‘Oh, I saw the cake!’ said Helena, privately cross with herself for not asking at the time who it was for. ‘It was brilliant! It actually inspired a wall hanging I’m doing for a big show.’
‘Why don’t you sit down and have some crumble and a glass of wine and tell us about it?’ said Gilly.
Helena realised her mother was constitutionally incapable of turning away a potentially hungry person. Cooking and feeding people was so important to Gilly that Helena wondered if it was a way of compensating for her unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce.
‘I’ll just have a quick bath if that’s OK?’
‘I made a spare crumble for you anyway,’ said Gilly.
‘Oh, Mum! You’re so kind!’
‘I know Jago likes my cooking,’ said Gilly as if achieving this situation was somehow challenging.
‘Who wouldn’t?’ said William.
‘You’d be surprised,’ said Helena. ‘Not everyone appreciates Mum’s skill with butter and sugar. Now don’t let me disturb you any more. I won’t be long.’
As she went up the stairs Helena realised that in spite of her cheery words she was in a state of mild shock. Coming home to find her mother entertaining a man was the last thing she ever expected. And while she didn’t disapprove of her mother having another man-friend, really quite soon after she’d got rid of Leo, now she’d had a few minutes to get used to the idea, William was her accountant. Wasn’t that a bit odd? Was it even legal? And making him that cake? She knew her mother loved baking but would she go to all that trouble for someone she didn’t care about? No, not even Gilly would do that. And she deserved all the happiness that came her way. No, it was fine for her to go out with whoever she liked, as long as they’d never nearly killed them in a car.
Up in the bathroom, she was pleased to see her mother had stocked up on her favourite bath oil and there were a few candles around the edge of the bath. Helena was about to light them and luxuriate when she suddenly wondered if her mother had planned to light them at another time, when she was not alone!
Helena had a quick bath, without candles, and then got out and dried herself briefly before pulling on her clothes again. She had to get out of the house as quickly as possible.
To her relief, her mother was alone in the kitchen when she got back down. She was wrapping foil round a Pyrex dish.
‘Oh God, Mum, I’m so sorry! Interrupting your evening like that,’ said Helena. ‘I really should have called—’ A horrible thought struck her. ‘He hasn’t gone home, has he? William? I didn’t drive him away?’
‘No, darling. He’s just getting a fire going in the sitting room. I know it’s spring and all that but it’s really quite chilly.’
‘Oh, that’s all right, I would have hated to ruin your evening completely.’
‘No, darling, it’s fine! And you don’t have to rush off.’
Gilly’s words said one thing, her body language quite another; Helena was fairly fluent in ‘Mum’ by now. ‘Yes I do. But I will certainly take the crumble. You know how much Jago loves your cooking.’ Then she realised her mother had said this earlier.
‘While we’re talking about Jago,’ said Gilly, pausing in her foil manipulations, ‘I just want to say while it’s sad he won’t be the father of my grandchildren, he’s still a really lovely friend. I don’t think you should have to worry about people knowing he’s gay. There’s no shame in it or even embarrassment.’
Helena took a breath. Her mum thought Jago was gay. And while she had never thought it before, she suddenly wondered if Gilly was right. ‘Of course not—’
‘I think he’s far too nice to be heterosexual,’ Gilly was saying. ‘Although William is very nice too and he’s certainly—’
‘It’s OK, Mum,’ said Helena quickly. ‘I think William is lovely but I don’t think—’
‘You don’t think Jago is gay?’ Gilly had that sad but loving expression that parents take on when they tell you your goldfish has died. ‘Darling, he borrowed a hot-water bottle for you. I can’t think of any straight men who would be so thoughtful. Can you?’
‘Mum—’
‘I knew there was something not quite normal between you. I didn’t know what until it suddenly hit me. And while in some ways it is sad, as I said – he is so very handsome and the babies would be gorgeous – as long as he’s happy and …’ She paused. ‘I assumed you knew. You must be disappointed.’
Helena didn’t know what to say. She only knew that she needed to find out if her mother was right as soon as possible. ‘Can you give me the crumble? I’ll sort this out with Jago in the morning.’
‘You don’t want to stay the night?’
‘Certainly not! You’re with your accountant – you probably want to talk business.’
Gilly laughed. ‘Well, off you go now. And get in touch in the morning, or when you’ve had a chance to talk to Jago. But the friendship is the important thing.’
The thought that Jago might be gay had never crossed her mind before but now it began to make sense. She drove home thinking back on their friendship. Who else would offer so much with no strings? It was his idea to pretend they were a couple to get everyone off their backs. Why would he do that if there was no reason? Maybe he hadn’t come out yet? Well, she’d ask him the moment she saw him in the morning.
She was surprised to see his pickup in the yard. She’d thought he’d intended to stay over with his friend (another possible indication of his sexual preferences, she realised now). But the sight of it strengthened her resolve to speak. No time like the present. And she was armed with a crumble and carton of clotted cream. The timing was perfect!
Jago was in the kitchen making a hot drink when she arrived.
‘Hey!’ he said, obviously pleased to see her. ‘I thought you were going to sleep over with your mum.’
‘I thought you were going to sleep over with your mate!’ Now the thought that Jago was gay was in her mind, Helena couldn’t get rid of it, and, yes, she was horribly disappointed at the thought.
‘To be honest, he’s so heartbroken about his girlfriend leaving he just wanted to get drunk and I wasn’t prepared to have a hangover along with him. I’m really sorry for him and all that, but friendship only goes so far. I found I just wanted to get back.’ He paused. ‘What’s your excuse?’
Helena went to the cupboard to find some bowls. ‘Make me a cuppa and I’ll tell you. Mum sent crumble and clotted cream for us.’
‘God, I love your Mum!’ said Jago and flicked on the kettle.
‘She’s very fond of you, too,’ said Helena. Then, deciding it was best to get it over with, she went on: ‘In fact, she thinks you’re gay.’
At first Jago seemed confused and then amused. ‘Why on earth would she think that?’
‘Because you’re so nice!’ said Helena, having filled the bowls.
‘Well, I can’t deny I’m nice but I am not gay. If I was gay, why would I keep it a secret? Here’s your tea.’