‘Kit Berenger speaking.’

A younger voice this time, but well-spoken and self-assured. ‘Hello, Kit, my name’s actually Margaret Lawson. I’m Liza’s mother.’

Margaret glanced out of the sitting room window. In the garden her husband was meticulously dead-heading the gone-over peonies.

‘I see.’

The voice acquired a cool edge. Instantly he was on his guard. Maybe I’m too late, she thought.

Interfering with a lost cause.

‘If you have a couple of minutes,’ said Margaret, ‘I wonder if we could talk.’

‘That’ll be Rose Tresilian from over the• road. I promised to lend her my catalogue,’ said Margaret when the doorbell rang at nine o’clock that evening. ‘Answer it for me, would you, dear?’

Liza’s hand flew to her mouth when she opened the door.It wasn’t Rose Tresilian from over the road.

‘Oh my God.’

‘Sorry I’m late.’ Kit’s hair gleamed in the porch light; his tone was carefully casual. ‘I would have been here sooner, only I couldn’t find my A to Z of Trezale.’

Liza was glad of the door frame, keeping her upright. She leaned against it and stared at Kit, almost afraid to blink. If he was a mirage, fine. Better a mirage, thought Liza shakily, than no Kit at all.

He was wearing a crumpled denim shirt and white jeans. There were dark shadows under his eyes, she noticed. He looked tired, drawn and somehow sexier than ever.

‘Unfair,’ said Liza, desperate to throw herself at him but not quite daring to. ‘How come men can get bags under their eyes and look great? When it happens to women, we end up looking like Clement Freud with a hangover.’

‘You haven’t asked me how I found you.’ Kit ignored her off-at-a-tangent ramblings.

Hesitating, Liza pushed a flopping strand of hair out of her eyes. Following her bath, she hadn’t bothered to blow-dry it. Or put on any make-up.

‘I think I can guess,’ she replied finally. ‘Only it’s kind of hard to believe.’

‘Your mother rang me.’

Liza nodded. She’d guessed right. It was just so unlike her mother to do such a thing.

‘She isn’t normally the interfering type.’

Liza sensed rather than saw him tense up.

‘When you say interfering,’ Kit fixed her with his unswerving yellow gaze, ‘there’s welcome interference and there’s unwelcome interference. Liza, listen to me. I came down here because your mother told me I should. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you already know that. So,’ he said pointedly, ‘now it’s up to you. If you want me to leave, I will. I’ll turn around and drive back to Bath. You, meanwhile, can go inside and tell your mother she has no business meddling with your life. You can explain to her that this is an example of unwelcome interference.’

‘Okay,’ murmured Liza, nodding like an attentive pupil. ‘And what’s the other one?’

‘Welcome interference.’ Kit ticked the second alternative off on his fingers. ‘This is the one where you realise I was right and you were wrong,’ he explained, ‘and so what if I’m a few years younger than you? I mean, who gives a toss, really? I don’t. And your mother certainly doesn’t.’

Helplessly Liza shook her head.

‘No, she doesn’t.’

‘Anyway, you apologise to me for making the last few days possibly the worst of my life,’ he continued. ‘We kiss and make up and all that stuff, and you throw yourself at your mother’s feet, thanking her over and over again for meddling in your life and forcing you to come to your senses.’

Having listened carefully, Liza nodded again.

‘Okay. I’ll have that one.’

‘Sure?’ said Kit.

‘Definitely that one.’

‘The I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong one?’ Kit persisted, the corners of his mouth lifting as he spoke.

‘Yeah, yeah. You were right and I was wrong and I’m sorry and I love you,’ murmured Liza, tears of happiness rolling down her cheeks. ‘I love you so so much, you have no idea ...’

He held out his arms and she threw herself into them. It was the best feeling, Liza thought, absolutely the best feeling in the world.

When Kit had finished kissing her he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. They were both trembling.

‘Never do this to me again,’ he said in a low voice, brushing Liza’s wet eyelashes with his thumb. ‘Promise me you won’t.’

