Changing Lara

by Anna Jacobs

  He frowned at the miscellany of items on the bed, then turned back to her. ‘You know what? You’re looking for a job and I’m looking to maximise what I get from this house. I’m thinking of my retirement too, especially if I – well, don’t recover fully from ME. If I allow you a percentage of what you make, do you think you know enough to sell the various pieces, Lara? I certainly don’t know nearly enough to do that to best advantage.’

  She didn’t hesitate. ‘Yes. Especially if we do some of it online.’

  ‘How about we split what we make fifty-fifty?’

  ‘That seems unfair to you. I’d feel more comfortable with you getting seventy per cent to my thirty.’

  It was her face he studied this time. ‘You’re an honest woman, aren’t you?’

  He sounded faintly surprised, which puzzled her. Did she look dishonest? ‘Well, I try to be.’

  He held out his hand. ‘Make it sixty-forty, then. You’ll be doing most of the work, believe me. And of course, I’ll cover any expenses you have as well.’

  She shook hands on the bargain, feeling bemused. ‘I accept, then. And, um, I can do you a website to sell from. I wouldn’t charge you for a simple one. I’ve worked with computers for years. It’ll be quite easy for me.’

  ‘Ah, but I’d insist on paying. You need the money and I need the service. No-brainer.’

  She shook her head at him but he looked immovable, somehow, so she didn’t push it. ‘Oh, all right, then.’

  He frowned. ‘I’ve only got an old laptop at the moment. My old desktop died and I’ve been meaning to buy a new one to work from.’

  ‘It’s one of the top things on my list too. I’m thinking I may pick up some small jobs online. I can get you a discount on the computer, Ross, especially if we’re both buying at the same time.’

  ‘Done.’

  She couldn’t stop tears coming into her eyes. It was hard to take good luck after such a major piece of bad luck. And so much sheer generosity too, even from Guy.

  ‘Oh, come here!’ Ross said gruffly and pulled her into his arms. She tried to push him away.

  He stilled for a moment. ‘I’m not making a pass, Lara; I’m trying to offer you a comforting hug. You seem very alone in all this trouble.’

  She’d been alone for years. She didn’t seem to have the knack of forming close relationships easily. And a lot of ambitious men were chary of dating women managers who might become rivals. Giving in to temptation, she rested against Ross for a few moments, not saying anything just relaxing gradually. As she pulled away, she said, ‘Thank you. It is comforting.’

  It surprised her that she’d let a near stranger cuddle her, but Ross was so gentle and unthreatening, it had been like resting for a moment in a safe haven.

  She blew her nose, then pushed her sleeves up. ‘Come on. Let’s get to work on clearing out this room.’

  The trouble was, Ross was interested in every piece she knew anything about, so they didn’t make rapid progress. There were a lot of pieces that could be sold individually. Not huge-value items, though one or two might be of what she thought of as medium value, in the thousands. But the money from so many trinkets and ornaments would certainly mount up for them both.

  And they hadn’t even gone into the rest of the house yet. Who knew what they’d find there?

  She had a private bet with herself that even the attic would be full of objets d’art. Her own attic space was completely empty, designed for storage only, not occupation, so that her footsteps echoed on the uncarpeted floor up there.

  Two hours later, she called a halt. ‘It’s past lunchtime and I’m hungry, even if you aren’t, Ross. What’s more, you look as if you need a rest.’

  ‘I’m hungry too.’ He sounded surprised. ‘Let’s go up to the hotel snack bar and I’ll buy you lunch.’

  ‘OK.’

  How strange! She hadn’t wanted Guy to buy her lunch yesterday but she didn’t mind Ross doing it.

  She enjoyed his company greatly over lunch. He was well informed about the world and he treated her as a friend and equal, not a potential conquest. It turned out that he knew a lot about old buildings, but not nearly as much about antique furniture, except for the family pieces he owned.

