Changing Lara

by Anna Jacobs

  He had a think, then shook his head. ‘No, I don’t remember her cuddling me very often. She was far more interested in cuddling my father. I don’t think she’s ever been really happy since he died.’

  ‘Life is cruel at times, isn’t it, especially as people get older. And there are some nasty excuses for human beings in the world who don’t mind hurting others.’

  ‘Like your mother’s financial adviser.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘She was trying not to cry for most of the time we were sorting out the car,’ he said suddenly. ‘Lara, crying! That surprised me and it upset me too. The car is as much help as she’ll accept from me or I’d offer her more.’

  ‘I did wonder if she’d refuse to take even that,’ Darcie admitted.

  He tapped the side of his nose. ‘I was smart and took care not to try to give her a fancy new car. Her need was too great to refuse it. I read her right on that.’ He looked at his daughter and started to say something else, then shook his head and shut his mouth again.

  She didn’t press him to tell her what he’d been going to say. You could only push him so far. ‘Do you still miss having a wife, Dad?’

  ‘Did I tell you that?’

  ‘Yes. One night when you’d had a drink or two.’

  ‘Oh. Well, the answer is yes, but I don’t miss Julie per se. If I ever remarry, I’ll make sure it’s a woman closer to my own age, one who’s past the child-bearing years and above all, one who doesn’t think the whole world revolves round her. Julie was pretty and fun, but the age difference affected us more than I’d expected and her generation have different views about their place in the world, not to mention how to rear children.’

  Darcie didn’t say I told you so but she thought it. She hadn’t disliked Julie, but she hadn’t really taken to her, either.

  ‘I’ve seen a couple of guys I know remarry and start a second family, then regret it. I didn’t fancy doing that. It’s hard work rearing one child and rearing two is three times as hard, I always reckon, because they egg each other on to be naughty or quarrel over nothing. Well, you and your brother did. I don’t have either the patience or the energy for that sort of thing these days.’

  ‘Tell me about it! One is having a huge impact on us. Minnie and her needs seem to rule our lives with a rod of iron.’

  ‘Not planning to have any more children?’

  She shrugged. ‘Perhaps one more, in a year or two. I’m enough my mother’s daughter to want to keep my career going as well, though. Joel isn’t planning to settle down at all so I don’t suppose he’ll give you any grandchildren.’

  ‘Your brother may change his mind if he meets someone special.’

  ‘I suppose so. I didn’t think I wanted children till nature tricked me into it. Now, I wouldn’t be without Minnie for anything.’

  ‘She’s adorable.’ He stood up. ‘I think I’ll skip the meal you kindly offered me, Darcie, and go home, if you don’t mind. I’ve a lot on my mind at the moment.’

  ‘Oh? What are you planning now?’

  He gave her one of his twinkling, fatherly smiles. ‘I may not want to retire but I definitely don’t want to spend the rest of my life selling cars. I’ve started looking at other options.’

  She gaped at him. ‘I thought you loved cars.’

  ‘I do. But the world is full of interesting things. And interesting people. Your mother isn’t the only one with a fancy to try a new path in life.’

  After he’d left she couldn’t help wondering if he was thinking of getting back together with her mother.

  No, he’d never do that … would he?

  Well, even if he wanted to, Mum wouldn’t. Dad had hurt her badly. Though she had accepted a car from him now, at least, so maybe the feud really was over.

  Oh, who knew what to think, especially about parents. All Darcie knew was that her mother was in a terrible situation and didn’t deserve it, and her father had displayed his best side in helping her out. She was proud of him for that.

  What happened next was in the lap of the gods.

  Chapter Eleven

  The car pulled to a halt and parked a short distance away from The Gatehouse. Nonie Jayne scowled at the building through the car window. It looked as serenely beautiful as ever in the spring sunshine. She’d always loved its elegant exterior, even if it was horribly old-fashioned inside. But he hadn’t allowed her to change any of the interior décor, let alone replace the old fittings.

