When Alice Met Danny (8 page)

Alice was momentarily nonplussed. The waitress arrived with their tea and a triple-decker cake tray. They chose a cake each and by the time she had left, Alice had had time to think about her answer. ‘I suppose it depends what you mean by “date”. I was taken out for dinner last Saturday by a friend from work.’ She hesitated. ‘But he’s not that sort of friend.’ Seeing something in the vicar’s eyes, she hastened to clarify. ‘No, I don’t mean he’s gay or anything. He’s going to rent my London flat while I am down here.’ She looked across the crockery to the vicar, whose expression was unconvinced.

‘Still, it sort of qualified as a date, didn’t it?’

Alice smiled. ‘That’s what Mrs Tinker said, but even if it was, he’s got a girlfriend. In fact she spent this weekend with him.’

‘You seem to know a lot about him.’ She was teasing now. ‘Anyway, apart from this sort-of-date, when was the last time you went out on a proper one?’

This took some calculating. ‘Do you know, Megan? I can’t really remember. Probably a couple of years ago…’ Her voice tailed off. Megan was quick to leap in and help out.

‘Still beats me. I tell you this, Alice, if you think you’ve got problems, try swapping places with me. The old dog collar is a real passion killer. One whiff of what I do for a living and members of the opposite sex are reaching for their car keys. Still,’ she took a bite of the cream éclair on her plate, ‘there’s more to life than men.’

Chapter 15

Alice returned to London in time for her car buying appointment with Danny. He arrived at her flat at ten o’clock on Thursday morning, bringing with him a briefcase full of car magazines, and a laptop. She waved him in and went off to fill the kettle. ‘Tea or coffee?’

‘Tea, please, Alice.’ He came through to the kitchen and watched as she made the tea. He enjoyed watching her and was close enough to smell her perfume. She looked as good as ever, and he was pleased to see some of the worry lines around her eyes had softened.

‘You know, Alice, you’re looking a lot more relaxed since the last time I saw you. Is that all down to fresh Devon air and manual work on your new house?’

‘Sort of.’ She put a tea bag in the pot and added the hot water. ‘I got the surveyor’s report last night. He reckons it isn’t going to cost as much as I feared to get it back into shape. Considering I paid so little for it in the first place, I might do all right after all.’

‘And you’ll move in there yourself when it’s done?’

‘That’s a tricky one.’ She went on to tell him how kind and welcoming she had found people down in Devon. She mentioned Danny the baby and Danny the dog, but still didn’t mention Daniel Tremayne.

‘So your next step will be to get a big black dog, I suppose?’ She noted that he made no mention of babies.

‘Your namesake is a very handsome dog, and he’s got a longer pedigree than I’ll ever have. As I’ll be living next door to him for the next six months, I’ll be able to borrow him when I get lonely.’

‘I can’t imagine you being lonely for long.’ She made no comment but poured the tea and carried the mugs through to the sitting room on a tray, along with a packet of biscuits.

He nodded towards them. ‘Not so worried about slobbing out on the couch after all?’

She gave him a smile and pushed them across. ‘I seem to be running around a lot these days. I may even have lost weight since leaving G&B.’ She glanced across at him. ‘You’re looking fit and well. Something or somebody doing you good?’

He ignored the reference to “somebody” and groaned. ‘I’m in training. I’ve been in the gym almost every day for the last God knows how long. When you phoned last Saturday, it was my first lie-in for weeks.’

She cut in before he could supply any more details about what he and the girl might or might not have been doing. ‘What’s all the training for?’

‘I was going to tell you. I’m going to be coming down to your neck of the woods in a few weeks’ time. There’s a big windsurfing event in Devon in June, in Beauchamp itself as it happens. There’s going to be a race for old-timers like me, and I’ve let myself get talked into competing.’

‘I saw the poster.’ As she said it, she had an image of a windsurfer, stripped to the waist, his perfect abs shiny with sweat, as the huge breakers pounded the beach behind him. She shook the picture out of her head and concentrated on Danny’s face. She was pleased to see that, unlike the baby and the dog, his eyes did not follow the movement of her hand as she nibbled at the biscuit. ‘Well, let me know when you are going to be there. I’ll come along and cheer. Come to think of it, I should have a spare room by then. It’s a bit small, but it would do you for a day or two.’

