The Scent of His Woman (15 page)

‘Calm down, for goodness sake, here have a drink and then try on the dress you
like best. All that matters is that you wear the dress that makes you feel good.’
Pouring two flutes of golden champagne, Lexie smiled at Mared and felt again how
quickly she’d come to like the younger woman. For all her surface gloss Mared needed to
feel reassured and like women the world over felt safest when she looked her best. She
seemed genuinely unaware of how lovely she was and took great pains with every facet of
her look.
‘Then when you’ve dressed, we’ll finish your hair and be at the party before the
guests all arrive.’

Half an hour later, Mared was satisfied that the red dress, her first choice, was indeed the
right choice, teamed with matching red pumps, black clutch and chunky black glass and
silver jewellery, she declared it ‘funky enough but not so short that Mam will fit’.

‘Right then, squirt of Shalimar and I’m ready to go for it. Now you lead the way as
you’re the face everyone wants to see, the femme fatale who’s snared the elusive Gethyn.
I swear you're the reason most of the great and good of the county are here.’

The innocent remark made Lexie cringe inwardly and as they descended she offered a
short prayer that neither guests or family would ever know the truth of why she was here.
Geth met her as they reached the hallway, his eyes holding hers, so that for a second the
party around them was forgotten. Then he was taking her hand and “curtain up” she
thought.

