‘Kate has a crush on you,’ Rachel said, matter-of-factly. ‘Always has had.’
‘Oh, I don’t think?—’
‘Don’t be so modest, Will.’ Grace was cheering up now. ‘Of course she does. What young girl wouldn’t?’
‘We thought you could lure her away from the Tree-hugger,’ Rachel said.
‘Yes,’ Grace continued, more breezily now, ‘we thought you might – you know – encourage her a bit.’
Will was aghast. ‘You mean…’ He didn’t quite know how to say what he thought she meant.
‘Flirt with her a bit, show an interest,’ Grace said cosily.
‘You want me toseduceKate?’ Will asked bluntly, hoping he would shame them into backing off. No such luck.
‘Oh, don’t make it sound soTess of the d’Urbervilles,’ Grace said. ‘You don’t have to go that far.’
‘We don’t expect you to make the ultimate sacrifice,’ Rachel added sarcastically.
‘It’s just that we feel the best way – the only way – to get Kate away from the Tree-hugger is to get her thinking about someone else,’ Grace went on. ‘If she thought you were interested in her, she’d drop him like a hot potato.’
‘Yes, but I’mnotinterested in her,’ Will said. ‘Well, you know, not inthatway.’
‘Of course you’re not. We know that,’ Rachel said, earning herself a hard look from Will. He’d never had much time for Rachel, whom he considered vain, spoilt and self-centred. He thought Kate was worth ten of her.
‘What about Tina?’ he said, clutching at straws. ‘How do you think she’ll feel if I start hitting on Kate?’
Grace restrained herself from telling Will that she didn’t care how Tina would feel – in fact, she hoped it would put the spoilt, sulky little madam’s nose very firmly out of joint. Anyway, if Tina got the hump about Kate and broke up with Will, it would be killing two birds with one stone. Tina was nowhere near good enough for Will, and she spent too much time away from him, constantly jet-setting around the world in pursuit of her career. Will needed more stability in his life, she thought, and a damn sight more affection and good humour than could be found in that bag of bones.
Still, now wasn’t the time to be telling him what she thought about his girlfriend. ‘It doesn’t have to be anything too blatant,’ she assured him, ‘just flirting and subtle hints that she can think she’s misinterpreted.’
‘But isn’t this a bit…’ Will bit his lip.
‘I know what you’re thinking, Will,’ Grace reassured him, ‘butsometimes we have to be cruel to be kind. We’re just thinking of Kate’s long-term happiness. Believe me, if we thought there was any other way, we wouldn’t ask you this.’
‘But I hardly even see Kate any more,’ Will protested.
‘Well, we can soon fix that,’ Grace said, ‘starting with next weekend. We want you to come to Cork with the family. We’ll gang up on the Tree-hugger and you can go to work on Kate.’
‘Well, of course I’ll come, but it sounds like a long-term project and I’ll be away for most of the summer. I’m taking the band to Tuscany to work on the next album.’
‘I know – perfect!’ Grace trilled.
‘How is that perfect?’ Will asked warily.
‘We want you to take Kate with you,’ Grace announced triumphantly.
‘I’m not the Foreign Legion, Grace.’
‘We don’t need the Foreign Legion. Kate isn’t suffering from a broken heart.’
‘Not yet,’ Will said, lip curling. ‘I gather that’s where I come in. Anyway, it’s a working holiday, not a house party,’ he said. ‘I want to get the band isolated in a villa in the middle of nowhere where they can get some work done. I really can’t have any hangers-on. Besides, Kate isn’t likely to hare off to Tuscany with me out of the blue when she’s just got engaged.’
‘I’m not suggesting you take Kate as a guest. You could bring her as your cook. You will need one, won’t you?’
‘Well… yes.’
‘And Kate is a fantastic cook, as you know.’
