The Perfect Match (3 page)

She kissed her godmother on the cheek. ‘Good day? Oh, no need to ask. I can see you had a lovely time! I’m afraid I haven’t cooked. Fancy fish and chips?’

‘Sounds lovely.’

‘So how was travelling first class?’

‘Brilliant!’ Alice said.

Bella frowned slightly. Had Alice done something different with her make-up, or was she actually blushing?

A FEW DAYS
later Nevil and Bella were sitting in Alice’s garden. They had a bottle of wine and a takeaway pizza. Alice had disappeared into her sitting room and they were alone.

‘So, how’s my little Curly Top, then?’ said Nevil, filling Bella’s glass.

At the same time that Bella wondered if she could tell Nevil she hated his nickname for her she realised he was in a very good mood, so she decided to overlook the reference to her hair, which was indeed on the curly side.

‘I’m well – which you do know seeing as we’ve been working together all day.’ She smiled.

‘You know I like to keep personal stuff out of the office.’ He smiled too.

He was, Bella thought, very good-looking. He had pleasant, even features, nice dark-blond hair, which fell over his forehead when he got excited, and he always looked smart. He was a few inches taller than she was and they made a good pair. Her dark curls complimented his fairer looks.

‘You’ve been in very cheerful lately,’ she said. ‘You didn’t moan when you realised the photocopier was out of paper. You didn’t even moan because you had to actually do photocopying!’

Nevil laughed. ‘I was a bit annoyed about that, but as I had asked Tina to go out for sandwiches it wasn’t her fault she wasn’t there.’

Bella was a bit surprised at this mellow attitude. He was very good at his job and, he frequently told her, you didn’t get to head your own estate agency – even as part of a franchise – before you were thirty by being Mr Nice Guy in the office. Mr Nice Guy was for clients only.

‘I think you’re softening up in your old age, Nevil,’ she said with a smile.

‘Not at all,’ said Nevil, not rising to her teasing. He was, after all, only thirty-two. ‘I’m just happy to report that it won’t be long before you and I can get a place together.’

‘Great!’ said Bella, hiding her dismay by picking up the bottle and topping them both up.

‘Doesn’t it drive you mad living here with your godmother? I mean she’s lovely but – well . . .’ Nevil had good manners, it was part of his professional persona, so he left his sentence unfinished.

Bella considered how to explain, even though she felt she shouldn’t have to. ‘It’s fine. There is plenty of space here, and she doesn’t give me a curfew or anything.’ Actually Bella really liked sharing Alice’s house. They fitted in very well with each other and considering how long Alice had lived here on her own, this had surprised them both. She had been a lifeline when Bella had needed one and she was delighted that Alice enjoyed sharing her home with her. Living with Nevil might be a lot harder – given his feelings about small chores in the office, he was unlikely to be willing to push the hoover round himself.

‘Well, anyway, you won’t have to be doing it too much longer.’

‘How come?’

‘I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.’ Nevil grinned.

Bella supressed her irritation at this expression and decided not to press him. He would tell her when he was ready. ‘OK. Do you want the last bit of pizza?’

‘Don’t you? It’s yours really.’

‘You go ahead. I’m trying to cut down anyway.’

Nevil picked up the pizza and took a large bite and smiled at her. ‘Good choice.’

Bella watched him eat it and wondered if it was weird to prefer living with an older woman to the thought of living with her boyfriend. And while she was asking herself this she wondered if he was implying she was fat. She wasn’t, she knew that, but when she’d first walked into his agency looking for a job she had been skeletally thin – for reasons she tried to forget on a daily basis. Maybe he liked very thin women.

Her brain flicked back to why she had been so thin, why she had suddenly left her hometown to live with her godmother and take a job she was very lucky to get. Heartbreak or a new love was the best diet aid. However, now she was settled. She had a job she loved and colleagues she got on really well with, and – well, Nevil, who was – most of the time – a really good boyfriend.

‘Has Alice thought how much this house would fetch if it went on the market?’ Nevil asked, chewing away on his pepperoni.

‘Don’t think so. I don’t think she wants to move. In fact, I know she doesn’t. It is big for just the two of us, but it was her family home. And she’s done so much to the garden over the years.’

‘What is it with these women – like your Mrs Langley – insisting on living in enormous houses just on their own? The amount of money they have tied up in those properties is crazy.’