‘Thanks, Alice, that’s really kind. But I’ve booked a hotel for the two nights. Janie said she might come down, although somehow I doubt it.’

Alice decided to change the subject. She nodded towards his briefcase. ‘So, are you ready to give me a seminar on cars?’

He reached for the laptop. ‘Well, I’ve been doing a bit of research and I think I’ve come up with a solution to your problem.’ He pointed to the pile of magazines. ‘I’ve brought you some bedtime reading if you feel up to it.’ Something in her expression made it clear what she thought of car magazines. ‘No need for that. I suggest we take a trip to north London. The best place to go is a car supermarket.’

‘They really have those?’

‘They certainly do. Here, take a look at this.’ He showed her the website of a big car supermarket. ‘Just to give you an idea, if you want, say, a Volkswagen, they have…yes, seventy-five different cars. And that’s just one make. Unless you are dead set on a 1975 Ferrari with red leather interior, I think this is the way to go. They will have hundreds of nearly new cars there at discount prices. They’ll give you a guarantee, too. So, fancy a little trip to the suburbs?’

The trip to the suburbs was a great success. By one o’clock she had chosen a car and paid for it. Amazingly, they even arranged the insurance and told her it would be ready for collection at two o’clock. As they completed the paperwork, she turned to Danny.

‘Have you got time for lunch?’ Girlfriend in his flat or no girlfriend in his flat, she owed him a meal to say thank you.

‘I took the whole day off, so I’m at your disposal.’ He looked over at the salesman who had been dealing with them. ‘Anywhere close by we can get a bit of lunch?’

‘The King’s Arms is pretty good. It’s only a few hundred metres down that way.’ Alice reflected on yet another coincidence. She would be going to the King’s Arms with a man called Danny. Less than a week ago she had been in a pub of the same name with a different man of a similar name.
All I need now is a baby and a Labrador.

The pub, which was more of a restaurant, was crowded, presumably with people who had come out from central London to the huge retail park behind the car supermarket. Alice bought drinks and ordered food, while Danny hunted round for somewhere to sit. All he could find was a small table in one corner where they were squeezed in side by side. He could feel her thigh against his as she sat down. He didn’t mind.

Alice tried to move her leg away from his, but it was such a tiny table that she had little choice. She gave up trying, admitting to herself that it was not an unpleasant sensation. While they waited for their food to be brought to them, she told him about the house and in more detail what the surveyor had said. He listened attentively.

‘So, what’s the next step? I suppose you’ve got to find yourself some builders. Any leads?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, Peter the Surveyor has recommended someone, a small family firm. He says he’s worked with them on various projects over the years. I’ll arrange a meeting next week.’ She suddenly realised she had left out the most important bit of news. ‘I’m sorry, Danny, with all this car business, I totally forgot to say: I phoned the removal people yesterday and, miraculously, they have got a spare slot next Tuesday. So, the flat is yours whenever you want it after that. I’ll get it cleaned for you on Thursday or Friday, so let’s say any time from next weekend. Of course, I suppose you have to give notice to your landlord. There’s no rush.’

He gave her a broad smile. ‘That’s fantastic. My landlord was delighted to hear that I was leaving.’ He glanced sideways at her. ‘It’s all right, future landlady, it’s not because I’m a terrible tenant. He is going through a divorce and he badly needs somewhere to stay. I know how that feels. So, if it’s OK with you, I reckon Saturday week would be great for all concerned.’

At that moment, the food arrived. An uncommunicative waiter laid two enormous plates of steak pie and chips in front of them and disappeared.

‘Sorry, Danny, there wasn’t a lot of choice. I know you aren’t veggie after what we ate the other night at the Tate Modern. Will this do?’

‘Excellent choice, though we’ll be doing well to get through all these chips. You might need to reinforce the couch if you plan on making this a regular feature of your diet.’

‘There’s a pub in the village where I’m living that does really good food. I’ll have to be strong-willed if I’m to avoid the feared slobbing out.’

‘I’ll be able to check you out when I come down for the windsurfing thing in June.’

‘Won’t you be tied up all weekend?’

‘No, as far as I know, my discipline will all take place on the Saturday. There’s a big dinner on the Saturday night, but apart from that, I should be free as a bird.’