  As they were leaving the hotel after lunch, she got a call from Donald Metcalf and said, ‘Excuse me for a moment, Ross. It’s the police. This could be important.’ She moved away.

  Donald thanked her for the photo and told her it was good enough to plug into a facial recognition system they were trying out.

  ‘Oh, good! I hope you catch him.’

  ‘We’ll do our best, believe me, but don’t get your hopes up too high. Facial recognition is in its infancy. It’s likely to be a while before we uncover anything, if at all. These investigations take time and patience, I’m afraid. In the meantime, you should get on with your life, Ms Perryman.’

  ‘Right. I will. I’ve even found a temporary job. But thanks for keeping me in the loop.’

  ‘I’ll continue to let you know if anything happens. And please contact me if something occurs to you. Bear in mind that even a tiny detail could help our investigations.’

  She sighed as she put her phone away and caught up with Ross, who had walked on a short distance to give her some privacy and was sitting on a low wall waiting for her. She explained what had happened, then studied him. ‘You need to rest now, don’t you?’

  ‘Is it so obvious?’

  ‘To me it is. I told you: a friend of mine used to have ME. I know some of the signs and effects.’

  ‘You said she got better. How long did that take?’

  ‘It didn’t start to happen till she went to see a doctor with an alternative focus.’

  ‘Really? My cousin said she knew someone like that, but my specialist warned me that anyone who says they can cure it is most likely to be a snake-oil salesman. He says they get a new theory about it every year or so, but nothing definitive. That’s why they call it a syndrome, not a single illness.’

  ‘Well, I’m no expert. All I know is she was really ill and got better gradually by nutritional methods, supplements of things like amino acids and minerals, not hit-you-hard-on-the-head drugs.’

  ‘Hmm.’

  When he didn’t pursue the point, she let it drop. If it had been her, she’d have been online researching and evaluating every alternative method of treatment she could find – well, not those which sounded ridiculous or promised the impossible, she wasn’t a fool, but some alternative approaches to health were well respected now.

  ‘I’ll knock on your door when I wake up,’ he said as she left. ‘Sorry about this.’

  ‘It’s not important. If you need a rest, take one. I’ve plenty to keep me busy.’

  Chapter Ten

  Lara went into her own house and stood for a moment feeling lost, unsure where to make a start, for all her brave words to Ross. It didn’t seem like home yet, more like a campsite where she was surrounded by a few pieces of grotty furniture and various boxes.

  Determined to shake off the feeling of melancholy, she went upstairs to put sheets on the new double bed. When she lay down to test it, she sighed in pleasure. There! This was a huge improvement over Molly’s old single bed.

  She didn’t need to return that bed, though, because Euan had told her to keep everything they’d given her. So voilà, she now had a spare bed! That was progress of a sort – wasn’t it? Well, a tiny step beyond basics, at least.

  The trouble was, there was no one who might sleep in that other bed. She’d lost touch with her old friends in the UK one by one as she and they moved around the world. Not all at once, but gradually. Over the years, she’d either mislaid their addresses or else they’d moved and forgotten to let her know. She could have chased them round the Internet but had been ‘too busy just then’ and time had passed till she couldn’t really remember what they’d had in common.

  Some of her generation had lived their whole lives like flotsam and jetsam, washing here an
d there in random forays around the globe, depending on the whims of their employers or their own desire to travel. She’d been a bit like that too after her marriage broke up.

  She’d made a few newer friends over the years, of course she had, but most of them were still embedded in The Company – which she always thought of as having capital letters. They lived in hub cities, not the English countryside, and anyway, now that she wasn’t part of the same organisation the connection would drop away quite quickly. She’d seen it happen many times to other people.

  Perhaps she could join some local group without incurring too much expense and make new friends that way? There was that tai chi class she’d seen advertised on the noticeboard at the hotel, or there would surely be other groups of various sorts nearby.

  She could cope on her own without close friends, of course she could. She’d been doing that for years. But she wanted to change things, wasn’t cut out to be a hermit.

