‘How long have you had this place?’
‘Couple of years now. Little present to myself. I do love it. I’ve tried to make it a little sanctuary.’
‘Oh, you’ve done that.’ I smile, soothed now by the wood burner’s orangey glow, and the fact that Oliver has disappeared, presumably to his room.Just forget about how weird this all is,I tell myself.Forget about what it is that’s brought you together.
‘Let me show you your room,’ she says, leading me off the main space and into a short corridor. She indicates the various doors: ‘Oliver’s in there. Dinah’s there. She and I are sharing …’
‘Dinah?’
‘My friend.’ She drops her voice to a murmur. ‘Having a nap, I think. Amazing person. Pretty intense. Can’t wait for you to meet her. Anyway,’ she adds, ‘bathroom’s at the end there, and this is yours …’ She opens a door into a compact but cosy single room and follows me in.
‘This is lovely!’ I say.
‘Sorry it’s not en suite,’ she adds, as if I’d mind.
‘Honestly, it really is lovely. Thanks so much for inviting me.’
She smiles, but tension flickers around her blue eyes as she gently closes the bedroom door. ‘I’m just happy you could come. And I’m glad you like it. We can do walks orgo for drives, if you like? I can show you around the area tomorrow …’
‘Great,’ I enthuse.
She seems to hesitate before going on. ‘Honestly, I’m so glad you’re here, Carly. I can’t tell you.’
I look at her quizzically. ‘Why, is everything—’
‘Oh, it’s fine,’ she says quickly. ‘It’s just, this isn’t exactly Dinah’s thing. Being stuck out in the country, I mean. She likes being near – you know. Facilities. Goes all funny if she’s outside a five-mile radius of a branch of Cos …’
I splutter. ‘Oh dear.’
‘Yes, exactly. And then I thought, Carly! She’s easy-going and friendly. You know how it is, with a group?’ she goes on. ‘How people balance each other out?’
‘Er, yes,’ I say, still not quite grasping the situation here.
‘… And I invited Oliver because he’s had a tough time lately, since the break-up.Wife-left-him,’ she mouths.
‘Sorry to hear that,’ I say, and she grimaces.
‘Making it all sound rather grim, aren’t I?’
‘Not at all!’It sounds like loads of fun, absolutely …
‘Anyway, everything’s going to be okay. It’ll be great,’ she says brightly. With that – and a sudden, ‘I’ll get supper started!’ – she breezes out.
I start to unpack, still reeling from the flurry of information. So Suki thinks I’ll somehow ‘balance things out’ between two guests who, I gather, don’t want to be here? Seeing that my phone has died, I plug it in and perch on the bed, waiting for it to come back to life, and hoping that Frank might have messaged to check I arrived safely. But there’s nothing. So I get up and take in the view ofthe velvety night sky, filled with glittering stars. The only sound is a faint rustle of wind through the trees. Then there’s movement from the main room, and a woman – presumably Dinah – pipes up: ‘So, is she here, finally?’
‘Yes,’ Suki says, her agitation palpable.
‘Well, I don’t know how I’m going to sleep a wink having dinner so late …’
So late? How old is she – six?
‘It’s not that late,’ Suki reasons. ‘Only a quarter to nine. And we’re just about ready, if you could grab some glasses please, Dinah …’
Keen not to delay things further, I quickly check my face in the oval wall mirror and tug my brush through my hair. Then, trying to rally myself, as I do whenever I climb those stairs to Dad’s flat, I take a deep, fortifying breath and stride through to join the jolly gang for dinner.
Chapter Twenty
Kenny