‘But there’s no real reason they should move if they don’t want to. The time has to be right for these things.’ Bella laughed. ‘Though of course it would be fabulous to have the houses on our books.’

Nevil seemed not to have heard her. ‘Will Alice manage on her own when you move out?’

‘Of course! She’s only sixty.’ She was just about to say, ‘But I’m not moving out,’ when she stopped herself. If Nevil found the right house, it would be natural for them to move in together.

‘I was just thinking what’s best for her.’

‘Of course.’ She smiled, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to help calculating the commission on a house as big as Alice’s. ‘Do you fancy finding something nice to watch on telly? We could go into my sitting room and snuggle up on the sofa.’

Nevil didn’t seem tempted by this cosy suggestion. ‘Not really. I think I should get off. Things to do and all that.’

After they had shared a pepperoni-flavoured kiss goodbye, it occurred to her that he’d become quite busy after hours recently, and briefly wondered if he was seeing someone else. Otherwise why pass up on what could amount to an invitation to stay the night? He had already stayed a few times, so he knew it wouldn’t be awkward. But then she realised that while cheating on her wasn’t an impossibility, it wouldn’t make him so chirpy. Also, if he’d lost interest in her, he’d just dump her; he wouldn’t talk about moving in together. No, it must be something else. She didn’t intend to spend too much time worrying about it.

‘Oh, I am glad you’ve rung, dear,’ said Mrs Langley the following afternoon. ‘My nephew wants to meet you!’

Bella, who had tracked down a man to fix up an irrigation system for her, was ringing to give Mrs Langley the details. She hadn’t been expecting this.

‘Does he? Why?’ Then she thought she knew why. It was because he thought she was persuading his great-aunt to stay in her house and not sell. ‘Does he want to tell me off?’

‘I don’t think so, dear. He just said, “I’d be very interested to meet this young woman you talk about so much.”’

‘Oh.’ She wondered why Mrs Langley kept talking about her, but was rather touched. ‘So how is it going?’

‘Well, we’ve decided he should stay with me whenever he needs to be in the area. He might work here permanently He’s been here three nights already.’

‘And that’s all right for you?’

‘Do you know, I rather like it! It’s nice to cook for someone other than myself and he’s very handy about the house.’

‘Well, that’s good. So he’s not bossy and overbearing then?’

There was a pause. ‘No, he’s not, though he does have an air of authority, if you know what I mean.’

‘But he’s not trying to bully you into selling?’ Bella persisted.

Another pause. ‘No. He wants to know how well I manage. But in a concerned way, you know?’

Bella didn’t know but she was reassured.

‘And I’d really appreciate it if you’d come and have a drink with us – before dinner. My nephew works very hard and could do with some young company.’

‘Well, I am young,’ Bella agreed. ‘And I’d be delighted to come. Only I’d be coming for
your
company.’

Mrs Langley laughed. ‘You realise there won’t be cake?’

Bella chuckled. ‘In which case, Mrs Langley, I’m afraid I have to refuse—’

‘Please call me Jane! I think we know each other well enough by now.’

‘All right, Jane. I’ll come, even if there isn’t going to be cake.’

The arrangement was made and Bella went to join Alice in her sitting room. Nominally, Bella had the morning room for her own use but she hardly ever went in there, except to clean it or on the rare occasion Nevil stayed over. She and Alice liked to spend their evenings together, if they were both in.

Now, Alice was sitting in front of the television although it wasn’t on. Bella was surprised to find her here. She was more often to be found in the garden at this time of day, especially when the sun was shining.

‘Do you need a cuppa? Glass of wine?’

‘I’ve had an email,’ said Alice.

Bella waited for more detail but none came. ‘And? It’s not like you’ve never had one before, is it? Although if it’s offering you a trillion US dollars if you send all your bank details, it’s probably a scam.’

Alice laughed. ‘No! It’s a proper email. From a person.’

‘So?’

‘It’s from a man.’ Alice swallowed. ‘The man I met on the train . . .’

‘Which train? When? You’ve never told me about this!’ Bella wasn’t so much shocked as slightly taken aback. Why hadn’t Alice mentioned it before?

‘It was the other day. I didn’t mention it because I suppose I felt a bit stupid.’

‘Alice! It’s OK to meet people on trains you know, even when you’re ancient, like you.’

