‘I think she might be an animatronic.’
‘That would make more sense,’ said Jay, pouring them both a glass of white wine. ‘Thanks for a lovely weekend,’ he added, raising his glass, which Nora clinked.
‘Ditto. You got me through it.’
‘Nah. You don’t need me.’ Jay began serving the lasagne.
Actually I think I do, thought Nora. The ping from a text interrupted her thoughts.
Jay pulled his phone out and his face lit up.
‘Anything exciting?’ she asked.
‘It’s Tasha Blake. She’s in London tomorrow night and she’s free for dinner if I’m still up for it.’ His face dropped. ‘I can’t leave Bruce again.’
‘I’ll look after Bruce. It’s definitely my turn,’ said Nora.
‘You’re the best,’ said Jay, putting away his phone and looking happier than if he’d won an Oscar.
*
Dixie had been feeling decidedly lonely. Ned had fixed the table for her but had made some excuse about needing to be somewhere else and had left swiftly. The atmosphere had been uncomfortable after they’d had words about her living arrangements but she had felt worse once he’d left. It seemed an awkward silence with someone was preferable to one on your own. She’d not even seen Arnold for a while and Nora’s phone was going straight to voicemail so either it was switched off or she was out of range. She had mentioned going away for the weekend so perhaps that was why Dixie couldn’t get hold of her. For a moment Dixie thought how nice it would be to go away for the weekend, then she looked around and sighed. She was away, although she was stuck in one place. Things really weren’t panning out how she’d hoped.
She made a start on swapping the cushion covers but her heart wasn’t in it. For some reason she thought about the notes that had been left on the van windscreen by the angry landowner. She’d not had one for a few days. Even that person had stopped bothering about her. Everyone was deserting her. There was a moment where she had a wobble. The pull of normality was strong. A Waitrose dinner and a nicely chilled Pinot Noir called to her. Butshe simply couldn’t give up, although it was now Sunday so technically she had reached the mini milestone she had set herself of surviving for two whole weeks. The goalposts had only changed when Ned had appeared. She tapped her lip with her fingertip as she thought. She was torn and she wasn’t entirely sure why.
Why had Ned’s words and his reaction affected her so much, she wondered? She could admit that Elsie was a bit basic but it was no worse than camping, not that she’d ever been camping. Her parents had a couple of second homes and they frequently visited the villas of other family members so rarely holidayed in the UK. She suspected the one time she’d been in a yurt didn’t count as that had had its own wine fridge, double bed and shower tent. But it wasn’t her fault that her parents had been able to take her on nice holidays.
Maybe she felt defensive of Elsie. She wondered if Ned would be back. The thought that he might not made her feel sad. Well, sadder than she was already feeling.
What she needed was to snap herself out of the doldrums and get back on track. The important thing was to make her campervan habitable for her and if Ned did ever come back then she could look him in the eye and say ‘Yah boo sucks!’ Maybe she’d come up with something a little better than that given time.
25
Monday’s Bruce-sitting went by without incident. Getting him to comply was surprisingly easy now that Renee had shared her top tips. Nora spent all evening wondering how Jay was getting on with Tasha. When he finally walked in at almost midnight she was curled up on his sofa watchingAquamanand switched it off quickly. Jay would only rant about the naffness of it but Nora quite liked it. Mainly because it starred a half-dressed Jason Momoa– what was not to like?
‘How’d it go?’ she asked as Jay appeared in the living-room doorway and Bruce went to greet him. Jay looked tired but still every inch the film star, having put in contact lenses and dressed up specially to meet Tasha. It was a big change as she was used to seeing him in his trackies.
‘It went OK. I guess. Bit weird really.’
‘Did you show her the ear-wiggling too soon?’ she asked with a grin.
He pretended to look shocked. ‘I’d never do that before a third date. What do you take me for?’ He flopped on tothe sofa. ‘The thing was it was me, Tasha and Tasha’s PR, Anastasia.’
‘Oh,’ said Nora, feeling quite pleased and then feeling a little guilty that Jay’s date hadn’t turned out to be one at all. She changed her expression to one of consolation. ‘That’s a shame. Did you and Tasha have any time together?’
‘Only when Anastasia went to the loo.’
‘Not a great night then?’
‘It was nice enough. Food was good. And they have lots of plans for publicity forUndercover Bulletsso that’s cool and we got mobbed by photographers when we left the restaurant.’
‘Is that good?’ asked Nora.
‘It’s all publicity,’ said Jay, who was fussing Bruce without looking as if he was worried about losing fingers.
‘Look at you, throwing caution to the wind.’
‘Sometimes you have to take a risk.’
