Never Too Late (24 page)

“Keela’s been such a help today,” Maggie praised her. “Yet again I got carried away with the number of seeds and cuttings. I don’t think I’d ever have got them all in without her coming over the last few days.”

“Certainly not with Deefor ‘helping’,” she laughed.

Richard grinned over at Maggie. “Yes, I’ve just been hearing about that.”

“Did she tell you they were as bad as each other though?” Keela asked him. “A couple of kids playing with mud pies so they were.”

For all she had been sent to live with her aunt in England when she was 11, the soft lilt in her voice and the odd phrase here and there still gave away her Irish roots.

“It’s a beautiful garden you have here, Maggie. It’s been so good, getting my fingers back in the soil.”

“Do you not have your own garden then, Keela?” Richard asked.

Keela snorted her disgust. “A typical London pocket handkerchief of a plot, smaller than Maggie’s new pond. One day is all it takes to squeeze in a few annuals around the shrubs and see to the hanging baskets, then that’s it for another gardening year.”

“But it’s quite amazing what you’ve achieved in that small space,” Maggie complimented her. “Anyway, on a selfish level I appreciate the fact that it leaves you free to come and help me. With your help we now both have time for a rest and a drink.” Maggie coaxed her back towards the house with a hand in the small of her back. “And Richard, you should see just how adventurous she’s made me. The herb garden is doing superbly and I never thought I’d be growing such a variety of exotic fruits and salad vegetables.”

Keela went to wash her hands off while Maggie got a pitcher of iced lemonade and glasses. “Let’s enjoy the last of the sunshine and relax a few aching muscles for a while before we eat,” she told Richard.

He stretched out his long legs and shuffled lower into the lounger as he accepted a glass from her. “You’d better not make me too comfortable or we’ll never get to look at those files,” he warned her.

As Maggie sat down Deefor was there waiting to be able to place his head on her lap, sighing his pleasure as she idly rubbed the side of his face. “Have I been forgiven for forcing you into the shower then, my boy?” His adoring brown eyes confirmed that she had.

Richard watched the way they interacted and was happy to see the obvious enjoyment they got from each other’s company. “He must have made quite a difference in your life,” he commented.

“Oh, he’s a wonderful companion,” Maggie told him. “We’ve developed our own little routines now and muddle along together very nicely. He checks the garden out each morning while I get ready for the day, then I give him a good grooming so he looks his best for our morning walk. We breakfast together when we get back, then he’s extraordinarily patient until it’s time for his evening walk, tea and an evening relaxing together.”

She glanced over at Richard and bit her lower lip, just as he’d seen Chloe do so many times. Did they realise how many mannerisms they shared, he wondered?

“I’m sorry to have dragged you away from your family,” Maggie apologised.

“Don’t worry about that,” he reassured her. “Joanne and I have had a wonderful day out with the kids before I left to come here.”

“I’ve been over those files several times, and I’ve been teaching myself what I can about business matters, but I keep coming up with the same questions. I’m not sure if I’m reading them correctly.”

“We do need to go over the files together. You’re bound to have questions, hopefully ones I can answer!”

“I’m probably just being very naïve,” she said, her grey eyes worried. “There seem to be rather a lot of anomalies but it’s probably just me reading them wrong. As you know, I’ve never been involved in this business, or any other business, so I’m not sure what I’m seeing.”

Richard looked agitated, stood and took a few paces away from her, stroking the base of his glass and remaining with his back to her while he admitted, “Unfortunately you are probably just being very astute. There are problems, problems that need resolving quickly, and it’s not going to be a straightforward exercise.”

He turned to face her again. “I’m so sorry I’ve had to drag you into it Maggie. I know it’s not what Iain would have wanted, but there really is no other option.”

Maggie smiled gently. “I feel honoured that at last someone has some faith in my mental capacity. I haven’t exactly over-extended myself since I’ve known Iain.”

“I have every faith that Iain has under-estimated you and denied himself a tireless and faithful partner.”

He could have kicked himself as he saw Maggie wince at those words. A faithful partner was the last thing Iain had been to her.

