‘I know what you mean. I love my mum to the moon and back, but we’d soon get on each other’s nerves,’ Giselle joked feebly, trying not to show how badly she was hurting at the thought of Rocco leaving.
She kept hoping he’d call or message her, and she checked her phone yet again, but nothing. Maybe he wouldn’t call first, but would come looking for her in the studio? She should get back. He might be there now, wondering where she was.
Panicked, she was about to dash for the door when common sense held her back. If he couldn’t find her, he’d call or message.
‘I heard Avril got the wrong end of the stick and thought that Rocco had a girlfriend,’ Jinny said casually, not looking at her.
Giselle took a steadying breath. ‘Nothing gets past you, does it?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘She was mortified.’ Giselle thought back to Avril’s apology when Giselle had phoned her earlier to tell her where Cal had really spent the night. ‘She wanted to make it up to me by buying me lunch.’
‘Aw, that’ll be nice. I happen to know they’ve got your favourite on the menu today.’
Giselle’s stomach turned over, and she pulled a face. She hadn’t had much appetite since yesterday, and the subsequent news that Rocco was leaving tomorrow had killed it completely. The blissful bubble she’d been living in had well and truly burst, with his mother’s arrival signalling the end of their relationship and probably that of the craft centre.
Wheels were being set in motion, the sale was going ahead and Rocco would return to his life down south, and there was nothing Giselle could say or do to alter it.
‘Who’s that with Cal?’ Jinny was staring out of the window with narrowed eyes, and Giselle followed her gaze.
Despite never having set eyes on the woman, Giselle knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Claire. And she was stunning. She was also heading this way.
When the door opened and the woman stepped inside, Giselle could hear Cal talking about cold facts and figures that had nothing in common with any of the wonderful things in the shop. She understood it was a business, but did it have to sound so dry? Hard work, talent and dedication had been reduced to little more than markups and percentages.
Claire’s face gave nothing away, but her eyes were everywhere, taking it all in.
Cal said, ‘Hi, Jinny. This is Claire Wallace. She’s doing an initial assessment and valuation of the castle. Jinny is our gift shop’s very successful manager.’
Claire gave Jinny a nod and a professional smile, but that was the sum of her attention because she was too busy assessing the contents of the shop. She hadn’t noticed Giselle, or if she had, she didn’t think her important enough to acknowledge, so Giselle took the opportunity to do some noticing of her own.
High heels, smart suit, glowing skin, brown eyes, glossy dark hair, red lips – Claire was the polar opposite to Giselle in appearance. She also reeked of expensive perfume, confidence and money.
An image of Rocco at Mhairi’s funeral flashed into Giselle’s mind, and abruptly she envisaged Rocco and Claire together, birds of the same feather, flying in the same lofty airspace. They’d make a perfect couple. No wonder Avril had thought Claire was his girlfriend! She was far more suited to him than Giselle could ever be. And they spoke the same corporate language and worked for the same company.
Once again, a sick feeling rose from her stomach to lodge in her chest, and Giselle feared she might throw up. Screwing her eyes shut, she fought the nausea, swallowing hard and concentrating on her breathing.
When she opened them again, it was to find Claire standing in front of the sea glass island picture, her head tilted to the side, her expression thoughtful.
‘It’s lovely, isn’t it?’ Jinny gushed. ‘Made by this extremely talented lady right here.’
Claire’s head swivelled towards Giselle like a raptor sensing prey, and Giselle found herself the focus of a sweeping, yet comprehensive, assessment.
‘Youmade this?’ Claire’s voice was sharp, her words clipped, disbelieving almost.
Giselle lifted her chin, her hackles rising. She was proud of her work. ‘Yes, I did.’
The woman held her gaze for a fraction longer than necessary before turning away and speaking to Cal. ‘Let’s move on. I think Rocco will agree that there’s little of any significant value here.’
Cal looked nonplussed. ‘Well, no, I suppose not, since the stock is owned by the artists themselves. The shop takes a commission from each sale.’
For some reason, Giselle didn’t think Claire had been referring to the stock.
Did the woman know that she and Rocco were… Actually, what were they? Lovers, certainly, but did their relationship go any deeper than that? For Giselle it did, but she couldn’t say the same for Rocco: she had no idea how he felt about her. He enjoyed making love with her, that much was obvious, but was that all there was?
Giselle watched Claire leave, Cal trailing behind her after throwing an apologetic look in her direction.
‘Blimey, she’s a piece of work, isn’t she?’ Jinny huffed. ‘I wouldn’t like to have her for a boss. What is she? Some kind of hatchet woman?Little of value, indeed. Huh!’
