At a guess, the ‘friend’ was Giles. ‘Except I’d never do that,’ said Flo.
‘Wouldn’t you?’ said Lena, who evidently would. ‘You’re looking a bit nervous.’
Was it any wonder? Flo moved to one side, gesturing for her to go through into the living room. ‘I’m not nervous. And Jeremy isn’t dead. He’s right here.’
Jeremy hadn’t moved; he was still sitting on the sofa where Zander had placed him. He submitted impassively to Lena’s beady gaze and twitched his whiskers when she reached out to stroke him.
Clearly disappointed that he was looking so well, Lena said, ‘He’s quite thin.’
‘He’s always been thin. His weight hasn’t changed. The vet checked him over a couple of weeks ago,’ said Flo. ‘He’s fine.’
‘Anyway, from now on, I’m going to be coming over and checking up on him every couple of weeks.’
‘Not a problem.’ It might be a problem, but Flo shrugged, outwardly unconcerned.
‘And if he does get ill, you have to do the right thing by him. No ridiculous treatments keeping him alive just so you can stay here longer. If the cat’s suffering, he needs to be put to sleep. Otherwise it’s just cruel.’
Such compassion and concern for a helpless animal. Flo nodded and said, ‘I know, don’t worry. Anyway, it’ll be up to the vet, not me.’
‘God, they’re even worse.’ Lena grimaced. ‘All they care about is getting you to spend as much money as possible . . . they’ll do anything to keep an animal hanging on. I went out with a vet once. Complete sadist.’
Tempting though it was to comment that Lena wasn’t having much luck with men, Flo didn’t say it. Hopeful that the inspection was now over, she moved back towards the door. ‘Well, now that you’ve seen him . . .’
‘Not so fast. I haven’t finished yet. There’s something else I need to ask you.’ Lena stood with her hands on her narrow hips. ‘Have you seen my brother recently?’
Bugger.
‘No.’
‘Been in touch in any way? On the phone, perhaps?’
Flo shook her head. ‘No. Why?’
‘He doesn’t approve of Giles and Giles hasn’t done anything to deserve it. He says he’s heard things about him, but he won’t tell me what those things are or who they came from.’ Lena’s gaze was unwavering. ‘And I’ve asked everyone else I know, but they’ve all said it’s nothing to do with them. Which makes me wonder if the spiteful bad-mouthing came from you.’
How could such a nice brother have such an awful sister?
‘Well it didn’t,’ said Flo. ‘So you’re just going to have to ask around a bit more. But you heard what he did to that homeless man.’ It was no good, she simply had to try and get through to Lena. ‘It wasn’t kind, was it? You could see why your brother might worry about you getting involved with someone who’s capable of doing something like that.’
‘Oh my God, are you ever going to stop banging on about it? The boys were out having a bit of fun! It was just a joke! Giles is really nice and I really like him, OK? He’s the best boyfriend I’ve had in years and I just want us to be happy together. Is that too much to ask?’
Feeling a tiny bit sorry for her, Flo said, ‘Well, if he’s nice, I’m sure he’ll be able to win your brother round.’
‘Except Zander won’t let him stay at the flat.’ Lena exhaled, visibly annoyed. ‘Which is kind of inconvenient, not to mention bloody unfair.’
‘Well, it’s his flat. I suppose it’s up to him. Can’t you stay at Giles’s place?’ Flo knew that Zander had been under pressure to allow Giles to spend a few nights a week at the flat.
‘But it’s so selfish. And no, I can’t stay at Giles’s place.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because his wife wouldn’t like it.’ Lena gestured with exasperation. ‘OK, happy now? You made me say it. And no, I’m not a marriage wrecker; they broke up months ago.’
‘They’re still living together?’
‘No, they’re not. But she’s directly opposite his mother’s house, because the property belongs to the family . . . you know, part of the estate. And Giles is living with his mother, who’s being completely unreasonable and refusing to let him take me there because she’s trying to force him to get back together with his wife. And she’s just a spiteful bitch who won’t move out because she’s happy in the family home with the kids, living the life of Riley and bleeding her husband dry.’