You And Me, Always(15)

Chapter 14



‘Who the hell  … ?' Eddie was sitting up, dropping her hand.

‘Only me,' said Dan as he pushed the door open. ‘I thought you'd be asleep by now, that's why I didn't phone to- Oh.'

The pregnant pause lasted a good couple of seconds until Lily smiled and said brightly, ‘Hi!'

‘Hi.' Dan looked steadily at her, then at Eddie Tessler. ‘Does Patsy not live here any more?'

‘She went up to bed. We were just chatting.' Gesturing to Eddie and  fairly sure her cheeks were red, Lily said, ‘This is, um, Eddie.'

‘I know. Hello.'

‘Hi,' said Eddie.

‘We weren't expecting you,' Lily gabbled. ‘You didn't say you were coming back. We didn't even hear the car outside.'

‘I parked further down, under the street lamp. We've been invited to a  black-tie do on Monday so I needed to pick up my dinner suit. I'll just  go and get it; Anna's waiting in the car.' As he spoke, Dan was  simultaneously giving her a narrow stare and heading for the staircase.

‘I'll come up with you.' Leaping to her feet, Lily followed him, catching up as he reached his bedroom doorway.

‘What's going on?' Dan halted abruptly, as she'd known he would. The bed  was unmade, Eddie's clothes were flung over the chair and other  belongings had been scattered about.

‘He's been staying for a few days, that's all.'

‘In my bedroom? And no one thought to ask if that was OK with me?'

‘It was a secret. We couldn't let anyone else know he was here.'

‘Not even the person whose room he's been using?' Dan, whose default  setting was jokey and flippant, wasn't being jokey now. Distinctly  unamused, he said, ‘You don't think it might have been polite to mention  it?'

‘Maybe,' said Lily, ‘but you weren't supposed to find out.'

He shook his head in disbelief. ‘A complete stranger.'

‘He's not a complete stranger, though, is he? He's Eddie Tessler, you know who he is.'

‘And I also know he's been sleeping in my bed. With you, presumably. My God-'

‘What? I'm not sleeping with him!' Whoops, was Eddie able to overhear  this, downstairs? Lowering her voice, Lily hissed, ‘I'm not.'

‘So what are you doing with him then? And what's he doing here?'

‘OK, I'm just keeping him company. He needed somewhere to stay. His PA  is Rosa's sister and Rosa suggested here. Patsy said yes, so that's how  it happened. And no one else knows he's here. It's a secret.'

‘Yes, yes, I get the message.' Dan sounded irritated. ‘You don't have to  keep saying it.' He pulled open the wardrobe doors, removed his dinner  suit and a white dress shirt, and slid a black bow tie out of the tie  rack. Lily had only seen him dressed up like that once before; hardly  surprisingly, he had looked amazing in it.

‘Sorry. Don't be cross,' she said as he closed the wardrobe door.

Dan turned to look directly at her. ‘Sure you're not having sex with him?'

Lily shook her head, glad he couldn't tell how prickly her palms were at the thought of it. ‘Absolutely sure.'

‘Well make sure you don't. Because he'll try it on, guaranteed.'

‘I'm not going to do anything,' she retorted. ‘Don't be so suspicious.'                       
       
           



       

‘And you, don't be gullible.' Dan held up a warning finger. ‘Think about  why he's having to hide out here in the first place. Men like that just  do whatever they want.'

‘I think you mean men like you.' Lily softened the comment with a half-smile, and this time he acknowledged the dig.

‘Fine, but all the more reason to listen to me. Because I know what I'm  talking about.' His phone buzzed and he glanced at it; his latest  girlfriend was notoriously impatient. ‘Anna's waiting. I need to go. But  just remember what I said.'

‘I will.' She mimed zipping her mouth shut. ‘And you remember what I said too.'

They made their way downstairs, Lily marvelling at Patsy's ability to  sleep through anything; once she'd gone, you could hold a rave outside  her bedroom door and she wouldn't wake up.

‘Bye.' Dan briefly raised a hand to Eddie.

‘Bye,' said Eddie. ‘Sorry about not letting you know. And thanks for-'

‘Yep, have to go.'

