The Art of Deception (Choc Lit) (6 page)

‘
A moment of madness in my case, I guess. I’m training to be a nurse, and the government gives us a bursary every year. It’s not a lot of money, but it means I’m not totally broke. My mates decided to go to Corfu, but can you see me on a beach all day with this hair?’ She pointed to her red curls.

‘
Not very easily, I must admit.’

‘
And anyway, a beach holiday would be dead boring, so I decided to do something totally different. I didn’t want to do anything practical as I do practical things all day long, and when I saw your ad, I thought to myself, that’s it, I’ll do something creative. It’ll be fun.’

‘
And
are
you finding it fun?’ Jenny asked.

‘
Actually, I am. I’m really enjoying it.’

Jenny
laughed. ‘I guess that was a silly question – you’d say that anyway. But I hope you mean it.’ She paused. ‘If you could change one thing about the week, what would you change?’

Clare thought
for a moment. ‘I’d have only one cool guy on the course, not two.’

Jenny gave her a rueful smile.

‘I did rather notice that my nephew’s smitten,’ Max cut in. ‘And, indeed, so is Mr Williams. But since I’m sort of an interested party, and a man, I’m above prying so I won’t ask which one you prefer.’

Clare
blushed. ‘They both seem very nice in different ways.’

‘
That’s a very good answer to the question I didn’t ask.’

All three laughed.

‘Well, as you both seem OK, I won’t interrupt you any further,’ Jenny said, starting to move away. ‘I’ll see if I can find Stephen or Nick.’

‘
Oh, there you are, Uncle Max. How are you getting on?’ Stephen’s voice came from behind her.

‘I was just
about to look for you, Stephen,’ Jenny said, turning to him with a smile.

‘I thought I’d
come and see how my uncle was doing. Perhaps give him a few tips.’ He sauntered over to Max’s easel and leaned over him to study his work. He glanced up at the wisteria on the corner of the house, and then stared back at the picture. ‘Missing that first lesson must be to blame,’ he said.

L
aughing, he went over to Clare. ‘That’s really good, Clare,’ he said, his voice full of admiration. ‘With
your
work, I don’t even have to look at the view to know what you’re painting.’

He
glanced across at Max and they grinned at each other.

‘You two,’ Jenny said with a
smile of amusement.

‘
I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to scrutinising your paintings this evening, Stephen,’ Max said cheerfully. ‘I’m sure I’ll have much to learn from them.’

‘
I’m not sure I should let you see what I’ve done: the quality of my work might make you give up on the spot.’

‘
Ah, but you’ve no choice in the matter. If you look at today’s programme, you’ll see that our work’s going to be on display before dinner. What’s more, we’re going to have more than one occasion on which to gaze in awe at what we’ve all done in the day.’

‘
Mmm,’ Stephen said, a mock-serious expression on his face. ‘I think you should skip that part of the programme, old man. Any sudden strain could damage your health, and I dread to think what might happen if you heard honest comments about your work.’

‘
Your concern is deeply touching, but my aged bones and I will risk it. After all, we have a nurse among us.’

‘
So we do.’ Stephen turned and beamed at Clare. ‘But if anyone’s going to need Clare to resuscitate them, I want it to be me.’

Clare
blushed.

‘
What did you paint this afternoon, Stephen?’ Jenny asked, changing the subject. ‘In fact, why don’t we leave Max and Clare in peace and you can show me what you’ve been doing?’

F
ootsteps sounded on the gravel path, and they turned their heads as Nick came into sight.

‘
So that’s where you’ve all got to,’ he exclaimed. ‘I might have guessed.’

‘
I’m afraid Jenny’s rather got caught up here, paralysed by the brilliance of our work,’ Max told Nick with a grin.

‘
Huh.’ Stephen sniggered.

‘Come on
, you two,’ Jenny said, moving across to Stephen and Nick. ‘I’d like you to show me what you’ve done.’

As she walk
ed past Max, she couldn’t resist glancing down at him. To her surprise, he was staring up at her. Their eyes met, and held. Her steps slowed, and stopped.

For a long moment,
the world hung in suspense and she saw only Max.

Then abruptly she
jerked her head away.

Hurrying
after Nick and Stephen, she struggled to summon the image of her father to her mind.

‘That was a colossal meal,’ Howard said, rubbing his stomach. ‘I’m not sure I’ll be able to get up from the table.’

Jenny
laughed. ‘Maria had something similar in mind for lunch, too. Can you imagine eating two such huge meals in one day?’ she asked, addressing the table as a whole. ‘How Italians manage to stay as slim as they do, I don’t know. Not all of them, of course, but the majority.’

Clare sighed enviously.
‘They must have magic ways of burning off the calories. I just wish they’d share them with us Brits.’

‘
You’re gorgeous as you are, Clare,’ Nick said. He put his arm round the back of her chair. She moved forward and he dropped his arm.

Paula
smiled vaguely in Jenny’s direction, and then turned to Max, who was next to her. ‘Howie and I were saying earlier how flattered we were that you were choosing to spend so much of your precious time with little old us.’ She tinkled a silvery laugh, took an
amoretto
from the bowl in the centre of the table and popped it into her mouth.

Jenny
groaned inwardly. Paula and Howard could easily bore Max into staying away, she thought in a moment of despair. Their silly twitterings were hardly the adult conversation he’d sought. She couldn’t let them monopolise him, but what on earth could she do to stop them?

At that moment,
Max glanced at her across the table and smiled. She felt herself relax a little, smiled back, and then forced herself to turn to George, who was sitting next to her.

‘
I think there’s definitely been some progress in your use of the brush, Mr Rayburn,’ she said, trying hard at the same time to listen to Howard and Paula’s conversation with Max.

