The Perfect Match (23 page)

The old tin bath filled with water kept them both cool. Dylan was by now wearing his trunks, sunhat and sun cream. Bella, still in her dress, was very wet. She tucked the skirt up into her knickers and borrowed some sun cream.

She was just seeing if she could still do handstands, when she became aware of her clients and Dominic all watching her. Dylan was in the tent.

‘Oh, hi!’ she said, getting herself the right way up. ‘How’s it all going?’

‘It’s a lovely house!’ said Imogen Agnew ecstatically.

‘And quite big enough for two families,’ said Jane.

‘We will need to do a little working out on how this can be done,’ said Alan Agnew. ‘Would you mind if I went and had another look round?’

‘And of course it will be difficult to value,’ said his wife.

‘That’s where your friendly local estate agent comes in,’ said Bella.

‘And a good lawyer,’ said Dominic.

Jane laughed. Bella was pleased to see how relaxed she looked, as if the thought of sharing her home with the Agnews and being relieved of worries about the house had already had an effect. ‘Take no notice of these thrusting professionals,’ she said, ‘you go back and have a good poke round. Take as long as you like. I’ll make some tea.’

‘Do you want any help?’ said Bella.

‘No, no. You’re busy here,’ she said with a distinct twinkle.

Bella felt embarrassed and was glad when Dylan emerged from the tent.

‘Go upside down again!’ he said. ‘And go in a circle!’

Bella knew this meant doing a cartwheel, and was glad she’d had time to get in a lot of practice before showing Dominic her rare talent. She glanced at him now.

‘Do go in a circle,’ said Dominic. ‘I’d love to see that.’

He was teasing her but she didn’t mind; in fact, she realised with a moment of shame, she appreciated the opportunity to show off. It was lovely to feel carefree and joyful, just for a bit.

Jane Langley’s front lawn was spacious and Bella positioned herself well. She managed to fit in four good cartwheels and then righted herself, out of breath and dizzy. Dominic and Dylan were looking at a car that had just driven up.

‘Mummy!’ called Dylan. ‘Mummy’s here!’

Dylan looked questioningly at Dominic, whose expression was rigid.

Even before Celine was out of the car Bella knew there was going to be a row. She came storming across the lawn. Motherhood hadn’t changed her, Bella realised. She was still the well-groomed beauty she always had been. Bella felt like a ragamuffin with her wet clothes and hair, and decided it was no surprise Dominic didn’t fancy her if the svelte and elegant Celine was his preferred type.

‘Dylan!’ Celine snapped. ‘Here!’

Terrified and confused, the little boy ran to her side.

Celine had picked up his clothes from where they were lying on a deckchair. ‘Get in the car, darling,’ she went on, a little more gently. ‘Daddy’s there.’

Bella was watching Dominic and saw the pang as he heard the word. He must have been Daddy at first. And now he had been demoted.

Celine turned on him now. ‘For goodness’ sake, Dominic! Didn’t you notice he had a cold? What were you thinking of, letting him get wet?’ Her gaze swivelled round to where Bella was standing. Then she frowned. ‘Bella? Is that you?’

Bella pulled her dress out of her knickers, wishing she could run away and hide. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t notice Dylan had a cold. But it’s a lovely day, I’m sure he’ll be fine.’

‘I’ll be the judge of that, thank you!’ Celine said. ‘And anyway, he was Dominic’s responsibility. He should have made sure he was properly looked after.’ She paused, lips pursed. ‘I’m not sure I can go on letting you see him if you can’t take care of him.’

Bella couldn’t help sticking up for him. ‘Really, Celine, it’s not Dominic’s fault and Dylan’s been having a lovely time.’

‘Sorry, why are you here?’ Celine said. ‘I’m confused. Are you with Dominic?’

Bella blushed again. ‘I’m here working . . .’ She was horribly aware of being soaking wet, her mascara probably halfway down her face, her dress crumpled and filthy. ‘I was just keeping Dylan amused.’

‘Have you had a career change? Are you a children’s entertainer now? Maybe that’s a good idea. We all assumed you’d done something wrong when you left Owen and Owen so hurriedly.’

At least she hadn’t known the real reason: that she had been in love with her husband and that she, Celine, had just got pregnant. ‘No, I’m still an estate agent. I’m looking after Dominic’s aunt.’ Celine’s perfectly shaped raised eyebrow made Bella feel obliged to explain her non-professional appearance. ‘I was doing cartwheels to make Dylan laugh.’