  Gil’s voice from the driver’s seat made her jump. ‘It’s a nice house, isn’t it?’

  She looked at him. ‘If you like old ruins. It’s not as pretty inside. The nicest thing there, as far as I’m concerned, was that it contained a lot of valuable old pieces, including some old silver that he gave me. And then he lied and pretended he hadn’t done that.’

  Gil chuckled. ‘You like to stick to that story, but we both know it isn’t true.’

  ‘Look, you can’t—’

  ‘Doesn’t matter to me. I like money better than anything else and so do you. Just out of interest, I have ways of selling objects without attracting notice that you may not know about.’

  ‘Oh? Do you really?’

  ‘Yes. I think you and I could help one another here and then maybe we could go on helping one another. You didn’t do your homework properly with Ross Welby, did you? He wasn’t as rich as you’d expected.’

  ‘I thought I had and—’ She broke off, watching in puzzlement as a people-mover vehicle drew up in the drive and eight scruffily dressed people got out.

  ‘Who are they?’ Gil asked.

  ‘I haven’t the faintest idea.’

  ‘They don’t look as if they’re here to take tea with anyone.’

  ‘No. And what’s that equipment they’re carrying?’

  ‘Who cares? We’re wasting our time hanging around if he’s got the painters in.’

  ‘That’s not painting equipment. Let’s wait a bit longer and see what happens.’

  A few minutes later a van drew up with BellSaga Film Company on its side in bright, sparkling letters. Nonie Jayne leant forward, surprised. ‘A film company! What’s that doing here?’

  ‘I doubt it’s a big company, not with a van as small as that. Was your ex into making films?’

  ‘No. All he cared about was preserving old buildings. You couldn’t get a word out of him when he was working on a project.’

  Another man opened the front door of the house to the group of people who’d arrived and they greeted one another with a lot of kissy-kissy.

  ‘Who’s that?’ Gil asked. ‘He looks at home here. Have you ever met him before?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You said your ex was short of money. Perhaps he’s moved out and put tenants into this place.’

  ‘Ross would never let strangers loose among his precious antiques. Only – perhaps he knows these people. I was so unlucky in my timing. He inherited another house from his aunt after we split up.’

  Gil didn’t answer, because he’d taken his smartphone out and was tapping on it.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Looking up that film company. Ah! They make movies and documentaries for TV. I bet they’ve hired this place for some filming. It’d be a lot cheaper to do that than to build a whole set.’

  ‘If Ross is away, they wouldn’t notice if one or two small pieces went missing. This could be a good time to see if you really can help me get hold of what’s due to me.’

  ‘We’ll wait a while, keep an eye on them, but we’ll do it from that little side street further along and you can tell me all about the sorts of things he has in his house.’ He started the car, drove round the block and came back via the other end of the street.

  Once they’d stopped, they sat watching.

  ‘We’ll get your things for you,’ Gil said after a while. ‘But we’ll need to find enough to make it worth my while as well. After that, we’ll talk about other jobs you and I could do together. A woman as beautiful as
you can, if she’s smart, make good money.’

  ‘I’ve not done badly.’ She smiled at her reflection in the tinted window. Yes, she was still beautiful, but looks didn’t last for ever, so she had to find her next husband while she was in her prime.

  Or find out what Gil could do for her. No need to make a decision now. But she wasn’t going to dive into crime. Taking her fair due was one thing, risking jail was a step too far.

  She’d planned to give herself a few months off marriage after she got the money from Ross, because it could get very tiring pandering to a man and making him think she loved him 24/7.

  She glanced sideways at Gil. He didn’t look rich. She had a nose for that.

  He might think he was going to use her but two could play at that game.

  A few days’ hard work got all the ornaments and collectibles that had been stored in Ross’s aunt’s cupboards roughly sorted out. Lara stood there with her hands on her hips after they’d carried the last boxes down, staring round the living area, trying to work out how to organise this.

  ‘Cheer up, Lara. We’re making excellent progress.’

