He nodded. ‘And who are you?’
‘I’m the new tenant.’
Brian gaped at him. ‘Tenant? Is my mother taking in lodgers?’
‘Certainly not. She’s rented the house to me.’
‘You mean, she’s not living here any longer?’
‘Exactly. Now, you’ll have come for those boxes in the garage. She told me you would. I’ll help you carry them out to your car.’
‘It’d be easier if you let me drive in, then we could load them straight into the boot.’
‘If they’re too heavy, I’ll carry them out for you.’ He chuckled and strode off towards the garage. He might be bald, but he looked extremely fit and healthy.
Scowling, Brian followed. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’
‘I didn’t give it to you. It’s none of your business.’ He opened the garage door, which also seemed to have a new operating system, and led the way to the back, getting one box down as if it weighed nothing. He thrust it at Brian. ‘There you are. I’ll carry the other one out.’
Not knowing what to say, Brian followed him, and when the boxes were in the boot, the man turned to go back inside the garden. ‘Just a minute. Do you have Mum’s forwarding address?’
‘No.’
‘But you must have some idea where she’s gone?’
‘I don’t, actually. She wasn’t sure herself. All I have is her email address and surely you have that too?’
‘But—’
Brian was left staring through the bars into the garden as the man strode along the path and vanished into the house without looking back. He couldn’t believe his mother had just upped and left. She wasn’t the sort to do something like that. Where could she have gone?
Guilt shot through him. Was she so short of money she had to rent her house out? If he’d known that, he’d have made a bigger effort to pay her rent and housekeeping money. Only, from what his father said, he’d thought she was loaded with money.
To his surprise, not knowing where she was made him feel uneasy. He’d ring his father up tonight. If
he
didn’t know, he’d soon find out.
The afternoon flew by and Molly, nervous at first of being left on her own, found she was coping just fine. When she couldn’t answer a question, she explained this was her first afternoon working there and promised to get back to them.
It seemed as if the leisure village had stirred up interest all over the country.
It was five o’clock before she knew it.
‘Intending to stay here all night?’ an amused voice said from the doorway.
She looked up to see Euan leaning against the door frame, looking relaxed and far too attractive for a man of his age. ‘Oh! You shocked me.’
‘You were lost in your notes. Could I ask what you’re doing or is it private?’
‘I’d not do private work in your time. I was jotting down some notes about the residents’ rules. I found some on the Internet for another leisure village, which gave me a start.’
He smiled and his voice softened. ‘I didn’t think you’d cheat me. You have a particularly honest face. That was very enterprising of you. Now, I have to go round and lock up the show houses, which includes checking that all the windows are closed. Want to come and help me? I can give you the grand tour at the same time. You’ve not seen them yet.’
‘I’d love that. I came down here to look them over as potential homes for myself. Once I’ve sold my present house, I’d like to find somewhere smaller and easier to keep up.’
‘Had your house on the market for long?’
‘No. But there were problems with my ex. I’ll explain another time.’
‘Yes, of course. None of my business anyway.’ He led the way round the three show houses, explaining the prices and showing off the fittings with imperfectly concealed pride.
Then he looked at his watch. ‘Damn! We’re going to be late. I’ll just call Avril.’ He made a quick call to say they’d been delayed and would be setting off in five minutes, then turned to Molly. ‘We’ll go in my car. It’s closer and I know the way.’
His car was a sleek Mercedes convertible. She felt like a princess being swooshed away to a ball as he drove away. Even Craig hadn’t been able to afford a car like this one. It just reeked of money. And, more important to her, it was wonderfully comfortable.
She beamed as they drove along, then caught him smiling at her. ‘What’s so amusing?’
‘It’s just a pleasure to drive someone who’s enjoying it. You snuggled down in the seat like my mother’s cat does in her furry rug.’
‘Oh. Well, it is a lovely car.’
‘Yes. I like it. Very useful for impressing the richer clients, too.’
‘Will rich people want houses this small?’
‘No. But I have some other designs for individual houses that can be custom built.’
‘How wonderful to create a whole village like that!’