‘I’m sure you didn’t have to go that far – he’s only two! And did you know your dress is see-through when it’s wet, and if you’re going to do gymnastics you need a more supportive bra.’

‘Celine!’ said Dominic sharply.

She looked back at him again. ‘As for you, I’ll be in touch, but in future I don’t want you having Dylan if you can’t give him your undivided attention.’ Then she marched off to the car. Shortly afterwards the engine was started and the car shot off.

Neither of them seemed to know what to say. Five minutes earlier Bella and Dylan had been playing happily together. She’d been remembering what it was like to be a child, completely at home in one’s body. She’d enjoyed playing with Dylan as much as he seemed to enjoy playing with her. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t notice Dylan had a cold,’ Bella managed eventually.

Dominic shook his head. ‘He didn’t have a cold! It’s just Celine being overprotective and neurotic. Otherwise she wouldn’t have driven for forty-five minutes to check!’

Bella shrugged and then went over to the deckchair where she’d left her handbag. ‘I’d better make myself tidy.’ Then she gave Dominic a short, embarrassed smile and went indoors to the downstairs cloakroom to see what she could do with her unruly curls, crushed skirt and grubby face.

Bella looked out of the kitchen door to see Imogen Agnew carrying a loaded tray out into the garden, where Jane was seated at the table. Bella was thrilled that the Agnews already seemed to be keeping an eye out for Jane. Mr Agnew had a couple of cake tins and a milk jug in his hands. Feeling she couldn’t just pretend the scene with Celine hadn’t happened, she went to find Dominic in the kitchen. He was making tea.

‘I am so sorry. I feel I’ve completely messed things up for you. It was my idea to play with water.’

Daniel shook his head. ‘You couldn’t have known he had a sniffle – I hardly noticed it myself but, now I come to think about it, Celine had told me about it.’ He smiled apologetically. ‘She’s very overprotective when it suits her. It makes her lash out.’ He paused. ‘I’m sorry she was so rude to you.’

‘That’s OK; it wasn’t your fault. But her overprotectiveness must make this very difficult for you.’

‘For me and Dylan. Poor little chap, he’s the one who has to put up with her neuroses.’ He paused. ‘It was probably to make sure Dylan wasn’t having too much fun that she came to check up on me.’ He pushed his hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. ‘She wants it all ways. She wants childcare when it suits her, but she holds over my head all the time that I have no rights when it comes to Dylan. I only get to see him out of the kindness of her heart.’

‘Ha! What kindness? What heart? What sort of woman uses a child as a pawn like that?’ Bella was incredulous.

Dominic regarded her, his expression utterly bleak. ‘The kind of woman I married.’

Bella suffered a pang. Did this mean Dominic still had feelings for Celine? Was he still getting over the break-up of their marriage? It must have been dreadful – especially discovering that his beloved Dylan wasn’t actually his son.

She tried to study him as he turned back to fill the kettle but could learn nothing from his back. He might still have feelings for her; even though she was a bitch, men were notoriously fixated on women’s looks. How could she, Bella, compete? Celine was so beautiful, and she had Dylan. All the cards were in her hand. Bella realised she had nothing except a sort of youthful prettiness, a helpful personality and an ability to do cartwheels. Not much competition really.

‘Is there anything I can do to hurry up the tea? I’m gasping after all that.’

Dominic turned to look at her. She couldn’t read his expression. His handsome features were inscrutable. Then he clicked the switch on the kettle. It instantly started to rumble.

‘So where has that dear little boy gone?’ asked Alan when Bella and Dominic arrived with the tea. ‘He and Bella seemed to be having so much fun.’

‘Yes we were,’ said Bella. ‘Which is why I look such a mess, I’m afraid.’

‘You look lovely,’ said Imogen. ‘I wish I could do cartwheels, but I never could, even when I was young.’ She looked at Dominic. ‘So where is he? I assumed he was your son—’

‘His mother came to fetch him,’ said Dominic.

‘Let’s all have some cake!’ said Jane brightly, diverting unwelcome attention from Dominic. ‘And talk about our plans.’

