‘Good for her,' she said with affectionate empathy. ‘She'll be fine.'
‘You could contact her if you want to,' said Declan. ‘Write a letter, tell her you'd like to meet up.'
But Lily was already shaking her head. ‘It's OK, she's not interested. You can't force these things. She knows where I am if she changes her mind. And there's no hurry. Maybe she'll be in touch a year from now, or ten years. She's only fifteen. Let her do it in her own time.
Declan walked Lily back to Goldstone House, then returned to the cottage and helped Dan clear away the dishes on the living-room table.
‘Thanks for offering to put me up,' he said as Dan poured them both a nightcap.
‘No problem. It's good to have you here.' Dan raised his tumbler of Scotch. ‘You haven't mentioned Gail all evening. Is she going to be coming down any time this week?'
Declan paused; he hadn't told Lily his relationship with Gail was over. But that was at least partly because he hadn't wanted to detract from Lily's own current issues. He shook his head. ‘She's not coming down. We've called it a day.'
‘You have?' Dan was interested. ‘Why?'
Well he wasn't going to tell him that. Declan shrugged. ‘Just wasn't working out. You know when it's right … '
‘And it wasn't right,' Dan concluded with a nod. ‘Same with me and Anna.'
‘I haven't told Lily. She's got enough to think about at the moment.' The other, somewhat less altruistic reason was to do with him wanting to be the one who told Coral so he could see her reaction face to face.
‘Fine, it's just between us.' As Declan began filling the bowl with hot water and Fairy, Dan said, ‘I'm not great at washing up, but I can put stuff away.'
‘No problem. I'll do this bit. Can you pass me those plates?'
Limping across the kitchen, Dan carried the plates over with his good hand and Declan plunged them into the bowl.
‘We're like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in The Odd Couple.' Dan grinned. ‘Two single men living together. Can I be Walter Matthau?'
‘Definitely.' Unable to resist asking, Declan rinsed a plate and said, ‘What caused the split between you and Anna, then?' Not that he'd ever met her himself, but Lily had told him all about Dan's revolving-door attitude towards dating the opposite sex.
Dan glanced at him, then shrugged and looked away. ‘Like I said, pretty much the same as you. When I was younger, I'd just go out with whoever I liked because they were easy enough to spend a bit of time with. But I'm getting older now and it needs to be more than that. It needs to mean more. If they aren't someone you know you definitely want to spend the rest of your life with … well, it just seems kind of pointless.'
From the look on his face, Declan guessed that Dan had surprised himself with this confession; at a guess, it wasn't the kind of thing he'd find easy to admit to work colleagues and friends his own age.
‘I think you're probably right. Good for you.' Declan nodded easily. ‘It'll happen one day. How about Lily?' he continued, changing the subject to what had been uppermost in his own mind tonight. ‘What do you think's going to happen when Patsy comes back? Do you suppose they'll be able to sort themselves out?'
When there was no reply, he turned to look at Dan and saw how very much it evidently mattered to him. There was heightened colour in his tanned cheeks and tension visible in his jaw. Finally he exhaled and said, ‘Bloody hell, I hope so. But I really don't know.'
Chapter 39
‘Hey, how are you?'
Lily experienced a fresh pang of guilt at the sound of Eddie's voice. ‘Um, I'm fine, but a bit, you know … '
‘Let me guess. Busy.' His response was good-natured but resigned. Which was hardly surprising, seeing as this was the third time today he'd called her and she'd been unable to speak to him.
‘I'm sorry, it's just been chaos here, I've been rushed off my feet. And there are people queueing up now … Can I call you back later?'
‘You said that three hours ago.'
‘I know, we haven't stopped for a minute. Look, I'll definitely call you at six o'clock.'
‘Fine,' said Eddie. ‘Let's hope I'll be free then.'
‘Sorry.' Lily lifted her hair away from where it was stuck to the back of her neck.
‘It's OK, I know what it's like.'
‘Excuse me,' snapped a tall woman clutching two cast-iron door knockers and a handful of doorknobs. ‘Could I possibly buy these, or shall I just put them in my handbag and leave?'
‘I have to go,' Lily told Eddie.
‘Don't work too hard,' he said in the moment before she hung up.
Cheek.
At 5.30, Lily closed the yard for the day. Once she'd locked up the office and said goodbye to Marty, she headed over to the house, where she found Dan waiting for her on the doorstep.
He grinned at her. ‘Hi. Looking hot.'
‘In a fabulous way or a sweaty way?' Since her hair was once again plastered against her neck and her T-shirt was dusty and damp, Lily suspected she knew which.
‘Stop fishing for compliments, you.'
‘What's that?' She pointed to the cool box at his feet.
‘It's an ambulance.'
‘Ha-di-ha. I mean what's in it?'
‘Change of plan.' Having earlier volunteered to cook dinner at the cottage for the three of them, Dan picked up the cool box and followed her into the house. ‘Declan's staying on at Weaver's Cottage to get the kitchen finished before the worktops arrive tomorrow. He won't be back before midnight. So I thought I'd take you somewhere special instead.' He gestured with pride at the cool box. ‘I've done us a picnic.'
‘Nice. And how are you planning on taking me there exactly? By giving me a piggyback?'
‘You'll have to drive us,' said Dan.
As if she hadn't guessed. ‘Where are we going, then?'
‘Back in time.' His dark eyes glittered with mischief. ‘Don't ask. You'll like it, though, I promise.'
‘Give me half an hour.' She kicked off her flip-flops and headed for the staircase. ‘I need to shower and change first.'
Under the stream of lukewarm water, Lily massaged her aching temples and let the shampoo suds cascade over her face. It had been a long week. She'd been working hard, keeping herself busy in order not to have to think about Patsy. The weather had grown steadily warmer and today the sun had blazed down, turning the yard into a complete heat-trap.
Dressed once more, this time in a purple cotton sundress, she threw herself on to the bed and called Eddie in New Zealand.
‘Hi,' he said when he answered. ‘Sorry, it's my turn to be busy now.'
Lily's heart sank. ‘Oh no, that's a-'
‘Joking.' This time she heard the smile in his voice. ‘I'm fine to talk. How are you doing?'
‘Shattered. Did I wake you up?'
‘It's OK, I couldn't sleep anyway. The joys of jet lag. How's Declan getting along with the cottage?'
‘Oh, he's been working on it non-stop. They're going to finish installing the kitchen tonight. How about you? What d'you have planned for today?'
‘Interviews … we're recording a chat show first, then there's a four-hour press junket this afternoon.'
Lily said teasingly, ‘And are there any gorgeous females out there?'
‘I wouldn't notice. How about you, any irresistible male customers?'
‘God, loads.'
He laughed. ‘I miss you.'
‘Miss you too.' He was currently on a tour of New Zealand, Australia and Singapore, and from there he had to fly back to New York; they wouldn't see each other again until the week after next. ‘Sorry about today.'
‘Don't worry, can't be helped. Goes with the territory.' His voice softened. ‘We'll make up for it when I get back.'
Lily wiggled her toes and smiled up at the ceiling. ‘Yes, we will.'
‘You said thirty minutes. You're late,' said Dan when Lily reappeared. He made himself look disapproving, but the sight of her caused his heart to leap. She was wearing a short purple dress, silver flip-flops and his favourite scent.
Lily said, ‘I was talking to Eddie,' which didn't make his heart leap, but he was used to putting on a brave front.
Reaching for the cool box – cleverly, he'd worked out how to loop the handle over the grippy part of the aluminium crutch – he said, ‘Come along then, let's go.'
‘Bossy.' Lily gave him a nudge.