‘
All I can say is,’ Max was telling Paula, ‘I’m enjoying myself enormously. I’m very grateful to all of you for letting me join in. Originally, I’d only intended to come over in the evenings, but I seem to have become a fixture in the day, too. It’s certainly a very different week from the one I’d’ve had if you hadn’t been here – but it’s turning into a very interesting one.’

‘
What would you have been doing if we hadn’t been here? You don’t seem to be the sort of person who’d lie by a pool all day long and do nothing,’ Howard said, sliding his arm around the back of Paula’s chair and leaning a little closer to Max.

‘
I’d have a swim before breakfast, and again in the afternoon, but I suppose I do that now, anyway. But you’re right, lying in the sun isn’t for me. If you weren’t here, I’d probably spend more time relaxing on the
loggia –
the veranda that runs around part of the house.’

‘
It sounds heavenly,’ Paula sighed.

‘
It is. I expect that I’d linger there, reading or looking at the view. Being on a slope means that there’s usually a gentle breeze so it’s all very pleasant. But having said that,’ he added with a laugh, ‘knowing me, the truth is I’d probably go back to my computer and work out of habit. I suspect that I’m going to have more of a rest by joining the class than I would’ve done by staying on my own.’

‘
Your life here sounds idyllic,’ Paula sighed, ‘computer or not. Don’t you think so, Howie?’

‘
Absolutely. I’m like you about work, Max. If I was holidaying here, I’d need a hobby to keep my mind off my job. Books are only OK for so long.’ He slipped his arm from the back of Paula’s chair to her shoulder. ‘Nope, I’d have to do something other than just read and swim.’

‘
I couldn’t sit still and read all day any more than you could,’ Max agreed. ‘But I’m extremely lucky that I can pursue my interests in both England and Umbria: I’ve been collecting pictures in a small way over the years. It’s just a hobby, but I love it, and I’ve every intention of spending a large part of my time in Italy visiting galleries and exploring little shops in out-of-the-way places. Who knows, I might find a hitherto-undiscovered masterpiece,’ he added with a laugh.

‘
Ooh, what fun,’ Paula declared. ‘Isn’t it, Howie?’

‘
It certainly is. I envy you, Max.’

‘
And galleries and museums aren’t the only places to visit. Nearly every church, no matter how small the town, has at least one painting worth seeing. In fact, I’d planned to take Stephen round some of the nearby churches this week. Funnily enough, though, just after I told him of my plan, he confessed to a burning desire to join the art class.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Jenny saw him
glance affectionately at Stephen, who was deep in conversation with Nick and Clare. Then she felt Max’s eyes come to rest on her. Struggling not to look at him, she tossed her blonde plait over her shoulder, kept her face firmly turned towards George, and made a great effort to focus on what he was saying.

‘
Jenny seems very easy to get along with, and a good teacher, too,’ she heard Max say as he turned back to Howard and Paula.

So he thought she was
easy to get along with, did he? A glow of happiness crept through her body.

‘
Oh, she is. She’s a lovely person. Howie and I have already learnt so much from her. But about your hobby, Max. You’re lucky to have the luxury of buying paintings – most people can’t afford much more than food and drink. It’s—’

‘
Paula,’ Howard said sharply. He sounded distinctly annoyed, Jenny thought. She glanced at him in surprise and saw him frowning.

Paula’s
laugh was shrill. ‘I was only going to say that I’m so pleased that someone’s able to preserve all these wonderful paintings, Max.’

Howard nodded. ‘She’s right about that.’

‘But we look like having a fine collection of our own to take home with us, don’t we, Howie?’ Paula added. ‘Jenny said some very kind things about our work.’

‘I hope you do,’ Max said
with a smile. ‘It’d make the week worthwhile for you, and it’d make Jenny very happy, I’m sure.’

H
is eyes returned to Jenny’s face.

‘
Are your paintings here or in England?’ Howard asked.

Max pulled his gaze away.
‘Mostly in England. I’ve got a few pictures here as well, but my main collection is at home. But don’t get carried away and imagine rooms full of Leonardos. It’s only a very modest collection, something I do for fun.’

Howard
picked up the bottle of dessert wine, leaned in front of Paula and divided the last of the wine between his glass and Max’s. ‘What style of art do you go for?’

‘
I’d say I was quite eclectic – a bit of everything, but contemporary art probably predominates. Certainly, the pictures I’ve got on my walls here are contemporary. And the ones in this house, too.’

‘Did you bring them
over from England?’ Howard asked.

‘That’s right. I know that
these are fourteenth-century houses, but I felt that contemporary art would go better with the style of furniture I’ve chosen. Classical wouldn’t work as well.’

‘
I love looking at paintings.’ Paula’s voice was tinged with wistfulness.

‘
From what I saw this evening, you’re a pretty good artist yourself, Paula. Your work today was really impressive.’

‘You’re just saying that, Max,’ she simpered.

‘Not at all. Out of all of us, you and Howard are the only ones who seem to have a natural flair. Any flair, at all, for that matter. I reckon you could be extremely good if you wanted to. I’m sure you’d be able to sell your work.’

‘
It’s sweet of you to say that, Max, but I’m sure I wouldn’t. Who’d want to buy anything painted by little old me?’ She giggled.

‘
Paula was told the same thing at school,’ Howard said, glancing affectionately at his wife, his irritation clearly gone. ‘But it’s a difficult business to succeed in and she’s never attempted to make it her career. It’s always been a bit of a regret, which is one of the reasons why we chose this sort of week for our honeymoon. It’s a moment of luxury amid the humdrum of everyday life.’