They felt relief that neither of them had the chance to say any more on the matter as Chloe came clicking out onto the patio in her fashionable high heeled strappy sandals, her sleeveless short dress showing off her early tan.

“Hi Mummy,” she called. “I hope you don’t mind me inviting myself for dinner but I felt very much at a loose end and know you always over-cater for one person, just in case someone pops in.”

It was a standing family joke that none of them had ever managed to bring friends home unexpectedly and there not to be enough food for ‘just one more’.

Her dimple was very much in evidence as she smiled at Richard. “Hello, I didn’t know you’d be here.” She glanced at Maggie. “As you have company send me packing if I’m in the way.”

Maggie looked confused. She’d told Chloe yesterday she had to consult this evening with Richard before making any decisions about the company. “No, love, that’s fine, it’s a nice surprise after you not being able to make it last weekend. We’ll be eating shortly and I’m sure there’s enough...”

“For just one more!” Chloe and Keela chorused together.

Chloe spun on her heel and glared at Keela who had just come out from the house. “My, quite a little gathering!” Her voice was icy. “I didn’t know you were involved in business plans too,” she challenged Keela.

Maggie raised an eyebrow at Chloe giving away the fact that she knew this was a business meeting tonight, and Keela’s lips quirked as she struggled to restrain her amusement at Chloe’s spitting cat act.

“Me?” Keela asked casually. “I’m just the paid help, the gardener whose price is one of your mother’s wonderful casseroles.”

“Well, we’d better go and eat now, hadn’t we. We don’t want to keep you away from James too long.”

Chloe quickly regained her good temper once it became apparent that Keela intended to drive back home with two portions of casserole for her and James to eat together. Maggie certainly felt relief that the four of them wouldn’t be eating together. In a big family gathering it didn’t matter, but Chloe had never accepted Keela into the family, sure that she wasn’t good enough for her brother, and not liking the fact that Iain had such a soft spot for her. The tension could be unbearable at times when they were together in an intimate group. Once Keela had gone, Chloe turned the full wattage of her charm onto Richard. Maggie found that just as uncomfortable.

It’s almost as if Chloe is flirting with him.

Having finished the meal, Maggie stacked the dishwasher then made coffee for Richard and herself to take into the study. Chloe made no move to try and join them, saving Maggie the embarrassment of having to exclude her, but making her wonder about just why Chloe had come today.

“Don’t worry about me,” was Chloe’s off-handed remark. “At the moment I just prefer to be in a house where there are other people rather than being all alone. I’ll just read for a bit and join you when you’ve finished.”

She stood and selected a volume from the shelves that overflowed with Maggie’s collection of cookery and gardening books and wandered out onto the patio.

Thank goodness they’re taking that revolting, fur shedding dog with them
, she thought to herself. When they had gone into the study, she continued her walk round the side of the house to where she had parked her car.

Returning to the house, she fished in the fridge for a bottle of mineral water. She drank half of it to wash down paracetamol, grimacing as she did so. She hated taking pills but was still suffering from the remnants of another hangover from a night out with the girls. She sat in her mother’s rocking chair but quickly changed her mind – the movement was just too much with her aching head.

God, what a fool I was last Saturday. Actually encouraging those low-lifes to touch me! How could I?

Her memory of it was exceedingly hazy but all too clear was the memory of waking to find Adam beside her in bed.

God, what a shock to see his head on the pillow beside me! What a relief nothing had happened. That’s just not the type of relationship we have, or ever will have.

So why did I reach out to him? Why was I so pleased to see him there?

She didn’t feel particularly proud of the last week either – a hedonistic week involving far too much alcohol, trying to avoid thinking about anything further than the moment she was in.

It was several hours before Richard and Maggie re-emerged from the study, looking serious but determined.

Chloe jumped up and quipped, “Another million made for me and James to inherit?” She went over to the drinks cabinet and lifted the bottle of brandy.

“Not for me, Chloe,” Richard warned her. “I have to be heading back and I won’t drink and drive.”

“Go ahead for us though, Chloe,” Maggie prompted her. “We can have a relaxing glass together and you can sleep here tonight.”

