A Summer to Remember (22 page)

Justin shook his head. ‘Imagine – Dudley Milton, a novelist!’

‘I know!’ Nina said. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I first saw the novel, but it’s really very good. I hope it is published.’

Justin took a deep breath. ‘Nina,’ he said, ‘I would love to take you out sometime. I really think we should stop meeting on dusty footpaths and have a sit down somewhere with chairs, don’t you?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ she said with a smile, ‘I rather like dusty old footpaths.’

‘I’d suggest dinner, but I’ve just had a mammoth lunch and I’ve got to head back to London this evening.’

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘For work?’

‘Afraid so.’

Nina didn’t ask what he did and he didn’t volunteer. It didn’t seem to matter on such a sunny Sunday. Who wanted to talk about work when the skylarks were singing and a warm breeze was caressing your face?

‘Well, why don’t you come back to the mill for a cup of tea? There’s some ginger cake left too. We could eat in the garden – there are real chairs there.’

‘Oh, no,’ Justin said quickly. ‘I’d hate to intrude.’

‘You wouldn’t be,’ Nina assured him, taking a quick look at her watch. ‘Everybody’s out and they won’t be back for hours yet. Dominic’s in town at his gallery, Dudley’s at his club and Olivia’s having lunch with Billy and then going on to do some shopping before heading to a music recital.’

He looked a little unsure. ‘Well, I’m not—’

‘Go on! You’ll
love
the mill! It’s got one of those gorgeous country kitchens with a big bright Aga in the middle of it and a slate floor and … ginger cake!’

Justin smiled. ‘Okay, you’ve sold it to me.’

‘Good,’ Nina said, and the two of them stood up and brushed themselves down. The dogs were up in an instant, too, and the four of them walked amiably together towards the mill.

Olivia had told Nina that she could have friends over, but she still felt a little odd inviting this particular new friend to the mill. There was something about Justin that made her feel intensely comfortable though, as if they had known each other for much longer than just a few days. Perhaps it was the connection that they’d made with their dogs. After all, who couldn’t like a man who had a dog? Nina felt that it would be virtually impossible that such a man could harbour any nasty secrets. Still, she couldn’t help wanting to know a little more about him.

‘Where is it you live?’ she asked him as they crossed the bridge.

‘West Carleton,’ he said. ‘I’m staying with friends, but I’d like to get a place of my own out this way. I’ve got a little flat I rent in London, too, for when I’m working there, but I try to get out to Norfolk whenever I can.’

‘You were brought up here?’

He nodded.

‘And you have family here?’

‘All my family’s in Norfolk,’ he said.

They’d reached the blue front door and Nina fished the key out of her pocket.

‘You can let Bess off her lead if you like. I’ll just make us some tea and we can have it out in the garden.’

Nina trotted off to the kitchen with Ziggy by her side. She gave him a dog chew and he settled happily in his basket as Nina made the tea and cut two generous slices of ginger cake, which she placed on pretty china plates covered in bright yellow sunflowers.

‘Nearly ready,’ she called down the hallway and, when there was no answer, she went in search of Justin. He wasn’t in the living room so she tried the dining room and was just entering as he was closing one of the drawers of a mahogany sideboard.

‘Everything all right?’ Nina asked.

‘Yes,’ he said, turning around and looking a little flustered. ‘Just admiring the furniture. Beautiful wood, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose it is,’ Nina said, looking at it properly for the first time. ‘They have some lovely antique pieces.’

He nodded.

‘Ready for tea and cake?’

‘Always,’ he said with a smile and they left the room together, followed by Bess.

The ornate white metal table and chairs in the garden were in partial shade by late afternoon, but it was still pleasantly warm by the rose borders and Justin seemed very taken with it.

‘It’s a beautiful house, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘I always forget how lovely it is.’

Nina looked across the table at him, his blue eyes dreamy as he took in his surroundings.

‘I still can’t believe I’m here,’ Nina said. ‘I keep thinking I’m going to wake up in my horrible little flat and have to go to work at that horrible little office. This all feels like a dream.’

‘And you’re here for how long?’ he asked her.

She sighed. ‘I don’t like to remember, but it was agreed that I’d stay just for the length of the summer.’

‘Then let’s hope that this one is a particularly long summer,’ he said and they smiled at one another.

‘Yes,’ Nina said. ‘I really do hope it is.’

