Downsizing (28 page)

“
I don’t believe he’s gay,” she
said.

Rob flopped down on the grass next to her
seat. “My gaydar never lets me down. Besides, there was a time when
you believed every word I said.”

Cassie blushed, recalling the torrid affair
they’d had during and after that infamous holiday. “Yes, well, we
were younger then.”

“
Yeah, and I neglected Maxine.
I’ll have to make it up to her.”

“
You’ll have to join the queue.
She seems to have turned into a right little slag.”

“
Takes one to know one, darling,”
Rob said, sounding amused.

“
Yes well, you haven’t got much
time to make an impression upon her. She’s only staying in
Colebrook for a couple of weeks.”

“
No she isn’t.” Rob furrowed his
brow. “Surely you know?”

A feeling of dread spread through her body.
“Know what?” she asked slowly.

“
I thought you’d have been the
first person Graham would have told. He’s invited the lovely Maxine
to buy into his partnership, and I gather she’s come back to
consider it. Might see if she wants to represent me,” he said
musingly. “That’ll give me an excuse to wine and dine
her.”

“
No!”

Cassie felt the color drain from her face.
This was one betrayal too far. Graham was supposed to be
unquestionably loyal to her. She’d even gone to bed with him
because she felt she owed him a reward after his years of devotion.
But it was clear now that he’d used her, just like everyone else
took advantage of her trusting nature. Cassie trembled with rage,
her hands shaking from more than just the effects of the vodka. The
whole world was against her, and there was no one left for her to
turn to. No one who cared if she lived or died.

The game in the swimming pool came to an end,
and Billy launched himself into Maxine’s arms, giggling as she
swung him round and tickled his tummy. Noah watched them, looking
as though he’d like to change places with his son.

“
I’m sorry, Cass,” Rob said
gently. “I really did assume you knew. It’s supposed to be a
secret, but I imagined your father or Graham would have said
something to you.”

“
My father?” she asked, her voice
distant and hollow. “He’s in on this too?”

“
I gather he was the one who
suggested Maxine to Graham.” He extracted the glass from between
her shaking fingers. “I’ll get you a refill, shall I? You look like
you could use it.”

* * * *

Afternoon turned into early evening, and many
of the children and their parents went home. What Noah had come to
regard as the family’s inner circle remained, and the event would
now become a party for the adults. Rachel, having settled the
remaining children into a makeshift nursery in one of the spare
bedrooms, drifted out of the house, hand-in-hand with Joey. Noah
smiled. Their devotion to one another hadn’t wavered one iota over
the years, and he envied them their contentment.

Noah lurked in the shadowy depths of the patio
and watched the party develop, too preoccupied with his thoughts to
play any part in it. His eyes instinctively sought out Maxine,
still barely able to believe that she was back in Colebrook. God,
but he wanted her so much it was like a physical pain! She was deep
in conversation with Greg, laughing at something he’d just said to
her. His insides twisted into a viscous knot of jealousy. The woman
he loved was now sleeping with someone else, and had probably
barely spared him a thought once she found herself among her
intellectual equals at Cambridge.
Get a grip, Noah,
he told
himself with a mirthless laugh,
what the hell else did you
expect?

Did Noah want her to stay in Colebrook and go
into partnership with Graham? He didn’t even have to think about
that one because the answer was an unequivocal
yes
. He no
longer had any claims on her, and would just have to get used to
the fact that Greg was her significant other. It was better than
the alternative, because he didn’t think he’d survive if she walked
out on him a second time.

Somehow he must find a way to convince her to
stay. At least with Greg in the picture he wouldn’t have to endure
seeing her with a stream of different men. They would be friends
again, and he’d try not to let his fierce desire for her get in the
way of that. He reminded himself that he’d never risk upsetting his
relationship with his children by playing away, not even for
Maxine, so what did it matter? But right now that thought brought
him scant comfort, because just looking at her was slowly driving
him out of his mind.

“
You look ready to commit murder.”
Charles’s voice at his shoulder gave him a start.

“
Just thinking, that’s
all.”

“
I wonder what about.” Charles
chuckled as his eyes followed the direction of Noah’s
gaze.

“
What good did you think it would
do when you suggested she return to Colebrook?”

“
Actually, I was thinking more of
her good than anything else.”

“
Were you?” Noah eyes his
father-in-law impassively. “Sometimes I wonder about
that.”

Lorraine interrupted them by placing her hand
on Charles’s arm, insisting that he dance with her. Noah watched
them walk away, comfortable in their familiarity. Maxine and Greg
were swaying on the spot in one another’s arms while Rob appeared
to be holding Cassie up rather than actually dancing with
her.

The slow music was replaced by a sixties
rock-and-roll number, but when the music slowed again Noah
interrupted Greg’s conversation with Maxine and wordlessly offered
her his hand. She hesitated, and it seemed like an eternity before
she placed hers in his and moved into step with him. Noah closed
his eyes and breathed in the scent of her, ignoring the interested
expressions he observed on the faces of the people watching
them.

“
Do you remember the last time you
danced with me, Max?”

“
Of course. At Joey’s party.
Cassie was furious because you didn’t ask her.” She glanced in his
wife’s direction. “She doesn’t look too pleased now, come to
that.”

“
She’ll get over it.” Noah pulled
her a little closer. “Have you decided what you’re going to do
about Graham’s offer?”

“
Yes, Noah, I’m going to
decline.”

He was unaware that the music had stopped.
They were no longer dancing, but he still held her in his arms as
he placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted it until she was
forced to look into his face. “Why won’t you stay, Max?” he asked
plaintively.

