Nine Ten Begin Again: A Grasshopper Lawns affair (9 page)

‘Donald’s wonderful too. But on his way to London.’

‘Wonderful? Seriously? You finally got together?’ Kirsty whooped down the phone. ‘Wow! I’ll be there in half an hour and we can walk her together. Great news!’

Edge looked at the phone and replaced it carefully as her cat slipped in through the window. ‘Mortimer, were you surprised? Because I’m beginning to think I’m the only person who hadn’t a clue!’

Kirsty is a little disapproving

‘Drew?’ Kirsty lifted down her coat from the hook behind the door. ‘I’m off to visit my aunt. Do you want a break or will you carry on studying?’

She put her head round the study door and Drew looked up, his eyes weary in his usually merry face.

‘I’d love to come, but I’ve got at least three more hours here, and I want to get it done. Anyway, I’d as soon stay away from the Lawns while that foul woman is there. Jemima Bateman,’ he added as her eyebrows shot up. ‘The acting bursar. She’s the one who got my expenses investigated, which is fair enough, that was her job back then, but I told you how they handled it—like the whole paralegal team was skimming. No apologies to those of us who weren’t, either. As far as she was concerned, we were just waiting our chance. If she ever does become an MSP, I’m switching parties.’

‘Wow.’ Kirsty bent to kiss the top of his head. ‘I never heard you say anything harsh about anyone before. I’ve not met her, but by the sound of it the Lawns won’t be enjoying her in Hamish’s place.’

‘Proper kiss.’ He pulled her down onto his knee. ’I can take a ten minute break. Fifteen, if you insist.’

She wriggled free, giggling. ‘Later. I’ll be back in three hours, and until then you’ll have total peace and quiet to study. I’m dying to hear what my aunt has to say.’ She hesitated briefly, then shrugged. This time, Edge wasn’t being remotely secretive. ‘She and Donald have finally got together. She sounds slightly in shock about it, mind.’

‘Damn, that
would
be worth hearing. Except she’d probably go all coy if I was there. I shall cross-examine you when you get back. Love you,’ he added wistfully as she blew him a last kiss from the door.

