Thinking of You (7 page)

By eleven o'clock on Saturday morning the house was all ready and, as if in celebration, the sun had come out. Perry Kennedy would be here soon. Ginny, working on not sounding as if she fancied him, had been practicing her laugh as she tidied around the kitchen, making sure it didn't get too loud or high-pitched. Of course, once Perry had settled in and they became more used to each other, things would hopefully settle down and she'd stop feeling so—

Oh God, that sounded like him now! Flinging the dishcloth into the sink, Ginny wiped her hands on her jeans and fluffed up her hair. The throaty roar of a sports car outside died as the engine was switched off. She went to the front door and opened it.

“Hi there.” Perry was already out of the car and waving at her. Today he was wearing a dark blue sweater, cream jeans, and Timberlands.

“Hi!” Ginny watched as the passenger door opened to reveal a slender woman with a mass of long, red-gold curls and pale, freckled skin. She was staggeringly beautiful and wore a long black coat falling open to reveal a pale gray top and trousers beneath.

“This is Laurel.” Perry ushered the slender woman toward Ginny. “My sister.”

Oh, phew, of course she was. All that incredible red-gold hair—what a relief.

“Hi, Laurel, nice to meet you.” Ginny shook her hand with enthusiasm.

Tonelessly, Laurel said, “Hello.”

“Come on then, let's get this lot upstairs.” Already busy unloading the MG's tiny boot, Perry said, “Laurel, you take these. I'll bring the rest of the bags.”

“Give some to me.” Keen to help, Ginny held out her arms. “I can carry those.”

Perry looked across at Laurel and said, “See what I mean? Didn't I tell you how great she was?”

Ginny flushed with pleasure. She'd done the right thing.

Laurel nodded. “You did.”

Once all the bags and cases had been taken up to the spare room, Ginny left them to it. In the kitchen she boiled the kettle and began making tea. After a couple of minutes, Perry rejoined her.

“Don't bother with tea.”

“No? Would you prefer coffee?”

He shook his head and produced the bottle he'd been concealing behind his back.

“Woo, champagne. On a Saturday morning!” And Veuve Cliquot at that, none of your old rubbish.

“The very best time to drink it. Quick, glasses,” said Perry as the cork rocketed out and bounced off the ceiling.

“Well, cheers.” Ginny clinked her glass against his; he'd only filled two of the three she'd set out. “Isn't Laurel having any?”

“Laurel doesn't drink. Cheers. Here's to you.”

If Gavin were here now, he would tell her that replying “here's to both of us” would be flirty beyond belief. So Ginny didn't; she just smiled instead and took a demure sip of the champagne. As they heard the sound of furniture being moved around in the bedroom overhead, she said, “What's Laurel doing? Doesn't she want to join us?”

“She's fine, best to leave her to get on with it.” Perry's eyes sparkled. “She's just rearranging the room, getting her things unpacked. You know how it is.”

“Sorry?” Ginny thought she must have misheard.

“What?”

Or it had been a slip of the tongue. Of course, that was it. Ginny smiled. “You just said she was getting
her
things unpacked.”

Perry nodded. “Yes.”

OK, hang on, had she fallen into some kind of parallel universe here? Her heart beginning to thump unpleasantly, Ginny said, “But… why would she be unpacking her things? She isn't the one moving in. I've rented the room to you.”

Perry looked at her. “God, I'm sorry, is that what you thought? No, no, the room's not for me. It's for Laurel.”

This couldn't be happening.

“But you were the one who came to see it! You said it was just what you were looking for!” Her voice rising—and not in an I-fancy-you way—Ginny said, “You said it was perfect!”

He blinked, nonplussed. “It
is
perfect. For Laurel.”

Frantically, Ginny ran back through everything he'd told her. “No,
hang
on
, you said your flat was too small…”

“It
is
too small. I mean, it's all right for me on my own,” Perry explained, “but it's definitely a squash for two. Laurel moved in six weeks ago and, to be honest, it's been doing my head in.”

