‘So you’re thirty-five. Any children?’ Laura was asking as they finally got inside her house.
‘No children,’ James said. ‘I should take my shoes off.’ He bent down and made a big performance out of the shoe removal, to try to shake her from her interrogation.
‘Would you like to have children?’ Seriously.
‘No plans,’ he said. Did she really think that he was going to discuss things like this with her? He’d already had to evade questions about his family.
‘Future plans, though? Are you looking for a wife?’ Yes, seemingly she really did think that he was going to talk about these things with her.
‘No plans at all. Not on my agenda. I should really pick up those parcels. Thank you again for holding on to them for me.’
‘Why don’t you join me for a cup of tea?’ Laura said, making no effort whatsoever to point him in the direction of his parcels.
‘I should really get back,’ James said.
‘Are you busy?’ she asked. No evident snideness, just – a lot of – interest. Was he busy? Not really, but he wasn’t keen to be interrogated any further.
‘I have some work to do,’ he said. ‘Been on the road a long time. No opportunity to get anything done.’
‘But you said you worked in finance? Is that a weekend job?’
‘It kind of is,’ he said. ‘Never stops.’ Laura nodded. He smiled at her, hoping that the questioning wouldn’t re-start.
‘Okay, then. I’ll get those packages.’ She started moving, painfully slowly, towards a room at the back of the house.
‘Why don’t I help you?’ James moved to follow her.
‘That’s kind, but there’s no need.’
‘Okay. Thank you.’
James looked around her hallway while he waited. It was like a scene from an old-fashioned TV show. In fact, it could be Jessica Fletcher’s hallway. There was even a dial phone on a little table, complete with notepad and biro. As a child, he’d always wished that his home was like that. Half the time they hadn’t had a phone line at all, because his mother hadn’t paid the relevant bill.
‘Here we go.’ Laura was lugging parcel after parcel into the hall. He should have driven here. If he took them back on foot, he was going to have to go back and forth at least twice. ‘What do you have in here? Some of these are heavy.’ Christ. Astonishing curiosity. Who asked you about the contents of your shopping? For all she knew, he could have sex toys in there, rather than towels and outdoor clothing.
‘You know what? I think the best thing is for me to get my car and drive them back round.’ He bent down to pull his shoes back on. ‘I’ll put them all outside and then I won’t need to disturb you.’
‘There’s no need to do that. You won’t be disturbing me.’ Very kind of her, but he’d had a long day and he really just wanted a bit of time to himself to settle in.
When he got back with the car, Laura was right there, waiting, questions at the ready.
‘Thank you so much,’ James said over the questioning. ‘I’m incredibly grateful. I’m sure I’ll see you again.’ Hopefully not too soon.
‘My pleasure. You just let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.’
James nodded and smiled his way into the car as fast as he could. He checked his mirror when he got to the gateway to her drive. Yep, she was watching from her doorway.
The woman was far too friendly, possibly for her own good. What if he’d been an axe murderer or similar?
Despite how long he’d spent with Laura, there was still enough light for a quick swim before dinner. The water was bracing, but a great temperature once he’d got going, and the views were fantastic.
He felt less positive when he got back inside and remembered that he was going to have to make his own bed. Better to do it now, before dinner, so that he could relax while he ate. Stripping all Cassie’s sheets from one of the beds and wrestling on his own new ones took a fair amount of time. He’d better make sure a cleaner would be coming regularly.
The steak and veg he’d bought earlier in the day on the mainland were good. The lack of phone signal and apparently wavering Wi-Fi signal were less good. He hadn’t thought through how little there’d be to do on a Saturday evening somewhere quite remote without any of your friends. Well, there were outdoor activities and business opportunities and he’d get a lot of work done while he was here. It wasn’t forever.
* * *
Jetlag was a bugger when you had a relatively empty day ahead of you. Sunday. 4.30 a.m. Wide awake.