‘Love you too. And if you come across a charge I can use against the Bateman horror while you’re studying your precedents, phone me and I’ll arrest her while I’m there.’

~~~

By the time they’d walked the whippet and had second cups of tea, Edge was starting to look as weary as Drew, but Kirsty tactfully didn’t say so.

 ‘I must look like hell. The lack of sleep and all the excitement is starting to catch up with me.’ Edge apologetically smothered a yawn. ‘This sort of thing is much easier at your age.’

‘Better late than never,’ Kirsty pointed out mischievously. ‘I’m rather pleased to know you can even get this kind of a rush at your exceedingly advanced age, Grandma. I’m not entirely pleased he hauled you out on such a dodgy adventure but he does seem to have looked after you.’

Edge looked at her suspiciously, then laughed and patted back another yawn.

‘Don’t you dare mock your aunt. He looked after me very nicely, thank you. And the adventure was fun. In retrospect I can’t say I was thrilled to find myself in the same world as—no, never mind. Donald says we shouldn’t talk about people we recognized at the clubs. I wasn’t thrilled to find two people I don’t much care for were also there, put it that way. Took a bit of the sparkle out of it.’

‘It wasn’t Coppelia’s, by any chance? Because I heard there was a raid there, some rough types had to be moved on. And one had to be taken to hospital. He’s had rape charges laid against him before, but when our blokes arrived he shouted that he wanted to lay charges of assault and battery. He’d been kneed in the nose by a woman he was trying to drag down from some kind of high chair. She broke his nose, too; tough cookie. She was girning bitterly about getting his blood on her outfit.’

Edge choked on her tea and had to be patted on the back.

‘White leather? Excellent! She
did
look tough. Good for her!’

‘Edge, it’s not funny.’ Kirsty did laugh, though, even as she shook her head. ‘So that
is
where you were? You were lucky to get away before the goons arrived.’

Edge nodded meekly, her tired eyes sparkling, and Kirsty shook her head again. ‘I like Donald, and I
am
glad you’re together, but I’m going to have to tell him there’ll be no more dodgy outings.’ Edge nodded again, looking mischievous, and Kirsty tutted.

‘I’ve always taken your advice. If you won’t take mine, I don’t know what to say next.’

‘Oh darling, I’m not rejecting your advice. You haven’t actually given me any, anyway. I used to tell you to know what you were getting into, and if you weren’t sure, to talk it through with me. At the very least I wanted you to trust the people you were with, whether it was going canoeing down rapids, or when you first started going out at night. I don’t know what I’m getting into, but Donald has always been protective, you
know
that. He had no intention of leading me into anything dodgy. He was even more horrified by the Coppelia’s incident than you are. I trust him utterly, and my instincts have never let me down yet.’

Kirsty eyed her uneasily, then glanced at her watch.

‘I have to go, I promised Drew I’d be home by seven. Just remember, love is like the measles: all the worse when you get it late in life. Be careful.’ They both stood up and Kirsty hugged her aunt impulsively. ‘And get some sleep! You look as if you’re about to fall over!’

Vivian was standing at the door, her hand raised to knock, as Edge opened it.

‘Nice timing,’ she said comfortably. ‘I’m glad you’re all right. Donald says your mobile is switched off and you’re not answering your phone, so he insisted I come check on you.’

Edge looked surprised. ‘I did turn the sound off on the phone, but he didn’t leave a message, I’d have seen the light blinking. Why was he phoning?’

‘He just probably wanted to talk. This is a relationship now, you know!’ Vivian teased as Edge invited her inside, and she shook her head.

‘Not really. He said we stay as we were—friends who, well, enjoy extras. He wouldn’t normally phone me when he was away unless he thought of something to do with Odette.’

‘You could have left her with me, you know, and gone with him, or wasn’t that an option?’

‘Thanks, Vivian, he did offer but I was as glad to take time out. This whole thing needs a bit of thinking out.’

 ‘Why do I feel you’re about to tell Vivian a whole bunch of stuff you wouldn’t tell me?’ Kirsty remarked, smiling, and left, slightly regretfully.

Edge switched on the kettle again and Vivian sat down on the edge of the sofa.

‘A quick cup then. I know you’re tired. Thinking out? What happened to delight?’

‘Still there, but I
have
had time to think a bit, and I’m a bit unnerved. Donald’s never been in what you or I would consider a conventional relationship, and I’ve never been in one that was unconventional. Phone calls, now. What’s that about?’

‘Well, you’re going to have to feel your way.
Never
in a conventional relationship?’

‘No. He went into a foster home when he was two. He says they were nice enough people, no horror stories, but to them fostering was a job. There were always six kids that they fed and clothed and took on holidays but they were emotionally quite detached. He started as the youngest, was the second oldest by the time his English teacher started insisting he should to be going to theatre school. They told the authorities they couldn’t cope with that and he would have to go to another family. He went instead into a kind of boarding set-up specifically for the theatre school.’

