by Anna Jacobs
‘You’re a kind man. I’ve seen you help people before.’
‘Painting a few rooms isn’t much.’
Henry smiled. Dan hated his little philanthropic gestures to be made public or considered anything but normal. Nice fellow, Dan. ‘Rather you than me. I loathe the smell of paint. We had to decorate a house ourselves when we were first married. Devil of a job getting the paint out of your fingernails. We were both delighted when we had enough money to pay someone else to do it the next time.’
‘I’ll get back to you when Gabrielle is ready to see you about her inheritance.’
‘Don’t tell her the details.’
‘No. Of course I won’t.’
‘Mrs King didn’t have much else to enjoy towards the end. She was riddled with arthritis, poor thing. The planning of the trust cheered her up enormously.’
Dan put the phone away and went to lie on the bed with his new novel. But he didn’t get much reading done. He kept thinking about Gabrielle. She was in for a few surprises after the divorce – nice ones, he hoped.
He was looking forward to spending a few days in her company. There was something about her that attracted him. It had been quite a while since he’d felt this interested in a woman.
She wasn’t the only one to have been burnt by a previous relationship, so he wasn’t rushing into anything and he was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to, either.
No, they had plenty of time, and if she settled in Rochdale for a while, it would be perfect. They could become friends, take things slowly.
Four
Gabrielle was grateful to Dan for helping her with the painting. He was thorough but quick, and they got through the work sooner than she’d have believed possible.
She enjoyed his company greatly. He made no attempt to flirt with her, which would have made her wary, but they talked, really talked, and she soon began to feel she’d made a new friend.
She so needed friends now.
It was two days before she found out Dan had been married and, like her, was divorced – had been for several years. The end of his marriage had been easy compared to hers, because his wife had a good job and wanted only her fair share of their joint possessions.
‘She needed a man with more pizzazz,’ he said ruefully. ‘We didn’t quarrel or anything like that, but I was too quiet for her.’
Gabrielle liked Dan’s quietness, the way he didn’t speak unless he had something worthwhile to say, the way he smiled at her occasionally, for no other reason than that it was his nature to be friendly.
One thing was worrying her, though. ‘Shouldn’t you be at work? I don’t want to stop you earning a living.’
‘I inherited my parents’ house a couple of years after my divorce. They died in a car accident in France. I miss them, but not having a mortgage makes life a lot easier for me financially. I can please myself what jobs I take on – or have a few days off, if I fancy it.’ He patted her hand. ‘Don’t worry. I’m enjoying the change, and enjoying your company, too.’
That made her feel good.
When he’d finished painting the final wall, he came to stand next to her and they studied the living/dining area together. ‘There. That looks very nice, don’t you agree? I can’t think of anywhere else on the ground floor that needs painting and, as you say, the upstairs will do. How about we go out for a pub meal to celebrate?’
‘I’d like that, Dan – as long as you let me pay my own way.’
‘If you prefer.’
‘I do. We’re just … friends.’
‘For the moment.’
She looked at him in shock, but he changed the subject and she didn’t dare pursue it in case she was mistaken. But she couldn’t help wondering exactly what he’d meant.
If it was what she thought, she wasn’t ready to start dating anyone. Not till she received the decree absolute and knew her marriage was completely over, anyway. But she did like Dan.
Although she was feeling a little better now after a few peaceful days, she still couldn’t face going back to work. That was weighing on her mind.
When Dan drove her home after their meal, he said abruptly, ‘I have a job starting soon in London. It’ll last a week or two, I should think. Would you like to keep in touch?’
‘Yes.’ Two glasses of wine made her brave enough to add, ‘Very much.’
He smiled at her and pressed a business card into her hand. ‘Good. I’d like to keep in touch, too. You have my mobile number and I have yours, but this answering service will get a message to me if I’m out of range, or if my mobile dies.’
He leaned forward to kiss her cheek very gently. ‘I like you, Gabrielle. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.’
‘Are you sure you want to? You’re not just saying it to let me down gently?’
He stared at her in surprise. ‘Of course I’m sure. Why would you doubt it?’ He took her hand. ‘You’re an attractive, intelligent woman.’
She could feel tears welling in her eyes.
Dan pulled her into a gentle hug, murmuring, ‘That ex of yours did a real job of putting you down, didn’t he? Don’t sell yourself short, Gabrielle. He sounds like a chancer to me, a fly-by-night, to quote one of my mother’s favourite insults – which suits him perfectly, from what you’ve told me. Does he ever settle to anything?’
‘Stu certainly has a short attention span.’ It hadn’t really sunk in before, she realized, that her ex’s push, push, push attitude might result from fault and weakness, not from vitality and strength of character.
Dan stepped back. ‘All right now? Good. I wish you luck with selling the house. Keep me in touch with what happens.’
She wondered if he really would phone, if he was telling the truth about wanting to get to know her better. Maybe he’d grow tired of her and the phone calls would tail off.
It was better not to count on him, even though she did allow herself to consider it fairly likely they would stay friends. She couldn’t help hoping she was right, but she didn’t dare put all her faith in anything or anyone at the moment.
