‘Well, a few scoops, yeah,’ Owen confessed.
‘I’ll buy you lunch, then take you home. When we get there I want you to go to bed – alone.’
‘You’ll make someone a lovely mum one day, Will.’
Will felt tired. The sooner he got the band to Tuscany, the better. He needed them out of Dublin, away from their dealers and all the hangers-on. They’d worked bloody hard to get to where they were, but lately they’d allowed themselves to become distracted by the trappings of fame and wealth. Italy would be good for them. They could relax, recharge their batteries and focus on the work.
* **
Rachel had lost no time in calling Lorcan. She had to make sure she got to him before Will did. ‘Lorcan! It’s Rachel.’
‘Hi, Rachel. How’s tricks? How’s married life?’
‘Great. How’s America?’
‘God, don’t ask! My Blanche is the bloody producer’s wife and she’s ancient. I know Blanche was supposed to be going off a bit, but this woman would have to do a lot more than avoid standing under forty-watt bulbs to hide the fact that she’s on the turn.’
Rachel stared into space while Lorcan prattled on, waiting for him to finish. She should have known better than to ask him a simple question about his work. ‘Look,’ she said, breaking in eventually, ‘I’m calling you about Will.’
‘Will?’
‘Yeah. I had this really odd conversation with him the other day. He kept going on about Kate. He was humming and hawing, being very English about it, but basically he kept asking me about her and he seemed pretty upset when I told him she’d got engaged.’
‘Really?’ There was no mistaking the delight in Lorcan’s voice.
‘Yeah. It turns out he really took a shine to her at my wedding and he was planning to ask her out.’
‘Gosh! I’d never have guessed. As far as I could see, he was pretty involved with Tina.’
‘I was surprised too. Anyway, he was pretty shocked when I told him she was spoken for. But I told him that, as far as the family were concerned, he was welcome to lure her away from the Tree-hugger.’
‘Do you think she could be lured?’ Lorcan sounded hopeful.
‘I don’t know, but she always did have a bit of a thing for Will. If anyone can lure her, he can. It’d be pretty great, don’t you think?’
‘Bloody fantastic! It’d be the answer to our prayers.’
God,Rachel thought,Lorcan’s such a prat – can’t he see that Will’s way out of Kate’s league?
In fact, Lorcan had hoped for a long time that Kate and Will would get together. They were his two favourite people in the world, and he’d always thought they’d be perfect for each other.
‘Anyway, I’m calling you because Will’s afraid you wouldn’t approve so he’s holding back. So if he asks, will you give him the green light?’
‘Absolutely!’
* * *
When Will got back to the office after force-feeding Owen a huge lunch and dropping him home, he rang Lorcan. After they’d discussed Lorcan’s problems withStreetcar, he braced himself to ask his friend what he thought about Grace’s scheme. He was pretty sure he knew what the answer would be, but he had to ask before he went back to Grace with a firm refusal.
‘Lorcan, the reason I called…’ he began hesitantly, ‘has Rachel mentioned this Kate business to you at all?’
This Kate business,Lorcan thought, smiling. Will really was coming over all English. He was tempted to make him spell out exactly what he was talking about, but his better nature prevailed and he decided to put his friend out of his misery. ‘Yes, she’s told me about it,’ he said.
‘Well… what do you think?’
‘It’s a fantastic idea!’
‘Really?’ Will sounded surprised – shocked, even – and not at all as pleased as Lorcan had expected.
