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“What about Dad? How’s he doing?”
“He’s doing okay. He seems to have found a passion for gardening.”
“He’s keeping to his promise, then. And hopefully, it’s taking hismind off Charlie. Even I can’t stop thinking about him, and I hadn’t seen him for years.”
“I’m not really sure why it’s affected him so much,” Iris admitted. “I know it must have been a terrible experience, but I thought he’d have been able to put it behind him by now. I don’t mean he should forget Charlie,” she added hastily. “Just not let it affect all areas of his life.”
“He needs another dog,” Beth said.
“I know. I’ve talked to him about it, but he says he doesn’t have the headspace to cope with one now.”
Beth pulled a sympathetic face. “Poor you, having to cope with thatandLaure.” She gathered her long brown hair in her hands and twisted it on top of her head. Holding it there with one hand, she reached for a tortoiseshell clip lying to the side and pinned it into place.
“You’ve had a fringe cut,” Iris said. “It suits you.”
“Thanks.” Beth turned her head so that Iris could see it from all sides. “I felt like a change. Laure did too, apparently. The bob suits her. How’s your work coming along? Have you heard back about the town house?”
“Not yet. I thought I might have by now so it’s not looking very hopeful.”
“You should chase,” Beth said. “Give her a nudge.”
“Maybe I will. Anyway, how are you? And how is Loki? Have you managed to win him around yet?”
“I’m getting there. He doesn’t shrink away when I go near him, like he did before.”
As Beth chattered about her work, Iris couldn’t help noticing how animated she looked, howfulfilled, and a sense of loss hit her at the realization that she had never felt as passionate about anything. She enjoyed her work, but she didn’t glow like Beth when she talked about it.
“I’m glad you’re having such an amazing time,” she said, when Beth stopped to draw breath.
“I am. Me and some of the other girls have met a group around ourown age from Thessaloniki. We hang out with them on our days off and we’re picking up some Greek.”
“Sounds fun.”
Beth glanced to the upper right-hand corner of her screen. “We’re going to meet them soon, so I’d better go. Love you, Mum, speak soon.”
“Love you too.”
Beth cut the call and Iris sat for a moment, thinking about Laure going to see Pierre. And that was when she realized that if Laure was going to see Pierre on Saturday, there wasn’t any point in Gabriel going to see him on Friday.
19
Gabriel peeled off his gloves, moved to the bench and picked up a couple of bottles of water. He needed to make an effort; Joseph had been working alongside him for most of the day and he’d hardly said a word to him.
Joseph’s presence in the garden wasn’t the only thing irritating Gabriel. Now that Laure was going to Paris on Saturday, he had canceled his trip on Friday. He couldn’t help feeling disappointed; he’d been looking forward to seeing Pierre, and to having his conscience salved for not having gone before. It was almost as if Pierre had caught wind of his surprise visit and had decided he’d better talk to Laure before Gabriel pulled the truth out of him. What it actually came down to, Gabriel supposed, was that Laure resigning from her job and telling Pierre she was staying on in England had given him the kick he needed.
And then there was Iris.
“You know you were going to see Pierre on Friday?” she’d said last night. “Well, I’d arranged to meet Jade for lunch near St. Pancras so that I could travel up with you. I thought you might have liked some company. I also thought that if Pierre refused to see you, or hadn’twanted you to stay over, I could have waited in London for you and we could have stayed overnight there and had lunch the next day. Just to get away from Laure for a while,” she’d added in a whisper.
“I could still come up and meet you after your lunch with Jade, and we could still stay overnight,” he’d offered, feeling he had let her down.
“Don’t worry. We’ll have all Saturday to ourselves. Maybe longer, if Laure decides to stay in Paris for the weekend.”
“If it goes well, she might decide not to come back at all,” Gabriel had said, and they’d both crossed their fingers jokingly.
Gabriel carried the bottles to where Joseph was working and held one out. “Water?”
“Thanks.” Joseph put down his spade, took the bottle, flipped the lid and took a long drink. Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, he nodded at the border they’d just cleared. “We’re making good progress.”
