Nine Ten Begin Again: A Grasshopper Lawns affair

by EJ Lamprey

  ‘Ew.’ Edge disagreed firmly. ‘But the link with Jemima?’

  ‘Oh aye, Iain did ask him about that. He sweated furiously, and blinked, and said it had been a real surprise that she was the bursar at his new job. He had met her socially a few times, dated a bit, and he thought she was a very nice woman. And wasn’t it a small world. He said he was horrified to hear about her death but she did walk a dangerous line in her social life, used to go out on her own looking for masterful men. I nearly threw up. If he had anything to do with her death and could look Iain in the eye and say that, he’s a psychopath. But we’re still officially calling that a suicide while we poke around, and I could hardly trot William out as a witness, especially as William didn’t see them together, only at the same club. You and Donald couldn’t even say as much for sure from what you told me. Or am I wrong?’

  ‘No.’ Edge nibbled her thumbnail. ‘Damn. It seems an awful lot of coincidences, Kirsty.’

  ‘Ken. Deliver Hamish to his son’s house. We’re still looking, but, if nothing else, anyone watching now knows the polis are involved and that might give them pause.’

  ‘Okay. And thanks.’

  ‘You’re welcome. Say hello to Unca Donald.’

  ‘Yes I will, and hi to Drew. We’re just short of Manchester so, all going well, we’ll be back soon after ten.’

  She clicked the phone off and glanced round. Hamish’s eyes were open and he looked nervous. ‘Kirsty said to take you to Stuart’s. They’re expecting you and surveillance equipment is being fitted there right now. The photographs are with the experts. She said the man who phoned you was Joey’s nephew Thomas, trying to be helpful, and you mentioned the photos before he did. How would Joey know?’

  He frowned, thinking back. ‘Joey knew about my son, of course—he and I have been friends for years—but I never met his nephew. Why would he phone me? I’d need to listen to the recording again. I thought he knew about the photos.’

  ‘Well, we’ll stay in touch. I take it you don’t want to tell the Trust yet that you’re back?’

  He shuddered and shook his head and didn’t speak again until they were by-passing Glasgow, when he roused himself to give Donald directions to Stuart’s house in Falkirk. When they arrived he thanked them distractedly, and hurried indoors.

  Edge told Donald the rest of Kirsty’s news as they drove back to the Lawns. He stopped the car level with her apartment, engine running, and reached across her to open her door.

  ‘I’ll put the car away; we can sort the cases tomorrow. I want you to keep Odette with you. I really don’t like the thought of Thomas wandering around with a master key. She’s no Maggie, but at least she can raise the alarm.’

  ‘Okay.’ She looked at him uncertainly, got out and opened the back door for the dog. As she closed the door again he half raised his hand and drove away. Odette looked after him with the same forlorn look she suspected was on her own face, and she gave herself a quick shake.

  ‘Come on, Odette. We’ve been dumped for the night. Girls night in for us.’

  The apartment, after being empty for nearly a fortnight, wasn’t very warm when she let herself in but she left the dog in front of the fire and had a leisurely bubble bath, then dressed slowly in flannel pyjamas and her padded dressing gown. He was, of course, quite right. She was tired, and the long drive would have been even more tiring for him, and he’d have messages and mail to check. They’d not spent a night apart since his return from London, and it wasn’t supposed to be that sort of relationship, not at all. Should she not have passed on Kirsty’s teasing Unca Donald comment? But he had laughed.

  She made herself cocoa and sat listlessly at her computer to check for any emails that might have come in during the drive, and to check Facebook and Twitter for interesting updates. There was a fairly complicated question from Shona but she couldn’t concentrate and stared blankly at the screen as she drank her cocoa. Odette whined, and came over to rest her chin on Edge’s lap, and she stroked the dog’s narrow head absently.

  ‘I don’t know why, Odette. He doesn’t do things the way normal men do. Or do you want walking?’

