‘Oh my goodness, that hotel is amazing!’ said Gilly. ‘It must be fantastically expensive.’
‘I hope you’re not going to offer to pay your share, Gilly. I wouldn’t allow it.’
Gilly swallowed, then took another sip of muscat. Her glass had been refilled. ‘OK,’ she said, encouraging him to go on.
‘Then I thought we’d have a car for the first day, to take us around to the major sites. Of course we’ll visit the opera, and the Spanish Riding School. Is there anything in the art line you’d particularly enjoy? Apart from Klimt, of course.’
‘Actually, Leo, this is quite overwhelming—’
‘I want you to be overwhelmed! Overwhelmed with luxury, art, culture – there are some amazing churches to visit. Sigmund Freud’s house …’
‘So how many days have you planned to stay?’
‘Five days. That should give us time to eat our body weight in Sachertorte and schnitzel.’
Gilly’s eye had been caught by the date on one of the many bits of paper. ‘Leo! The booking is in June. I’m sure I said I couldn’t go then! Let me get my diary.’
The time she spent getting it, although not long, was time for her to get her feelings in order. She produced the family calendar that ruled her life. ‘Look. I have bookings. I know I told you about them!’
‘You did, darling,’ he said smoothly, the first time he’d used this endearment. ‘But I decided if we stuck to your schedule we’d never go. You can easily cancel your visitors or get your friend to accommodate them.’
Gilly didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to. He’d arranged a truly amazing trip for them and now she didn’t want to go. It was odd, Gilly thought. A couple of days ago, if Leo had done this she’d have thought he was being wonderfully masterful and she’d have found the whole thing very sexy. She’d have passed her bed and breakfast guests on to her friend and tried to make it up to them later. Now she was determined not to rush into cancelling her bookings.
Was it Helena’s ridiculous revelations that had done it? she wondered as she let Leo continue to talk about the cultural joys of Vienna, not having really acknowledged her doubts. Or was the dizzy, wonderful feeling that she associated with Leo always destined to be fleeting?
‘You don’t seem to be paying attention, my love.’
Gilly turned to Leo. ‘Sorry, do go on. Vienna sounds fascinating.’ Even if she didn’t intend to go there.
‘I’d actually asked if you had any brandy – or, better, port.’
Gilly got up quickly, the hostess within her still willing to please. ‘Oh yes, of course. I’ll get it.’
When she’d come back to the table spread with maps and guidebooks she poured him the port.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Now after Vienna, I suggest we take the train …’ He paused. ‘Now what?’ He sounded impatient. He wanted his audience to pay proper attention.
‘Sorry! I was just wondering how you were going to get home. You’ve had far too much alcohol to be safe to drive.’
‘Isn’t that my decision?’ he said coldly.
‘Would you like me to call you a taxi?’
He cleared his throat. ‘I was rather hoping to stay with you tonight.’ He looked at her in a way that last week would have had her half fainting with lust.
‘Sorry, but I’m absolutely chocker. Not a spare bed in the house.’
‘Really? I haven’t heard a soul and you haven’t jumped up from the table once.’
Except when I’ve been tending to your needs, thought Gilly. ‘They’re all coming in much later. By arrangement.’
He was silent for a few moments – rare for him, Gilly realised. ‘Maybe you’d better call that cab,’ he said at last.
Gilly went to get her phone. She had a number of cab companies on ‘Favourites’. As she looked through the list she wondered if she should tell him to cancel the trip to Vienna and decided ‘no time like the present’.
She waited until the cab had arrived, however. ‘By the way, Leo, I don’t think I want to go to Vienna after all. At least, not in June. It’s just too inconvenient.’
He sighed, obviously being patient with the whims of a woman. ‘Why don’t you sleep on it? I’ll leave the information that I’ve printed off. It’s got a link to the hotel on it.’
Gilly smiled and nodded, feeling cowardly but also that she’d been run over by a Savile Row-suited steamroller and so her cowardice was justified.
As he left Gilly noticed he had cat hair on the seat of his trousers. He would not appreciate that. But she’d had Ulysses a lot longer than she’d known Leo. If she had to choose between them, it would have to be Uly.
Gilly’s emotions were mixed. Part of her felt she’d probably lost the silver fox that her friends envied her for having and so was regretful. The other part hoped she had: the thought made her feel liberated, in the same way she had when she’d finally navigated the tortuous divorce proceedings her ex-husband put her through. After all, Leo might be a silver fox but he was high maintenance. She enjoyed cooking for people and loved to be appreciated, but she wondered if she would ever get to the stage with Leo that they could just eat cheese on toast in front of the telly. He’d probably want her to go on a diet, too, in case she got just a bit too plump to be presentable.
After she had put on some music to tidy the kitchen by, she examined her feelings. Supposing she couldn’t go to Vienna, how did she feel? Relieved, she realised. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go, she did, but not in the high-powered, high-end way that Leo would arrange.
She switched on the overfilled dishwasher. Next question. How would she feel if she never saw Leo again? This wasn’t quite so clear, she realised. Part of her was definitely relieved but part of her would wonder if she’d made the right decision. He was gorgeous, by anyone’s standards, and the fact that he was courting her, a middle-aged woman, was very flattering.
Now she wished she’d gone for a rich and creamy chocolate dessert instead of the lighter, diet-friendly oranges in caramel. That would have been good – something really fattening and rich to indulge in so that the faint nausea she’d feel afterwards would match her mood. Fortunately she’d brought some cream just in case (in case of what, she never asked herself) and although it curdled slightly when poured over the oranges, it tasted nice. After she’d eaten it and poured herself some Grand Marnier she did the full number on the kitchen. Usually she’d just do the minimum and finish in the morning. She much preferred cleaning in daylight but she suspected she’d be feeling low when she came down the next morning and having a clean kitchen might help.
Before she settled down to sleep she texted Helena, hoping her daughter hadn’t taken her phone into the bedroom as she didn’t want to disturb her. I’m not going to Vienna with Leo, she said, and added a grinning emoji.
Chapter Sixteen
Helena must have seen her mother’s text early because she was in the kitchen by eight.
They hugged.
‘Oh God, Mum, I’m so sorry! I would never have told you all that stuff about Leo if I hadn’t been really worried!’ Helena said, still clinging on to her mother.