The next day, Gabrielle nerved herself to phone Stu. She didn’t give him time to ask questions, just said, ‘The house is ready. It’d look better if you took those boxes of rubbish away, though.’
‘I’m still in Prague. How the hell do you expect me to do that? Wave a magic wand?’
‘You could find a firm online and arrange to have the boxes put into storage.’
‘Why pay for storage when there’s a whole garage standing empty?’
He must be short of money. Had he been spending lavishly again? Stu did that from time to time. Living in high style was like an addiction for him. She’d never been into fine dining where waiters fussed over you and charged you a fortune for a few artistically arranged leaves topped by a minuscule portion of something exotic.
‘Let’s focus on selling the house now, Gabi. Leave informing the agent to me. I got on well with Peter.’
‘Please yourself.’
To her surprise, the agent phoned her early the following day, wanting to bring a couple of people to view the house. She sat outside in her car and watched them. Both were men, hard-eyed, unsmiling, in and out quickly.
She didn’t expect either of them to make an offer, but one did. Only it was for a ridiculous amount, way below what she and Stu had agreed was their lowest limit.
When Peter rang that evening to tell her, he suggested she make a counter offer.
She was feeling tired, wondering if she was coming down with a cold, and said sharply, ‘I’m not playing games about this, Peter. That offer is way below our bottom line, as you well know. If this man cares to make a serious offer, we’ll certainly consider it. Otherwise, we’re not interested.’
Stu rang later that same night from Prague, waking her up. She snatched up the phone, wondering what the bad news was. It took her a moment or two to realize it was Stu.
‘You sound puddled. Are you drunk?’ he demanded.
‘No, of course not. You woke me up.’
‘You always did go to bed ridiculously early. Anyway, you were right not to accept that offer, but you ought to have made them a counter offer.’
‘No way. That guy was just fishing for a knock-down bargain. I doubt he’d have come anywhere near our bottom line, whatever I countered with.’
‘Actually, you can never tell. People do try to get things cheaply, I agree. You can’t blame them for trying. I’d do the same. But sometimes they really do want to buy a particular property and then they gradually increase their offer to something more reasonable.’
‘He’d have had to up his offer a long way to reach our level.’
‘Nonetheless, next time damned well make a counter offer.’
‘If you were here, Stu, you could do all the bargaining. You’ve always boasted how good you are at selling, so I’d expect you to get far more for the place than I ever could.’
He didn’t sense her irony; he never had. ‘Well, I’m coming back to England next week, so you and I can meet to discuss tactics then. I want to get that house sold ASAP.’
‘Don’t forget to bring your magic wand. Sales are not good in this area at the moment.’
‘Bye, Mrs Grumpy. Go back to your snoring.’ He put the phone down.
She couldn’t get back to sleep for ages, didn’t want to see Stu, was dreading his return.
Every time she spoke to him, she felt less sure of herself. Why did she let him get to her like this? No matter how many times she gave herself a talking-to, she never stood up to him as she would have liked.
It wouldn’t be possible to stop him coming to see the house. He was still part-owner, after all. Half-owner, according to the settlement. She hoped a miracle would occur and they’d sell quickly! Oh, please let it happen!
She’d just fallen asleep when something hit her bedroom window. It didn’t break the glass but it startled her and made her sit up in bed.
She listened carefully. The thump couldn’t have been a bird in the middle of the night.
She didn’t hear footsteps, but something else thumped against the window pane and a man’s voice called, ‘Get out of here, you stupid bitch!’
When she looked sideways, there were no lights in her neighbours’ houses, but then Mrs Starkey was rather deaf and the people on the other side were only weekenders.
What the hell was all this about? Why would someone threaten her?
If they decided to break in, they’d have little trouble, because there were a lot of windows. And however loudly she called for help, no one would hear her.
She pulled a chest of drawers across the doorway. There were no more noises, but she couldn’t get to sleep again. She only managed to doze uneasily. The night seemed to go on for ever.
The next morning, Gabrielle nearly didn’t answer her mobile. Then she looked at the caller ID and saw it was Dan. At the sound of his voice, tears came into her eyes. He really did want to stay in touch.
‘How are things going, Gabrielle?’
She tried to stay calm but couldn’t and gulped back tears.
‘Tell me.’
‘I had another disturbance during the night. Someone throwing things at my window.’
‘I’d like to set vandals to breaking up stones till they swore never to damage things again.’
‘Why would a vandal shout, “Get out of here, you stupid bitch”?’
Silence, then: ‘He wouldn’t. He must have been paid to shout that. Were you scared?’
‘Yes, I was.’
‘What did the neighbours say about it?’
‘Mrs Starkey wouldn’t hear it if an elephant landed on her roof, and the people on the other side are weekenders.’
‘Maybe I could get up to see you for a day or two.’
‘No. You’ve got a job to do. I’ll inform the police and see if they can help.’
‘This particular job is at a crucial stage, but if the harassment continues, let me know and I will come. I don’t like to think of you on your own.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Is the house in the agent’s hands now?’
