A Time for Friends (41 page)

‘Aah you poor love!’ Jonathan said soothingly, sitting beside her and taking her hand in his. ‘Now it’s imperative, Gina, if I may call you Gina, that you have your
own
treatment room. As your interior designer I
forbid
you to install a His and Hers. Why would you want to listen to a stressed husband venting when you’re having a
massage? I don’t think so. That would defeat the whole purpose entirely.’ He smiled at her. ‘Let’s design a most relaxing, serene, peaceful place just for
you
to
run away to. As pink as you wish. And we can give the man of the house his own masculine space. What do you say?’

Gina gave him a watery smile. ‘That sounds wonderful,’ she sniffed.

‘And it will be,’ he assured her. ‘Now let’s go and see where you want to have your spa installed. Near the pool, I think you said. Hilary and I can get to work
immediately on the design, so you can have it as soon as possible. You clearly need a place of your own to escape from the world.’

‘
Exactly!’
Gina said with heartfelt emotion. ‘Jonathan, you understand perfectly.’

‘We’ll install very soothing lighting that you can control with dimmer switches, little pools of illumination fading into shadow, very balming to the eyes and spirit.’ Hilary
sat on the other side of her and slid a glossy brochure of their previous work over to her.

‘Oh, I
like
this.’ Gina wiped her eyes, pointing to a sunken bath surrounded by flickering candles and diffused opaque lighting.

‘And this is a floatation-therapy room we did in a spa hotel.’ Hilary turned a page and gave Jonathan the tiniest wink as their new client forgot her distress and turned her
attention to the goodies that would soon be coming her way.

‘You smooth charmer, Harpur,’ Hilary slagged an hour later as they drove away from Bramblewood Manor with a preliminary design for Gina and Shaun’s spa ready to work on.
‘You had her eating out of the palm of your hand.’

‘Indeed, as did you, missus, showing her the sunken bath and the floatation-therapy room. What a team we are,’ Jonathan said smugly. ‘
And
we’re building two
treatment rooms instead of one,
and
installing a new steam room and sauna!
Plus
a relaxation room complete with fish tank. I hadn’t expected the half of it, to be
honest.’

‘Imagine being wealthy enough to employ your own beauty therapist, and having the space for all of that. I’d spend my whole day in it,’ Hilary sighed.

‘Me too,’ Jonathan agreed. ‘We did a good day’s work today, Hammond. Thank you for dragging me kicking and screaming from my bed.’

‘We did, Harpur, and you’re welcome. Glad to see you back in the saddle.’ Hilary smiled at him.

‘I sent a text to make an appointment with Hannah,’ he said.

‘You took your time about it. No better woman to sort you out,’ Hilary declared. ‘Any word from his nibs?’

‘Yeah, I spoke to him on Sunday. He asked me did I want to go for a drink but I told him I was busy.’

‘And will you ever go for a drink with him again?’ She cocked an eye at him.

‘I might, just to show him I’m not as upset as he thinks I am, even though I
am
.’ Jonathan shrugged.

‘You do that. Nothing like a show of nonchalance to prick Master Leon’s conceit.’

‘A prick for a prick,’ Jonathan wisecracked and Hilary laughed, most relieved that glimpses of the old Jonathan were making their welcome appearance.

‘And what did you learn from this encounter with Leon?’ Hannah sat with her hands in her lap, studying Jonathan as he sprawled in the easy chair opposite her.

‘That I’m a fool. That I’m not a good judge of character. That I only saw what I wanted to see?’ Jonathan didn’t spare himself.

‘You’re very hard on yourself, Jonathan,’ Hannah said mildly. ‘Let me put it another way: you saw what you
didn’t
want in a relationship. Would I be
right?’

‘I suppose so,’ he said slowly.

‘And what
do
you want in a relationship?’ she probed.

‘I want someone to love me and respect me as much as I love and respect them,’ he sighed.

‘Now you’ve said it, Jonathan,’ Hannah exclaimed in satisfaction. ‘Do you realize this is the first time that you’ve ever said that to me? The episode with Leon
might have been very painful but it was your wake-up call. You will never let anything like that happen to you again.’

‘You’re right,’ Jonathan agreed. ‘I won’t.’

‘You’ve seen what you don’t want in a relationship. You’ve acknowledged that you want to be loved and respected. Remember we are
all
equal.’

‘You always make me feel I’m so worthy, Hannah, and I wish I could feel like that all the time.’ He shook his head.