  What was she cut out to be now, though? She didn’t know. She’d been intending to buy and sell antiques as a hobby, and had expected to make some money from it and perhaps friends too. But she couldn’t afford to gamble money on purchases now and wouldn’t have much time to scour junk shops for bargain items if she was working full-time again.

  Until she had found a new direction in life, she had to hope that selling antiques with Ross would bring in enough money to live on for a while, because at least she’d enjoy doing that and—

  Stop it! she told herself suddenly. No self-pity. Find something to do. Stop obsessing about details.

  So she got out the new sandpaper, took one of the tatty old bookcases outside to the paved patio area and began to rub the woodwork down. After a while she brought out one of the old garden chairs and began to work on the lower parts of the bookcase while sitting down.

  She wondered how old these two pieces were. They were solidly built of wood with beautifully dove-tailed joints, which was what had attracted her to them. Many years’ wear had shown in the scratches and stickers all over them, as if heedless children had played with them. Luckily most of the damage was only superficial.

  They would hold all her books, she reckoned, and perhaps some of her CDs and DVDs as well. It’d be good to get out her old favourites again. It was years since she’d seen some of them. She’d paid to have a shed erected in Darcie’s garden and would retrieve the final few boxes from it the next time she visited her daughter.

  She needed to organise her time better and get some sort of system into her days.

  Why bother? that insidious little voice inside her head whined.

  Because that’s how I function best, she told it firmly. Even now. What was that old Latin phrase her father used to toss at everyone during times of crisis? Ah yes: nil desperandum. She would take that as her motto from now on. Don’t despair about anything.

  The trouble was, every time she thought of how much money she’d lost, despair edged its way in.

  A few minutes later someone said, ‘Why, hello there!’

  Lara jumped in surprise and turned round.

  A woman of about her own age was standing smiling at her from the grass strip that ran along the back edge of the line of patios. ‘Sorry to startle you, honey. Do I have a new neighbour at last?’

  ‘Yes. I bought the house a while ago but I’ve only just moved in.’

  ‘Oh, good. It’ll be nice to have someone new around. I’m Cindy Pavrovic. I just got back from the States. Are you into do-it-yourself?’

  ‘Only because I have to be.’ Lara took a deep breath and said it, because if she didn’t tell Cindy what had happened to her, she was sure someone else would. ‘I’ve recently had my superannuation fund stolen by my accountant, so to furnish my house I’m having to make do and mend, as they used to say in World War II.’

  ‘Oh, that’s too bad! I hope they catch the scoundrel.’

  ‘That’s my dearest wish at the moment, too.’

  ‘Would you like a coffee? I’ve just bought one of those fancy machines and I’m dying to try out my barista skills on someone. I can bring the coffee across to you. I don’t want to stop you working.’

  ‘Um, I’m not really into coffee.’

  ‘I’ll bring you a cup of tea, then. It’s a good excuse for a chat.’

  As she was speaking, Ross came out of the back of his house and stood nearby, stretching and yawning, and they both turned to look at him.

  ‘Have you two met?’ Lara asked.

  Her companions both nodded.

  ‘I’m going to miss Iris,’ Cindy said. ‘She was such a delight to chat to and I loved looking at her collections. I’m just bringing a cup of tea for Lara. I’m having a coffee. Can I bring something for you as well, Ross?’

  ‘Yes, please, if you don’t mind. Coffee.’

  ‘Tell me how you like it.’

  She listened, waved to them and strolled back to the larger detached house just beyond the end of their row.

  ‘Nice woman, Cindy. I don’t know her very well but my aunt liked having her as a neighbour. I was coming to say we could start work again, but we can do it after we’ve chatted to Cindy.’ He ambled across to study the bookcase she’d been working on. ‘This looks as if it’ll come good with a bit of work.’

  ‘I hope so. I bought a pair of them, thinking that if I painted them both white, they wouldn’t look too bad. But now I’m seeing what’s under the mess, I might just polish the wood instead. It looks like light oak. Could have been made in the 1930s.’

