The Perfect Match (28 page)

‘Pilates, but I don’t mind missing it. How’s Alice?’

‘Oh! There’s lots of lovely gossip about Alice, but maybe she should tell you herself. I will give you a hint though. It involves a younger man and Marrakesh.’ Aware she’d delivered just enough information to drive her mother mad with curiosity, Bella smiled. ‘Mind if I put the kettle on?’

Bella told her mother all about Badger Cam and Nevil, and the conclusion that he and Ed Unsworth were damaging the drains.

‘So, what are you going to do about it?’ her mother asked. ‘This really isn’t the sort of thing you should do on your own. Is there anyone who can help you?’

‘There is and there isn’t.’

‘Oh come on, sweetie. Tell me. I might be able to help.’

‘OK, it’s to do with Dominic.’

Her mother sighed the sigh of the potential mother-in-law, remembering the perfect son-in-law who had got away. ‘Go on. You might find saying it all out loud makes it clearer.’

‘Well, you know he was married and his wife got pregnant?’

Her mother nodded. ‘I remember how devastated you were by the news.’

‘Well . . .’ Bella went on to explain about Dylan not being Dominic’s, and how Celine was going to make it harder for Dominic to see him.

‘But why would she do that?’ Bella’s mother asked. ‘You’d think she’d be happy about having an extra responsible adult. Is it just a power thing?’

Bella shrugged. ‘I think that must be it. I’m sure she doesn’t have feelings for Dominic, but I expect she likes to have some sort of hold over him.’

‘So what are you going to do about that?’

Bella shrugged. ‘Do you think I should do something?’

Her mother nodded. ‘Yes. I know I’m usually trying to stop you rushing in to solve other people’s problems, but in this instance, I feel you could help.’

Bella had resolved to confront Celine and challenge her ridiculous stance, that’s partly why she’d come to see her parents, but it was a boost to her confidence that her mother was in agreement. Although she slightly suspected her motive.

She smiled. ‘You think sorting out Celine will stop me trying to find Ed Unsworth.’

‘Sadly, I know you better than that. But leaving Celine out of it, I’d be far happier if you didn’t try to tackle potential criminals on your own. If you did this for Dominic, you could ask him for help more easily.’

Bella considered. ‘OK. I just have to find out how to get in touch with her.’

‘Oh.’ Her mother paused halfway through putting the kettle on again. ‘How will you do that?’

‘Facebook. It might take a while, but I’m sure I can find her.’ She looked appealingly at her mother. ‘Can I borrow your iPad?’

The next morning, after a cosy breakfast with her parents and a wander round the shops with her mother, Bella set off in her car to Swindon, where Celine worked for a PR company: probably a glossy place with lots of interns. She was planning to take her out for lunch.

Thanks to her dad’s satnav, which she fitted to her windscreen with the aid of a bit of spit and some firm words, she got there fairly easily. It was about an hour from her house, so she was at the offices (very glossy indeed) by twelve. However, once she’d found a space in the generous car park, she found the tide of her enthusiasm, her conviction that trying to talk sense into Celine would work, had ebbed away. She still thought it was the right thing to do, however; she wasn’t going to chicken out, but it would take a fair bit of psyching up and ‘you can do its’ into the driving mirror.

When she had checked her appearance – she was very keen not to look like the version of herself that Celine had last seen – she got out of the car. She discovered she was shaking slightly. This might not succeed, but it was what she had to do. For Dominic, for Dylan, and, of course, herself. But Dominic was the most important. If he had to promise never to take Dylan anywhere remotely dangerous, like the swings, or never to have him when anyone else was going to be around, like Bella or his Aunt Jane, it was going to take all the joy out of life. Dominic might not feel the same way about her as she felt about him, but that wasn’t the point, really.

Bella pushed open the heavy glass door and strode across to the reception desk, full of fake confidence. She asked for Celine and, possibly because it was lunchtime, was directed to her office. And her luck held; Celine was still there, working at her desk with her office door open.

Bella tapped on it. Celine looked up, initially confused and then, as she recognised her, surprised. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I want to talk. Can I buy you a sandwich and a glass of wine?’

‘Why should I come out to lunch with you?’ Celine asked crisply. ‘I’m busy. You can say what you want to say now.’