Alice laughed gently. ‘Well, that’s good because he’s emailed me. He wants us to meet up.’

‘But that’s amazing and lovely! Maybe I’d better get a train somewhere . . .’

‘But you’ve got Nevil!’

‘I know I have. I was only joking. Tell me about this man!’

Alice said, ‘Maybe I will have that cuppa. You?’

‘I’ll come with you. We can sit in the kitchen.’

Bella made tea, wondering about Alice’s man and, as always, thinking that her kitchen was just about perfect. Bella got to see a lot of kitchens in her job, some of them very grand, but none of them came up to the standard of Alice’s. Handmade units that didn’t look as if they belonged in a showroom, a huge table for sitting or eating round, a dresser crowded with china and the sorts of ephemera that proper kitchens accumulated over the years, a Rayburn and a jolly good ordinary cooker. The view over the garden and a comfy sofa added to the abundant charm.

‘So?’ she said, having put a mug of tea and some biscuits in front of her godmother. ‘Tell your Aunty Bella everything!’

‘Well,’ Alice began, obviously quite pleased to talk about it. ‘He came and sat opposite me and hadn’t had lunch. He’d left his wallet in his desk drawer and . . . I bought him a couple of sandwiches. He was terribly reluctant to accept them.’

‘Was it because you’re a woman?’

Alice shrugged. ‘He didn’t actually say that specifically, but he did say that the women he knew liked men to pay for things.’

‘Old-fashioned,’ said Bella.

‘Possibly, but not that old. I think I might have flirted with a younger man. He wanted my address, but I knew you’d have told me off, so I eventually gave him one of those lovely cards you did for me for my birthday with my email address on it.’

‘But they also have your postal address on them.’

‘I somehow managed to overlook that.’ Alice bit her lip. ‘And he must have done too, or he’d have just sent a cheque.’

‘Noo! He didn’t send a cheque because he wanted to see you again. He must like you.’

‘Well, I hope he does. I was very nice to him.’

‘I don’t mean “like” in the same way you like the postman. I mean – well – fancy you.’

‘Don’t be silly, darling.’ Alice had no difficulty in dismissing this suggestion. ‘He was years younger – possibly only in his early fifties. Although I am very bad at guessing people’s ages.’

‘So why does he want to meet up then? When he could just send you a cheque? Or just forget about it?’

Alice frowned. ‘Well, obviously he’s barking. Maybe I’d better not meet him.’

Bella laughed. Her godmother never accepted that she was an attractive woman. Personally, she wasn’t at all surprised this man wanted to meet her again.

‘It’s wonderfully
Brief Encounter
! Have you made an arrangement? A where and when?’

‘No. He wants me to suggest all that.’

Bella considered Alice. It was obvious from her added sparkle that she did not want to be talked out of this. ‘Well, I think you should meet him. He sounds lovely! And when did you last go out with a man? Not since I’ve been living with you, that’s for sure.’

‘Not for years – at least, not one who’s not an old friend I’ve known for ever and wouldn’t have if he was on toast and garnished with parsley. But I don’t think I’d know how to behave!’

‘Of course you will! You’ll just have a drink, chat for a bit, go through and eat, chat some more. Really, it’ll come perfectly easily to you.’

‘I was joking, actually. It’s just being with a man I don’t know – it might feel a bit awkward.’

Bella became a bit more sympathetic. It had been a while since she’d been on a date as such herself. ‘I’ll keep texting, so you can tell me if you’re unhappy and I can sweep in and rescue you.’

‘Or I could just walk out and drive myself home?’

Bella nodded. ‘There is that option, but mine is more exciting.’

Alice laughed. ‘You’re not shocked at the thought of someone as old as me having a date?’

‘Of course not! I think it’s fab!’ But privately she was a bit surprised.

Reassured, Alice became more cheerful. ‘So where should we meet? He’s asking me to suggest a venue. He lives in Kemble.’

Bella considered. ‘Lunch or dinner?’

‘Dinner. He works in London.’ Bella’s pause made Alice worry. ‘Maybe I should suggest coffee, at the weekend?’

‘Dinner should be all right, but we must think of the right place.’

‘Yes. Definitely nowhere remotely romantic. I don’t want him to think it’s a date,’ said Alice.

‘I think it is a date, actually, but I agree you don’t want anywhere romantic. He might turn out to be a munter when you see him again.’