Escape to the Country (21 page)

Duncan returned her text. 'Call me if you need anything. Hope to see
you soon. Love Duncan. x'

Adam looked at her as though expecting to be told who the message was
from. She said nothing.

That evening Adam took her for cocktails, then to the theatre. They
got back late and Adam did no more than kiss her cheek before she
went, alone, into the bedroom.

He brought her coffee before leaving for work. "Where will you
go today? Kew Gardens or one of the parks might be pretty now, with
all the spring bulbs out."

"Maybe."

He was right, but those places were no prettier than the drifts of
primroses, crocus and violets around Jayne's cottage.

"Or the zoo?"

"Don't worry, Adam. I'm sure I can amuse myself until you get
home."

"Of course you can. There's so much to do in London."

Lingering over breakfast had little appeal when whole-grain muesli
and skimmed milk was the most exciting thing on offer and there was
no one to talk to. They hadn't done much talking the previous day.
Not about anything important. Nothing to help solve her problem at
Prophet Margin or help her decide what to do with her life. The whole
day had been false - she'd come to try to sort things out and Adam
had acted as though there was nothing to discuss. If he really
thought there was nothing wrong, then the two of them had drifted
even further apart than she'd realised.

Leah looked around the shops. There were plenty of goods on offer,
but nothing she needed or even wanted. Hundreds of people surrounded
her in every direction yet she didn't recognise a single face.
Entertainment and education opportunities were plentiful, but there
was nothing that seemed like a good use of her time. Nothing that
couldn't be left until tomorrow. Life was harder on the farm, but
there had been a good reason for everything she'd done there. Animals
and people had depended on her. In London no one would even notice if
she weren't there.

Determined not to waste her time entirely, Leah rang Rachel. Maybe
there was news Adam had been reluctant to pass on for fear of
spoiling their lovely day yesterday.

Rachel suggested they meet for a coffee. "I could do with
getting out the office for a while anyway."

They arranged to meet at an open-air cafe in the park nearest Prophet
Margin's offices.

"It's so frustrating, Leah. I'm sure you're innocent and I'm not
the only one, but finding evidence is proving to be much harder than
I anticipated. One thing I am sure of is that whatever happened
wasn't an accident. Things were set up to make it seem you were
guilty."

"Great, so someone's got it in for me? No wonder Mr
Gilmore-Bunce is so sure I'm guilty."

"I'm not sure he ever did think that, but he certainly doesn't
now. You really impressed him."

"How can I have done? I've never even met him, except one time
in the office before this all happened and then we didn't speak."

"Are you sure?"

"Adam pointed him out. He certainly looked like your typical
snooty rich country gent."

"Adam Ferrand? I wouldn't trust a word that man said. It's
probably him who got you into this mess, but that's not what I meant.
Are you sure you've not met the client? He contacted us to offer
every assistance in clearing your name, those were his words."

Duncan must have put in a good word for her with his relative. How
sweet of him and how modest not to have mentioned it to her. With a
touch of guilt she realised she'd not said, or thought, anything in
Adam's defence.

"What did you say about Adam? You can't really think it was him
who stole the money?"

"He's been moving client's money around for no apparent reason.
It does look as though he's trying to clear his tracks from
something, although it might not be anything to do with your case.
Sorry, I really shouldn't have said anything. I admit I don't like
the man and I'm biased, but he's certainly up to something."

Leah didn't think it at all likely Adam would steal money from a
client. Neither did she think he'd read her diary, but if had looked
in it, he'd have seen her computer passwords. No, it wasn't possible;
she trusted him. Could she trust Rachel though? She'd not been her
friend before, maybe she wasn't now?

"I don't really know what to say."

Rachel shrugged. "No. Like I said, I shouldn't have said
anything. I don't know why I did really, I don't agree with people
being accused with no proof and I don't have any evidence against
him."

"We'll forget about it, then?" Leah suggested, although she
knew for her it wouldn't be possible.

"OK. Tell me, what's been happening with you? Did you really go
off to some horrible old farm?"

