Her eyes strayed to the Amstrad which Luke had carried upstairs for her and set up on the table by the window. She had made a lot of progress on the book, her enforced bedrest giving her all the time she needed to get the story down. It was galloping through her brain so quickly she couldn’t keep up with it, the adventures coming thick and fast. Later she would get up and put on her dressing gown and sit at the table in the window watching the dusk creep in across the garden whilst beneath her fingers Richard hid in the newly built haystack beneath a huge summer moon.
When Luke looked in, half an hour later, she was asleep, the letter still in her hand. He took it gently and read it with a smile then quietly he sat down next to the bed looking at her. Her face, still thin and tired, but rested by sleep, was extraordinarily beautiful, even sexy in the shaded lamp light. He bent forward and kissed her lightly, so as not to wake her.
Behind him outside the window, a bird flapped suddenly against the glass, tossed by the wind, and as suddenly it had gone. The curtain blew inwards and he shivered as he felt the cold draught penetrating deep into the room. Standing up he went and peered out. It was black outside and all he could see was the reflection of the lamp behind him. With a shudder he pulled the curtains across.
He stood for a moment looking down at Joss. There was a slight smile on her face now and her cheeks had flushed with a little colour. On the pillow beside her lay a rose bud. It was white, the petals slightly tinged with pink. He stared at it. Why hadn’t he noticed it before? Leaning across he picked it up and looked at it. It felt very cold, as though it had just been brought in from the garden. David. David must have brought it for her. He frowned angrily then, throwing it down on the bedside table, he walked purposefully out of the room.
15
‘How can he have gone back to London?’ Joss sat up in bed, her elbow on the pillow, and stared at Lyn. ‘Why?’ Lyn shrugged. ‘I think he and Luke had words about something.’ She was stacking coffee cups onto her tray.
‘What do you mean they had words?’ Joss frowned, shocked. ‘What about?’
‘Can’t you guess?’ Lyn stood looking down at her. ‘He thinks David fancies you.’
Joss opened her mouth to protest. Then she shut it again. ‘That’s silly.’
‘Is it?’
‘You know it is. David and I were colleagues. Yes, he’s fond of me and I of him, but that’s all it is. Luke can’t think anything else. It’s crazy. Damn it all, I’m pregnant!’
‘He thinks David has been giving you flowers.’
‘Flowers!’ Joss was astonished. ‘Of course he hasn’t given me flowers. And even if he did, what’s wrong with that? Guests often bring their hostesses flowers.’
Lyn shrugged. ‘Ask Luke.’
Joss lay back on the pillows with a deep sigh. ‘Lyn.’ She ran her fingers gently over the bed cover. ‘What kind of flowers does he think David gave me?’
Lyn gave a small laugh. ‘Does it matter?’
‘Yes, I think it does.’
‘Well, you’ll have to ask Luke. I don’t know.’
‘I will. He can’t order our friends out like that!’
‘I don’t think he ordered him out. He just went. It’s a shame. I like David. We need visitors here to cheer us up.’
Her voice was light, casual, but Joss frowned distracted for a moment from her own worries. ‘Is it too lonely for you, Lyn? Are you missing London?’
‘No.’ Course not. I’ve told you before.’ Lyn picked up the tray.
‘I feel so guilty that you’ve got to do so much while I’m stuck here in bed.’ Joss reached out and put her hand on Lyn’s arm. ‘We’d be lost without you, you know.’
‘I know.’ Lyn softened the abruptness of her answer with a grin. ‘Don’t worry. I’m tough. Looking after this house is a doddle and you know how much I love Tom.’ She paused. ‘Dad just rang, Joss. The last set of results were good.’
‘Thank God!’ Joss smiled. ‘You must go up and see her again, Lyn. Whenever.’
‘I shall.’
‘I would go if I could, you know that.’
Lyn gave a tight smile. ‘Of course you would,’ she said. She hitched the door open with her elbow, the heavy tray balanced in her hands. ‘Simon is coming later. He said not to tell you or you’ll get your blood pressure up!’ She grinned again. ‘Yoga breathing and meditation for you, madam, and then if you are sufficiently calm and laid back, maybe he’ll let you come downstairs.’
He did in the end. Gentle walking. No housework, and don’t try to carry Tom. Those were the instructions.
The first moment she had on her own in the study she picked up the phone and rang David. ‘Why did you go like that – not even saying good-bye?’ Luke had driven over to Cambridge for the rest of the day in pursuit of spares. She couldn’t ask him.
She heard the hesitation in his voice. ‘Joss, I think maybe I had come down once too often to see you.’
‘What do you mean?’ Joss frowned. ‘Lyn thinks you had a row with Luke. You can’t have. No one rows with Luke.’
‘No?’ He paused. ‘Let’s just say that Luke and I had a small disagreement over something. Nothing serious. I just thought maybe it was time to come home and do some preparation for the new term. No sweat.’
‘What did you have words about?’ She glanced at the door. The house was silent. Lyn and Tom had gone for a walk.
‘He feels maybe I am encouraging you too much in your obsession with the house.’ He did not mention Luke’s sudden strange hostility. The accusation, sudden and frenzied, about the rose.
Joss was silent.
‘Joss, are you still there?’
‘Yes, I’m here. I didn’t think he minded.’
‘He doesn’t mind your interest. He’s interested himself. He just doesn’t want you to get things out of proportion.’
When Luke got back she pounced on him. ‘What on earth do you mean, quarrelling with David and sending him away like that? If you have a problem with him doing research on the house tell me, not him. I asked him to do it!’
‘Joss, you’re becoming obsessed – ’
‘If I am, it has nothing to do with David!’
‘I think it has.’ Luke tightened his lips.
‘No. Besides, it’s more than that, isn’t it. You’ve got some crazy idea that he’s in love with me.’