‘What, no more fights, no more arguments, ever?’

‘We can bicker. Bickering’s allowed.’ He shrugged. ‘We’re talking about the rest of our lives here, after all. Fifty years minimum.’

‘Oh, is that all?’ mocked Liza. Reaching up, she kissed each corner of his narrow, curving mouth and wondered if it was legal to feel this happy.

‘Maybe sixty. But we’re not going through this again. No more it’s-all-over stuff. I mean it, Liza.

You have to promise me. I never want to hear you say that—’

They jumped apart as the sitting room door opened.

‘Don’t mind us,’ said Margaret Lawson, as she and her husband reached for their coats. ‘Hello, Kit, nice to meet you. Liza dear, you can’t spend the rest of your life on the doorstep. Why don’t you invite Kit in and make him a nice cup of tea? Your father and I are just off to the pub.’

When they had gone, Kit said, ‘She winked at me.’

‘This is seriously weird.’ Liza shook her head in renewed amazement. ‘My parents have never been inside a pub in their lives.’

‘We’ve been Left Alone Together.’ Grinning, Kit grabbed Liza around the waist. ‘Just as well really, since I have this overwhelming desire to rip all your clothes off. You,’ he told her as he edged her backwards, ‘are about to experience the best sex of your life—’

‘Not here!’ gasped Liza, cornered between the grandfather clock and her mother’s carved oak bookcase.

‘God, you’re beautiful. Even in that hand-knitted cardigan.’ Playfully, Kit slid it off her shoulders. ‘There, see how much I’ve missed you?’

‘Stop it!’ squeaked Liza, struggling frantically to keep both of them decent. ‘I’m serious, Kit, we can’t do it here. Not in my parents’ house!’

Without saying a word, Kit led her by the hand across the hall, into the kitchen and out through the back door.

‘I’m serious too,’ he told Liza, one hand roaming beneath her T-shirt while the other deftly unfastened the button on her jeans. ‘Is the garden okay?’

Outside, the air was warm and heady with the scent of late roses. They were in total darkness.

This is our grand reconciliation, thought Liza, it’s supposed to be torrid and passionate and ultra ultra romantic.

As it was, things were turning out rather less glorious than she had imagined.

Getting the giggles didn’t help.

‘You’re supposed to be gasping in ecstasy,’ Kit complained.

‘I can’t help it. Dad mowed the lawn this afternoon, I’m covered in grass cuttings.’ She clung to Kit, helpless with laughter. ‘You’ve got leaves in your hair. And I can hear a million insecty things—’

‘Ugh! What was that?’ Kit winced as something weightier than an insect landed with a hideous plop on the back of his hand and leapt off again.

Their eyes had by this time adapted to the darkness.

‘Frog,’ squealed Liza, watching it hop into the bushes. She flinched as the wings of a moth brushed her bare shoulder.

The rasping noise of a grasshopper sounded, inches from Kit’s ear. He gave up.

‘Talk about coitus interruptus.’

‘Insect interruptus,’ said Liza, dancing her fingertips across his taut stomach.

‘Bloody alfresco sex. Remind me never to try this again.’ Liza was feeling around on the grass behind him. ‘I can’t find my bra.’

At that moment the bushes to the left of them began to rustle ominously.

‘Don’t tell me,’ murmured Kit, ‘it’s the Beast of Exmoor.’

‘Sounds big.’ Still hunting in vain for her favourite black bra, Liza managed to locate one of her shoes. ‘Must be a dog.’

They both leapt a mile as the powerful beam of a torch snapped on.

‘Right. Stay where you are! Don’t move a muscle,’ barked a female voice.

‘Oh my God,’ hissed Liza, instinctively ducking behind Kit, ‘it’s Mrs McKnight from next door.

Oh shit shit shit—’

‘Good grief,’ announced the female voice, which was deep, assertive and extremely effective when it came to bossing people about; forty years in teaching had seen to that. ‘Thought you were burglars! What on earth do you think you’re doing in my neighbour’s back garden?’