Doing
your
head in! What do you suppose this is doing to
my
head? Still in a state of shock, Ginny repeated, “B-but I rented the room to
you
.”

“I know you did. That's right. I paid the deposit and I'll be paying the rent,” said Perry. “No need to worry about that. I'll set up a direct debit. Really, everything's going to be fine.”

Fine? How
could
it be? Ginny's head was about to explode.

“You made me think it was you! You never once mentioned your sister. You
knew
I thought it was you.”

Perry spread his arms. “Honestly, I didn't.”

“But the whole point of interviewing people when they come to look at the room is so that you can decide whether you want to share your house with them!”

“Is it?” Perry looked genuinely bewildered. “I didn't realize.” He paused, then said eagerly, “But it doesn't matter, because you won't have any problems with Laurel. As soon as I met you, I knew the two of you would get on brilliantly. You're just the kind of person Laurel needs.”

What?

What?

Ginny wanted to yell, “This isn't about what somebody else needs, you idiot; it's about what I need.”

“Oh, and I've brought the references. You don't have anything to worry about with Laurel.” Perry withdrew a couple of envelopes from his pocket. “She's honest, tidy, considerate—everything you could want in a housemate.”

This was all going so desperately, horribly wrong that Ginny was struggling to think straight. She wished Gavin could be here to back her up because right now she appeared to be the only one who thought there was anything amiss. Except if Gavin were here, he'd be too busy laughing his socks off at the mess she'd managed to get herself into. Ha, that was what happened when you got carried away and were silly enough to think someone might actually find you attractive.

“Besides,” Perry went on, “you did advertise for a female to share with. That was what you really wanted.”

“So why didn't Laurel phone up the other night? Why didn't she come round to see the house herself?”

He sighed and refilled his glass with champagne. Offered the bottle to Ginny, who shook her head.

“Laurel was happy to carry on sleeping on my sofa. Finding somewhere else to live wasn't a priority as far as she was concerned. To be honest she's been a bit down lately. She broke up with her boyfriend last summer and things haven't been easy for her since then. She lost her job in London. Her ex-boyfriend met someone else and got engaged, which didn't help. Laurel was pretty fed up. I told her she should move out of the city and the next thing I knew, she'd turned up on my doorstep.” Perry paused, shrugged. “Well, it was fine for a few days. It was great to see her again. Except she's decided she wants to stay in Portsilver now and my flat really isn't big enough for the two of us.”

“So move to a bigger flat.”

“Oh, Ginny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spring this on you. But I'm used to living on my own. I like my own space. And when I met you, I just thought how fantastic you were, so chatty and bubbly, and I knew you'd be perfect for Laurel. Sharing a house with you is just what she needs to perk her up again.”

Ginny shook her head. This wasn't supposed to be happening; it wasn't what she wanted. And she was going to have to tell him.

“The thing is, I—”

“Look, you'll have a great time with Laurel.” Perry gazed at her. “And much as I'd like to be the one moving in here, that could never happen.”

“Why couldn't it?” Ginny rubbed her aching temples; she didn't understand why not.

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Come on, you must know the answer to that one. You're gorgeous. How could I live in this house when I fancy the landlady rotten? That would be… God, that would be impossible.”

Oh.
Ginny hadn't been expecting this. Talk about a bolt from the blue. So he
did
find her attractive.

“Sorry, was that a bit sudden?” Perry's smile was rueful. “Have I scared you witless?”

“No, no…”

“I'm usually a bit more subtle. But you did ask. If I'm honest, I've been sitting here wondering if you'd consider coming out to dinner with me next week. But who knows if I'll have the courage to ask you?” He pulled a wry face and said, “It's a scary thing, you know, being a man. We always have to run the risk of inviting someone out and being turned down flat. You women don't realize how fragile our egos are.”

Ginny was lost for words. As she was floundering for a reply, they both heard footsteps on the stairs. The next moment the door had swung open and Laurel entered the kitchen.

“I've unpacked.”

“Great.” Perry beamed at her. “Well, that didn't take too long, did it? Good girl.”