‘Yes. And he brought two people to look round. One of them made an insultingly low offer.’
‘Tell the agent not to bother you with offers that low.’
‘Stu would go mad if I did that. He told me I should have made a counter offer. He’s coming back next week, so I’ll let him take charge of that side of things.’
‘Don’t give him a completely free rein. Keep a careful check on what he’s doing.’
‘Why do you say that? Do you know something about him that I don’t?’
There was silence. Then, ‘I’m not sure. I thought it worthwhile looking into things a bit. You’re too trusting. Did you know he’s dealing with two companies in Prague? One for his own firm, the other presumably a job on the side – only … well, that one’s with a rather shady group. What’s he doing mixed up with people like that?’
‘Oh. He doesn’t tell me anything.’
‘I’ll see if I can find out anything more definite. Just … keep an eye on him and don’t sign anything without checking it with your lawyer.’
She needed to spell it out. ‘Do you think he’ll try to cheat me?’
‘I don’t know. But I think you’re an honest person and you don’t necessarily see the dishonesty in others. Even when we listened to the radio together while we were painting, you always gave people who called in the benefit of the doubt.’
‘Stu says I’m a trusting fool.’
‘No. You’re not a fool at all. You’re a genuinely nice person.’
His compliments made her feel warm inside.
They chatted for quite a while, and when Dan said goodbye, she was smiling.
The phone rang almost immediately and the desire to smile vanished when she looked at who was calling.
‘You’ve been on the phone for ages. Who were you speaking to?’
‘None of your business, Stu.’
‘Well, don’t hold long phone conversations from now on, even if you have got yourself a fancy man.’ He sniggered as if this was an utter impossibility. ‘The agent was trying to get in touch with you and had to call me instead. Peter is an on-the-ball kind of guy. He wants to bring someone else round this afternoon at two. Give him a call and confirm that it’s OK.’
Stu put the phone down without waiting for her reply. She felt tempted to phone him back and tell him she didn’t appreciate him ordering her around, but she didn’t do it. Of course she didn’t. He’d find some way of turning on her if she tried.
Once the money side of things was settled, she’d never willingly speak to him again, would block his calls. She would move away from the district and leave no forwarding address.
And she even had somewhere to go, thanks to Cousin Rose. She was definitely going to take up the offer of a house. Her spirits lightened at the thought of getting away, of living somewhere peaceful.
She been right to agree to a quick sale agent, she decided. The quicker they sold, the better. And if they got a little less for the house, well, it’d be worth it to get rid of Stu.
Her ex turned up two days later, using his key to try to get into the house and banging hard on the door when he found it no longer fitted the lock.
He was looking vibrant and full of energy, but sporting a silly new, gravity-defying haircut more suited to a younger man than a thirty-eight-year-old, in Gabrielle’s opinion.
‘Well, aren’t you going to let me in, Gabi?’
‘No. I’m about to go out. You should have rung, Stu.’
‘That’s all right. I can look round the house on my own.’
‘Come back later.’
When she didn’t move out of the way, he shoved her aside much harder than he had last time, so that she bounced back several metres, jarring her elbow on the hall stand.
Stu shut the front door and walked into the living room before she had recovered from the shock of
this rough treatment.
‘Why did you do that?’ she demanded.
‘What?’
‘Bump me against the wall. You could have hurt me.’
He turned to stare at her coldly as if she was something strange he’d picked up. ‘Yes, I could, couldn’t I? You might care to remember that and stop being so bloody awkward about selling the house.’
‘Awkward! I painted it.’
‘Wasn’t necessary. Anyway, I’m warning you to be more cooperative with Peter and the buyers he brings from now on, or I’ll make sure you regret it.’
‘I’ll report you for assault if you dare touch me again.’
He backed her against the wall with an abruptness that took her by surprise and held her there by the weight of his body. He pushed her chin up so that she couldn’t get away from him without a struggle, smiling as she tried and failed to get away. ‘You’d need proof of an assault, my pet, and I’m not stupid enough to give it you. Where are your bruises? Where’s my history of assault?’
He gave one of his scornful rasps of laughter. ‘No one would take any complaint you might make at all seriously. I can see it now. You’d break down and weep all over the police, and they’d realize you’re a hysterical fool who’s making things up.’
He shoved her away as forcibly as before and walked on into the kitchen without waiting for her to regain her balance. ‘It does look better, but, as I told you, I won’t pay for the paint.’
‘I didn’t ask you to. I made it more attractive because I was eager to sell the house and get away from you. You need to take away that stuff in the garage now and—’
‘Stop harping on about that. Not going to happen. Oh, and by the way, you’ve changed the lock. I need a key to the house.’
‘No, you don’t. You’re not living here any more.’
‘The place is half mine. You had no right to change the locks without my permission.’
‘I had intruders. The police suggested I do it. It made me feel safer. I’d never know who you’d give a key to.’
‘Well, pay attention: if you don’t give me a new key, I’ll break the front door down. Keith says I have a right to do that. And I may choose to do it at night. That’d really put the wind up you. I might even creep into your bedroom, for old times’ sake.’
