Helena nodded, not knowing what to say.
‘Now,’ he went on, pushing a mug of tea towards her. ‘Tell me what Gilly said?’
When Helena had finished, he said, ‘So you didn’t even eat your soup? ‘You must be hungry.’
‘Not really. I’ve lost my appetite. The tea is good though. I should go, anyway.’
‘I expect you want to finish sorting out your loom.’
‘Yes, but I’ve also got a room to look at, for me to live in, for when I have to move out of my studio. It’s in a shared house at the top of town. Not huge and quite expensive for what it is, but OK.’
‘I’m probably way out of order here, but why don’t you live with me? There’s a room at the end of this house that is finished, near the bathroom, and I’d let you have it for nothing. Because you’re a mate,’ he added, possibly aware she was about to protest.
‘But if I say I’ve moved in with you, everyone will think we’re a major item and not “it’s early days yet, who knows how it will turn out”.’
‘Just tell them you want to stay close to your loom and not share a house at the top of town?’
Helena nodded. ‘That could work.’
He laughed. ‘I do love the way you’ve defined our relationship, by the way.’
‘I’ve got it!’ said Helena. ‘If I pay rent, it makes perfect sense. Then they can think what they like.’ She studied him. ‘Are you sure? You see enough of me as it is.’
‘I could never see enough of you,’ he said and then added, ‘Joking!’
Negotiating a rent that was satisfactory to both of them took a little while. Helena wanted to pay Jago what she would have paid for a room anywhere else; Jago insisted that anywhere else would be more comfortable if less convenient. Eventually they reached a compromise that they could both live with.
When they had moved Helena’s things over to her new room she said, ‘Now I’m going to cook you supper to thank you for taking me in. But it has to be chilli as it’s my signature dish. I didn’t inherit my mother’s cooking skills, I’m afraid, but my chilli is good.’
‘You don’t have to—’ Jago began.
‘Yes I do!’ said Helena quickly. ‘It’s what I’d do if I wanted to get on with my new housemates. No reason why you should miss out just because we’re friends.’
Chapter Fifteen
The moment she was on her own, Gilly stopped being furious and became devastated again. She didn’t know what to do with herself or what to do with the information Helena had given her. It was like a bomb, only there was no handy bomb-disposal unit she could call. She’d never known Helena to be wrong about anyone when she’d recognised them. But there was always a first time!
She put the kettle on for tea but then didn’t fancy any. She cleared up the soup and scones and wanted to cry for being so horrible to Helena. But she didn’t feel ready to apologise to her. Ulysses the cat, finding her unexpectedly still, jumped on her lap. She stroked him for a bit until he started kneading her with his claws and the hairs which floated up from his lavish coat made her sneeze.
In the end she went out into the garden and cleared a bed she’d been thinking of redoing for some time although she hadn’t decided what she wanted to do with it. Ulysses came with her, trying to imply that gardening had been his idea all the time.
She’d always liked gardening and hers looked wonderful in the spring. Little daffodils bloomed next to miniature irises and grape hyacinths, drifts of yellow and blue like water and sunshine. That had been her plan when she’d planted them but now, although she still found them pretty, their loveliness enhanced her sadness instead of cheering her up. She and Helena hardly ever fell out and it was heartbreaking.
However, she felt better when she came indoors and decided to do what was so often the best thing – nothing. She would carry on as normal and the right decision would occur to her. And as Leo was coming to dinner to plan their trip to Vienna that evening, she could distract herself with cooking.
She was doing slow-roasted pork belly because Leo had once mentioned liking it. And it was going to be perfect. In the kitchen, Gilly had control and right now this was a great comfort to her.
All the time she cooked she thought about Leo and all the time she wondered what difference, if any, Helena’s information made to her feelings.
As she scored the pork fat with the Stanley knife she kept for the purpose, she realised she hadn’t actually heard the details. It was perfectly possible that Leo had got caught up himself in some scam or other without being aware of it and he had just been brought down by others. But then, unexpectedly, the vision of the car on the wrong side of the road hurtling towards her came into her head. It had given her nightmares for months. Could she love a man who drove so dangerously? But it had happened years ago! He didn’t seem to drive dangerously now. A bit fast, perhaps, but Gilly thought that about pretty much everyone, including Helena.
And so what if he’d done time in prison? People were allowed second chances. Of course they were. And abandoning someone you loved because they’d made a mistake in their youth was not only unkind, it was ridiculous.
As Gilly peeled potatoes she pushed away the thought that Leo hadn’t been that young when he’d nearly killed her. She’d been the mother of a university student herself. While they hadn’t ever talked about their ages she guessed he was a few years older than she was. But still! She was going to ignore everything that Helena had told her.
Gilly set a small table and chairs in the sitting room. Leo wasn’t the sort of man who’d want to eat in the kitchen and the dining room was far too large for dinner à deux. But a little table in the window embrasure and the fire lit to add warmth and sparkle to the evening would be perfect. If she had only two guests who wanted dinner she put them there and everyone enjoyed it.
She polished the glasses and opened the wine. Leo had offered to bring wine but she had protested and bought some herself. She felt confident in her choice because she’d met William in Waitrose and he had helped her find one that had been praised in the Sunday Times.
She was very happy with her meal by the time it was ready. A small clafoutis of vegetables in individual ramekins to start – the belly of pork was a substantial dish. Then the pork with amazing crackling, mashed potato that had been through the ricer and was as smooth as silk, softened with an indecent amount of butter, and some green beans. Then for pudding she just had a simple orange salad with chips of caramel. It was all about the pork, the rest were just grace notes to the main event.
In spite of her determination to put everything Helena had told her out of her head there was a touch of anxiety in the excitement she felt at the prospect of seeing Leo.
One of the many things she liked about him was that he always arrived when he said he would, and he did tonight with a bottle of wine under his arm.
‘Hello, you,’ he said, kissing her on both cheeks.
‘Hello, Leo,’ she said. ‘Come on in. It’s so lovely to see you.’ Being with him was very reassuring. He was a solid presence and it was easier to forget all she’d heard about him when he so obviously wasn’t a jailbird. Whether or not he drove too fast was less clear.