Authors: Elizabeth Oldfield
‘A wise precaution.’
‘Dilys is going to do a lunch at her place and invite the two of you, just as soon as she can tie William down to a date. She finds it difficult to keep track of him. His business means he’s all over the place, then he’ll suddenly appear and arrange with Gillian to stay the night in the visitors’ suite. Good value, much cheaper than a hotel, though it’d be cheaper still if he was in his own home in London or travelled the few miles to that house he has locally. Or if he bedded down on Dilys’s floor.’ My father shook his head at the extravagance. ‘Be nice if the two of you clicked.’
‘We’re not going to click and I don’t want to click,’ I told him.
‘Still carrying a torch for that Max chap, are you?’
‘I am not,’ I said crisply, ‘and I never have done.’
He slung me a doubtful look. ‘So you say.’
‘Dad, it’s true! How many times must I –’
‘Alright, alright.’
‘After you’d gone on Sunday, Lynn and Beth arrived,’ I told him. ‘They’ve moved in with me. Lynn and Justin had quarrelled and she’d walked out and –’
‘Lovers’ tiff. Soon be over,’ he said dismissively, and took a drink of tea. ‘You remember I spoke of Em who does my cleaning? She has a son who isn’t married. He’s just come back after years of living in Africa and he –’
‘No!’
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
‘
You’ve taken your time
,’ Max said, ‘but it seems to me the belly is flatter and the hips are starting to narrow, too.’
Jenny blushed. ‘Over the past week I’ve lost three pounds.’
‘You look terrific for it,’ he told her.
Tina nodded. ‘Especially with the hair.’
Jenny’s fair and grey mix had been replaced by a whole-head beige blonde, which had knocked off several years and made her look surprisingly glamorous.
She smiled. ‘I tinted it over the weekend.’
‘Dig the gear, too,’ Max remarked. ‘Yours and Carol’s.’
Now I smiled. ‘Thanks.’
The outfits which Jenny and I had ordered from the catalogue had arrived and this was the first time we’d worn them. Being unusually daring, Jen had chosen a silvery blue ensemble of a ‘brakini’ and bootleg flares, while I had gone for a white vest top teamed with khaki and white jazz pants.
It was Tuesday morning, a week on, and we had completed our work-out which, because the weather had turned cloudy and it was spitting with rain, had taken place in the conservatory.
‘You’re achieving your goal,’ Max declared, praising Jenny. ‘Now all we need is for Carol to forsake her beloved cigarettes.’
‘I’m trying,’ I said.
‘And I was born in Amsterdam.’
‘I am trying. Honest. I didn’t smoke on Sunday or Monday and although I’m getting the shakes –’ I wobbled a hand ‘– I haven’t had a cigarette this morning, either. But I still need you to deliver a few warning kicks in the posterior, so keep on sending the e-mails. Please.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ He started to pack away his gear. ‘I’m sorry, babes, but I have to cancel Thursday’s session.’
‘Why’s that?’ Tina enquired, suddenly perturbed. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Just the opposite.’ Max beamed. ‘I’ve been asked to do an exercise slot on morning TV.’ He named the programme and the channel. ‘It’s five minutes, a try-out, a one-off, but if it pushes the right buttons with the viewers there’s always a chance it could become regular. If that happens we’ll need to rejig your days.’
‘Congratulations,’ Jenny said.
I nodded. ‘From me, too. You must be delighted.’
‘High as a kite. And it’s all thanks to Tina, because she put me in touch with Joe Fernandez who, in turn, put me in touch with the right television go-getters.’ Reaching for Tina’s hand, the young man raised it to his lips and kissed it – in what I recognised as a practised gesture. ‘I’m grateful. You’re a lady worth knowing.’
Tina looked serious. ‘I hope it turns out okay.’
‘Will you be doing the kind of work-out you do with us?’ Jenny asked.
‘Pretty much,’ he said. ‘Three of my clients are joining me. You’ve met them – Pippa, Gerri and Dee. Seems the set is small, so the producer didn’t want a large group. The girls are thrilled to be taking part in such an exciting gig. If you can watch, we’re due on around nine-thirty a.m.’
‘You could’ve asked us three to do the work-outs with you,’ I teased, for I guessed that the reason he’d waited until now before mentioning the programme was because he felt awkward about telling us and hoped to make a quick getaway.
He looked uneasy. ‘I suppose, but –’
‘Too lengthy in the molars?’
‘Hell, no. You’re all foxy ladies – and you should each embrace the fact that you’re a woman and not a girl – but the programme’s cutting edge and geared towards the younger market.’
‘Surely most younger women tend to be at work or busy with their kids, and it’s older women who watch at nine-thirty?’ Tina said.
‘Yeah, well, maybe. See you next Tuesday, babes.’ Max was beating a hasty retreat. ‘And wish me luck.’
‘We do,’ Jenny and I chorused.
‘He needs it,’ Tina said, when he had disappeared and we had moved into the kitchen to drink the usual glasses of water. ‘The slot could easily fall through.’
‘But it sounded definite,’ Jenny protested.
‘Nothing Joe Fernandez has a hand in is definite. He and his contacts are not reliable. You believe what you’re told, how everything is arranged, then it turns out the skunk’s been taking you for a ride.’
