Up Close and Personal (8 page)

Nicole stared out of the window as the hedgerows flashed by. Although the lane was unlit, the moon was full and it cast an ethereal glow over everything that, for some inexplicable reason, Nicole found arousing.

‘You know what,’ she said, turning to Connor. ‘We should take advantage of the fact Tilly’s staying the night with Mum.’ She laid a hand on his upper thigh. ‘How about it? You could even bend me over the kitchen table, just like old times.’

Connor’s eyes remained fixed on the road. ‘Do you mind if we give it a miss? I’m absolutely knackered and I’ve got to get up early to play golf.’

Nicole made a resigned face. ‘Of course not,’ she said tersely.

Back at Ashwicke, Juliet and Dante had retired for the night.

‘Did you have a nice evening, darling?’ Juliet said as she sat at her dressing table, brushing her long hair.

‘Yeah, it was interesting,’ Dante replied, quickly pulling his shirt over his head so his wife wouldn’t see his face and know that he was lying.

‘I didn’t know you were opposed to hunting,’ Juliet said lightly.

‘I guess there’s a lot we don’t know about each other.’ Dante sat down on the hand-carved Jacobean four-poster that had accommodated three generations of Ingrams and started taking off his socks. ‘Like I didn’t know you were planning to make me Customer Liaison Manager.’

Juliet turned to face him and smiled. ‘Isn’t it a great idea?’

Dante shrugged. ‘I don’t even know what a Customer Liaison Manager is.’

‘It’s quite straightforward really. You’ll be responsible for looking after the guests and dealing with any problems or enquiries they might have. I’ll get Nathan to show you the ropes. I’m sure you’ll pick it up in no time.’

Dante held up his hand. ‘Hold your horses, missy. Did it even cross your mind to discuss your grand plan with me first before you went shooting your mouth off to everyone?’

Juliet’s face darkened. ‘Actually, the idea only popped into my head this afternoon when I was chatting through some ideas with Nathan. I didn’t have a chance to mention it to you before dinner.’

‘Oh, so Nathan was the first to know, was he?’ Dante said angrily. ‘How nice to know you two have been talking about me behind my back.’

‘Darling!’ Juliet cried, rising to her feet. ‘I don’t know why you’re being so sensitive about this. Nathan and I weren’t talking about you; he was just saying he could do with some help. I thought you’d jump at the chance to work at the hotel.’

‘Why, because being at Ashwicke is such an enormous
privilege?’ Dante said. ‘Well pardon me if I don’t just fall to the ground and kiss your feet in gratitude, but actually I’d rather get my own job, thanks very much. I don’t want to be dependent on you – I want to earn my own money.’

Juliet frowned. ‘Doing what?’

‘Bartending. There must be lots of pubs in Loxwood. I’m sure I could find something.’

Juliet wrinkled her nose. ‘Isn’t there something else you could do?’

‘Why, what’s wrong with being a bartender?’

‘It’s a bit …’ Juliet hesitated. ‘You know … menial.’

‘It didn’t seem to bother you when we were in Aspen.’

‘Yes, but nobody knew me in Aspen.’

A hurt look crossed Dante’s face. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Juliet sighed. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Look, I’m not going to stop you looking for a job if that’s what you really want to.’

‘How incredibly generous of you,’ Dante scoffed. Then, not trusting himself to keep his temper in check any longer, he marched to the en suite, slamming the door shut behind him. Once he was alone, he sat on the edge of the bath, taking deep breaths as a huge wave of anger threatened to engulf him – except it wasn’t Juliet he was angry at. It was the Ingrams.

Back in the bedroom, Juliet went to the window seat and sat by the open window, staring vacantly ahead as the night breeze brought goose bumps to her bare arms. She didn’t see Nathan in the garden below. The general manager was enjoying a cigarette on the terrace after his night’s
labours before heading back to the lodge. He’d overheard most of the Fishers’ conversation and now, as he ground out his cigarette on the wall, he gave a curdled smile, confident that the beautiful prize he lusted after would soon be his.

6

‘Shit!’ Yasmin muttered as a dollop of cream-cheese frosting slid off the spatula and landed on the sleeve of her favourite Whistles cardie. Sighing, she threw down the implement and reached for a cloth. In less than half an hour, Nicole and Juliet would be arriving for afternoon tea. Usually, they met at Nicole’s spacious Edwardian semi, but the doctor’s wife was having new kitchen units fitted, necessitating a change of venue.

