The One You Really Want (6 page)

Having extricated himself from the crowd, Rennie said in a low voice, ‘Is it a fake?'

Carmen's jaw was tight. ‘How would I know? I'm no expert. But I saw the way she looked at Jonathan.'

‘Right, don't say anything to Nancy just yet. Leave this to me.'

Within minutes, Rennie was doing what he did better than anything else in the world. Flirting with the brunette whose name was Paula. It was a talent he'd never needed to hone; flirting came as naturally to him as breathing. Aware that Nancy was still in the kitchen and Carmen was sitting on a stool over at the bar watching him, he found out that her name was Paula McKechnie and that she was thirty-five and divorced with no children. He also learned that she worked in an art gallery in Edinburgh, was currently single and adored Thai food.

‘Tell me,' said Rennie confidentially, ‘d'you ever get that thing where you meet a complete stranger out of the blue and just . . . click with them?'

Paula regarded him playfully. ‘I suppose it's been known to happen. Why?'

Rennie pulled an apologetic face. ‘The thing is, I think it may be happening now. What are you doing tomorrow night?'

‘Um . . .' Clearly flattered and excited, Paula said, ‘Why are you asking?'

‘Well, I'm staying at the Kincaid Hotel for a few days. I've never been to Edinburgh before, so I don't know anywhere, but if you could suggest a good Thai restaurant, I thought maybe you and I could check it out. Or anywhere you like. I'd love to take you out to dinner, get to know you better.' Rennie paused, a hesitant smile on his lips, then shook his head and said self-deprecatingly, ‘But it's OK if you don't want to. Just thought I'd ask. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'

During the course of their conversation he had been aware of Jonathan standing a short distance away, talking about rugby with his friends but clearly paying close attention to what was going on in the vicinity. Paula, also aware of this, said ‘Um, the thing is, it's a bit—'

‘Sorry, forget I asked. No problem.' Holding up his hands, Rennie began to back away.

Paula, terrified that she was about to miss her chance, whispered in a frantic undertone, ‘No, look, give me a call tomorrow.' Turning away from Jonathan, she scrabbled discreetly in her fake Louis Vuitton handbag for a card and thrust it into his hand. ‘There's my number, but it's better if you don't tell anyone. You know what people can be like . . .'

As smooth as any pickpocket, Rennie slid the card out of sight.

‘You'd rather keep it between us.' He nodded understandingly. ‘It's OK, I do know what people can be like.'

There was no sign of Nancy. Carmen was still on her stool watching them intently. Beckoning her to join them, Rennie said cheerfully, ‘Hey, Carmen, over here. Got something to show both of you.'

Paula giggled. ‘What is it?'

‘Bring the bottle with you,' Rennie added as Carmen slipped down from the stool.

Obediently Carmen picked up the almost empty bottle of Frascati.

‘OK, little trick I learned.' Pushing up his sleeves in businesslike fashion, Rennie rubbed his hands together and waggled his fingers like Paul Daniels.

‘Magic,' Paula exclaimed with delight. ‘I love magic!'

Carmen, sensing something was up, said, ‘Rennie's full of tricks.'

‘If I can remember how to do it.' He paused, deep in thought, then nodded and held out his hand to Paula. ‘Right, give me that ring of yours.'

Entranced, Paula slid it off her finger and passed it over. ‘Don't make it disappear, will you? Auntie May'll go mad.'

‘I won't make it disappear,' Rennie promised. Taking the Frascati bottle in one hand and carefully eyeing the level of the wine, Rennie held up Paula's ring and said, ‘OK, now concentrate. I can only do this once.' He exhaled slowly. ‘Ready?'

Carmen was narrowing her eyes at him, warning him not to mess about, to get on with whatever it was he was about to do.

‘Ready,' Paula said breathlessly.

‘Right, here goes.' Gripping the ring between his fingers Rennie raked it down the side of the bottle.

The scratch in the glass was clearly visible.

‘Is that it?' said Paula.

‘Better tell Auntie May to take your ring back to the shop and complain. This isn't cubic zirconium,' said Rennie. ‘They've only gone and sold her one with a real diamond in it instead.'