‘It is. It’s years since I’ve enjoyed my work as much. It’s a bit of a change for me and— Oh, here we are.’
Brian decided to call in to see his father, rather than phone. That way, he might get a free meal. Otherwise, it’d be fried eggs and baked beans again, one of the few things he could cook, if you could call it cooking. He really missed his mother’s wonderful food.
Geneva opened the door and glared at him. ‘What do
you
want?’
‘What do you think? To see my father. I’m not going to stop seeing him just because I have to put up with your sour face as well.’
‘I’ll see if he’s available.’ She slammed the door in his face.
He was furious at this reception but had no choice except to stand outside and wait.
His father came to the door. ‘Geneva’s still very angry with you, so Tasha doesn’t want you coming in and spoiling our meal. And you might try ironing your clothes after you’ve washed them. No wonder Geneva said you looked like a tramp.’
‘And of course you took their side, Dad. You always do. So, if I’m not welcome here, I’ll keep the news to myself and you can find out about Mum some other way.’
‘Wait! What’s this about your mother?’
‘See you around.’
‘Oh, come in, you fool! But make sure you keep a civil tongue in your head.’
In the hall his father stopped again. ‘Well? What about your mother?’
‘She’s left.’
His father looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language.
‘She’s not living in the old house any more. She’s rented it out to some stranger and left.’
‘Are you sure of this?’
‘I was speaking to him this lunchtime.’
‘Who is he?’
‘He wouldn’t tell me his name. He looked vaguely familiar, but I can’t remember where I know him from.’
‘Didn’t you have the wit to ask for her forwarding address?’
Brian had never found his father so hard to deal with and suddenly felt a stab of sympathy for his mother, who had put up with years of this sort of treatment. ‘Of course I did! He said he didn’t know where she’d gone.’
‘He’s lying. She must have left a forwarding address for the mail.’
Tasha came to the door of the dining room. ‘Is this going to take long? Dinner’s ready.’
She ignored Brian completely. His mother would never have treated a guest like that.
‘Could you set another place, please, darling? Brian’s brought some interesting news.’ His father, who was more prone to bark out orders, always spoke to Tasha in a conciliatory tone. Wow, she had him right under her thumb. Who’d have thought anyone could do that?
She pulled a face, but shrugged agreement.
Brian followed his father into the dining room, ‘Hi, Tasha; Geneva.’
Geneva sniffed and ignored him; Tasha gave him a scornful look. ‘Next time you visit, ring first and make sure it’s convenient, and wear something half decent. I don’t usually open my house to tramps and layabouts.’
Suddenly Brian felt angry enough to defy her. ‘I’m not making appointments to see my own father. If I’m not wanted here, I’ll leave and—’
His father’s voice cracked out like a whip. ‘Shut up and sit down!’
And as he had done a million times before, Brian swallowed his anger and did as his father told him.
The food was superb, as always, but the helpings were small. He could have eaten twice as much. Did his father only marry women who could cook? he wondered suddenly. Yes, of course. That would be quite important. His father did a lot of entertaining and networking. He frowned as he realized that his father didn’t actually have any long-time friends, only current business acquaintances.
In between mouthfuls, he answered questions, explaining in more detail what had happened.
‘Let me know if you remember where you’ve seen this fellow,’ his father said. ‘And now, if you’ve finished scraping the plate, Tasha and I have some important things to discuss tonight.’
Brian took the not-so-subtle hint and thanked his stepmother for the meal, then nodded to Geneva, who sniffed and tossed her head. ‘Can’t we even be friends now?’ he asked her, forgetting the others.
‘I’m not staying friends with a slob like you.’
He felt angry all the way home. He wasn’t a slob. He was just . . . a bit untidy.
But when he looked round the tiny studio flat, he couldn’t deny that Geneva was right. It was a right old mess. And he’d forgotten to buy any cleaning materials, even though he’d put them on the list. Of course, if you didn’t take the list with you when you went shopping, it wasn’t much use, was it?