"Yes, well I don't think it's horrible, but I have been staying
with my aunt on her farm. I enjoy working with the animals."

Rachel grinned. "Prophet Margin's clients are good training for
that. Right pigs and cows some of them."

"Real pigs and cows aren't so much trouble," Leah assured
her.

"What's the social life like? All Morris Dancing and sacrificing
virgins?"

"Only at the weekends. Actually it's pretty good. They do have
pubs and restaurants outside of London and people are very friendly.
We visit the neighbours and things like that."

"Sounds amazing." Rachel didn't try to hide her sarcasm.

"One of my aunt's neighbours is Chantelle Miller. She threw this
fantastic party."

"Chantelle Miller the designer? You're kidding me."

Leah tried to mention some of the famous guests, but Rachel
interrupted. "I know, I saw a write up in the paper."

It was Leah's turn to interrupt and she spoke over Rachel. "You
can't have done. There weren't any paparazzi, it wasn't the kind of
party."

"It wasn't a gossip piece, just a mention in the fashion section
along with pictures of your friend's latest designs. You didn't get a
mention, but some of the other guests did. By the sound of it, there
were some gorgeous men there, did you..."

Leah just grinned, hoping to let Rachel decide for herself what that
meant.

"Who? Come on, spill."

"Well, actually it isn't anyone famous, but he is gorgeous."

"So will you be moving to the country to raise chickens and
babies?"

"I don't know, Rachel."

"You mean you're actually considering it?"

"Yes, I suppose I am."

After Rachel went back to work, Leah thought about the conversation.
She didn't know who to believe. Rachel had seemed genuine, but if
she was, why was the investigation taking so long and why was Rachel
trying to cast blame onto Adam? One thing she did know was that she
was seriously considering spending the rest of her life with Duncan.
She hadn't known him long, but she was sure they could be happy
together and almost sure he felt the same way about her. First
though, to be fair to everyone, she had to be sure her relationship
with Adam had no future. He'd said he wanted to explain, for them to
talk and to sort things out, but that hadn't happened.

She called him at work and said she'd cook dinner that evening. "What
do you fancy? I'll pick up what we need."

"I thought you'd like to go out. There's a great Vietnamese
place I've heard about. It's very authentic and everything's
ethically sourced."

"I'd rather stay in. Don't worry, I'll only buy organic food if
that will make you happier."

"No. We'll try the Vietnamese restaurant. I'm sure you'll like
it and afterwards we'll go to the opera. I queued up all lunch break
and managed to get us tickets."

It hadn't taken him long to revert to his normal pattern of making
plans to suit himself and half bullying her into accepting them. Leah
didn't intend to return to hiding her disappointment and pretending
to be grateful.

"I don't want to do that, Adam. You wanted me to come back with
you so we could talk and sort things out. I think that's exactly what
we should do."

"All right then. You cook. You might as well chose whatever you
like as you've obviously already made your mind up."

Leah decided not to let his lack of enthusiasm put her off and
mentally planned her menu to include all his favourite foods. Duncan
phoned while she was shopping.

"How are you, Leah?"

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I haven't been in touch."

"It's OK. Jayne explained."

Leah didn't dare ask what the explanation had been. "How are
you, Duncan? I've missed you."

She said the last bit without meaning to, but it was the truth.

"Actually, I've had some very good news. My dad has gone into
remission. They don't know for how long, but when I visited him last
time it seemed we were about to lose him, so this is great news."

"That's wonderful."

"It is. I was wondering... would you like to meet my parents?
I'm coming to London tomorrow and well, I sort of mentioned you were
in London too and they said they'd love me to bring you to see them."

Leah was torn. She so wanted to see Duncan and meet his parents and
hated the idea of disappointing a sick man and his worried wife, but
it wasn't fair to Adam to make plans with Duncan just before talking
to him and deciding if their relationship could survive.

"I would like to meet them, but it's a bit difficult..."

