Olivia?’

She
arched her eyebrows. ‘Oh, didn’t Lyall tell you? I’m in the fashion business. A buyer for a London store. It’s easy to commute from Sevenoaks, but I’ve got my own flat up in town, so very convenient. I don’t have to work, but I prefer to do my own thing, rather than being dependent on my family.’

Katie
was relieved when, just then, Faye extricated herself from the president of the W.I. and made her way towards them. Olivia excused herself after a minute or two and went back to her table and Lyall.

‘
Fraternising with the opposition?’ Faye enquired as they collected their refreshments.

‘
Trying to find out if she knows Jack, but if she does she’s not admitting it.’

Faye
did a balancing act with several plates of sandwiches. ‘If you want my advice, Luv, I’d put Jack out of your mind and concentrate on that exhibition. Life’s got to go on.’

Dylan,
obviously getting hungry, signalled to them just then and they hurried back to their table. Turning her head, Katie caught a glimpse of Lyall and Olivia, whose arm was linked through his, as they spoke with the vicar and his wife. Katie felt a slight pang of envy, as she noticed the ease of the relationship and the way they laughed at some shared joke together.

* * *

By the time Lyall arrived on Monday morning, Katie and Shelley were already hard at work. ‘I thought the Wine and Wisdom was a good evening,’ he remarked, settling himself at the workbench. ‘Olivia enjoyed it immensely.’

K
atie didn’t look up. ‘You surprise me. I thought she considered it to be rather parochial.’

Shelley
got up to make some coffee and he said, sotto voice. ‘Mrs Mason found a message on the answer ‘phone from Jack last night. He must have left it while she was at church.’

K
atie felt her heartbeat quicken.

‘
Where is he? What’s happened?’

‘
I’ve no idea where he was calling from, he used his mobile. Mrs Mason reckons he sounded very remorseful. Said he was sorry for all the trouble he’d caused and that he’d like to see her before he finally moved on, but didn’t know if that would be possible.’

‘
I wish he’d just go, and then perhaps we could all get on with our lives,’ she said vehemently.

Lyall
shot her a puzzled look. ‘Do I take it he’d been in touch with you, too?’

She
swallowed, realising there was no point in denying it now.