Restoring Grace (39 page)

‘
Well?' she
demanded, piling gold foil-covered mints
on to saucers.

‘
I've put
them in the car. I can't do anything about them
in situ, and the
condition is really worrying. I found a
couple
of nails – obviously been there for centuries – so
I couldn't tackle them there and then. I cut out
the shut
ters in the end.'

‘
My God!' For
a moment she thought of the devasta
tion but then dismissed this as
trivial. 'But are they any good?' She was practically jumping up and down with
frustration. Why wouldn't he give her his verdict? After what seemed to Ellie
to be about ten years, he smiled. 'Oh yes. They're very good. But they're very
damaged and I need to have a proper look, with decent
light, to see how good. Even daylight would be better
than what
we've got now.'

‘Well, yes, it would be.'

‘
So I've
taken them down. Very carefully, of course. We
don't want any more
damage.'

‘
Well, give
me a hand with the coffees, would you?'
She was jumping up and down with
excitement. 'And think up an excuse for your absence. I told them you'd had a
dodgy burger.'

‘You what?’

She shrugged insouciantly. 'Well, I had to tell
them
^s
omething! What other excuse would you have for
disap
pearing for almost the entire
meal? I'll tell you what, we'd
never have managed it if it weren't for
Demi getting into
^tr
ouble.' Her exhilaration faded. 'I wonder why
they
^h
aven't rung?'

‘
I'm sure they will the
moment they've got something
to say,' said Ran, taking the tray from Ellie and heading
for the door. 'Just try and put it out of your mind.’

Ellie was already loading another tray, wishing
that
having lots and lots of important,
serious things to think
about, like valuable paintings, sick friends,
and a baby, didn't stop you obsessing with something that was both unimportant
and totally irrelevant. Bloody men!

*

Mr Rose handed Ellie the
completed forms, all slightly food-
and
wine-spattered now. 'All present and correct, I think.'

‘
Thank
you so much for taking charge, Mr Rose. Without you the entire evening would
have been a complete waste! And I'm sure Grace will want to confer with you
when she comes to write her article, as she wasn't actually able to be here.’

Mr Rose was not unmoved by Ellie's gratitude, not
to mention her cleavage. 'She's welcome. I just hope her stepdaughter is all
right,' he said. 'It's been a grand
evening.
I think everyone enjoyed it. Grace should try
and do it again. And
charge next time.'

‘And you must give me your details so you can
come and cook for me,' said Sara Cavendish. 'You're brilliant!'

‘
And you,'
said the cleavage woman to Ran, who stood
beside Ellie in a way that made her feel lovely and coupley
even
if it didn't mean a thing, 'must give me your card.
I've got a lovely old picture which needs restoring. I could
bring
it down to you.'

‘I have got quite a lot of work on at the
moment,' he said politely but firmly, 'but I'd be happy to recommend a
colleague who might be able to help.'

‘I'll wait for you,' said the woman, brushing
his cheek
with her hand. 'I'm sure you'll
get round to me eventually.'

‘
What was
that woman's name?' asked Ellie when she had finally gone.

‘Can't remember.’

Ellie found this answer entirely satisfactory.

*

When everyone else had gone home too, Ran followed
Ellie into the kitchen. She had long
since given up the idea of him fancying her at all, in spite of the cleavage,
the black tights and the specially done hair. It
was either
her still invisible
pregnancy that bothered him, or her. It
was easier to think that it was
her pregnancy; the 'her' was a permanent condition.

‘
Ellie—' he began, and then, life being what it is, her
phone rang.

It was Grace. She sounded very tired and but
not
completely distraught. After some
discussion about Demi
she added, 'I
don't think we're going to get home tonight.
Will you be all right on
your own?'

‘
I think
so,' said Ellie, who suddenly felt that she wouldn't.
'As long as Demi's
all right. I've been so worried.'

‘She will be,' said Grace. 'I'm just plucking
up the courage to ring Edward or her mother.'

‘Can't you get Flynn to do it?'

‘No, that wouldn't be fair. It's my
responsibility.'

‘Not really, but I suppose you would see it
like that.'

‘
I do, I'm
afraid.' Grace paused. 'Well, I'll let you go
then. There must be loads
of clearing up, but please do
leave it for
me. It's the least I can do having left you with
all that to cope with
on your own.'

‘No, it's fine. I'd rather do it. You know me.
And if it hadn't been for Demi coming with me that time, she would never have
met Rick.'

‘
Ellie! I've
wasted enough time beating myself up about
it all, don't you start! Now, goodnight, and take care.
Sleep in
my bed, where the phone is.'

‘Oh, I'll be fine! See you tomorrow. And love
to Demi when she's conscious.'

‘
Was that
Grace saying she wouldn't be home tonight?’

said Ran.

‘
Yes. Shall
we go and put out the candles in the drawing
room?'

‘
Will you be all right?' He
followed her down the
corridor
which now seemed very dark.

