Least Said (55 page)

I
couldn’t
do
it,
of
course,
not
yet,
because
I
had
already
caught
the
note
of
excitement
in
her
voice
just
from
her
brief,
‘Hi,
Wendy.’

I
managed
a
laugh,
bright
and
happy,
but
I
had
to
dig
deep
for
it,
before
I
encouraged,
‘come
on
then,
Tina,
this
isn’t
just
a
social
call,
is
it?
You
have
some
news
to
share.’

‘That,’
she
said,
‘is
amazing
.
How
on
earth
could
you
tell
that
from
a
simple
greeting?
I
know,’
she
went
on,
‘it
comes
of
being
friends
for
so
long.
I’ve
been
bursting
all
day
to
tell
you
this,
but
haven’t
had
a
minute
to
draw
breath,
never
mind
pick
up
the
phone.’

‘So,’
I
injected
just
the
right
amount
of
enthusiasm
into
my
voice,
‘tell
all.
You
know
you
can’t
wait
a
moment
longer.’

‘Leanne
is
engaged
,’
she
squealed
and
I
immediately
matched
her,
squeal
for
squeal,
because
I
knew
her
well
enough
to
know
she
must
be
delighted
because
any
disapproval
of
her
daughter’s
choice
of
future
partner
couldn’t
and
wouldn’t
have
been
hidden
from
me.

‘Either
you’ve
kept
this
very
quiet,’
I
said,
‘or
Leanne
has.
I
haven’t
heard
even
a
whisper
about
it.’

‘Neither
had
we.
Well,
of
course,’
Tina
corrected
herself,
‘we
knew
she
was
seeing
someone
and
we
had
even
met
the
guy
once
or
twice,
but
we
hadn’t
realised
it
was
that
serious.
They
turned
up
at
the
house
late
last
night
with
a
sparkler
on
her
finger
and
a
bottle
of
champagne
in
his
hand.’

‘Oh,
my
God,’
I
breathed,
imagining
the
moment.
‘What
a
shock.
What
did
Calum
say?
Is
he
pleased?
I
can
tell
you
are.’

Well,
Calum
read
to
him
from
the
father’s
charter
about
taking
care
of
his
daughter
–
or
else
–
but
he
knows
the
guy
very
well.
He’s
an
author
with
the
agency.
You’ll
have
heard
of
Jerome
Greening.’

It
was
a
statement
and
not
a
question,
because
who
would
not
have
heard
of
this
young
author’s
spectacular
rise
to
fame.
The
fact
that
he
came
across
as
a
genuinely
nice
person
in
his
interviews
hadn’t
hindered
his
popularity
with
the
reading
public
in
the
slightest
and
he
was
currently
the
darling
of
the
media.
I
could
see
the
announcement
of
the
engagement
making
the
pages
of
Hello
magazine
for
sure.

A
few
hearts
would
be
broken
when
news
of
his
engagement
leaked
out
to
the
media,
and
I
said
so
to
Tina.
‘Are
you
hiding
from
the
press
again?’
I
asked,
reminding
her
of
a
time
years
before
when
news
of
her
relationship
with
Calum
became
known.

She
laughed.
‘No,
but
it’s
not
common
knowledge
yet.
We’re
leaving
it
to
the
happy
couple
to
decide
exactly
where
and
when
they
put
out
a
press
release.
They’ve
been
very
discreet,
to
the
point
that
even
we
didn’t
have
a
clue.’

‘Well,
my
lips
are
sealed,’
I
assured
her,
‘and
I’m
absolutely
thrilled
because
I
know
that
you
both
are.’

We
chatted
some
more,
about
whether
there
would
be
a
party
of
some
sort
to
celebrate
the
happy
occasion,
about
when
the
wedding
might
be
and
where
it
might
be
held.

I
had
welcomed
the
distraction
of
some
good
news,
but
it
was
when
Tina
brought
the
subject
back
to
me
and
my
life
that
I
came
back
to
earth
painfully
with
an
enormous
bump.

‘Come
on,’
she
said,
when
I
insisted
that
everything
was
fine.
‘I
know
you
better
than
that.
What’s
the
matter?’

It
all
came
out
in
fits
and
starts.
How
those
sightings
that
we
had
put
down
to
coincidence
had
been
anything
but,
because
the
Adonis
was
right
here
in
town
with
his
wife
and
family,
and
not
just
in
the
town,
but
he
was
in
the
school
taking
up
a
position
teaching
sport.

I
could
tell
that
Tina
was
lost
for
words,
because
she
gasped
and
then
the
line
hummed
between
us
for
several
long
moments.

‘I
don’t
know
what
to
do,’
I
whimpered.
‘I
don’t
know
why
he’s
here
or
what
he
wants.
Please
tell
me
this
is
one
big
coincidence,
Tina,
and
that
he
hasn’t
come
to
gain
access
to
his
son.’