  She glanced at the clock as she opened the door—half past eleven. Late night walk and then bed, and a good night’s sleep, although after the first day or two, she hadn’t had any problems sleeping with him there. She walked briskly down the dimly-lit walkway, past his darkened apartment to the lit and extended covered area outside the laundry and waited patiently while Odette nosed around, shivering slightly as the cold breeze nipped mercilessly at her flannel-covered legs. Was his car even in its garage? She wasn’t going to look, but for the first time in her life knew the gnawing of uncertainty. Was this what her previous lover used to feel? Not much fun. Not much fun at all. She’d always believed that jealousy was pointless, rooted in insecurity. Either one was secure in the relationship, in which case it was ridiculous, or had reason not to be, in which case, in her calm judgement, it was time to walk away.

  Suddenly it didn’t seem so clear-cut, and she didn’t like it. Vivian’s apartment was next to the laundry and she glanced longingly at the dark windows. Vivian was either asleep or at William’s. She looked across at the row of bungalows just as his lights blinked out and suddenly felt very alone in the dark night. She cleaned up after the whippet and headed back home. Odette stopped outside number ten and she patted her sympathetically, then tugged her on towards number twelve, stopping mid-stride as she realized her door stood open. Her heart gave an odd little skip, but Donald had left Odette with her for a reason: there was more than one person with the key to her door. Even as she stood frozen to the spot he burst from the apartment, saw her and crossed to her in two strides.

  ‘God! You’re all right!’

