The Summer Without You (47 page)

‘I know.’

Florence shook her head. ‘You are without question the worst liar I’ve ever known.’ She smiled, kissing her on the cheek. ‘But never change, mine heart, never
change.’

Ro sat slumped in her chair, her chin on her hands, earphones on, her eyes immobile on the screen. She wasn’t sure how much of this she could take.

‘So did
not
!’

The sudden sound made her start, automatically pressing ‘pause’ and sitting up like a naughty schoolgirl.

Hump and Melodie stopped at the sight of her.

‘Hey!’ Hump grinned from the doorway. ‘And what’s got you looking so guilty?’

‘I do not look guilty,’ she replied indignantly, watching as the two of them walked into the shaded studio. ‘I have nothing to feel guilty about.’

‘No? Then why are all the blinds down? You’re not hiding a guy in here, are you?’ He grinned devilishly.

‘It was too hot in here. And it makes it easier to see the screens.’

‘You missed class
again
,’ Melodie said pointedly, leaning on the opposite side of Ro’s tall counter as Hump wandered over to his desk and began bashing the keyboard.

‘I know.’ Ro’s shoulders slumped. ‘I’m sorry. Work.’

But that wasn’t strictly true. Things hadn’t quite returned to normal between them since her disastrous attempt to confide her fears about Ted had turned into an attack on Florence
instead. And she had stopped looking to meditation as her way to connect with Matt; it was never Matt she found anymore.

‘She’s stalking some poor family,’ Hump offered from behind his screen.

‘Well, I guess too much work is a nice problem to have,’ Melodie said knowingly, watching Ro as though detecting the tiny dip in temperature between them. She was wearing all white
today – either in homage to the heat or Ghandi – cropped harem trousers teamed with a draped-neck vest and a diamond anklet.

Ro frowned as she looked across at Hump, something occurring to her. He was wearing jersey track pants cut off below the knee and a white wife-beater vest. ‘Hump, don’t tell me you
did yoga too!’

Hump shrugged. ‘Yeah. Why not?’

‘Uh . . . because you said it was for pussy-whipped men who couldn’t throw a ball!’ she laughed, crossing her arms and tipping back in the chair.

‘I knew he’d capitulate,’ Melodie said, standing on one leg effortlessly and relaxing into the tree pose in the way other people dropped into a slouch. ‘He couldn’t
bear that I can do more press-ups than him.’

‘Yeah, but on an arm wrestle . . .’ Hump replied, flexing his biceps.

‘Hump, do I look like the kind of woman who
arm-wrestles
?’

Ro listened to her two friends’ banter, feeling slightly like the dumped friend (even if she was the one ducking out). She had grown in lots of ways since living here – she could now
order a flagel without laughing, she thought nothing of pouring almond milk in her tea, and it felt almost normal to wear her swimsuit as underwear, but she still couldn’t move from stranger
to bosom buddy in less than twenty stages.

Melodie turned back to Ro, her gaze steady and enquiring, as though trying to draw the truth from Ro without words, and Ro found she couldn’t quite meet her eyes. The intensity of their
friendship had passed; Ro had changed. She wasn’t the depressed, slightly lost girl anymore that Melodie had found on the steps that summer morning, and Matt wasn’t the only one
struggling to adapt. Ro didn’t need Melodie in the way that she once had, and she was almost beginning to resent Melodie’s assumed authority over her – as though she knew Ro
better than Ro knew herself, and always knew best.

‘So what are you up to for the rest of the day?’ Ro asked lightly.

Melodie checked her watch quickly and groaned. ‘I’ve got my hairstylist coming over in an hour. Another night, another dinner.’

Hairstylist? Ro felt a stab of disappointment at the revelation. Crazy hair that came with its own ASBO was her and Melodie’s link; it was what they had bonded over. That Melodie actually
had her hair professionally styled seemed like . . . cheating, somehow.

‘How about you?’

‘Nothing so glamorous. Are we doing anything, Hump?’

‘It’s Mighty Meat Feast specials night at Pedro’s Pizzas tonight,’ he said, punching the air with both hands.

‘I guess we’re slobbing out doing that, then,’ Ro sighed happily.

‘I would do anything for a night in like that,’ Melodie replied, making Ro frown – she knew full well that nothing that wasn’t macrobiotic went near Melodie’s
mouth.

‘Well, you could if you weren’t so busy being one half of a power couple,’ Hump teased, from across the room. ‘But I guess someone’s got to rule the
world.’

Melodie looked unimpressed. ‘My husband’s job doesn’t define
me
, Hump.’

‘No? You always look pretty happy to be found at every A-list party, chairing every fancy-pants charity—’

‘I hear you’ve got another big night tomorrow night,’ Ro butted in, a sympathetic look on her face as she clocked Melodie’s affronted expression. Sometimes Hump took his
teasing just too far. ‘The . . . Artwalk, is it?’

‘Oh yes!’ Melodie replied brightly. ‘Can you make it? I’d love you to be there.’