There was a horrid clammy silence. All Liza could hear was her heart beating frantically against her ribs.

‘We aren’t burglars,’ said Kit. He reached for his white jeans and put them on.

Mrs McKnight’s eyes boggled. ‘You’re trespassing!’

‘I know. I’m sorry.’ Calmly Kit found the rest of Liza’s clothes and handed them to her. Molly McKnight flicked the torch in the direction of the blackcurrant bushes into which the frog had hopped earlier. Dangling from one of the higher branches was Liza’s bra.

‘Whatever possessed you?’

‘It was a dare,’ Kit said simply.

The lad was as cool as a cucumber. With merciless precision Molly McKnight swung the beam of the torch back to his girlfriend, skulking on the ground behind him, struggling frantically to get into her clothes. With her head bent and all that blonde hair tumbling over her face, it was impossible to see what she looked like.

‘Is your companion going to apologise too?’ The demand was brisk.

‘She’s Romanian.’ Kit shrugged. ‘Doesn’t speak any English.’

‘Hmmph.’

‘It won’t happen again.’

‘I should jolly well hope not.’

‘Sorry again,’ said Kit, grinning as he took Liza’s hand and led her towards the back gate.

Shaking her head, half amused by his chutzpah, Molly McKnight watched them go.

‘Young people today, I don’t know,’ she sighed, just loudly enough for them to hear.

The gate clicked shut behind them. Young people.

What utter bliss.

I love that woman,’ murmured Liza.

Chapter 43

Dulcie wondered if she was suffering from empty nest syndrome. Funny, she’d never imagined she’d miss Pru so much, but the house really did seem awfully empty.

It was early on Sunday morning and the rest of the day stretched ahead. Deeply resentful that some inner alarm clock had been insensitive enough to wake her at six — she’d never had an inner alarm clock before — Dulcie poured herself a fourth cup of coffee and tried not to feel sorry for herself. This was her hard-earned day off, after all. She was supposed to be enjoying it.

The trouble was, as Dulcie was belatedly discovering, enjoying yourself was more fun if you weren’t on your own. And now, for the first time in her life, she was.

Patrick was busy being deliriously happy somewhere with Claire Berenger. Liam was doubtless busy being a prize stud somewhere with any number of women. Pru was working, catching up on her backlog of cleaning jobs.

And Liza ... well, Liza hadn’t spoken to her since their fight and wasn’t likely to, considering the snide — and deeply unfair — remarks she’d made about Kit Berenger.

Altogether, what with avoiding Brunton Manor because of Liam — not to mention being unable to face all those women who knew what a prat she’d made of herself over him — her remaining options were limited.

I could go shopping, thought Dulcie, but even the prospect of spending money on unnecessary luxuries failed to exert its usual seductive pull.

She bit her lip and gazed out of the window. The alternatives were equally dreary.

She could – heaven help her – Go For A Nice Walk. This had always been her mother’s antidote to terminal teenage boredom.

The answer was still no thanks.

Or she could have a bath, eat biscuits and lie on the sofa watching wall-to-wall rubbish on television.

At that moment the phone rang. Dulcie’s spirits soared as she raced to answer it. Talk about fate.

‘Hi, Dulcie? Brad Pitt speaking. You must come to my party ...’

Or:

‘Dulcie, hey! It’s me, Sting. I’m sending the helicopter for you, okay? You’re spending the day with us.’

Anything like that, really. Just something fun.

‘Dulcie. Good, you’re at home. All right if I drop by in about half an hour?’

Okay, so it wasn’t Sting, but Dulcie still felt her heart do a clumsy somersault.

Half an hour, she thought breathlessly. I can either shower, get dressed and do my face, or lie in the bath until he gets here and saunter downstairs in a towel.

When the doorbell rang exactly twenty-eight minutes later, Dulcie sauntered downstairs in a towel. Her black hair was slicked back from her face and her wet, Floris-scented skin glistened.

Her green eyes, with their ultra-white whites, were bright with anticipation and half a bottle of hastily flung-in Eye Dew.