  To her own extreme surprise and embarrassment she burst into tears.

  ~~~

  ‘I wanted to talk to William about Jemima and Thomas, what he saw. I knew there’d be things he wouldn’t say in front of either of you, William’s quite prudish.’

  Odette had happily settled in front of the fire, half-lying on Donald’s feet, and they were sitting together on the sofa, his arm comfortingly round her. She snorted at that and he patted her shoulder reprovingly.

  ‘Prudish in his own way. When it comes to you and Vivian. I couldn’t think how to say where I was going without telling you that you couldn’t come too, that he wouldn’t want to offend your delicate sensibilities. I thought best to say nothing at all and explain afterwards. It took longer than I anticipated. I opened the door to let Odette out for her late walk, and nothing. Neither of you there. My heart nearly stopped.’

  ‘Donald, don’t ever do that again. Say something. Say you’ll tell me later, if you like. But you looked at me and drove off.’

  ‘Do any men understand women? I need lessons. I thought it went without saying that I’d come back at least to say good night, even if you wanted to sleep alone for your first night back.’ She shook her head mutely and he caught her chin in his familiar gesture and lifted her face. ‘Not obvious? Or you didn’t want to be alone?’

  ‘No. And no. And women don’t understand themselves sometimes. But if you had told William that you dropped me off, told me to keep the dog to keep me safe and driven away, he might have had some advice.’

  ‘You’re so confident, and so unruffled. You take everything in your stride, even an unexpected lover on a really important business trip. I hate that I made you cry.’

  Edge shook her head, and sighed. ‘We knew we’d see things differently. We just had a longer run than I expected before we hit a pothole. No problems when we’re together, so now we know to manage our partings better. Are you going to tell me what you learned from William?’

  ‘No, Miss Prim, I’m not. He’d wanted to talk to me too because it was my sleazy little world. He’s open-minded and observant but he wanted to know what conclusions I drew from what he’d seen. To be fair I’ve avoided that side of it myself, the domination and dependence, but aye
, I know more than he does. It’s nearly midnight and we need to get some sleep. Should I stay or go?’

  ‘You must be exhausted. You drove for the whole ten hours.’

  ‘You’ve no chance tonight,’ he agreed frankly. ‘Despite those seductive granny pyjamas. But I think I now sleep better with you than without you. I’d like to stay. I’ll be up and gone early without waking you, but I’ll see you at breakfast.’

  For a few minutes after his breathing had deepened, his hand on her hip heavy with sleep, she stared into the darkness remembering that odd jump of the heart when she saw the open door. Total, uncomplicated joy and relief.

  She’d adjusted fairly quickly to the permanent undercurrent of excitement that his presence generated, the way she took light and flared when he turned to her, but had also thought she’d enjoy a respite. Was it only the way they’d parted that had made her desolate, or was he necessary now to her comfort—and if so, how would Donald, the quintessential loner, react if his friend and bed-mate wanted more than he could offer?

  Chapter 10 – Saturday December 10th

  Tea with Patrick

  Edge lingered over her breakfast coffee after Donald had left to change for the exercise class, rather dreading the phone call she had to make. Unthinkable that Patrick could in any way be involved in the murky recent events, but she would have to ask, and watch his face as he answered. She wasn’t at all sure she could cope with the feeling of betrayal if there was the faintest flicker of guilt. Patrick had been James’ accountant but they’d become friends when he took over her finances. His wife had died while she and Alistair were living in Malta, and he’d stayed with them for a month when adjusting to life alone in his large house became too much. He’d been the first man she dated after Alistair’s death, albeit on the friendly basis it had remained ever since: the only man, for that matter, other than the most casual of dates, until her brief recent affair, and probably the most important man in her life until now. Reluctantly she went back to the apartment to make the call.

  He sounded pleased to hear from her, and instantly agreed to come to tea at the Lawns that afternoon.

  ‘Are you okay? You sound a bit subdued. Problems?’

  ‘No, not at all. I’m a bit tired. We had a dreadful drive yesterday, very heavy traffic. I’m looking forward to seeing you later. You haven’t been to tea here in ages, bring a good appetite.’

  ‘I remember. Will Donald be joining us?’

  ‘Probably not, I know he has a lot to catch up because he hadn’t really planned to spend the whole two weeks away, but I’m sure he’d join us if you want.’

  ‘Not at all, I was merely asking. Around four, then, Edge. Looking forward to it.’

  She hung up smiling and slightly reassured; he had sounded so exactly the same. She hurried down to join the class.

  It was small consolation that even Donald was flushed by the end of the double session, and Olga teased her mercilessly as she tried to get her breathing back to normal and not pant into her coffee cup as they joined the elevenses group afterwards.

  Donald excused himself after a quick cup of coffee, pulling Edge slightly to one side.

  ‘I have to go, some catching up to do, but are you set up for tea with Patrick? Do you want me there?’

  ‘Yes I am, at four, and up to you. You’re very welcome but I did say you had a lot to do, so you don’t have to.’

  He nodded and left and Olga immediately pounced, wanting to know how the fortnight had gone. The catch-up turned into an early lunch with both Olga and Jayenthi, and Edge only escaped at one pm, with a guilty glance at her watch—she’d not had a moment to catch up with Vivian, and had the query from Shona to be fitted in somehow before teatime. Vivian wasn’t answering her phone, luckily, and she emailed the final update through with minutes to spare, then hurried to get ready to meet Patrick.

