In fact, the first episode had opened to decent viewing figures but had dropped off a little halfway through. Nothing to worry about, Alison had told her. The press reviews had been good. The other piece of news was that Alison had also called to say how much she and Sean had liked the treatment for the new crime-drama idea (‘It’s superbly zeitgeisty, and what a sensational character’) and wanted to commission a script, to be completed as soon as possible. The rumour was that one of their mainstays was going to be axed and a replacement was needed. Laura didn’t hesitate in getting a writer on board and sent her away to come up with sixty pages of brilliance. With any luck, Cavendish Pictures was going to be very busy over the next few months.
‘Fingers crossed, eh?’
‘Did you see it?’
‘Cherry and I watched it together. We both thought it was brilliant.’
Mentioning Cherry reignited Laura’s nerves. She played with her sandwich, wondering how to start.
Daniel stopped mid-chew, then swallowed. ‘What?’ he said challengingly.
She had to tell him about what she knew. The reasons why she thought Cherry wasn’t all she made out to be. She had to try and get him to listen to her.
‘Look, I know we haven’t seen eye to eye over Cherry lately, and I understand your frustration at some of what I’ve said, but I deliberately missed a few things out. Things that I’ve done and I’m sorry.’
‘Go on.’
‘I was very embarrassed and that’s why I didn’t tell you. At first.’ That got his attention. She took a deep breath. ‘You see, when we were all in France, I went into your bedroom when you were both out one day.’
His eyebrows rose in indignation.
‘I didn’t plan to – I just happened to pass by and the door was open – and . . . well, I went inside. I found Cherry’s plane ticket and there were two things I noticed. First of all, she hadn’t booked a return flight, which I thought was odd when we’d agreed on when she was going home, and second, it turns out she’d only paid five hundred pounds for it. You gave her six hundred,’ she prompted.
He didn’t say anything, just looked at her, and Laura thought it best to plough on.
‘That’s not the only thing. When I came back to London, I went to Highsmith and Brown. Someone there told me Cherry had gone to France to attend her grandmother’s funeral.’
‘What?’
‘I’m pretty sure she said it to get the time off. I think she needed something big in order to be allowed the leave at a time when they were very short-staffed.’
‘They probably got her mixed up with someone else. Mum, I’m not being obtuse, but is this really all you have to go on? Is this why you think she’s some sort of gold-digger? They could both easily be mistakes – maybe Cherry forgot how much she paid, and this person you spoke to at the agency . . . who was it? Her boss?’
‘No.’
‘Who, then?’
‘A temp, I think.’
‘There you go, then,’ he said triumphantly. ‘They probably haven’t even got the right person. And if Cherry was going to fleece me for money, I think she’d go for more than a hundred pounds.’
‘No, you don’t understand—’ she said desperately.
‘Please, Mum,’ he snapped. Then he took a deep breath. ‘It’s your birthday tomorrow – let’s not fall out about this now. Can we save it for after I come back this weekend?’
Laura bit her lip. The more she heard about Cherry, the more convinced she was that she was bad news. Daniel had told her that Cherry had tried to change the booking that had ‘clashed’ with her birthday dinner but the company had no other availability that summer that worked around his hospital shifts. She didn’t believe a word of it. In fact, she was beginning to think it wasn’t just about the money. This trip, Laura suspected, was designed to show her who had the bigger place in Daniel’s life. Cherry was intent on taking her son away from her. A sudden thought came to her. What if Cherry managed one day to extract a proposal from him? An avalanche of misery suddenly descended. Cherry would machinate a lifetime of distance. All the things she’d been looking forward to would suddenly be out of bounds: watching his career grow, the myriad family events, Christmases, birthdays, holidays. She’d have to wait for rarely granted permission to see her own grandchildren.
‘Look, while we’re away, I’ll ask her about it and you and I can talk next week. Deal?’
She was brought back into focus. She looked at him and knew that unless she wanted to alienate him further, she’d have to accept. She nodded.
‘Would you like something else?’ he said, looking at her barely touched baguette.
‘No, no, this is just great.’ Her appetite had waned, but she took a bite with gusto. ‘Are you looking forward to tomorrow?’ If nothing else, she would keep asking him about his time with Cherry to see if she could glean anything more.
‘Can’t wait. There’s been so much rain the water’s up to grade four. The thrills start at eight in the morning.’
Cold water and speed – it sounded like hell to Laura.
‘You are . . . being careful, aren’t you?’ she said.
He frowned, not sure what she meant. ‘It’s all a legit company . . .’
‘No, I don’t mean that.’
‘What, then?’
She raised her eyebrows in a way that said, Do I have to spell it out?
His mouth dropped open. ‘Mum! I’m a doctor. I don’t think I need a lecture on contraception.’
He started to laugh and then couldn’t stop until tears were rolling down his face. ‘Oh, Mum,’ he managed to gasp out, ‘you are funny sometimes.’
She smiled wanly, but her stomach was still churning. As she knew it would continue to do until questions over Cherry were answered.
TWENTY
Friday 22 August