‘Why do you think you’re not worthy?’ Hannah gazed steadily at him.

‘Umm . . . I don’t know . . . I suppose . . . probably because I’m gay!’ he blurted.

‘Aahhh, now we’re getting to the root of things,’ Hannah approved.

‘I don’t know why I said that. I thought I’d come to terms with who I am.’ Jonathan frowned.

‘Perhaps it’s just a final clearing for you, Jonathan, and that’s why you experienced what you did with Leon. Because at another level you know that you
are
worthy,
and that it is an insult to think otherwise.’

‘I know, but the Church says being gay is wrong and a sin.’

‘The Church says many things, Jonathan,’ Hannah smiled. ‘What do
you
, the Divine Creation, say?’

‘I say I’m worthy!’ Jonathan smiled back at her. ‘
Very
worthy.’

‘Now
you’re in tune with the Universal Language of Love. Remember you must first love yourself before you can love another.’

‘I am worthy. I am worthy!’ he repeated, walking to his car after the session. ‘I am Jonathan Harpur, the Divine Creation, and I am worthy of love!’

‘Look, why don’t you come for a week even, we’d love it, spend two days in the city and then we could go to Nantucket for the other five days. It would be
fabulous. We could catch up and have fun just like the old days. Come after Millie’s exams,’ Colette urged as they sat on the Hammonds’ candlelit patio eating dinner on a warm
Friday night in late May. Des and Colette were on a rare visit, having spent a few days in London. Colette had phoned Hilary to let her know that she was coming home and had inveigled an invite to
dinner. ‘It’s been so long, and we’ve soooo much to catch up on,’ she’d said eagerly, looking forward to seeing her old friend more than she’d imagined. And it
had been a fun reunion, hence the spur of the moment invite to visit them in the States.

‘Come on, bud, we’ve been asking you for years,’ Des exclaimed expansively, eyeballing Niall while he scoffed the organic fillet steak Hilary had cooked. ‘The girls would
love it.’

‘We’ll think about it,’ Hilary interjected smoothly, offering Des another helping of fried onions and creamy mash.

‘Well it’s just we need to know a little in advance, that’s the only thing. We do a lot of entertaining.’ Colette helped herself to a small portion of baby carrots and
petits pois. Hilary eyed the creamed mash longingly but decided not to have seconds. She felt like a horse beside Colette who was looking stunning in a pair of tight white jeans and a red Moschino
body-hugging top that clung to her petite curves. Her tan was deep and golden, her blonde hair expertly highlighted, worn in a topknot with tendrils curling artfully to frame her smooth, unlined
face.

Hilary was glad she was wearing a loose, floaty, midnight-blue top, which covered a multitude, including the love handles that even the elasticated waist on her white M&S tailored trousers
could not hide.

Des had not aged as well as his wife, she observed, noticing the hint of floridity, the bags under his eyes, and the thickening waistline. But the boastful patronizing bombast was as pronounced
as ever and she had caught Niall’s glazed-eyed look of utter boredom after a twenty-minute dissertation on the American educational system, and all because Hilary had asked if Jasmine liked
her boarding school.

‘I suppose entertaining is part and parcel of your job, Des. Thankfully most of Niall’s is done abroad and doesn’t impact on me or our home life too much.’ Hilary poured
a small amount of pepper sauce onto the last piece of her steak.

‘I’m used to it at this stage,’ Colette pouted. ‘We’ve always had to do it, even when we were living in London. We hired a jet and took some guests down to Turks
and Caicos in the spring. Of course it’s high season there then. The hurricane season hits around August, September even though technically in the Caribbean it’s June to November.
Don’t make the mistake one of Mum’s friends made and go down there in the summer and have a washout for a holiday,’ Colette said brightly.

‘Private jet, wow!’ Hilary exclaimed, knowing that Colette was clearly expecting a response.

‘We’re certainly not in that league, are we, Hil?’ Niall grinned. ‘Although I did once bring a client on a flight simulator.’

Hilary laughed, she couldn’t help it.

‘
Funeee
,’ Colette drawled, miffed that he was mocking her.

‘How’s the shop?’ She changed the subject and switched her attention back to Hilary.

‘Booming, we’ve more work than we can handle, working flat out actually.’

‘And how’s the decorating going?’