  He was waiting when she got to the house, and beamed appreciatively.

  ‘Very nice. You look lovely.’ He looked and sounded as he always had and she put her cheek up for his kiss with a smile and led the way into the hall, which was already filling up for tea. She looked round doubtfully, wondering if they’d have privacy for the questions she wanted to ask, and he touched her arm. ‘Shall we go through to the conservatory?’

  ‘That’s probably best. Load your plate well.’

  They had the conservatory to themselves and he headed to a sofa and chairs in the corner.

  ‘We won’t be overheard here, even if it fills up.’ He glanced around, satisfied, and she gave him a surprised look. ‘Oh, Edge, I know why you phoned me.’

  ‘Oh, okay. Fire away then.’

  ‘The important thing is that you don’t feel there’s any lack in you. You’re a lovely person, warm and funny and kind. The man’s emotionally detached by nature—you simply can’t expect more from him than he’s capable of giving.’

  Edge stared at him, her cup halfway to her mouth. ‘Patrick, what on earth are you talking about?’

  He looked uncertainly at her. ‘I thought, I assumed, you wanted reassurance. A sensible woman of your age suddenly describing herself as besotted, I was worried about you. Did you merely want me to check his finances? I did, of course. He does have some very high risk investments, gambles if you like, but he only seems to roll his winnings. He doesn’t risk his core funds.’

  Edge put her cup down numbly. ‘You thought I would call you for that? Patrick, how could you even think I would ever do something so needy and underhand? I don’t know what to say. His finances are none of my business. It’s not that type of relationship. And emotionally. . .’

  But even as her indignation grew, she realized Patrick had put into words her nagging anxiety from the night before. She shook the thought away, annoyed.

  ‘That’s not why I called you. I suppose I should thank you for being concerned but I wish you hadn’t. Please don’t worry about me.’

  He leaned forward and took her hand between his own.

  ‘I can’t help it, pet. I can’t switch off fifteen years of friendship just like that. You look different, older. Tense. I like Donald, you know that, but he’s not the man for you. You need someone who is capable of loving you. He’s not, and never will be.’

  ‘Oh hell, Patrick, please can we stop this? Donald is a close, affectionate and protective friend, and has been for the last year. I’m sorry you think I look older, perhaps I need to catch up on a bit more sleep, but if I looked tense it was because I wasn’t looking forward to the questions I wanted to ask you.’

  He released her hand and she picked up her teacup to give herself a moment to think.

  ‘I was going to lead up to this in general conversation, but I think I’d better cut to the chase before there are any more misunderstandings. I wanted you to tell me what you had to do with Jemima Bateman getting the job here.’

  ‘Jemima?’ He looked utterly bewildered. ‘She’s dead.’

  ‘Why did you suggest her for the bursar sabbatical, Patrick?’

  ‘I didn’t. She rang me to say she’d spoken to Hamish and he wanted to know if she’d consider covering for him as bursar if he took a sabbatical. She asked if I thought she could do it, and if I would support her if the Trust asked me. I agreed that she had the experience and credentials and that I would.’

  ‘I didn’t realize you knew each other. When we went to the office together, you didn’t say.’

  ‘We’d never met. Edge, what’s this about?’

  She shook her head impatiently. ‘If you’d never met, why would she think you’d support her?’

  He sighed, and drank his tea. ‘I have other clients, you know, pet. Before she went into politics and busied herself with her Back To Work campaigns, she worked for one of my biggest clients as their internal auditor, and she picked up a few well-hidden discrepancies. It was good work on her part, and I sent her an email saying so. Julian did the actual follow-up and said she was very good indeed. The company was sorry to lose her. She reminded me of
that when she rang. Then Hamish rang to confirm, sounding devastated by his tragedy. I didn’t see any need to say she’d just reminded me of her existence, it might have made him lose confidence in her. I said the minimum necessary. I had no idea she had such a dodgy private life.’

  ‘Oh, Patrick.’ Edge leaned over and kissed him spontaneously on the cheek. ‘I’m so glad! Your awesome tact gave completely the wrong impression. And you hadn’t mentioned any of this when you came for your lunch. I’d built up a bit of a conspiracy thing and I hated it.’

  He looked more cheerful and held out his hand. ‘Ah, pet, you know me, Machiavellian to the core. Grill me a bit more. Check my pulse for lies.’

  ‘No, you only want to hold my hand. Which would make it difficult for me to eat my slice of cake, which is a two-handed job if ever I saw one. So why didn’t you say anything?’

  He laughed ruefully. ‘See it from my point of view. I’d recommended someone who was causing complaints by the bushel, it was quite shy-making.’

  ‘That’s what Donald said.’ She grinned at him and his smile barely faltered.

  ‘Well, yes, he’s not a fool. But I do stand by my comments, Edge. He’s a cold fish. Don’t you let it get you down, you’re lovely. Any time you want me to take you out to dinner and tell you so, give me a call. Do you think you’ll last, or is this the wrong time to ask?’

  ‘I haven’t a clue. I hope so. I think so, we really did have a good working trip together. That highly illegal poking around you did in his finances, you’d have found he invests in shows a lot. He’s much more clued up on the investment side than I had ever realized, and has been very hands on. It’s a different area, but there was quite a lot of overlap so he was really useful.’

  ‘If I ever forgive him for taking away my favourite girl, I’ll start asking him for tips. I don’t think he’s backed a flop yet. At the very least he covers his investment. Is he backing your series?’