When Dan had left, Eddie shook his head. ‘He's not going to keep this to himself.'

Unsettled by Dan's earlier comments, Lily decided she should leave too.  She reached for her bag and turned to Eddie; the least she could do was  reassure him. ‘Don't worry, he will.'

‘Hey, you didn't have to sound quite so appalled, by the way. Sleeping with me wouldn't be that terrible.'

So he had overheard. And now he was making fun of her. Lily gave him a  look, then quickly left before he could see that he'd made her blush.



The first paparazzi arrived the following morning, just before midday.  An hour later, a couple of journalists turned up. Lily couldn't believe  it; she'd been so certain she could trust Dan to keep the secret. But  she knew it hadn't been Patsy or Coral, so who else could have given the  game away? There simply wasn't anyone else who knew. Mortified, she  sent Dan a sarcastic text message and received no reply.

At two o'clock, Patsy arrived at Goldstone and found Lily out in the yard, stacking up a range of ceramic planting pots.

‘Well, he's gone.'

‘Eddie?' Lily had guessed he would leave; once his cover had been blown, there'd be no reason to stay.

‘Rosa's husband came down to collect him, take him back to London. It's going to be weird not having him around.'

‘I know.' They'd enjoyed sharing the secret, keeping Eddie Tessler to themselves. ‘Was he cross with Dan?'

‘Not really. More resigned. He said he'd had five days of peace, which  was better than nothing. Oh, and he asked me to say goodbye to you too,  and thanks for everything.'

‘Right.' Was it silly to wish he could have called into the yard, even  for just half a minute, to say goodbye? Probably, but Lily still found  herself thinking it. Then again, why would he? Eddie Tessler was on his  way back to London, to his film-starry life peppered with paparazzi,  glitz and gorgeous girls from the world of celebrity. He'd been bored  and she'd provided him with a bit of undemanding company, but now he was  gone. Whilst she was stuck here, lugging heavy, dusty Victorian pots  around the yard. Oh, the glamour.

‘And he said good luck with finding Declan,' Patsy added. ‘He hopes you get to hear from him.'

She'd posted the letter on Thursday with a first-class stamp on it.  Despite obsessively checking her emails since Friday, there'd been no  reply so far.

‘Yeah.' As Lily bent to lift the biggest, heaviest pot and shift it into  a better position against the dry-stone wall, a huge spider made a bid  for freedom and scuttled across her arm. ‘Me too.'





Chapter 15



The letter had disappeared.

Before Friday's dinner party it had been there on his bed. Afterwards,  it had gone. Declan had looked everywhere for it without success, and  the more time he spent searching, the more impatient Gail had become  with him.

The more impatient she'd become with him, the more he suspected that she'd quietly disposed of the letter herself.

‘So she's the daughter of some girl you once went out with, and the  mother's been dead for years but you still want to meet her. Even though  she isn't your daughter.'

‘That's right,' said Declan.

‘She absolutely definitely isn't your daughter.'

‘Absolutely definitely.'

‘In that case, I don't get it. Why would you want to meet her? What's the point?'

‘I just do,' Declan reiterated. How could he even begin to explain when he barely understood it himself?                       
       
           



       

‘Well it just seems like a waste of time to me. Anyway, I'm going to be  late for work. I'll see you tonight, yes? We'll have dinner at my  place.'

He nodded, distracted. ‘Um  …  yes, fine.'

‘Let's have a nice Monday detox, shall we? Steamed fish and summer greens!'

Gail planted a mouthwashy kiss on his lips and left the house. Had she  taken the letter in the hope that he would lose interest in the idea of  meeting Jo's daughter?

As he watched through the window, Declan saw her pause beside the  recycling boxes out on the pavement and drop something into the  paper-recycling box, due to be emptied in a couple of hours' time. Then  she headed off down the road to catch the bus in to work.

Feeling like a spy, Declan waited until she'd turned the corner, then  left the front door on the latch and went out to check the black box.  The discarded Sunday papers were in there, together with a few magazines  and an assortment of junk mail. If he found Lily's letter, that was it:  the relationship with Gail would be over.