‘To be fair, I think it’s because she’s mad with grief.’
‘That’s very forgiving of you.’
‘But that’s not to say I don’t feel angry with her, I do. I’m also angry at the way she treats Keith, he’s done nothing but support her and put his own grief aside to help her. The man’s a saint.’
‘A saint who may or may not be finding comfort in the arms of another woman,’ remarked Cassie. ‘Not that I’m judging him.’
‘Me neither,’ said Nina.
‘Will you let him know that you saw them together?’
‘No. I don’t think I should, not when he didn’t see me. At the end of the day, it’s none of my business, is it? I don’t want to get involved. Whatever is going on is between them.’
‘On the other hand,’ said Cassie, ‘and since you’ve always said how well you and Keith get on, he might be glad of someone in whom he could confide.’
As fond as she was of Keith, taking the role of co-conspirator to such an extent didn’t appeal to Nina. It certainly didn’t seem like an ideal way to improve her relationship with Hilary. But was that ever going to happen? Wouldn’t it be better all round if she cut the tie completely?
Chapter Nine
The following afternoon and while Jakob was delivering a painting to a client over in Newmarket, Nina was deciding which picture to put in its place on the wall.
She had her back to the door when she heard it open and turning around, she was surprised to see Keith walk in.
‘I was just passing and thought I’d call in,’ he said. He looked and sounded as awkward as she suddenly felt.
‘That’s nice,’ she said. ‘Time for a coffee?’
‘Only if it’s not an inconvenience to you.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ she said. Leaving him to browse she scooted off to the kitchen and set the machine working. In less than a couple of minutes, she returned with two mugs of coffee and found Keith standing in front of a still life by Charles Perron, his expression thoughtful as though he were deep in thought.
‘Your coffee,’ she said quietly.
Barely taking his gaze away from the painting, he took the mug she offered him.
‘Nina,’ he said, still not looking her directly in the eye, ‘I know that you saw me last night down by the river, and I know what you’re probably thinking. But it’s not like that.’
‘I didn’t think you’d seen me,’ she said, deciding to dispense with any attempt to pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about.
‘Just fleetingly, enough though to see the look on your face as you hurried away.’
‘Would you have preferred that I stayed and said hello?’
Now he did turn to look at her. ‘Can I be honest with you?’
‘Are you sure you want to be?’
He smiled. ‘Yes.’
‘Then let’s sit down, shall we?’ She pointed to the comfortable chairs grouped around a coffee table and while he sat, she flipped the door sign fromOpentoClosed.
‘I met Diane through an online bereavement group,’ he said when she was seated next to him. ‘She lost her daughter roughly the same time we lost Hugh, so she understands. We started by messaging each other, but then we decided to meet up. We share things that Hilary refuses to let me share with her. It helps. It helps a lot. We can even cry together, something I don’t feel able to do with Hilary.’
‘Is Diane married?’ Nina asked. As though that made any difference.
‘No. She’s been on her own for some years. We’re just friends. There’s nothing else going on.’
Remembering what she’d witnessed last night, the tender way Keith’s hand had touched the woman’s back, the smiles they’d exchanged, and the kiss on her cheek, Nina wondered if he was kidding himself, rather than actually lying to her.