Nicole was a veritable domestic goddess, who always laid on homemade cake and a selection of exotic teas. Yasmin, by contrast, didn’t know the first thing about baking, and usually drank PG Tips, or black coffee, the stronger the better. Against her better judgement, she’d decided to make a cake, when it would’ve been far easier – and probably far cheaper too – to buy one from the local baker’s. After scouring the internet for a suitable recipe, Yasmin had followed the instructions to the letter but, to her disgust, both sponges had turned out lopsided and the frosting was suspiciously runny. Having wiped the worst of it off her cardie, she turned her attention back to the misshapen cake, scattering walnuts on top in a vain attempt to improve its attractiveness. ‘Oh well,’ she said as she carried it over to the dining table where cups and side plates were already laid out. ‘That’ll have to do.’

*

On the other side of Loxwood, Nicole was preparing to leave the house. ‘Now, don’t forget Tilly’s five o’clock feed,’ she told her husband, raising her voice so she could be heard above the sound of drilling.

Connor looked at his wife in horror. ‘Five o’clock? Surely you’ll be back by then.’

‘I doubt it,’ Nicole replied. ‘The girls and I have got lots to catch up on.’

‘But you only saw them at the weekend.’

When Nicole failed to reply, Connor kicked the leg of the sofa like a sulky teenager. ‘I don’t know why you have to spend so much time with those women anyway,’ he grumbled.

‘Because they’re my
friends
,’ she said shortly. ‘In any case, it will be good for you and Tilly to spend some quality time together.’

Connor winced as a loud bang issued from the kitchen, followed by a string of expletives. ‘What am I supposed to do with her?’ he asked. ‘We can’t stay in the house with that bloody racket going on.’

‘I don’t know,’ Nicole said impatiently, wishing Connor were the sort of father who was bursting with ideas for fun-filled afternoons with his infant daughter. ‘Go for a walk … Take her to feed the ducks in the park. Or, if you’re really desperate, you could always go round to my mother’s.’

Connor’s face lit up. ‘Brilliant! That’s what I’ll do.’

Nicole’s heart sank. She should’ve known Connor would take the easy option. ‘You’d better go and wake Tilly up,’ she told him. ‘If you let her sleep too long now, she won’t go down tonight.’

‘Okay,’ Connor said in a bored tone. He turned as if to go, then glanced back over his shoulder. ‘Is that what you’re wearing to Yasmin’s?’

Nicole looked down at her cotton wrapover dress. Admittedly, it was a size 14 when she was more like a 16 these days, but it
was
one of her favourites. ‘Why, what’s wrong with it?’

Connor rubbed a hand over his jaw. ‘I think it makes you look a bit … you know … paunchy.’

‘Really?’ Nicole said, frowning. ‘I thought I looked quite nice.’

Connor shrugged. ‘It’s fine, honestly. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘Then why
did
you?’ Nicole snapped as she snatched up her handbag and headed for the front door.

Juliet was the first to arrive. It was a while since she’d visited the apartment and, as her hostess fetched cold drinks from the vast, American-style refrigerator, she found herself gazing around the open-plan space in envy. Housed in a former jam factory, Yasmin’s apartment was achingly chic, with exposed brickwork, mood lighting and a breathtaking Brazilian walnut floor. She’d softened the industrial architecture with clever use of texture and colour, and the bare walls had been brought to life with huge, fabric-covered canvases.

‘You are lucky,’ Juliet said as the younger woman joined her on the smart modular sofa. ‘I’d love to live in a place like this.’

Yasmin wrinkled her nose disbelievingly. ‘Oh come on, why on earth would you want to live in a one-bedroom apartment when you’ve got Ashwicke?’

Juliet took a sip of apple juice. ‘Yes, but the house is incredibly high maintenance and so … well … big. Even with the guests I sometimes feel quite lost in there.’

‘So why don’t you sell it?’

Juliet looked at her aghast. ‘I couldn’t do that. Gus’s mother would never speak to me again.’

‘What’s it got to do with Eleanor?’ Yasmin replied. ‘It’s like Dante said the other night – the house is yours. You can do whatever you like with it.’

Juliet sighed. ‘Well, yes, in theory – but I can’t help feeling a certain obligation to the Ingrams. Ashwicke used to be their family home after all, and it would be awful if it fell into the wrong hands. Imagine if the developers got hold of it … Eleanor and Piers would never forgive me.’

‘Well, I hope they appreciate all your efforts to keep Ashwicke going,’ Yasmin said. ‘They certainly didn’t seem very grateful the other night. I couldn’t believe it when Eleanor said Gus would be turning in his grave.’