Oh hell. Ginny took another gulp of champagne and found herself unable to meet Laurel's eye. If she was going to say something it had to be now, this minute. But how could she say it? How could she tell Laurel that she wasn't moving in after all, that she should get back upstairs and start repacking all her things?

“Is something wrong?” said Laurel.

Her heart beginning to gallop, Ginny mentally rehearsed telling her that there had been a terrible mistake, that she couldn't stay here because… well, because… um, because…

“Perry? What's going on?”

Perry looked at Laurel and shrugged.

“Look, I'm sorry,” Ginny blurted out, “but I didn't realize you were the one who'd be moving in. There's been a bit of a misunderstanding here. I thought your brother was the one looking for a room.”

Laurel frowned. “No. He's already got his flat.”

“Well, I know that
now
.” Her knuckles white, Ginny exclaimed, “But he didn't mention it before.”

Laurel gazed steadily at her. “So what are you saying?”

Oh God, what was she saying? In a complete flap now, Ginny felt the heat rushing back to her face. She was British, for heaven's sake. It wasn't in her nature to deliberately hurt another person's feelings. If she didn't have Laurel, she'd have to go through the whole advertising-and-interviewing rigmarole all over again and who was to say she'd get anyone better next time round? Plus, Perry fancied her anyway and was going to invite her out to dinner. Which was good news and almost better, in a way, than—

“Don't you want me here?” There were now tears glistening in Laurel's huge green eyes. “Do I have to go?”

That was it. How could she say yes and live with herself? Shaking her head, Ginny said, “No, no, of course you don't have to go. Everything's fine.”

Laurel blinked back her tears and smiled a watery smile. “Thank you.”

Perry beamed with relief. “Excellent.”

Instantly, Ginny felt better, no longer twisted with guilt. There, she'd done it. And she had a first date with Perry to look forward to, so everything
was
going to be fine. Forgetting what he'd told her earlier, she seized the champagne bottle and said gaily to Laurel, “Let's celebrate!”

“I'm not allowed to drink.” Laurel shook her head. “Because of my tablets.”

Tablets. Everything was going to be fine, Ginny reminded herself. Aloud she said sympathetically, “Antibiotics?”

Laurel blinked. “Antidepressants.”

Oh.

“Right, I'd better get back to the shop.” Perry jumped up. “I'll leave you two girls to get to know each other. Bye.”

Hastily, Ginny said, “I'll just show you out,” and followed him to the front door.

“She's a lovely girl. You won't regret it.” Perry kept his voice low. “Listen, I'll be in touch. If I manage to pluck up the courage to ask you out to dinner sometime soon, do you think you might say yes?” His smile was playful.

Ginny replied flirtatiously, “I might.”

“Great. I'll give you a call. Just do me a favor, don't mention it to Laurel.”

“Why not?” Ginny was puzzled.

“Oh, it's just that she's been through a bit of a bad patch with men, you know? She's kind of anti-relationships right now. I told her you were divorced and she liked the idea of sharing a house with someone else in the same boat. If she knew we were meeting up with each other, she might feel a bit odd-one-out.”

Ginny wondered if she really was doing the right thing here. Somehow, in the space of a morning, all her plans had been turned inside out. What had she let herself in for?

“Shhh, stop worrying.” Evidently capable of reading her thoughts—or more likely the panicky God-what-have-I-done look in her eyes—Perry raised his right index finger to his lips then smiled and tenderly pressed that same finger against her own mouth. “You two'll have a great time. You're just what Laurel needs to get over her dip.”

Brushing his finger like that against her lips had set off a deliciously zingy sensation in Ginny's knees. Crikey, if that was kissing by proxy, she couldn't wait for the real thing.

Anyway, of course she and Laurel would get on; hadn't she been through dips of her own in her time? Together they would bond and forge a real friendship.

“I really have to go.” Perry was glancing at his watch.

Ginny opened the front door and said, “Bye then,” her mouth still tingling from the proxy kiss.

Everything
was
going to be fine.