Even he didn’t want to live like this, so he went out to the local supermarket. He was amazed to find a whole aisle devoted to cleaning materials. He tried reading the labels, but they all claimed to work miracles and he was utterly lost as to which to buy.
‘Can I help you, sir?’
He turned to see a neat young woman in the store uniform. ‘Would you? I’ve just moved into a flat and I need to clean it, only I don’t know what to get.’
She questioned him and gradually loaded his trolley with items, the cost of which shocked him rigid. At this rate, the money his father had given him wouldn’t last till his next payday.
‘I can’t afford all that!’ he blurted out. ‘I’ve got to buy food as well.’
‘Hmm.’ She looked into his trolley and began unloading it, leaving only a few items plus a packet of cleaning cloths.
‘I’m really grateful,’ he said when she stepped back. ‘Can I buy you a coffee?’
‘No, thank you. I’m on late shift tonight.’
He saw then that her name label read Carol, Deputy Floor Manager. ‘Another time, perhaps.’
‘There’s really no need. It’s all part of the service. Now, if you have everything you need, sir . . . ?’
‘I’d better get a cookery book. Cheap and easy.’
‘There’s a free one if you buy certain frozen foods. It’s quite good, too. I’ll show you.’
He bought some frozen vegetables and potato wedges, looking at the book doubtfully as he put it in the trolley. He’d never so much as opened a cookery book in his life.
‘If you can read, you can follow instructions and cook,’ she said with a smile. ‘It’s far cheaper to cook for yourself than to buy ready meals, unless you try to cook expensive stuff.’ She stepped back. ‘And now I really must get on.’
He watched her walk away. She had a nice manner, a lovely smile and he liked her face too. Not glamorous, but wholesome and healthy looking. Well, you could keep glamorous from now on. Geneva might have looked good, but she’d been a high maintenance chick and had cleaned him out of money.
Honesty made him add mentally as he queued at the checkout that though she’d encouraged him to spend money, he’d not been reluctant.
He’d have to find out about the value of his toys; see if he could sell them. He had very little household equipment or furniture. He was using a friend’s camping stuff, a blow-up mattress and pillow, and an old sleeping bag, plus a yellowed plastic garden chair that he’d found on someone’s verge waiting for the rubbish collection.
It was a far cry from the comfort of his mother’s house. And he’d better iron a shirt for tomorrow. He’d been forced to buy ironing equipment early on because he had to look decent for work. He didn’t know what he’d do if he lost his job.
As he smoothed the shirt carefully, terrified of burning it, he wondered where his mother was. She’d be all right, of course she would.
But still, he wished he knew. She annoyed the hell out of him sometimes, and she’d made a fool of herself at the wedding, but she
was
his mother.
Molly followed Euan to the front door of a cottage that looked picture-book pretty. It opened before they got there, and he gave Avril a hug before introducing her.
Secretary indeed! Molly thought. Avril was more like an honorary aunt and looked at him just as fondly.
She gave Molly a very thorough appraisal in thirty seconds flat, relaxing visibly. ‘Do come in. I’ve got everything ready.’
‘Apple pie?’ he asked.
She rolled her eyes. ‘Of course. And yes, I’ll bring some in for lunch tomorrow.’ She said confidentially to Molly. ‘He’s not hard to please. Are you any good at making apple pies? If you’re going to work for him, it’s useful to know how to soften him up.’
‘I enjoy cooking.’
‘Good.’ She gestured to a chair at the table. ‘I hope you don’t mind eating straight away, but since you’re a bit late, everything’s ready and I don’t want it to overcook.’
It might have been a purely social gathering, it was so pleasant, except that Molly was aware of Avril leading the conversation with a masterly hand and finding out a lot about her in the process. Somehow she didn’t mind answering these questions, because they weren’t asked with malice by a person likely to come back and worry at your weak spots afterwards. This was a woman determined to protect Euan Santiago, a man who ought not to need protecting, but somehow, it seemed, did. How intriguing!
It was probably because this project was his dream, Molly guessed as the conversation continued. You only had to listen to the way he spoke about it. The words were out before she could stop them. ‘I really envy you, Euan.’