‘That sounds like a very good plan!’ said Helena and picked up her plate.
As she followed him through the house she remembered he’d been on a mission too.
‘Did you get the property you were interested in? Were you buying or just checking out?’
‘Checking out. No point in buying something if it’s never going to get planning permission. So how did setting up a different loom go?’
‘Well! Although it took me a while to find my way around it, and I had forgotten quite how long it takes to thread a loom with thread so fine. I reckon I can get three good scarf lengths out of every time I thread the loom, but I am going to have to charge a lot to make it worth it.’ She took a large bite of her sandwich and sighed happily.
‘But there’s the honour of being in the show?’ He put down a full glass of red wine and she knew it was her favourite.
She took another bite before answering. He did have a way with a sandwich: the right bread, the right condiments, all perfectly balanced. ‘There is, but you can’t pay your bills with honour, can you? You have to have actual money as well. There’s no point in creating beautiful pieces if people won’t pay enough for them.’
‘But didn’t Amy feel fairly sure you’d make back your thousand pounds without difficulty?’
‘Amy is dreadfully optimistic!’
‘When I last looked, being optimistic wasn’t considered a bad thing,’ said Jago.
Helena looked at him, biting her lip to hide her smile. ‘There’s being optimistic and being foolhardy. And that was possibly the most delicious sandwich I’ve ever eaten.’
He nodded gravely. ‘You were hungry. That helps.’
Over the following days, Helena hardly stopped weaving. Jago brought her food during the day and dragged her to the table for the evening meal. She sent her mother a text to say she was fine but working very hard. She didn’t tell her how late and long her hours were. Mothers didn’t need to know everything.
Chapter Eighteen
Helena having to weave day and night was a relief to Gilly. It meant she wouldn’t have time to wonder about what her mother was up to. Gilly did her bit to support her daughter, sending over casseroles which, she realised, mostly helped Jago, who seemed to have taken on the feeding role. But she was glad not to have her daughter’s beady eye upon her. While she was very nearly 100 per cent sure she didn’t want to go out with Leo any more, she was curious. He had more or less asked her to live with him and yet he hadn’t tried to seduce her. So what was going on?
She took advantage of Helena being so occupied to invite Martin and his family for Sunday lunch. She had asked Helena via text but said,Completely understand if you’re too busy. I know how under the cosh you are at the moment. While she would have been fine if Helena and Jago had accepted she was glad to be able to have lunch with her son without any twitches between him and his sister to deal with.
She had just settled them in the sitting room with a glass of wine and elderflower and something suitable for Ismene when her phone rang. She saw it was William.
‘Do you mind if I answer this?’ she asked, getting up so she could take the call in privacy. She knew that both Cressida and Martin would be looking at their own phones the moment she was out of the way so didn’t feel too bad.
‘William? How are you?’
‘I’m well and I hope you are too? I was just calling to fix up a time to take you gliding. We’ve got a nice high coming up tomorrow I’d like to take advantage of. It will be perfect for a first flight.’
Gilly sighed. ‘Oh, William! I’m so sorry! I do hope I didn’t give you the wrong impression, but really, I don’t think gliding is for me. I am an awful coward and I don’t much like flying in small planes. I’m sure to be absolutely terrified.’
There was a long silence and Gilly was aware of having disappointed William. She didn’t feel happy about it.
‘I really do believe you might love it if you just let yourself give it a shot.’
‘It’s a terribly long shot, William.’ She heard him sigh and felt desperate to offer him something. He’d been kind enough to want to share his hobby with her and she’d turned him down because she was a coward. He deserved better. ‘I’d love to dosomething else – birdwatching, angling – something where you don’t have to defy gravity.’
He laughed gently. ‘OK, I’ll let you off gliding, for now. I’ll find somewhere good for birdwatching. Flicking metal hooks around at the end of a line might be a bit nerve-racking for me.’
She realised she was smiling. ‘Thank you! Let me know.’
She walked back to Cressida and Martin; Ismene had found the magnetic atlas jigsaw that Gilly had bought for her. ‘Right, can I get anyone something to nibble? Lunch won’t be long.’
‘Who was that, Mum?’ asked Martin. ‘Not Leo?’
Gilly winced internally. Was she obliged to tell them about her relationship with Leo? She thought not. ‘I was just talking to a friend about going gliding.’
‘Gliding!’ Cressida could not have been more horrified if Gilly had said she was going pole dancing. ‘Gilly! You would never go gliding! It would be absolutely terrifying for you.’