She met his gaze and held it. “I think you
know the answer to that one.”

He let out a long breath. “We could make it
work, I know we could. We’re adults now and things are
different.”

“
Are they?”

“
Max!” Greg approached them,
clutching Maxine’s cell phone. “Sorry to interrupt but your phone
was ringing in your bag. It’s your brother, and he says it’s
urgent.”

Maxine took the phone and stepped away from
the two men. “What is it, Derek?” Noah watched and even in the
twilight could see the color drain from her face. “When?” she
asked. “Where is she now?” She listened some more. “All right, ring
me when you know more.”

She broke the connection. Both Noah and Greg
stared at her with concerned expressions.

“
My mother’s had a stroke,” she
said, and promptly burst into tears.

Chapter
Nineteen

Maxine’s news put a damper on the party
atmosphere, and people started to leave. Half an hour after taking
the call from her brother, Maxine sat at Charles’s kitchen table,
flanked by Noah and Greg, with Charles directly opposite in case he
was required in his professional capacity.

Madeleine went to check on the children.
Cassie had trouble standing upright, and Noah curtly told her to go
to bed.

“
Here, drink this.” Noah held a
glass of brandy to Maxine’s lips. “It will help with the
shock.”

Maxine took too large a gulp and choked on
it.

“
Tell us exactly what happened,”
Charles said when she recovered.

“
The details are a bit sketchy,
but it seems she was in the depths of the rainforests in Ecuador,
helping with a project that had something to do with
reforestation.”

“
It’s remarkably hot and humid in
that part of the world at this time of the year,” Greg said, “so
her getting unwell is not that surprising.”

“
Yes, it’s not a climate she’d
find comfortable. Derek warned her of the risks, but she still
insisted on going. Anyway, she complained about numbness to her
limbs and blurred vision a few days ago, but just put it down to
the heat. When things didn’t improve, her team leader insisted upon
her having a medical check-up and it seems that she’d had an…er,
transient something or other.”

“
Transient Ischemic Attack,”
Charles said in a reassuring tone. “That’s basically good news,
Maxine. Did your brother say if her symptoms disappeared within
twenty-four hours?”

“
Yes they did, and she’s furious
about being sent home. She claims there’s nothing wrong with
her.”

“
That’s not unusual either.
Basically she’s had a mini-stroke, a sort of early warning if you
like, but the doctor is right to get her out of that
climate.”

“
What would have caused
it?”

“
A combination of things, I
expect,” Charles said. “Her age and weight are against her, and I
wouldn’t rule out a furring of her arteries through a build-up of
cholesterol either. She’ll have to go on a strict diet and exercise
regime. No more gadding about in remote foreign places.”

“
Please tell me I don’t have to
break that news to her,” Maxine said with an agonized groan.
“She’ll never listen to me.”

“
The doctors will do that, but it
won’t be easy for such a strong-minded woman to make the
adjustment, and she’ll need supervising. What do you and your
brother plan to do about her?”

“
What do
I
mean to do about
her, is more to the point,” Maxine answered with a heavy sigh. “Her
flight lands tomorrow, and they’re taking her straight to hospital
in London for tests. Derek is going up to meet her, but after that
I just don’t know. I can’t imagine she’ll want to give up her
bungalow here.”

Maxine lifted her face, still stained with
tears, and looked directly into Noah’s eyes. “It seems as though
I’ll have to stay here after all,” she said.

* * * *

One month later, Maxine sat behind the desk in
her freshly decorated and newly-furnished office. She was now a
fully established partner in Spiller and Son, Solicitors and
Purveyors of Oaths. Given
carte blanche
to organize her work
environment to her own taste, she’d turned out all Spiller senior’s
dark wood and ripped away years’ worth of depressing wallpaper. She
introduced blond wood furniture and arranged for the walls to be
pained in soft, earthy colors that brought warmth and light to the
once gloomy corner suite. Her framed law degree and one of Greg’s
father’s watercolors were the only adornments on the
walls.

In the weeks that she’d been in business, the
flock of clients beating a path to her door had exceeded her
wildest expectations. Already she brought in almost as much
business as her partner. Noah, true to his word, had transferred
all of his legal affairs to her, much to Graham’s delight. The
computer man from the party had also come up with the goods, and
she’d taken on Rob Simmonds as a client as well, against Noah’s
advice. The acquisition of three heavy hitters more than justified
her employing not just a secretary but a paralegal, too.

Compared to life in the city, the work was far
from challenging, but Maxine enjoyed the variety, especially since
she was now her own boss and didn’t need to constantly watch her
back. One minute she’d be looking for flaws in a contract worth
millions, the next she’d be advising an old lady whom she’d known
since her childhood about redrafting her will. She approached each
assignment with an equal degree of diligence.

While her business life was shaping up nicely,
the same couldn’t be said for things at home, where Maxine was
becoming daily more infuriated by her mother’s attitude. How could
she ever have imagined that something as mundane as a mere stroke
would slow the woman down? She refused to accept that she’d had
anything more debilitating that a severe case of heat exhaustion,
and couldn’t be trusted to stick to her diet when Maxine was at
work. She maintained that she knew her own body better than anyone,
and fully intended to return to her work overseas as soon as the
doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

Maxine remained in Colebrook purely out of a
sense of duty, but all she received by way of gratitude were daily
castigations for sacrificing her career. It soon became obvious
that the two women couldn’t continue living under the same roof,
but her mother needed permanent supervision, so how could Maxine
possibly leave her? She poured it all out to Noah during their
weekly lunch together, ostensibly arranged to discuss the latest
developments in Noah’s legal affairs.