“Oh, no thanks Mummy,” Chloe stammered. “I, er, really prefer to get home, and I’m meeting some friends in town tomorrow. Richard’s right, it’s best if we go now. Early to bed and all that!”

They said their goodbyes and Chloe’s farewell was quite perfunctory before she dashed to her car. Richard was climbing into his when she came over to him looking very flustered.

“Richard, my car won’t start, it just makes a clicking sound when I turn the key. Did you hear it? So could you possibly give me a lift back?”

“Oh, let me have a look,” he offered. “I might be able to sort it for you.”

Chloe put a restraining hand on his arm. “No, it’s very dark over there; you won’t be able to see what you’re doing. Anyway, I have a tame mechanic who can come and collect it tomorrow and sort it out. It’s quite good timing, actually,” she rattled on. “It’s coming due for its first MOT so he can put it through that at the same time.”

To save any further discussion she popped round the other side of the car and climbed in, smiling up at him brilliantly as she buckled the seat belt.

As he got into the driver’s seat he tried very hard not to look at the miles of very shapely leg that she was displaying. Her skin looked velvety in the moonlight coming through the side window.

“Don’t you think you should at least tell your mother why your car’s there and some strange man will be driving away with it tomorrow?” he queried.

“She won’t notice it there tonight,” Chloe declared. “No need to worry her now. I’ll phone her tomorrow.”

Richard shrugged and drove off.

Maggie was doing her nightly rounds at the time and saw them leave. “What is that girl of mine up to now?” she asked Deefor. He looked up at her and whined softly as he cocked his head, but had no other answer.

Chloe congratulated herself on the way her plan was working. On the journey back their conversation was easy and she noticed the many small ways Richard betrayed his awareness of her as a woman. An invitation in for coffee at her flat, a little subtle seduction – she was sure he would be putty in her hands. When had she ever failed to get what she wanted?

The strange thing was, now it seemed possible, she wasn’t sure she really wanted it. Very much against her will, all day her thoughts had kept sliding back to reaching out for Adam that Sunday morning.

When they reached her home she kicked herself for a fool, but excused herself - I’m just tired and hung over she told herself. She didn’t press the issue when Richard refused the offered coffee, and didn’t realise they both felt relief at the brief parting.

Richard drove away blowing softly through his lips. He’d been trying to puzzle out how to keep Chloe at arm’s length without hurting her feelings, how to make her realise he’d never be unfaithful to his beloved Joanne. She badly needed to grow up. But she’d already been kicked in the guts by her father’s accident and no mistake. He didn’t want to be the one to make her feel any worse, to make her realise how immature and selfish her actions were.

*

Keela laughed delightedly, a throaty chuckle deep in her throat, as James swept her into his arms before she was even through the door. Her mood, and therefore his, was serene.

“Mmm,” he mumbled into her hair. “I’ve missed you, Blackbird.”

It had been a while since he’d used his nickname for her, a name he’d used since he first saw her glossy black hair and heard her rich contralto.

“Well, I’m here now,” she said, gently pushing him away. “Let me at least put these dishes on the table.”

He let her slide her arm through his hand while she leaned in to place the casserole on the kitchen table, but then pulled her back to him. “Come here wench! You smell of lavender and rosemary and – you…” He kissed her neck.

“I’ve been under-planting in the herb garden,” she told him. “That’s what you’re smelling on me.”

James linked his arms round behind her waist and gently swung her side to side, the side of his head against hers. “Why are we both spending all our days in offices when we both prefer being outdoors?” he sighed.

Keela leant back to look at him. “We’re paying the mortgage, and all the other bills, like any other couple we know.”

“Is that really what life is all about?” he asked her. “Just muddling on day by day, week by week, doing something you hate just to pay the bills?”

“The meaning of life is just too big an issue for a tired country girl,” she told him. “Get the table laid while I sort out this wonderful casserole from your mother.”

They ate in companionable silence, listening to Chopin nocturnes while they mopped up the rich gravy with slices from a crusty bloomer. They took the last of their wine out to the tiny patio but Keela felt hemmed in by her tiny garden after working all day in Maggie’s spacious piece of paradise.