But for his mention of this Janie girl, she would have invited him round to her house for dinner. As it was, she buried her face in her pie and chips. After a while, she brought the subject back to builders.

‘The first thing that’s got to happen to the house is for specialist contractors to go in and get rid of the dry rot. Hopefully that can take place as soon as possible.’

‘And in the meantime? How are you going to occupy your time? A spot of gardening maybe?’

She snorted. ‘You’d need a mechanical digger to do that. The back garden is a metre deep in rubbish and rats. And the surveyor has discovered that the water main in front of the house has been leaking. He tells me they will have to dig that up and fix the leak before I can plant anything there.’

‘So, what are you going to do? I can’t believe you are just going to sit on your thumbs.’

She gave him a shy glance. ‘Don’t laugh, Danny, but I am planning on going back to university.’

He didn’t laugh. He gave her a look of admiration. ‘That’s great, Alice. To do what? An MBA?’

‘You’re the second person to ask me that. No, my days in the world of high finance are over. I’m seriously thinking about an MA in history. I’m getting really interested in the First World War.’ She swallowed a few more mouthfuls of pie before pushing it away, the huge pile of chips still almost untouched.

‘I’m done. If you want any more chips, please help yourself.’ He rolled his eyes. His plate was still more than half full. ‘You know, Danny, the more I read about those days, the more fascinating, if depressing, I find it.’

The drive home was uneventful, although the traffic was appalling. It took them almost two hours to do what had taken less then half an hour by public transport. By the time they got back to Greenwich, it was four o’clock.

Danny refused a ride home, not wanting to add to her stress levels. She had arranged with a neighbour to park in their precious car parking space and, by the time she had reversed in, she was exhausted. The combination of the unfamiliar vehicle and the congested roads had taken their toll.

‘Well done. For somebody who says she has never driven in London, that was impressive.’

She locked the car and gave him a weak smile. ‘I hope I didn’t frighten the life out of you.’

‘Not at all. I’m sure you drive a lot better than I do. Now, I can see that you are in need of a bit of a rest. I think I’ll just slip away and leave you to it.’

‘No, don’t, Danny. Come in for a cup of tea first. You’ve got to pick up your laptop, anyway.’ He protested weakly, but then accepted the offer on condition that she let him make the tea. She did not object. By the time he emerged from the kitchen with the two mugs, she was sprawled on the sofa, her eyes closed. She looked relaxed, happy and very, very attractive.

He put the tea down on the table and took a seat opposite her. She did not stir, even when he knocked the pile of car magazines onto the floor. He saw that she was fast asleep. He moved her cup a little further away, in case she stretched out and spilt it. He drank his tea, enjoying watching her. On an impulse, he pulled out his phone and took her picture. Then he collected the magazines and his laptop and stood up. He pulled a scrap of paper from a pile by the phone and scribbled a few words.

I enjoyed today very much. Hope the move goes well.

X

Danny

Very quietly, he let himself out.

Chapter 16

‘Ready for another bucket of muck up here.’ Reg had laid this course of bricks in record time.

Billy’s voice from below told him the mortar was on its way. As the pulley squeaked into life, Reg sat down on the parapet and allowed himself a few moments’ rest. It was a stunning view out over the old deer park. He could see clear across to Beauchamp and the sea. Although notionally at third floor height, the old manor had such a high facade that he felt like a lookout in the crow’s nest.
The scaffold must have cost a bob or two
, he thought to himself.
Mind you, there’s no shortage of money in this family
.

‘Muck’s on its way.’ He watched as the bucket was hauled up to the top by young Billy. He made it look very easy. All that bodybuilding came in handy. As the bucket came up level with him, Reg reached out and pulled it in, unhooking it from the pulley. He tipped the mortar out onto his board and picked up his trowel and hawk. Below him, he heard the truck pull up. He looked down to see Max emerge from the cab, his head tilting upwards.

‘How you doing up there, Reg?’

‘Another hour and I should be done.’ His brother nodded.

‘That should be all right. The radio was just saying there’s a storm due tonight. But the mortar should have gone off by then.’ Max pointed towards the timber in the back of the truck. ‘We’ll be working inside tomorrow, so no worries.’