Bella smiled, trying to keep it light. ‘It would be nicer to chat over lunch. We used to know each other a bit and you’ve got to eat. Eating while we talk won’t take up so much of your time.’

Celine acknowledged this with a shrug and a dip of her blonde head. ‘OK.’ She picked up her bag. ‘Come on.’

Bella hid her relief. She had deliberately flattered Celine by implying she was important and her time was precious. If she could get her to relax she might be more receptive.

The two women didn’t speak as Bella followed Celine across a patch of grass to a pub. She didn’t seem to want to chat so there was no point in Bella trying to. Part of a chain, the pub was big enough to allow them privacy, and Celine found a table and sat down.

Bella went to the bar and came back with sparkling water, wine, glasses and menus.

‘I haven’t got much time,’ said Celine, looking at Bella as she unloaded herself.

Bella smiled but didn’t comment. ‘What would you like to eat?’

‘A chicken Caesar salad, dressing on the side.’

‘You eat here often?’

Celine nodded. This wasn’t going to be easy.

When both women had their food, Bella took a sip of her spritzer. Her mouth had gone dry.

‘So,’ said Celine taking the croutons off her salad. ‘Are you and Dominic an item?’

This topic wasn’t what Bella had had in mind. ‘Not really but—’

‘I always thought he had a little thing for you, back in the day. And you for him.’

Bella fiddled with her napkin. ‘Really? It is about him I wanted to chat.’

‘So, was I right? You’re blushing!’ At least she seemed to find it amusing.

‘Celine! That’s not what I’m here to talk about!’

‘But if you want me to listen, you have to say something I want to hear.’

‘Well, I’m not in a position to say whether or not Dominic has “a little thing for me”, OK?’

‘So, what about you?’

Really, Bella thought, this was the second confrontation that had gone completely wrong. First Nevil and now Celine. ‘OK,’ she snapped. ‘I do have a little thing for Dominic. Happy now?’

Celine seemed satisfied and sipped her wine. She looked at Bella through narrowed eyes, and Bella suddenly had a horrible thought. If Celine thought she and Dominic had had an affair while he was still married, it would explain a lot. She had to put her straight.

‘Celine! Really! Nothing ever happened between Dominic and me while you were still married. I promise!’

To Bella’s surprise, this made Celine laugh. ‘Oh God, no need to tell me that! He’s far too upright and stuffy do anything about his little crush. He can be very boring about things like that, I should warn you.’

Bella didn’t think these things made Dominic boring. She thought he was noble and good, not stuffy. But Celine’s morals were obviously very different from hers.

‘OK, why I’m here . . .’

Celine crunched on a bit of celery. ‘Oh, do let’s get to that.’

Bella ignored her sarcasm and pressed on. ‘I feel you’re being unfair making it so difficult for him to see Dylan.’

‘Oh, do you? And what makes you think that?’

‘I was there when you said Dominic could only see him if he could focus fully on him.’

‘And you think that’s unfair? Why? He has no rights over Dylan, you know.’

‘The thing is, if you make it too difficult he won’t be able to see Dylan, and that means he won’t have him for weekends and things.’ Celine’s expression wasn’t encouraging and Bella wasn’t hopeful but she did her best. ‘It must be really useful having an extra dad for him when you need one.’

Celine put her knife and fork together. She’d eaten less than half of her salad. ‘It is useful, but we could manage without it. If Dominic finds having Dyl interferes with his love life . . .’ She raised her eyebrow to make sure Bella got the point.

Bella blushed again. ‘That’s not what I meant!’

‘Isn’t it?’

Bella wanted to swear or cry. She’d gone to all this trouble to help Dominic with Celine, and she’d just made it all a whole lot worse. ‘Dominic puts Dylan’s needs and safety above everything. You didn’t need to come and check up on him. You’d never find a better babysitter, ever.’

Celine exhaled. ‘OK. I suppose I was guilt-tripped by a friend – you met her – into checking up on Dominic. She thinks I shouldn’t let Dom have him if they’re not related.’ She paused to consider. ‘But she’s wrong. It’s just sometimes I worry he’s not as careful with Dyl as he should be. But I know he loves him. And not letting him have Dylan would make things tricky. We are planning a little break soon. It would be good if Dom could have him.’ She thought for a little while longer and then came to a conclusion. ‘You can tell him he can still see his Auntie Jane and – you – while he’s got Dylan.’