‘Thanks, I will be. Florence has already invited me.’

‘Oh, that’s such a shame. I thought we could go for dinner after.’

‘Sorry.’ Ro bit her lip. ‘Isn’t Brook going?’

‘Yes, but he gets our driver to actually drive him between the galleries.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Missing the point completely. Art
walk
, darling?’

‘Oh dear,’ Ro sympathized.

‘Take my advice – never marry an older man,’ Melodie stage-whispered wickedly, before straightening up and tapping the counter with her hand. ‘Right, well, I’d
better get going. Zen counts for nothing when your hair won’t behave, am I right?’ She blew a kiss to Ro, pointedly ignoring Hump as she walked across the room and out of the
studio.

A moment later, she popped her head back in again. ‘I forgot to ask – how’s Bobbi doing?’

‘Bobbi?’ Ro echoed. ‘She’s good. Getting through it.’

‘Send her my love, OK? Tell her to try to get down for some more classes. I could really help her with her grief, get her to find the light in this time of darkness.’

Ro nodded, not quite sure what to say to that, already quite sure of Bobbi’s retort if she told her to ‘find the light’. She listened to the sound of Melodie’s bare feet
padding back to the studio next door.

‘You should apologize to her, Hump. She gets really sensitive about that stuff.’

‘What stuff?’

‘She hates being seen as just some socialite.’

‘But she is! Every time I open
Dan’s Papers
, there she is, arm in arm with Brook and some benefactor billionaire.’

‘Just because she’s rich doesn’t mean that’s all there is to her. She takes her spiritual life very seriously.’

‘Yeah, don’t I know it,’ Hump grumbled.

Ro frowned. ‘You’re down in the dumps all of a sudden.’

Hump tutted but didn’t say anything more.

‘Well . . . I can’t believe you did yoga,’ Ro muttered after a few minutes’ silence.

‘I thought it wouldn’t hurt to work on the mind as well as the body for a bit,’ he mumbled. ‘Just while all this crazy shit’s going on.’

Ro looked up at him from her stool, but he was engrossed in reading an invoice on his desk. It was easy to forget that he bruised too. He seemed so indestructible with his puppyish grin and
loping run, his boundless energy and good humour. But events had taken a toll on him too, and he was still playing doctor, putting one after another of his housemates back together again. Ro
realized she hadn’t seen a single woman emerging from his room for weeks now.

‘Well, I wish you’d told me, that’s all. I’d have loved to see you doing the monkey pose,’ she drawled, trying to make him smile at least. ‘I’d have
paid good money for that.’

‘Is that the one with the splits?’

‘With your arms overhead, yeah.’ She chuckled at the thought. Flexible he wasn’t.

‘Well, you can, next time you go along,’ he shrugged, unusually flat.

‘You mean you’re going to go again?’ Her eyes popped wide with surprise.

‘Maybe,’ he said after a moment. ‘It was fun.’

‘Fun,’ Ro repeated, frowning and wondering whether he’d caught too much sun driving the Humper today.

‘So how is Bobbi getting on really? You heard from her today?’ he asked, changing the subject.

‘No, not yet. I called on her mobile, but it went to voicemail. She said yesterday she had a stack of meetings to get through. I’m worried about her, Hump. I think she’s doing
too much, trying to prove a point. Now it’s all out in the open about her and Kevin, I think she thinks her position is precarious.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, let’s face it, it doesn’t look good for the firm to have an associate who was having an affair with a murdered client.’

‘Right.’ Hump shook his head in silent dismay. He looked about twelve.

‘How about Greg? How’s he doing?’ she asked.

‘Same.’ He pulled a face. ‘Working harder than ever too – who knew it was even possible, right? Says he probably won’t get down this weekend.’ He tutted.
‘Honestly, him and Erin, Bobbi and Kevin – life just got tangled in such a twisted mess that weekend. I don’t think Greg wants it in his face.’

‘You can understand that,’ Ro said sadly, wondering if she actually would ever see Greg again. She wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed in the city for the rest of the summer
now. He’d only ever come out to see Erin anyway. ‘It’s such a shame. He looked so happy that night – you know, before.’

‘Yeah . . .’ Hump kicked back in his chair, newly focused, his eyes falling to the screen behind her. ‘It was a night full of surprises, that was for sure.’

Ro looked across at him. Something in his tone . . . ‘What?’

‘Well, when I came back to get you at the Southampton fundraiser, I was sure I’d walked in on something between you and Long Story too. The two of you looked guilty as
hell.’

‘Don’t be daft,’ Ro said quickly. ‘And for the last time, stop calling him that.’

‘He couldn’t take his eyes off you when we were standing on the lawn. I thought I was going to have to challenge him to a duel or something, to uphold your honour.’

Ro swallowed back the words. If only he knew what was really going on, the thoughts that were really going round in her head about him. ‘He’s a client, Hump. A
married/divorced/whatever father-of-two with a girlfriend. Hardly my type! And you
know
I’d never cheat on Matt.’