"Leah, don't sound so worried. I'm sorry if it seemed I was
trying to push you into it. It doesn't have to be tomorrow. They're
not expecting you, it's just... I couldn't come to London without
trying to see you."

"It'd be good to see you again too."

"Hark at us, sounds like we haven't seen each other for weeks."

"It feels like it," she admitted.

"Then meet my parents tomorrow and come back home to Winkleigh
Marsh afterwards."

His tone was light and teasing, but she was sure he meant the words.

"Can I call you tomorrow and, um if I..." She didn't know
what she meant.

"Of course you can. Maybe I'll get to see you after all?"

"Yes, maybe."

Adam pushed his artichoke around his plate and brushed aside her
questions about work.

She tried a different approach. "Shall we give your parents a
call? Say you've proposed and I'd like to meet them?"

"I'll ring them tomorrow. It's a bit late now."

"It's seven o'clock."

"I don't usually ring in the evening."

Leah took away their half eaten starters. She put the skewers of king
prawns she'd marinated in lime and coconut under the grill and took
in the mustard salad and fragrant rice. That gave her time to force a
cheerful expression onto her face.

"OK, call tomorrow then. Shall we say we'll go this weekend?"

"They'd need a bit more notice than that."

"I didn't mean we'd stay with them, just call in for a cup of
tea or perhaps go out for lunch?"

"We'll see," he said and served himself with rice and
prawns.

That was so obviously a no, she decided to change tack again.

"Have you thought where we might live if we married?"

"What's wrong with here?"

"Nothing for a single couple, but there's nowhere for family to
stay and I'd like my parents to be able to visit us and of course, if
we had children..."

"Children? Aren't you getting a bit ahead of yourself? You're
not even wearing my ring."

He planned his finances years ahead, yet wouldn't discuss the
possibility of children with the woman he said he wanted to marry?

"When were you thinking we'd get married?"

He drained his wine glass. "You want to set a date now?"

"Well roughly. We'll need to give our parents plenty of notice,
won't we?"

"I suppose so."

"This year?"

"No, I don't think so." He refilled their wine glasses.

"Next year?"

"Maybe."

"Sometime, never?"

"What do you mean?" He pushed his plate away.

"That I don't think anything's changed. You've bought me a
ring..."

"Which you're not wearing."

"Which I'm not wearing, so nothing has changed." She too
abandoned her food.

"I don't really see why it should have."

"I wasn't happy, Adam."

"Well, no. But that's because of the work, er, problem. We'll
sort that out. Actually, I have an idea about that."

"Oh?" He hadn't wanted to discuss it five minutes ago.

"We could re-mortgage the flat and use the money to pay back
into Mr Gilmore-Bunce's account. I think I've found a way to do that
without it being traced, but you can see why buying a bigger home
would be difficult right now."

"Adam, are you crazy? I didn't steal that money. Why on earth
should I pay it back?"

"It would clear your name and get your job back. In the long
run, I think we'd be better off."

"No we wouldn't. The investigation will clear my name. I'm not
at all sure I want my job back, but even if I did, I don't think
they'll suddenly start trusting me just because the money
mysteriously reappeared."

They didn't speak as they played with their raspberry tart and crème
fraiche, finished the wine and drank their coffee.

He helped her stack the dishwasher, but they were so awkwardly
careful not to touch each other that the process would have been much
easier if she'd done it on her own.

"I'm going for a walk," she said.

"Shall I come with you?"

"No, I want to think. I'll take my phone and stay nearby. I'll
be fine."

Leah thought of ringing Jayne, but she didn't need to. She knew her
advice would be to, 'Leave him and come back here.'

She was tempted to ring Duncan too and hoped he'd say much the same
thing. She was almost sure he would, but she couldn't find out, still
less agree until she'd finished things with Adam. It was what she had
to do. She didn't want to marry him and she didn't want to stay in
London. Nothing she missed about the city couldn't be met by a day's
sight seeing or occasional trip to the theatre. Everything Leah
wanted was in Winkleigh Marsh and that included Duncan.