‘Well, sort of…but I’m not sure it’s ever going to work.’
‘Who is he?’
‘He’s the brother-in-law of the woman I’m working for, Bunny. He owns the house we’re staying in here.’
‘And why is it never going to work? OhGod, he’s not married, is he, Penny?’
I love my mother, and I value her advice, but I do wish she would let me string two sentences together without chiming in with an assumption or question. Or both. I took a steadying breath.
‘No, he’s not married.’
‘So, what’s the problem?’
‘It’s lots of things, really. After Timothy, after all those wasted, mocked years, I wanted change.’
‘Yes, you’re coming to India.’
I bit my thumbnail.
‘Mmm. Well, I wanted adventure, and I said I wasn’t going to fall in love again, that I was done with all that.’
‘Oh yes, darling, but nobody ever really believed that, least of all you, surely? You don’t have to stick to it just because you announced it in a fit of pique. Is that all that’s holding you back?’
‘No, it’s not only that. It is partly me – I really don’t want to risk any more of my time being wasted…’
‘Well,ishe a time waster? What’s his name, by the way?’
‘Lando.’
‘Lando? What sort of name is that?’
‘It’s short for Orlando. His brother’s called Benvolio, their parents loved Shakespeare.’
‘Hmm. Anyway, so this Lando – a time waster?’
I sighed.
‘I don’t know. When I first met him, he was so…’ What word to use? My mother didn’t have a very good understanding of mental illness, being extremely robust in that department herself. ‘…out of sorts. He’d had a difficult time at work and a relationship breakup and was planning to go and live abroad, to focus on his craft.’
‘And now? By the way, what does ‘out of sorts’ mean?’
I ignored the second question.
‘Now he’s doing better, we’re getting on brilliantly…’
‘But?’
‘But his ex has turned up.’
‘And?’
‘What do you mean, “and”? Hisexhas turned up, Mum.’
‘Well, so what? That doesn’t tell me – or you – anything. Did he invite her? It doesn’t sound like it.’
‘No, he didn’t, and he doesn’t seem particularly pleased to see her.’
‘So, forget the ex. What’s stopping you?