‘They’re very lucky to have you – the Miltons,’ he said.

‘No, I’m the lucky one.’

He shook his head. ‘They’re not the easiest family to get along with. I mean, that’s what I’ve heard.’

‘What exactly have you heard?’ Nina said, frowning in curiosity.

‘Oh, just that Dudley has a bit of a temper and Olivia can be – what’s the right word – scatty!’

‘She’s a total sweetheart,’ Nina said, ‘and Dudley’s an angel once you’ve got him sorted out. And as long as you know what he needs before he knows himself!’

Justin grinned. ‘And how about Alex and Dominic?’

Nina took a sip of her tea before answering with a half lie. ‘I don’t see them too often. Dominic’s busy with his paintings and Alex comes and goes.’

‘But they must have tried to—’ he paused.

‘What?’ Nina asked.

Justin shook his head. ‘I mean, a pretty girl like you turning up – it must have ruffled some feathers.’

‘I don’t know what you mean!’ Nina said with a blush.

‘I think you know exactly what I mean,’ Justin said, his eyes glinting in a knowing sort of way. ‘They always were competitive, those two. I hope they’re not making your life difficult.’

‘Not at all,’ Nina said, casting her eyes down to the ground and hoping that Justin wouldn’t notice her fast-rising colouring.

‘Listen,’ he said, looking at his watch again. ‘I’d really better be making a move.’

‘Already?’ she said and then she bit her lip as she realised how very ardent she sounded. ‘I mean, it’s early.’

It was then that they heard a car horn in the lane.

‘Oh, it’s Dudley!’ Nina said. ‘He’s back much earlier than I expected.’

Suddenly, Justin was on his feet and Bess was up and alert. ‘Blimey,’ he said. ‘I’ve really got to fly.’

‘Oh, don’t worry!’ Nina said with a reassuring smile. ‘Stop and say hello. I’m sure he’d love to see you.’

But Justin had virtually sprinted to the little gate in the wall of the garden that led out into the lane.

‘No, no,’ he called back. ‘I’d hate to intrude.’

‘You’re not intru—’

‘I’ll give you a call,’ he cried and Nina watched, perplexed, as he hurried over the bridge with Bess.

‘Extraordinary!’ she said to herself, cursing herself for feeling disappointed when he didn’t turn back to wave at her. She couldn’t help wondering if she’d ever see him again.

Chapter Twenty

It turned out that Dudley
had
been working on Sunday – getting up very early in the morning before he went out to his club – because he’d left a whole pile of notes, ready to be typed up on Monday. So without further ado, Nina made a start.

She was always surprised at how quickly time flew when she was typing. Even the laborious task of reading Dudley’s scrawl didn’t stop the clock racing, and it was with some surprise that the doorbell disturbed her trance at eleven o’clock. She hit the print icon and the ink-jet kickstarted into life.

She was glad of the distraction of work because her mind was still reeling over the events of Sunday afternoon when Justin had made his comedy sketch departure from the mill. Sitting at her desk now, she found it hard to believe that she’d felt she’d had a connection with this man. One minute, they’d been happily drinking tea and chatting like old friends and then, the next minute, he’d been hightailing it out of the garden with a very sorry explanation.

Nina shook her head feeling a mixture of bemusement and rejection. Was she never destined to meet a nice
normal
man? She was going to have to try and put him out of her mind, she decided. It was the only way.

The sound of the doorbell brought her back to the present and she paused a moment, waiting to see if anybody was going to answer it. She got up from her chair and peered out at the driveway. There was a cherry bright Metro in the driveway that she didn’t recognise.

The bell went again and Nina left the study to answer it.

To say that the sight that greeted her was shocking was an understatement, for there on the doorstep of the mill was a Joan Collins lookalike, sporting dark sunglasses, a pale headscarf, a white knee-length coat, and smoking a very long cigarette.

‘Hello,’ Nina said hesitantly, her eyes taking in the extraordinary person who must surely have taken the wrong flight out of LA. ‘Can I help you?’

‘Ah!’ she said, stubbing out the very long cigarette on the doorstep and pushing past Nina. ‘Dominic,’ she said, without giving any further information.

‘Yes?’ Nina said, pretending that she didn’t understand her abruptness.

The woman surveyed her through the smoky lenses of her glasses. ‘I’m here to see Dominic,’ she said, enunciating each word as though Nina were stupid.