  ‘Do you really think so? I was thinking we’d taken far too long to get to this stage. All we’ve done is put similar objects into groups, more or less. We can’t tell for sure which are more valuable till I do some research online.’

  ‘I reckon we’ve found at least a thousand ornaments. We’ve also cleared out my bedroom completely, which I really appreciate, and all the cupboards and drawers upstairs, except those in the attic.’

  ‘But this living area and the spare bedroom are in an even worse mess now than before with all the piles and boxes dumped in them. How you stand it in the evenings, I don’t know.’

  ‘Needs must. It doesn’t worry me too much because I’ve usually got my nose in a book or I’m dozing in front of the TV. Tonight, however, I think you and I should celebrate progress by going up to the hotel to eat in a bit more comfort.’

  She shook her head. ‘Thanks, but eating out is too expensive for me at the moment.’

  ‘Lara, you’ve done far more than I expected and done it twice as quickly. Plus you’re easy to work with, no tantrums or fuss whatever happens. I think that’s partly why I’m feeling better now than I have for ages. Last year was … bad. I want to celebrate and it’s no fun doing that on your own. Tonight will be my shout and you can regard it as a bonus for working more quickly than expected. You must have earned bonuses before, surely.’

  As she opened her mouth to protest, he folded his arms and declared in a mock fierce voice, ‘You’re coming for dinner with me if I have to drag you across to the hotel by your hair.’

  She knew he’d never treat a woman like that and anyway he was trying not to grin as he spoke and failing. She was tempted to agree.

  He added pleadingly, ‘Joking apart, I’m going stir crazy here. I want to chill out, eat something I didn’t cook or heat up and chat to a few people in the bar. Bear with me. I’m not taking you to the Ritz, just to the hotel.’

  ‘Oh, all right. You’re not the only one going stir crazy, actually.’

  ‘That’s great. It won’t hurt you to loosen up a bit and it won’t make you any less efficient to take an evening off, I’m sure.’

  She leant back on the sofa. ‘People often say that sort of thing to me. I’m not very good at sitting around doing nothing, I’m afraid.’

  ‘We won’t be doing nothing. We’ll be having a civilised conversation and chatting to Molly and Euan. I met her when I went for a stroll this afternoon. The two of them eat meals at the hotel regularly, so we’ve arranged to meet for dinner.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Now she was studying him as if trying to work out what he was after. The woman had never learnt to trust people easily, had she? ‘Hey, how about I invite Cindy too? What do you think?’ He was pleased to see Lara relax a little at that.

  ‘I think she’ll jump at the chance, Ross. She’s a very gregarious woman.’

  ‘We’re meeting them at seven. Is that all right with you?’

  ‘Yes. Perhaps one of them will know where I should go to look at antiques.’

  ‘It’s a social get-together, not a business opportunity.’

  ‘Can’t it be both?’

  ‘Only marginally. You know, I’m going to give myself the challenge of teaching you to relax.’

  ‘Many have tried.’

  ‘I’ll be the one who succeeds.’

  There was a silence with such pregnant undertones that he wasn’t surprised when she hastily changed the subject.

  ‘I shall need to catch up on local prices before we go any further so it’d be useful to talk to them about where to look. It’s all right watching antiques shows on TV but some of them are years old and we need to find out what prices are like now, and more specifically round here, both in shops and at auctions. They may know if there are any antiques centres nearby and a place that holds auctions.’

  ‘There’s an antiques centre in a nearby village. I forget its name but I do remember how to get there. It was once part of a dairy farm and they converted some of their barns into a sort of warehouse. Like a lot of farmers these days, they wanted to bring in other revenue streams. I think the daughter of the house runs the centre.’

  ‘If you can find out its name online, I’ll go and look round it.’

  He couldn’t resist teasing her. ‘I’ll take you myself if you’re a good girl.’

  ‘I don’t need to drag you all over Wiltshire. Just get me the address and I can go on my own.’