‘Celine! I can’t tell him that! It’s up to you to tell him!’

‘Oh, not sure of him, are you?’ Celine laughed. ‘OK, I’ll tell him when I’ve got a minute. Now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a meeting at two and wanted to fit some shopping in first.’

Bella stayed where she was for some time after Celine left. It hadn’t gone exactly to plan, but at least Celine had agreed to ease up her conditions. A pain in her heart she hadn’t really been aware of ebbed away. Everything would be all right.

ONE OF THE
many joys of Michael, Alice reflected, was his ability to be silent. She didn’t want to talk, she just wanted to look out of the window and relive the magic. The fact that they could be silent together seemed more important than all the talking they had done.

While reliving each wonderful moment she came to the lowering conclusion that the most wonderful thing had been the rediscovery of sex. She would have preferred for it to be something to with art, music or architecture. But lovely as those things were, what was so delightful was to find out she was still a woman in all senses, and being sixty hadn’t changed that at all. She was still languid with remembered pleasure. The whole experience had been magical, from start to finish.

There were several cars parked in front of Michael’s house as well as Alice’s.

He switched off the engine. ‘Oh hell.’

‘Were you expecting a party?’ asked Alice, anxious suddenly.

‘Not really. Sort of. Never mind. Let’s go in. You’ll need tea or something after the journey.’

She certainly did, and the use of a bathroom. What she didn’t need was to be introduced to a lot of strange people when she’d only recently got off a plane. What were they doing here? And who had let them in? Still, she wouldn’t let them spoil her bubble of happiness.

‘Mike!’ said a loud male voice from behind the door as it opened. ‘Where the hell have you been?’ A large smiling man appeared. ‘We’ve been trying to get in touch with you!’

‘Sorry,’ said Michael calmly. ‘I’ve been away.’

‘With this lovely creature, I assume!’ said the man, taking Alice’s hand in his large soft one and then kissing her cheek. ‘Good choice!’

Alice faked a smile and withdrew her hand. ‘Bathroom?’ she said to Michael.

‘Just through there,’ he said, pointing. Then he was swept into the sitting room, where Alice could hear other people talking urgently.

Alice took her time in Michael’s downstairs cloakroom. She did her hair, washed her face, applied make-up from her handbag kit, and rubbed the soothing hand cream she also kept there into her hands, until she felt ready for a round of introductions to people she probably wouldn’t see again. She wondered if she could sneak into the kitchen and make a cup of tea first. Perhaps they would sense they were unwelcome and leave.

She tiptoed past the sitting-room door and heard: ‘Mike, you know we’ve been waiting for your decision on this for a while.’ It was the man who’d opened the door.

‘Can I get you a drink of water, Dad?’ That was Hannah, Alice realised, wishing it had been Lucy, who was now an ally.

‘I’m OK. Really, I ought to—’ Michael’s voice.

‘Mike, sorry to put you on the spot, but there are deals resting on this. We need to get you back to London ASAP. There’s a lot of paperwork, things you need to sign when you’re emigrating.’

‘Surely . . .’ Michael sounded very fed up.

Alice felt too shocked to move. Emigrating? Michael was emigrating? And he hadn’t told her? Somehow she moved away from the door, not knowing what on earth to think. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, really, and wanted to stop doing so. But now she wondered: if she hadn’t overheard that, when on earth would he have told her?

Alice stood in the hallway breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, just as she’d been taught in the yoga classes she used to go to. She needed to keep calm. She was an adult – quite an old adult. She must be sensible.

She found a pad and pen in her handbag and, leaning on the hall table, wrote a hasty note:
Dear Michael, Can’t thank you enough for a lovely weekend, but you’re obviously very tied up with the next bit of your life, so won’t say goodbye in person.
Yours, Alice.

Then she hitched her bag on to her shoulder and went outside. Relieved that Michael hadn’t locked his car, she got out her luggage. Then she went to her own car and set off for home.

Alice found it was possible to postpone reality for a while, if you had to. She decided not to think about anything except getting home until she was home. Bella would be back from work soon and they could have tea in the garden. Bella would want to know all about Marrakesh and Alice would tell her. She wouldn’t tell her how she’d discovered sex again, of course, but an amusing account of how they’d got lost in the souk would be fine.