  When Cindy came back with a tray containing cups and a platter of ‘cookies’, they had a pleasant chat, then Lara and Ross went back into his house to continue clearing out his bedroom.

  ‘Did you have a good rest?’ she asked as they made their way upstairs.

  ‘I went out like a light.’

  ‘Well, you look better for it, I must say. I hope we didn’t wake you.’

  ‘No, I’d already woken up. When I heard the sound of your toil, I looked out of the window of the other bedroom to see what you were doing. You were looking rather sad until Cindy joined you.’

  ‘I was feeling both angry and sad. In fact, I’m alternating between the two modes at the moment.’

  ‘I would too, in your place. We should bring back the stocks and put rats like that guy who stole your money in them.’

  That made her smile. ‘Oooh, I’d love to throw a rotten tomato at him. Maybe I’ll build that into my dreams.’

  Once again they surveyed the main bedroom. They’d finished moving out the ornaments but there were still the clothes hanging in the wardrobe and the drawers of underwear to tackle. Lara opened the top drawer and studied the piles of knickers that had freaked Ross out. Well, it felt rather strange to her, too, to be investigating a complete stranger’s underwear.

  He picked up the roll of bin liners. ‘You can shove those things into these bags, then I’ll throw them away.’

  She felt a bit embarrassed asking, but she had to be frugal. ‘Well, if you don’t mind, I could use some of the throwaway clothes for rags – not the knickers, I draw the line at that, but the other stuff. I’ll need plenty of rags as I renovate the furniture and it’ll save me buying cloths, not to mention being better for the planet.’

  ‘Good idea. I do admire the way you’re getting stuck into making a new life with whatever comes to hand, Lara.’

  ‘Thank you. But please don’t be too sympathetic or I’ll start crying again.’

  ‘Cry away. You’ve a lot to cry about.’

  She shook her head. She’d wept all over him once, didn’t intend to make a habit of it. This catastrophe wasn’t going to define her every waking thought. No way!

  Darcie looked at her father, who had come to see Minnie, as he often did. But the baby was having a nap now and her father was still sitting outside in a sheltered spot on their patio, staring into space. She went outside to join him. ‘You all right, Dad?’

  He started and turned round. ‘What? Oh, sorry! I’m be
ing a very poor guest. I was miles away.’

  ‘Thinking about Mum? I keep worrying about her.’

  ‘Actually, yes. I’m worrying too now that I’ve spoken to her. She was so unlike her usual brisk self.’

  ‘Who wouldn’t be, losing all that money? About a million and a half pounds, she said it was.’

  He whistled softly. ‘She didn’t tell me exactly how much. She’d done well, hadn’t she? Of course, there was the money her mother left her as well as her share of our house and her earnings, but still, you have to admire how hard she’s always worked. I suppose she’ll have to get another job now. Sad, that. She’d always planned to retire early.’

  ‘Are you going to retire early, too?’

  ‘Heavens, no! What would I do with myself? My mother would expect me to spend more time with her if I did, and that I couldn’t stand. I’m fifty-five but she still treats me as if I’m ten and rather stupid with it. And that old folks’ retirement home she lives in drives me mad. There’s always someone organising the residents – and trying to organise their visitors as well.’ He shuddered.

  Darcie chuckled. ‘Aren’t you into sing-songs and parlour games?’

  ‘Definitely not. I’m grateful that you have Mum round for a visit once a month. Did I thank you properly for that?’

  ‘Several times. It’s harder to fit in now that I’m working again, though. But Gran’s good company most of the time, though she tells me off, too. I’m doing the wrong things with Minnie, apparently.’

  She hesitated but had been thinking about something for a while. ‘Did Gran ever cuddle you when you were a child? She says it gives them the wrong idea of life to be picked up so often and I especially shouldn’t pick Minnie up when she cries.’