Bella knew she was changing the subject for Dominic’s sake, and that he must often face people’s assumption that he and Dylan were related, when the DNA test claimed they definitely weren’t. It was a truly horrible situation and, completely inadvertently, she had made it a whole lot worse.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ said Jane. ‘What I really want is a good sitting room and a kitchen, but I don’t need one as big as I’ve got now. A galley kitchen as part of the sitting room, with a view on to the garden would do me just fine.’

‘Are you saying you don’t want that gorgeous kitchen?’ said Imogen, her expression becoming ecstatic.

‘As long as I have space to knock up a few cakes now and again, to keep Bella happy, I’ll be perfectly content. I was watching a cooking programme the other day, and this chef had a kitchen–sitting room instead of a kitchen–diner. It made far more sense to me. An open fire in a kitchen is a lovely thing.’

‘Well, you’ve obviously given it a lot of thought,’ said Dominic.

‘When I finally realised I couldn’t afford to live here on my own I started thinking about what I really wanted from my home.’ She paused, possibly becoming conscious she’d said more in one go than she usually did. She
had
obviously been giving it all a lot of thought. Bella was thrilled – she’d got something right, and for one of her favourite people. ‘I narrowed it down to my bedroom and bathroom as they are now, and the kitchen–sitting room as described.’

‘You must need some upstairs space,’ declared Imogen. ‘There are lots of bedrooms. I think you should have one as a spare room and maybe one for storage?’

‘I suppose that would be nice,’ said Jane, ‘but what about you? You wouldn’t want my guests up there, getting in your way.’

‘If I could have that enormous bedroom overlooking the garden,’ said Imogen, ‘I don’t care much what other upstairs rooms we have.’

‘Well, I’m very glad both parties are bending over backwards to accommodate each other’s needs,’ said Dominic, sounding like a lawyer, ‘but we must make sure there are no ambiguities.’

‘I can suggest someone who could do all the plans,’ said Bella. ‘I’ve mentioned her before, Jane. She’d arrange separate entrances so there are two clearly defined properties.’

‘And I recommend we arrange things so that if Imogen and Alan want to move, the divisions might alter.’

‘Oh God,’ said Bella, suddenly daunted. ‘I hadn’t thought of that. It’s going to be more complicated than I realised.’

‘I’m sure all the problems can be overcome,’ said Alan, smiling kindly at Bella and making her feel better.

Bella realised that her feelings were more to do with Dominic and his situation than the house, and forced a more cheerful expression. ‘I just meant it’ll be a bit tricky, making it all legal,’ she said.

‘That’s my department,’ said Dominic.

‘This is so exciting!’ said Imogen, before taking a restorative sip of tea.

‘Isn’t it?’ said Jane. ‘Now do have more cake, everyone, or I’ll be living on it for the rest of the week.’

ALICE’S JOB AS
a director of a medium-sized firm making small but vital components for industrial looms and involved going abroad meant that she had travelled a fair bit over the years, but she found the whole experience very different with Michael. Instead of it merely being the businesslike process of getting from one place to another, with him, the journey was part of the adventure. It made the airport, not Alice’s favourite place, seem romantic and exciting.

Once they were through the formalities, Michael insisted on taking her round the perfume shop, making her try different scents and cosmetics until she was giggling with the silliness of it all. He bought her a bottle of something which, she realised, would always remind her of this happy time. Then they went to Smith’s and he bought them both magazines, which he insisted on carrying. After that he swept her off to a bar and they had champagne.

Alice was determined to enjoy every minute. She wasn’t cynical, but she couldn’t really believe it was real. She was a woman of sixty being taken to Marrakesh by a man many a forty-year-old would be flattered to be with.

But although part of her didn’t let herself believe it, she was aware of how well they got on. They even had the same ideas about what time to go to the boarding gate and, once settled in their seats, when was a good time to stop talking and just read.

She wasn’t aware of closing her eyes until she opened them to see Michael watching her.

‘You’re so sweet when you’re asleep,’ he said.

‘Does that mean I’m not sweet when I’m awake?’ she said, feeling caught out and worried in case she’d snored or dribbled.

He laughed at her grumpiness. ‘You are always enchanting but with your lashes against your cheek and your mouth open just the tiniest bit you reminded me of the girls when they were little and slept in the back of the car.’

Alice decided to be mollified. Sleeping together was one of the things she was both looking forward to and dreading. Would desire – and she certainly had that – take her through? She smiled at him and he put his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. Her confidence increased. This lovely man did indeed want to be with her.