‘
Of course. I'm a grown-up. And Grace lived here on
her own for ages.'

‘
It's different. It's her house.’

Ellie didn't reply as they crossed the shadowy
hall to
the drawing room, where at least
there was light and
signs of life.
The candles still flickered and, although the
table was full of dirty
glasses and plates, it still had an
air of
festivity — the air of a party, over now, but with the
ghost of it still present. 'The room does look
lovely,
doesn't it?' said Ellie. 'Like a painting.'

‘You know the French refer to still life as
nature morte.
That
sort of applies, doesn't it? There has been life; now it's gone, but its spirit
remains.'

‘
You've got
very philosophical all of a sudden,' said
Ellie, blowing out candles,
understanding and agreeing with him completely.

‘Would you like to come back with me and stay the
night?'

‘What?' Ellie knew she'd heard him perfectly,
but she wanted confirmation.

‘
As my
guest, rather than leave you here on your own.
I have a spare room with
a futon in it.’

Ellie would have liked time to think, time to
make a plan, to work out what would be for the best. But Ran was looking at
her, waiting for an answer. 'I don't know. I mean, I'm sure I'll be fine.'

‘
I know
you're a very capable young woman, but I
think you might be a bit
lonely, spending the night here on your own.'

‘Well, I'm glad you think I'm capable. I
thought you thought I was a child hardly out of school.'

‘I promise you, I've never thought that — at
least, not after the first five minutes. So are you coming?’

She wrinkled
her nose, wishing he'd elaborated a bit on the capable young woman he didn't
see as a child. 'I
don't suppose you'd like
to spend the night here instead?’

‘
No. Apart from anything else, I don't want those panels
spending the night in my car.'

‘
Because they might get lonely, too?' She put her
head
on one side, trying rather
half-heartedly to flirt.
'No,' he said firmly.

‘We could
bring them back in.'

‘
And risk more damage to them? They're very fragile, they
should be handled as little as possible.’

Ellie wanted very much to tell Ran that she was
not remotely fragile and that handling wouldn't do her any
harm at all, but didn't dare. 'If they're so
delicate, should
you have hacked them about like that?'

‘I didn't hack them. I removed them as
carefully as possible.'

‘If you say so.' She looked up at him
challengingly,
enjoying this moment of
banter. It was time out from her
having to make a decision about whether
or not to stay with him.

‘Ellie! I know you must be tired and it's way
past your bedtime, but now you're getting silly.'

‘
Sorry. I
know it's quite hard for older people to stay
up past six o'clock,' she
teased.

He narrowed his eyes at her. It made him
impossibly sexy 'Go and get your things and come and spend the night with me —
on the futon in the spare room,' he growled, in case she hadn't got the message.

‘
I'll have to take my car. I need to be back
really early
m the morning.' Ellie felt
short of breath and dithery.
'I'll drive you back. I'll want to be up
early too.’

‘What will
Grace think if she comes back and I'm not
here?'

‘
It's
unlikely, but you could leave her a note. Now I
wish you'd stop making
difficulties about doing something you know you're going to do!'

‘OK. I'll go and get my stuff.'

‘And change out of that dress. It's very
distracting.' Ellie smiled broadly. 'Is it? Oh good.’

Holding that tiny spark
of hope to her, Ellie ran upstairs
to get some
clothes together. She changed out of the dress
and hung
it on a hanger, sad to think she probably wouldn't have a chance to wear it
again before she had
the baby. It was
already a little tight. And her jeans fitted
a little too snugly, too.

‘Hell!' she said to herself in the mirror as
she flung
make-up into a bag. 'If he only
fancies me a tiny bit
now, what will he think of me when I'm the size of
a whale?’

On the way downstairs,
with her bag over her arm, she
wondered if she was attracted to Ran
because she was subconsciously looking for a father for her child.

When she saw him waiting
for her in the hall, she knew there was nothing subconscious about it. She just
fancied
the pants off him.

‘
I still feel
guilty abandoning the house,' said Ellie. 'Not
to mention all the
clearing up. I always clear up.'

‘I know Grace wouldn't expect you to do it all
on your own. We locked every door and window that had a lock,'
said Ran, 'and you wrote a note. Why don't you
ring
Grace and tell her, if you're that worried?'

‘She hasn't got a mobile. She rang from the
hospital phone.'

‘Then you've done everything you can. Now get
in the car and go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there.’

Aware that this was a polite way of telling her
to shut up, and that a less polite way would follow if she didn't comply, Ellie
closed her eyes. It would be a good oppor
tunity
to make a plan of campaign. If she couldn't
seduce Ran while she was actually in his house, at night,
she didn't deserve to have him. Unfortunately, her
condition
and her very long day fought her anxiety and her decision to plan for a night
of passion and won. She slept.

*

'Wake up, we're here.'

‘Oh,' said Ellie blearily. 'Did I sleep the
whole way?’