Vivian accepted her cup of tea and sat back. ‘That’s a bit cold. I actually meant love affairs, although his family life explains a bit.’

‘You heard the tattoo story. There
were
affairs. He was fifteen when he started theatre school, and suddenly being eyed up by both sexes. That’s when he met Seb Gandry. Seb was several years older, became something of a mentor. Donald said he was a true friend, never hit on him, but instead told him not to rush into anything physical, to wait until he felt a real attraction to someone, male or female.  He fell in love once, when he was nineteen, with an actress in her late twenties, and they had an affair which to her was purely physical. She was married to a much older man, a big wheel producer, and dumped him when he wanted to get serious. Wouldn’t see him again.’

‘Bloody hell, Edge. I never realized. No wonder he comes across as remote.’

‘Well, yes. He wasn’t kidding when he told us once he doesn’t like actresses.  With those odd hours, the years he spent touring, it wasn’t so easy to meet women who weren’t either actresses or star-struck fans. He started having daytime affairs with married women, which he said meant lots of quality sex and absolute secrecy.’ She hesitated, then added reluctantly, ‘He didn’t call it quality
sex
. In fact he’s quite harsh, almost despising, when he talks about it. That’s part of the bit I didn’t want to tell Kirsty.’

Vivian finished her tea and stood up decisively. ‘I’m not surprised. Neither am I surprised that it bugged you. We’re very old-fashioned, you and I. Just tell him. I was straight with William—there’ll be none of that sort of language, I’m not that sort of woman. Like it or lump it. He laughs at me, but he respects my wishes. Respects
me
. Edge, I’m going now, you look as if you’re about to fall asleep on your feet and you still need to phone him back. I’ll keep Odette overnight, you get some proper sleep and we’ll catch up tomorrow.’

Clarissa is agog

The driving sleet finally stopped shortly before noon the next day and Edge, well wrapped up and with Odette in her MacDonald tartan jacket, met Vivian and her dog, Buster, for a belated walk. They were heading back across the top of the campsite when Maggie, Clarissa’s bulldog cross, lumbered up to join the dogs while Clarissa waved and quickened her pace to come up with them.

‘That Bateman woman is practically knocking William’s door down,’ she said breathlessly as she came within earshot. ‘I stopped to tell her that he never answers when he’s writing and she looked me up and down and went straight back to knocking! Such a rude woman. She’s on a campaign to blacken poor Hamish’s reputation and look super-efficient by contrast, if you ask me, but her natural charm should work in his favour. Why are you walking Odette? Where’s Donald?’

‘London,’ Edge, to her intense annoyance, felt heat in her cheeks and Clarissa gave her a sharp look.

‘And you’re looking after Odette? You don’t usually, surely?’

‘Edge found out you were right all along, Clarissa. Don’t tease her, she’s still in shock.’ Vivian smiled at Clarissa, who looked avid.

‘Really? Well, about time! When did you realize?’

Edge laughed a little uncomfortably. ‘We were out on Wednesday night. As friends. And don’t gloat about being right, Clarissa, he’s not exactly a conventional straight man. God, he’s zipped me into clothes, made me change bras to get a better bust-line in a specific outfit. It should have been like getting jumped by Gok Wan. Vivian didn’t suspect either, did you? ’

 ‘William never believed he was gay, but you know that. I was like you, I thought he had to be, because the two of you were so close but not physical. You must have nearly had a heart attack when he did make his move. Was it actually at the club?’

‘Outside, afterwards. He says it was the last thing he intended to do—had ever intended to do. We really like being friends, you know. It’s the first real friendship with someone of the opposite sex that either of us have ever had, and we’re determined to hang on to that: the friendship comes first. Anyway, I don’t know about you two but I’m
frozen
, I really need some coffee.’

Clarissa, looking a little disappointed, said she would finish her walk and Vivian and Edge called the dogs back from following Maggie. 

‘Sorry, I didn’t think.’ Vivian was remorseful. ‘But she’s not really a gossip, you know, except with you and me. Are you hoping to keep it quiet? I don’t think you’ll be able to. There’s an almost tangible crackling between you, I could see it instantly, and you were getting some odd looks at lunch yesterday. Clarissa picked up on it straight away, too, just you on your own.’

‘I don’t want to advertise us, put it that way. And I
really
don’t want it getting out about the club. I didn’t think it was a big deal, despite what you said, but Kirsty was definitely shocked. She’s always liked Donald but the fact that he took me to one, especially a place that was raided and where dodgy stuff started happening, well, she’s really disapproving. I can see now how it could be horribly misinterpreted. He certainly didn’t have any hidden agenda, he was taking a friend along to share a glimpse of part of his life. Having said that, the leather outfit definitely did trigger the first kiss! Then when I didn’t pull away, he couldn’t resist pushing further. He’d always thought I was quite, well, cold.’

She shot Vivian a wry sidelong glance. ‘And now every song I hear seems to be about us, it’s too corny for words, I feel about fifteen. It’s so
odd
.’