‘OK.' Paula leaned forward confidingly and lowered her voice. ‘Someone gave me the ring for Christmas. I know it's a real diamond. I just didn't want everyone else to know. You have no idea what it's like, living in a place like Kilnachranan.'

‘Having an affair with a married man, making sure his wife doesn't find out,' said Rennie. ‘Can't be easy.'

Paula's jaw tightened. She looked at him for a couple of seconds then briefly shook her head. ‘It isn't. Can I have my ring back now?'

But Rennie was studying it. ‘Know what Jonathan bought Nancy for Christmas? A lawnmower.'

He watched the colour drain from Paula's face, her breathing become fast and shallow.

‘Did he?' Her voice was neutral.

Carmen said, ‘Rennie, I—'

‘I'd say you got the better deal,' Rennie continued. Maybe this wasn't how they'd planned it but he was buggered if he'd stop now. ‘It's Jonathan, isn't it?'

Paula now looked as if she'd stopped breathing completely. ‘
What?
'

‘Come on, don't give me that. You're having an affair with Jonathan Adams, right under his wife's nose, and now you've been caught out—'

‘Rennie,' hissed Carmen, jabbing him hard in the ribs, and this time he did stop. But it was too late. Turning, he saw Rose standing behind him holding a tray of baked potatoes and a bowl of prawns in mayonnaise. Shit, shit. From the expression on her face, she'd heard everything.

Rennie mentally braced himself for the crash of the metal tray dropping to the ground. Shit, of all the people to have come up behind him at that moment.

‘Is this true?' whispered Rose.

‘Sorry.' Shaking his head, Rennie put a hand on her arm. ‘Rose, I'm so sorry.'

Ignoring him, Rose stared at Paula. Still clutching the tray, she repeated,
‘Is it true?'

Around them, the party was carrying on in full swing. Literally, in the case of the local curling team in their kilts, recklessly dancing along as Jon Bon Jovi blared from the jukebox.

Paralysed with horror, Paula tried to take a step back. She glanced helplessly across at Jonathan, but he was too busy laughing at the antics of the curling team to notice.

‘Outside,' Rose hissed.

‘Wh-what?'

‘Outside. Now.' Passing the tray of baked potatoes over to Carmen, Rose nodded at the door. ‘Without drawing attention to yourself.'

At that moment one of the kilted dancers lost his balance and stumbled backwards, landing on his backside on the dance floor and creating a handy diversion. As his audience screamed with delight upon discovering he was a true Scot, Rose prodded Paula, like a small ferocious bouncer, out of the pub.

Rennie looked at Carmen. ‘Bloody hell.'

Carmen put down the tray. ‘Nancy's going to kill you.'

‘That's if her mother doesn't kill Paula first.'

They followed Paula and Rose out through the front door of the pub. It was four o'clock, already dark outside, and snow had begun to fall. Illuminated by the misty orange glow of the street lights, with snowflakes already gathering in her hair, Rose McAndrew was giving the trembling younger woman a piece of her mind.

‘. . . you're going to listen to me and pay attention. My daughter's a good girl. She deserves so much
better
than this. Her husband may be a despicable idiot, but for some reason, God only knows why, Nancy worships him. She loves that man and I won't have her hurt. If you think it's clever to steal a married man away from his wife, well, then you're as stupid as he is. Men like that aren't worth stealing, trust me. And I'm certainly not going to stand by and see you hurt my daughter.'

‘But—' began Paula.

‘No buts,' Rose interjected icily. ‘It's over. You aren't going to see Jonathan again and Nancy is never going to find out what her pathetic apology for a husband has been up to behind her back.'

‘Actually, it's OK. I already know.' Stepping out of the shadows, Nancy saw everyone turn and stare at her. When she had emerged from the kitchen two minutes ago to find her friends and her mother missing from the pub, nobody appeared to know where they might have gone. When she pushed open the front door and heard Rose outside the pub berating someone, astonishment had rooted her to the spot. Lurking where no one would see her, she had listened in disbelief. But rather than Jonathan's affair, it was her mother's reaction that was truly confounding her.