‘Come on cariad, let me get you a drink before we start introductions, everyone
wants to meet you.’
As they made their way across the now crowded room Geth stopped in response to
friendly greetings, introducing Lexie, accepting good wishes then moving on. Despite his
practiced technique it took what seemed to Lexie like an eternity to navigate the throng
and reach the kitchen where a comprehensive bar had been set up. Geth filled a tulip
glass with golden grape juice for Lexie, but opted for a second whiskey himself, then they
were back in circulation. Slower this time, taking time to chat, to accept congratulations,
answering gently probing questions. Where, how, had they met? Were they planning a
long engagement? What were the wedding plans? Lexie, smiling, could only marvel at the
practiced way Geth answered each with charm, but giving nothing away. This was the
professional at work, he was utilizing all those skills that had made him an international
businessman with a reputation for setting up multi-million pound deals, and it came easily
to him. Maybe a little too easily she thought with some discomfort.
‘Ah here you are, Gethyn, I’m going to steal Lexie for a while, I want to show off my
prospective daughter in-law.
‘Ok Mam, but I want her back for the dancing.’
Laughing Betty Mathias, linked her arm through Lexie’s and drew her over to where
her husband was in deep conversation with a tall distinguished looking man, while two
women stood beside them sipping champagne.
‘Cynthia, Sally, I’d like you to meet Lexie, Gethyn’s fiancée. Lexie Cynthia is one of
my dearest friends, and this is her daughter Sally.’
‘Hello my dear, so pleased to meet you, we were delighted to hear Gethyn had
finally found the right girl to settle down with. Maybe now we’ll see a bit more of him. There
was a time he spent as much time over at our farm as here at home. My boys and he were
inseparable growing up. I miss those days, don’t you Bet?’
Lexie was enveloped in a cloud of perfume as Cynthia hugged her. The woman’s
affection seemed genuine and her daughter Sally smiled prettily. For a fleeting moment
Lexie had thought this must be the matchmaking mum and daughter, but the thought was
dismissed by their welcome and the easy conversation that followed. By the time Geth
made his way over to join them she felt at ease for the first time all evening and as they
went in to sample the buffet laid out in the conservatory she realised she was actually
enjoying the evening and looking forward to the dancing. The food was, as it had been at
lunch, plentiful and delicious. This time though a catering firm had been used and while
some guests helped themselves, others were served by the attendant staff hired in for the
night. Lexie found she was ready to eat, and helped herself to one of the vegetarian
options, a savoury lentil loaf, added a generous dollop of Waldorf salad and a crusty roll.
By the time she’d made her choices, Geth had heaped his own plate, signaled to the
waiter for two glasses of champagne and they made their way through the open doors of
the conservatory to where the wooden tables had been covered with snowy white linen so
supper could be enjoyed under the stars. Apart from two or three people who stood just
around the corner smoking, they were alone.
‘It’s a lovely party.’
‘Yes, it is, Mam is having the time of her life, she thrives on company, Dad’s happier
with a smaller group of friends, but he knows how she loves this type of evening, so he’s
happy too.’
‘You are so lucky having such a lovely family, a lovely home.’
‘Yes I know, but you sound wistful, as if it’s something you would envy. Believe me
it’s not all like this, it comes with its own set of drawbacks, everything does.’
“I do envy you, having roots, a place, people to come back to, to turn to if the need
arises.’
‘But you have that too, your sisters are important to you, there for you.’
‘Oh yes, but that’s just it, we’re there for each other because there is no-one else.
We’ve had to look out for each other all our lives.’
‘What about your parents, are they...?’
‘Dead, no, Nepal, last I heard, a commune in Cornwall before that, and for their next
adventure just stick a pin on the map of the world. They’re wanderers, New Age Travelers,
call them what you will. Just don’t call them ‘homemakers’.’
‘You sound almost bitter.’
‘Do I? I don’t mean to. I, we love them, and we know they love us. They just never
realised we needed something more than forever moving. Not even uprooting, we never
stayed long enough anywhere to put down roots. Oh we had a lovely childhood in many
ways, seldom in school, seeing the world, no rules, music, parties. It was only as we grew
older and began to appreciate just how transient, unstable that existence was that we
began to want more, something different.’
‘What do you mean different, what exactly.’
‘Well take Netia, for example, she’s the oldest of us. She always soaked up the
hippie environmental concerns. Protested every chance she got, spent hours counting
butterflies. It was her dream, to make a difference, save the planet, but she never got the
chance to really follow that dream.’
She stopped to sip her drink, gather her thoughts, find a way of explaining to him
without making it seem bitter.
‘To do that you need an education, school, university. You need to understand how it
all works, how to distinguish fact from emotion, how to research, and find the right
answers. We were never in school, moving constantly, she didn’t have a hope. Then when
we rebelled, refused to move on, she was the one old enough to work, so she did and
supported us, Florence and me.’
‘The three of you stayed put, set up home together, that must have taken some
guts.’
‘It did and then in way it didn’t. Oh we had to manage money, keep a roof over our
heads, all that was new and scary, but for the first time we had a place to call home.
Somewhere we could feel safe, and we had each other.’
‘How old were you?’
‘I was just thirteen, Florence was fifteen and Netia was nineteen, so you see she
had to work. We did too, as soon as we were old enough, but without Netia we wouldn’t
have been able to do it. So you see she never fulfilled her dreams. Oh she has got her
qualification now, a degree and a masters in environmental policy or something, but only
because her husband doesn't like her to work so she went back to college.’
‘So she married?’
‘Yes she went for a solid dependable bloke, at least so he seemed, until after twenty
something years of marriage he cheated on her, but that’s a long story and the dancing is
starting, so it will keep.’
‘Ok, but what about the other sister, the one I met, is she married too.’
‘Yes as a matter of fact, happily, now enough about my sisters, it’s time for more
champagne and dancing please.’
‘Well, Miss Owen, I do believe you are enjoying this party after all, might even be a
bit tipsy?’
‘I am, enjoying myself that is, not tipsy, I’ve only had two glasses of champagne, I
prefer this juice.’
‘Well I’d better do something about that then, if you're not tipsy how can I take
advantage of you later on?’
‘Oh I’m sure you’ll find a way, you seem to have managed it quite well up till now.’
Laughing they made their way to the big barn where the music had started and
couples were lining up for the first dance. Others helped themselves to drinks or watched
from the vantage points on the bales of hay stacked around the perimeter in lieu of seating
and Geth settled Lexie in a good spot before going to get drinks.
‘Let’s watch the first one, then we’ll give the second dance a go, they get more
complicated as the evening goes on, so we need to start early.’

Lexie watched the dancers line up for the first dance in response to instructions from the
caller, a stout old gent in a tweed suit, the microphone in one hand and a pint in the other.
The dance was called Jack-y-Do, jackdaw she assumed. The boys lined up on one side
and the girls on the other, partners facing and the lines abut two meters apart. The
musicians began a lively tune and the caller began to issue instruction, his singsong lilt
keeping time with the music. Lexie realised he was calling in Welsh, and she began to
watch carefully, trying to match the dance to the words.