‘His offer of a place for you on his show wasn’t kosher?’ I enquired.
‘No. You remember I said how he’d pushed and promoted the idea, and almost begged me to appear? Seems he’d never mentioned it to the producer. And when he did and the producer objected, he didn’t argue. He’d been talking pie in the sky to sweeten me and make me feel indebted. Joe isn’t reliable in relationships, either,’ Tina added bitterly.
Jenny frowned. ‘He’s stopped ringing you?’
‘No, he still rings every day. He’s keen for us to resume our affair – to ‘cuddle up close’ as he puts it – but that’s all. He has no intention of marrying me.’
‘Perhaps he wants to,’ Jenny said, eager to soothe, ‘but he feels duty bound to stay with his sick wife. It’d be understandable.’
‘I’m not convinced the woman is sick,’ Tina declared. ‘She lives in their house in deepest, darkest Dorset and keeps a low profile, is never photographed or interviewed, so she could be in perfect health.’
‘She’s recovered?’ Jenny asked.
‘I don’t think she ever was sick.’
Jenny looked puzzled. ‘But I read about it.’
‘Me, too. And, when we were together, Joe always maintained she was sick and I believed him. He was forever saying that if it hadn’t been for her, we’d have been galloping up the aisle.’ Tina gave a curt laugh. ‘But recently it dawned on me that, according to him, the woman has been ill for near enough twenty years, with no deterioration, no improvement.’
‘Does seem convenient,’ I remarked.
Tina scowled. ‘Too bloody convenient.’
‘Why don’t you ask him about his wife? About her state of health?’ I said. ‘Demand a straight answer to a straight question.’
‘Maybe I will. After Duncan died I was pleased when Joe seemed to care – and maybe he does, a little – but he doesn’t care enough to be honest with me. To admit he only wants me as his mistress and not his wife.’ She sighed. ‘But being his bit of fluff again isn’t what
I
want. I need a husband to look after me.’
‘You’re not inclined to go it alone? To move on and start a new life? One in three households consist of people living on their own,’ I stated, quoting a Jenny fact, ‘and, believe me, it isn’t so bad. You get used to running things your way, to making your own decisions, to having freedom. There are advantages and living alone doesn’t equate with being lonely. I’m forever out and about.’
‘Maybe someone like you can cope and be fine, but I’m hopeless on my own. I need a husband,’ she repeated.
‘So tell Mr Fernandez he’s a past number.’
Tina looked doubtful. ‘You think I should?’
I thought that no matter how critical she was of the man, she would still enjoy having him chasing her. And perhaps she considered that being chased by a skunk was better than not being chased at all. She may need a husband to look after her, but she also craved constant male attention.
‘I think you should make your own decision.’
‘Joe isn’t as helpful as Steve is,’ she said, then giggled. ‘Whatever problem I have in the house, Steve seems able to tell me what to do to fix it. He’s so clever. Such a pet.’ She flicked back her ponytail. ‘And he’s available.’
‘But not rich,’ I pointed out.
I wasn’t being catty, I was being practical. Another of Tina’s needs was access to ready funds, to be spent lavishly. Besides which, while Steve might like her looks, surely he could never become the soulmate of a woman who regularly watched ‘Footballers’ Wives’ and for whom shoes and handbags were an obsession. Yes, I’m being catty now.
‘So? I’ve got money and I could make a lot more, if I model again.’
‘You might?’ Jenny asked.
‘Out of bravado and, I suppose, to show Joe I could still hack it, I rang a modelling agency and fixed to see them. The appointment isn’t until Thursday week, in the afternoon, but –’ Tina switched from buoyancy to trepidation ‘– already I feel nervous. And if I’m nervous now, what am I going to be like on the day? Maybe I should cancel.’
‘You don’t cancel,’ I said. ‘No way.’
‘But –’
‘Would it help if I went with you?’ Jenny suggested.
‘Us go up to London together?’ Tina nodded ‘Yes, please. Having you there would help keep me calm and give me courage. Thanks.’
Taking her diary from her bag, Jenny made a note of the date and the time they would meet at the railway station.
‘If Victoria and Shane want to go anywhere that day, they’ll have to make their own arrangements,’ she said.
‘Victoria
and
Shane?’ I queried.
‘When we went to pick Victoria up from the airport at the crack of dawn on Saturday, the lad was with her. Seems he’d decided to come over, spur of the moment, and spend six months in the U.K. So when we got home I had to rush around, preparing the spare room and making up the bed.’
‘He’s staying with you?’
‘Victoria asked if he could, just until he finds lodgings, but–’
She broke off. Someone was knocking at the kitchen door.
Tina went to open it. ‘Peter, my darling man!’ she squealed. ‘How lovely to see you. Come in, come in.’
‘Called round to say I’m sorry I can’t cut the lawn today because it’s too wet, but I’ll do it the next time I have a chance. The next time the dragon lady goes off to play her bridge and we’re alone. Oh!’ He had noticed Jenny and me. His colour rose and he looked flustered. ‘Didn’t realise your visitors were still here. Don’t want to intrude.’
Tina clasped his arm, as if to prevent him from leaving. ‘You’re not,’ she assured him. ‘These are my friends. They’ve been doing the fitness class with me. Firming up the body beautiful.’