‘Oh, I see,’ Nina said, keeping a smile in check. ‘Is he expecting you?’

This time, the woman removed her glasses. ‘Well, of course he’s expecting me! What else would I be doing here?’

‘I’ll show you upstairs then.’ Nina led the way upstairs, the words
stuck-up cow
teetering dangerously on the tip of her tongue.

She knocked on Dominic’s door, not quite sure of the reception she’d receive after their last meeting.

‘Come in,’ his voice called from inside and Nina opened the door to see him standing in the middle of the room, a red shirt unbuttoned at the throat and a pair of black jeans on.

The Joan Collins lookalike pushed past Nina in her haste to get into the room. ‘Ah, Dominic! I told this young lady that you were expecting me but she didn’t seem to understand me.’ She looked back at Nina and her perfectly made-up face scowled severely at her.

‘Well, of course I’m expecting you, Mrs Makepeace,’ Dominic said, all politeness and smiles.

Nina registered the name, her eyes widening. So this was Felicity Makepeace. Faye had been right about the killer-mutton dressed as lamb. She’d never seen anyone like her. She didn’t think that ladies really dressed like that after a certain age. It just didn’t seem right. But, if Felicity Makepeace’s flirty-girl shoes and film-star sunglasses had surprised Nina, that was nothing compared to what she was about to reveal.

As Dominic set the easel up, Mrs Makepeace unbuttoned the pale coat to reveal the sort of dress Nina would have thought twice about wearing at night, let alone during the day. It was a low-cut thigh-skimming number in blue silk, which embraced her body like a second skin. Nina was conscious that her mouth had dropped open and quickly snapped it shut before anybody could notice.

She watched, mesmerised, as Mrs Makepeace sat down on a velvet chair that Dominic had brought from downstairs. As she made herself comfortable, the dress crept its way up another couple of inches. Nina looked across at Dominic, who was setting up his paints and brushes, not really paying attention to the display of flesh in front of him.

‘Do you need any help, Dominic?’ Nina asked, not really wishing to spend any more time in the room, but feeling bad about having let Dominic down before.

‘No, I can cope, thanks. But how about seeing you at lunch?’

‘Oh,’ Nina said, surprised. ‘Okay.’

‘One o’clock?’

Nina nodded and gave him a half-smile, hoping that he’d forgiven and forgotten her escapade with Alex.

‘See you later, then,’ he said quietly, returning her smile and making her feel a lot happier.

At a quarter to one, Nina heard the front door open and close. She walked over to the window in time to see Felicity Makepeace climbing into her car, without a thought about the amount of leg on display for all to see.

Nina ambled through to the kitchen and was greeted by Olivia.

‘Are you getting on all right?’ she asked cheerily, a plate of sandwiches in her hands, which she was about to take through to the front room. ‘And what are you typing today? Would it be the scene where Caroline and Ellis are stargazing from the tower?’

Nina looked stunned for a moment. ‘Er – yes.’

Olivia laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t let on. I’m not meant to have any idea what Dudley’s writing about, but he does tend to leave the papers all over the bed and then fall asleep. I just can’t resist having a peek at what he’s been up to.’ She laughed coquettishly. ‘It’s good though, isn’t it?’

Nina looked at her, surprised by her question. ‘Yes. I think so.’

‘Oh, I’ve just remembered,’ Olivia said. ‘Alex is going to pop along to Party Parade. It’s on the outskirts of Norwich. It’s the most
marvellous
place and I’ve got a big list of things for him to get but – well – you know what men are like with these things. If I put “purple balloons” and they don’t have any, he’d be likely to pick up pink ones instead and that just won’t do. Do you think you could go along with him? Supervise things for me?’

Nina chewed her lip. The idea of another trip in close proximity with Alex didn’t really appeal to her at all after the disaster at the beach, but organising the anniversary party was part of her job description so she couldn’t very well say no, could she?

‘Of course,’ she said with a smile. ‘Just let me know when.’

Olivia nodded and they both turned around as Dominic waltzed into the room. ‘Hi, Nina. Hi, Mum.’

‘DOMINIC!’ she yelled, making Nina jump. ‘What’s that on your cheek?’ Olivia’s expression of horror crinkled her whole face.

Dominic searched quickly for a mirror, consternation clouding his face, but Olivia had started to laugh.