‘Ymlaen dau tri pedwar, nol dau tri pedwar. Ymlaen dau tri pedwar, a newid.’ She watched
the dancers move forward and back 4 steps. Then forward four steps to their partners and
change places. They did this twice, until they were back where they’d started. Then the
couple at the end of the row clasped both hands and slip stepped down the centre of the
set to the bottom and back, before casting out followed by the other dancers. At the bottom
of the set they joined hands to form a bridge and everyone else in turn met their partner at
the bottom of the set, joined hands, and lead up under the bridge to re-form the set with a
new couple in top position. By the time Geth rejoined her, Lexie had lost all track of the
caller, but understood the dance, it would be repeated now she knew the with a new top
couple each time, until all were back in their original places.

‘Well what do you think, simple enough, and all you need to do is follow me. Shall
we try the next?’
Lexie managed the next two dances , Cylch Cymreig and Lucky Seven,with help from
Geth, so by the next, Dawns Harlech she was thoroughly enjoying herself. It was fast
enough to bring a flush to her cheeks, but not so furious as to rob her of breath. As the
evening progressed the dancing would probably become more demanding both of energy
and skill, but for now she was enjoying herself immensely.

Geth swung her around, her copper curls flying fee, her slender body almost taking
flight. She was lost in the dance, in the experience and he loved to watch her like this.
Loved the way she smiled at him when the steps brought them back together as a couple.
She was the loveliest girl at the party and she was his. He missed a step, as the sheer
rightness of that thought hit him. His plan was rubbish, deserved to be. How could he have
been so stupid as not to see it. Let her go, later maybe, when they’d both had enough, but
that time was not now. She knew it too, that was why she was uneasy about the
deception, she was not ready for this to end. Tonight they’d talk, he’d tell her, keep her. At
least for now, at least until he fell out of love with her and her with him.

The dance ended and they left the floor and returned to the main house, it was time
for present giving, the family had joined together to commission a painting of the farm as
their anniversary gift and it was to be unveiled in the drawing room. They and closest
friends were already gathering, more champagne was being poured for the toast and the
painting had been hung in place with a silk cloth draped over it. Rhys, who having been
given the task of keeping his parents out of the way had contrived to get them to pose for
photographs down by the river and was expected to lead them back within the next few
minutes. As they waited Becca stood watching the path, ready warn of their arrival.

‘Ok, here they come, out of sight everyone.’
Geth drew Lexie behind a curtain, smiling, the others similarly ducked behind furniture and
drapes or hid behind the doors to the hallway. As the voices of the approaching group
became louder, she had an impulse to giggle and buried her face in Geth’s shirt to stifle
the moment. He felt her shoulders shake, her breath warming his skin and without thinking
buried his hands in the silk of her curls and lifted her face to his. They were still kissing
when Rhys gave the signal and all those hidden burst out laughing and shouting greetings.
They were last to join the fun, Lexie blushing at the nudges and winks. Then the cloth was
removed, glasses clinked a toast, hugs, tears, laughter, all of these combined into a
magical moment and all the while cameras flashed recording it all for the future. The crowd
began to move out into the garden to leave the family to admire the painting and take
private photos, and Lexie drifted with them. Geth tried to stop her, tried to pull her into their
circle, but she was determined and slipped out knowing he could not make a scene not at
this special moment.

She wandered back towards the barn, the lively music drawing her. Others were heading
that way too, and there was a sense of party in the air. The barn was full now, and the
dance floor fairly bounced with the beat. Without Geth, she decided to find a seat where
she had a good view of the dancing, so she climbed up onto the bales, finding a seat
about two thirds of the way up near the open doorway. The scented summer breeze was
refreshing, she was glad of it. A new dance was just getting started and for a while she lost
herself following the intricate steps. She was hardly aware of the voices until the second
girl spoke. Sally’s words however, sliced through like a knife, pushing the dance and the
music aside with its venom.