The way she said it, Hilary had an image of herself and Jonathan out with their wallpaper stripper and paintbrushes. ‘Well I’ve taken a step back and employed an assistant but
we’re busy, busy, busy. We’re up to our eyes lighting and decorating beauty spas, and revamping hotels, which is how the business has taken off, but we do private clients too. We did a
spa for the Grants recently—’

‘Gina Grant?’ Colette’s eyes widened.

‘As in Shaun Grant?’ Des was all ears.

‘Yep.’ Hilary speared a baby carrot and covered it with mash before forking it into her mouth, secretly pleased with the other couple’s reaction.
Decorating indeed! Put
that in you pipe and smoke it, you pair of posers
.

‘So you’re
really
going places?’ Colette raised an eyebrow.

‘Indeed,’ Hilary said a touch drily.

‘Do you have live-in help?

Niall raised his hand. ‘Me,’ he supplied laconically. ‘Hilary spends more time with Jonathan than she does with me.’

‘Why doesn’t that surprise me? Jonathan likes to have Hilary’s undivided attention,’ Colette remarked acidly. ‘I remember that from the very first time I met
him.’

‘You should have warned me, Colette. I wouldn’t have let him get his feet as far under the table as he has.’ Niall flashed a grin at her and she was reminded again of how dishy
he was still.

‘Hmm, he’s a pushy boy all right.’ Colette slanted a flirty glance at Niall. ‘Just as well he plays for the other side or you might have something to worry
about.’

‘Would the pair of you give over. I could say that your secretary sees more of you than I do, Niall, if it comes to that.’ Hilary suppressed a surge of irritation at them. What did
Niall have to go and say a thing like that for, and to Colette of all people who had never liked Jonathan?

‘Listen, Hilary, any chance you could set up a game of golf with Shaun Grant for me?’ Des interjected. ‘I could put him in touch with some of the best in Wall Street and make a
fine fat profit for myself. He’d be a five-star client to have. I’d make it worth your while, Hilary,’ he added condescendingly.

‘Thanks, Des, I
really
appreciate that.’ Hilary tried to keep the sarcasm from her voice but her friend’s husband was so keen on snaring another billionaire for his
portfolio he didn’t even notice. ‘However, you more than anyone will understand how important it is to respect a client’s privacy and that’s a boundary I couldn’t
possibly cross. Gina’s already put several new private clients our way.’

‘Oh! Well if the opportunity ever arises see what you can do,’ he said, peeved.

‘Sure,’ she said airily.

‘Did you ever think we’d have billionaires in Ireland?’ Colette remarked. ‘The Celtic Tiger’s something else, isn’t it? All the new development. The quays and
docklands are really getting a makeover.’

‘The economy’s expanded at an average rate of 9.4 per cent since 1995.’ Niall topped up their glasses.

‘Where are you stashing your loot?’ Des asked bluntly. ‘Property? Stocks and shares?’

‘We’ve a fairly wide spread,’ Niall said non-committally. ‘Eggs in a few baskets.’

‘This Anglo Irish Bank seems to be the leader of the pack. Grant is fairly deep in there.’

‘Everyone’s in Anglo!’ Colette yawned. ‘It’s all Mum and Dad’s crowd talk about. Seánie this, and Tiernan that. Quite the men to play golf with, it
seems.’

‘And how are your parents?’ Hilary asked, not because she was particularly interested in Jacqueline and Frank’s welfare, but because she wanted to change the topic of
conversation. The cheek of Des asking where their ‘loot’ was stashed. He was as brash and nosy as ever. She’d forgotten how insufferable he could be sometimes.

Hilary was disgusted with Jacqueline and Frank. Hilary and Dee had organized a surprise birthday party for their mother. Jacqueline had accepted the invitation but, on the night, had dropped in
for half an hour saying that Frank was tied up because of tribunal work and she was heading off to another event. Jacqueline hadn’t invited Sally and Mick to her big birthday bash two months
later, and Sally had been hurt.

‘They’re working all hours.’ Colette shrugged. ‘Dad’s working on the planning tribunal and Mummy’s up to her neck in Moriarty. Couldn’t have chosen a
better way to end their legal careers. They’re more than set up for retirement. They’re earning an
absolute
fortune!‘

‘Indeed . . . of taxpayers’ money!’ Niall drawled.

‘
Niall
!’ hissed Hilary.

‘Sorry!’ he said, totally unabashed, ignoring the glare Hilary gave him. ‘I always felt those outrageous salaries should have been capped.’