Juliet winced. ‘Yes, it was a bit embarrassing, wasn’t it?’

‘She was very rude to Dante too. I don’t know how he managed to keep his cool.’

‘With some difficulty, I suspect.’

‘Still,’ Yasmin continued, ‘I’m sure once the Ingrams see Dante’s getting involved in the upkeep of Ashwicke they’ll be a bit nicer to him.’

Juliet licked her lips. ‘Actually, I don’t think Dante’s going to be getting involved.’

‘But I thought you said he was going to be Customer Liaison Manager.’

‘Apparently not. We had a huge row about it afterwards.
Dante was pissed off because I hadn’t discussed it with him first.’

Yasmin shrugged. ‘Oh well, I suppose that’s understandable. I’m sure he’ll come round to the idea.’

‘No, he won’t. He’s going to get a bartending job. He says he doesn’t want to be dependent on me.’

‘That’s not a bad thing, is it?’

‘I suppose not.’ Juliet looked down at her hands, absent-mindedly rubbing her wedding ring. ‘I think I’m just disappointed because I assumed he’d want to be involved in the business.’

‘Didn’t you discuss that sort of thing before you got married?’

‘No, it sounds crazy now but I was so caught up in the moment I didn’t really think about the practicalities of our life together. Actually, there were lots of things we didn’t discuss. Before we came to England, I didn’t even know what Dante’s favourite movie is or how he takes his coffee. She frowned. ‘Come to think of it, I still don’t know what his favourite movie is.’

Just then the intercom buzzed into life, making them both jump. ‘That’ll be Nicole,’ Yasmin said, rising to her feet. After pressing the entry button, she opened the front door and stood on the threshold until the lift doors parted.

‘Hi, Nic,’ Yasmin said as her friend emerged from the lift, looking harassed. ‘Is everything all right?’

The furrow between Nicole’s brows deepened.

‘You look as if you’re chewing a wasp,’ Yasmin added.

Nicole’s hand went to her forehead. ‘Do I?’ She followed
Yasmin into the apartment and sat down heavily on the sofa. ‘It’s Connor,’ she said, after she and Juliet had exchanged a brief greeting. ‘He’s just so bloody selfish.’

‘What’s he done now?’ Juliet asked.

‘He resents me having a social life,’ Nicole said, folding her arms crossly in front of her chest. ‘He seems to think it’s perfectly okay for him to spend hours at the gym, or stay out all night drinking with his golfing buddies, but the minute I want to set foot outside the house he kicks up a fuss.’

‘Is it because you’ve left him looking after Tilly?’ Yasmin enquired.

‘That’s part of it,’ Nicole conceded. ‘I know babies can be hard work, but given that he’s barely laid eyes on his daughter all week I thought he’d really enjoy spending some time with her. But, no, all he can do is moan about the fact I’m going out and ask me how he’s supposed to entertain her.’

Yasmin groaned in sympathy. ‘This is the reason I’m never getting married.’

‘Naturally, the lazy sod jumped at the chance when I suggested taking Tilly to my mum’s,’ Nicole continued. ‘No doubt he’ll sit there reading the paper like he always does, while Mum keeps her granddaughter amused.’ Her mouth tightened. ‘
And
he said I looked fat in this dress.’

‘He didn’t!’ Juliet gasped.

‘As good as.’ Nicole pulled thoughtfully on her lower lip. ‘Honestly, I don’t know what’s got into him these days. He’s not the man I married, that’s for sure.’

‘I’m sure it’s just a temporary blip,’ Juliet said. ‘All marriages go through rough patches. Have you told him how you’re feeling?’

‘Yes, several times,’ Nicole said wearily, ‘but it doesn’t seem to have much effect. Connor just sits there with a strangulated look on his face, like he’d rather be examining some old dear’s haemorrhoids than listen to me going on. And when I’ve finished he’ll apologize for being ratty and say it’s only because he’s feeling under pressure at work. Afterwards, he’ll be on his best behaviour for a couple of days and then he’ll slip back into his old ways.’ Her eyes blazed with frustration. ‘Our love life’s still non-existent too. I tried to initiate sex the other night while we were lying in bed together and do you know what he did?’

Both women shook their heads.

‘Started snoring. I knew damn well he wasn’t asleep, though.’

‘So what do you think the root of the problem is?’ Juliet asked.

‘Connor’s always had a low boredom threshold. The truth is I just don’t think our marriage is exciting enough for him.’ Nicole sighed. ‘I don’t know if it ever has been.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ Juliet said. ‘You two just need to inject some romance back into your relationship.’