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Ted nodded. ‘It seems that it did. Damn shame. We thought it would be better to deliver it personally under the circumstances.’
Rosa nodded. ‘Silly really. I should have called first.’
‘If you had, he wouldn’t have answered. And we’d have come anyway.’ Ted brushed away the wasted journey as if it was nothing. ‘Jess, would it be inappropriate of us to ask whether you’ll be seeing Greg in the next few days? If not, we can give him a call tomorrow evening and he can come up and collect the book on Sunday.’
She might not be going out with Greg any more but she could still be a friend to him. She knew how much he’d wanted to find the book and she couldn’t bear the thought of him waiting and worrying about what it contained.
‘I can take the book. I’ll give him a call tomorrow morning, and if he’s at home I’ll pop it round in my lunch hour.’
‘We don’t want to put you to any trouble.’ Rosa’s eyes flashed with gratitude.
‘You’re not. I’ll take good care of it. I know how important it is.’
‘That’s kind of you, Jess, thank you.’ Ted took the parcel from his wife and handed it over to Jess.
‘This was his last chance, wasn’t it?’
Rosa nodded. ‘Yes. He didn’t say so, but I think he was hoping that his father might have written some of the things he never said to him.’ She grimaced. ‘He didn’t. I never really thought he would. John was always too involved with his work.’
Like father, like son. Jess hoped not, for Greg’s sake.
‘So… ’ Ted drank the last dregs of his tea. ‘Jess, have you finished for the day?’
‘Pretty much. I just have to check in and make sure there’s nothing else for me and then I’ll be going home.’
‘That’s perfect. I’ll have another cup of this gorgeous hospital tea and we’ll take you for dinner. If you’re free, that is?’
Of course she was free. And she couldn’t deny that she wanted some company tonight. ‘Or we could do a bit of shopping first? The shops are all open late for Christmas.’ She
glanced at Rosa, who brightened visibly. Jess had imagined that shopping would cheer her up a little.
Ted rolled his eyes, chuckling. ‘Thought I was going to get out of that. Okay, we’ll shop and then we’ll eat.’
CHAPTER NINE
JESS HAD CALLED. She’d managed to talk Gerry into giving her a long lunch hour and she’d be here in… Greg looked at his watch… about ten minutes.
He scanned the living room. His cleaning lady had been in yesterday and everything was neat and in its place. His laptop was hidden away in the TV cabinet, and he’d bundled everything that had anything to do with Shaw Industries into plastic crates, stacked them in the store cupboard in the hall and locked the door.
He began to pace the full length of the hallway, looking at his watch as he did so. She had to come. If she didn’t, he’d do what he’d originally planned, go and find her and tell her that things would be different from now on.
The intercom buzzed and he jerked round so quickly that he almost pulled a muscle in his back. He forgot all about waiting for a few seconds, to make out that he hadn’t been waiting in the hallway for her, and punched the button to release the entrance doors downstairs.
A pause and then a quiet knock on the door.
‘Hey.’ Suddenly the last two weeks seemed like nothing. She was here, her face glowing as if it was Christmas Day. This was Christmas Day, as far as Greg was concerned. ‘Come in.’
He remembered to stand back from the doorway and she smiled at him—he’d so missed that smile—and walked past him into the hallway. He’d missed her scent too, to the point that it seemed to haunt him, clinging to pillows and sheets, even though they were fresh on the bed.
‘What have I done to deserve this?’ He wondered if he should kiss her and decided it was taking too much for granted.
‘I have something for you. I have to warn you that it’s probably going to be a disappointment.’ She handed him a flat brown paper parcel.
That was okay, she was here, and that was all that really mattered. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s your father’s book. Rosa found it. She and Ted were at the hospital yesterday but you weren’t around and they came up to Cardiology.’
Greg stared at the package. Suddenly he didn’t want to open it. ‘And they gave it to you?’