She'd never heard her mother like this before, hadn't known she was capable of such a rant. It was like Gaby Roslin peeling off her face to reveal Anne Robinson underneath. Even more astounding was the discovery that Rose didn't adore Jonathan and worship the ground he walked on. At this moment she seemed more likely to spit on it.

Everyone was still gazing at her, Nancy realised, waiting for her to say something else. It was like stepping out onto a stage without learning your lines.

‘I know,' she said again, trembling half with the cold and half with emotion. ‘But Mum, how on earth did
you
find out?'

‘I was in the right place at the right time.' As shocked as Nancy, Rose said, ‘But I can't believe
you
know. Oh darling, why didn't you
tell
me?'

‘Because I didn't want to spoil your Christmas. I knew you'd be upset.'

Rose shook her head in disgust. ‘Upset? I'm not upset, I'm livid!'

At that moment the door swung open and Jonathan appeared in the doorway. Taking in the situation at a glance he said, ‘What's going on? Why is everyone out here?'

‘You may be stupid, Jonathan,' Rose retorted, ‘but you aren't brain-dead. Even you must be able to work it out.'

Overwhelmed by the transformation in her mother, Nancy glanced across at Paula McKechnie, shivering in her sequin-strewn dress and looking utterly miserable. As she reached up to brush snowflakes from her face, a diamond glinted on her right hand. Watching her watch Paula, Rennie said by way of explanation, ‘That's the Christmas present.'
^I

How had he found this out? Nancy couldn't begin to imagine. While she'd been busy helping Nora in the kitchen, slicing onions and grating a mountain of cheese, all this had been going on without her.

‘Cheating on your wife.' Rose eyed Jonathan with disdain. ‘That is so low. How could you? She's not even as pretty as Nancy! You should be ashamed of yourself. My daughter adores you—'

‘Mum, it's OK. I'm going to leave him.' A lump sprang into Nancy's throat, because she couldn't believe she was telling Rose this, wrecking her Christmas and breaking her heart. Except her tiny, frail mother wasn't actually looking that heartbroken. In the glow from the street lamp, she swung back round to face Nancy, a look of hope on her pale face.

‘Really? Truly? Oh darling, thank God!' Clasping her thin fingers together, Rose said anxiously, ‘Are you sure?'

‘Absolutely sure.' Nancy's smile had gone wobbly with relief. ‘I thought you were mad about Jonathan. I thought you'd be devastated.'

‘Sweetheart, are
you
mad? I've known for years that he wasn't good enough for you! I wouldn't trust that little worm further than I could toss a caber.'

‘Look, this is ridiculous,' Jonathan blustered. ‘You can't talk about me as if I'm not even here! So what are you trying to make out, that something's been going on between me and Paula?'

‘Lies, lies. See what I mean about him being pathetic?' Rose shook her permed head with contempt.

‘Jesus, after all we've done for you,' Jonathan shot back. ‘D'you seriously think I
wanted
you here with us over Christmas? I only put up with it to keep Nancy happy.'

Outraged by this attack on her mother, Nancy opened her mouth to protest but felt Rennie's hand on her arm. ‘Let her get on with it,' he murmured, nodding at Rose. ‘She's doing fine.'

‘And didn't you do a great job of that,' Rose riposted with spirit. ‘Never mind, you've certainly cheered me up. This is turning out to be my happiest Christmas in years.' Turning back to face the rest of them she said brightly, ‘Brrr, I'm getting a bit chilly. Shall we go now?'

Grinning at Nancy and Carmen, Rennie said, ‘Whatever you say, Rose. You're the boss.'

‘Wait,' Jonathan called out as they were about to leave. Paula had already scuttled back inside, but he had never been able to handle not knowing the answer to something that was bothering him. ‘How did you find out?'

It was snowing heavily now. Surveying him, Nancy thought how pretty the lit-up pub looked, how festive and inviting, and how having his hair plastered wetly to his forehead really didn't suit Jonathan at all.

Comforted by the feel of Rennie's warm hand against the back of her neck, she said, ‘If I told you that, it would spoil the fun. When it's time to start cheating on Paula, you'd make sure it didn't happen again.' She paused and added more cheerfully than she'd imagined possible, ‘This way, it just might.'

‘How are you doing?' murmured Rennie at dinner that night.