  ‘I may be in convalescent mode but I still need something to occupy my time.’ Ross watched her run her fingers through her hair in a nervous gesture. ‘Didn’t you have friends to relax with down under? Most people build social and relaxation time into their lives.’

  ‘I’ve been in charge of projects for several years and I was the one telling the people I worked with what to do, which made it a bit difficult to socialise with them. Fortunately I’ve never been a party girl, so that didn’t upset me too much.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re not that way inclined. My ex was very much into that sort of life and loved to attend expensive social functions or eat at restaurants where one lettuce leaf artistically arranged seemed to cost a small fortune.’

  He shook his head, annoyed with himself. ‘There I go again. I wish I could stop thinking about her. I’m still not totally free, you see, not till the financial settlement is finalised and we get the decree absolute. I’m worried she’s going to appeal against the arbitrator’s decision.’

  ‘At least Guy and I didn’t quarrel about finances when we split up, I’ll give him that. Not after the bargaining was over anyway. And he’s been generous about the car. Don’t tell me if you don’t want to, but what was your ex like?’

  He sat considering, then got out his smartphone and flipped through some photos. ‘Beautiful. Dark hair and a really classy dresser. This is her. I only keep it because it’s a good shot of my cousin Fiona, not because I regret my divorce to Nonie Jayne.’

  ‘Wow, she’s gorgeous.’

  ‘Yeah. On the surface, anyway. I was blown away at first by her looks and charm. But once you’ve seen her throwing a hissy fit to get her own way, the beauty seems to fade. She could look really vicious if crossed.’

  He put the phone away. ‘If that’s settled, I’ll go and see Cindy about joining us for dinner tonight, then have a short rest. How about we three meet at five to seven and stroll across to the hotel together?’

  ‘Fine by me.’

  Lara went back into her house, feeling restless. She wasn’t accustomed to having so much free time and nothing whatsoever needing her attention. It was no use starting work again on the bookcases. She was going out soon so didn’t want to get her clothes and hands into a mess.

  She went up to her bedroom to choose what to wear and came down again to watch the news channel. She’d make sure she ordered the cheapest dishes on the menu tonight. She hated
being the object of charity, still didn’t feel comfortable about having accepted a car from Guy.

  She studied herself in the huge wall mirror she’d bought for £10 on Pass It On Day. The frame needed a little attention but she’d got it very cheaply and could fix it up herself. She was looking good, if she said so herself. She’d lost some weight in the past week and it suited her.

  Being extremely upset did that to you.

  When Lara went outside to meet the others, she found Cindy already waiting but there was no sign of Ross. ‘Nice to see you.’ She was a bit dazzled by the amount of bling the American was wearing but some of the jewellery was really nice. She might look out for some pretty beads among the antiques. Her outfit was too plain.

  Cindy beamed at her. ‘Nice to have neighbours who invite you out. Ah, here’s Ross. Did you fall asleep?’

  ‘I had a nano-nap, but I’d set the timer, so it woke me up.’

  ‘I can’t do that,’ Lara said. ‘Take naps, I mean. I never could. My mind simply won’t switch off in the daytime.’

  ‘I find it refreshing to lie down and relax at least once during the day,’ Cindy said. ‘You should try it, Lara. You don’t need to sleep, just let the tension go.’

  She made a non-committal noise. She’d tried that. It didn’t work for her.

  As they turned and began strolling across to the hotel, she let Cindy and Ross bear the brunt of the conversation, envying the easy way they chatted, even though they hardly knew one another. If the walk had been longer, she’d have forced herself to do more than just murmur agreement, but the hotel was only a few minutes away and this wasn’t a business meeting.

  It was a lovely evening but chilly enough that she was glad to be wearing a light jacket. She was still getting used to the cooler climate here after the heat of an Australian summer and autumn.

  The hotel’s interior was pleasant and welcoming, with a big flower arrangement in the reception area and paintings on the walls. There was a sitting area beyond it which led into a bar and an airy dining room to the side of that.