‘No thanks,’ Tullah retorted, the smile dying out of her eyes as she handed Amelia over to her mother, her full mouth compressing firmly.
‘Tullah...’ Olivia began, then stopped as she saw the look she was giving her. Good friends though they had always been, Tullah was the type who held herself slightly aloof from others and whom, despite her stunningly voluptuous and sensual looks, the men in the large organisation they had both worked for had very quickly learned to treat with wary caution.
Olivia knew the reason for Tullah’s wariness of the male sex and she also knew that Tullah didn’t like to discuss her love life.
She knew that the only time Tullah did let her guard down with men was when she was with one she knew to be happily attached to another woman. Because she felt safe with such a man?
‘So none of the properties was any good, then?’ she asked sympathetically.
Tullah pulled a face. ‘Well, the modern single-bedroomed flats they showed me were affordable, but very anonymous, and the cottages were either too large or too expensive or both. There was one, though....’ She paused whilst Olivia waited. ‘Well, it just had so many things against it, and even the agent said that it had only been included on the list at the last minute, but...’
‘But...’ Olivia encouraged patiently.
Tullah gave her a rueful look and admitted, ‘But it was quite definitely a case of love at first sight.’
‘Oh dear,’ Olivia sympathised, ‘as bad as that?’
‘And more,’ Tullah agreed wryly, ticking points off on her fingers. ‘It’s overpriced, on the wrong side of town for work. It needs a fortune spent on it. Possibly spraying for infestation of the wood, rewiring, new plumbing—you name it. It doesn’t even have mains drainage.’
‘So what does it have?’ Olivia asked, adding helpfully, ‘It must have some plus points otherwise you wouldn’t have fallen for it.’
‘Oh, it does,’ Tullah agreed. ‘The place is surrounded by farm land. There’s the most wonderful view from upstairs of the river. It has a huge garden. It’s one of a pair of semis, the other half of which is owned by a couple of elderly widowed sisters who apparently travel a lot to Australia to visit relatives. The lane leading to it doesn’t go anywhere other than to a farmhouse that you can’t even see from my cottage.’
‘A farmhouse...’ Olivia was looking intrigued and slightly excited. ‘Where exactly is this cottage, Tullah? It sounds—’
‘It sounds horrendous, I know,’ Tullah finished for her, ‘and certainly not the sort of thing a sane, sensible, professional woman of my age should even think about buying. Even if it were a bargain, which it most certainly isn’t, it could be months before it’s even properly habitable.’
‘Well, you could always stay here,’ Olivia offered generously, and when Tullah shook her head, she asked, ‘So what did you do? Tell the agent it just wasn’t feasible?’
‘No,’ Tullah admitted with a shamefaced grin. ‘I made an offer....’
Both of them were still laughing when Caspar walked into the kitchen and, of course, just like a man, could not really comprehend the reason for their combined mirth even when Olivia had explained the situation to him.
‘Saul rang while you were out,’ he told Olivia. ‘He’s going to be a little later than planned getting here for dinner this evening, something about problems with the babysitter, but he said he’ll definitely be here for eight-thirty.’
‘That’s fine. I’ve invited Saul and Jon and Jenny round for dinner tonight,’ she explained to Tullah. ‘Which reminds me, your cottage—’ She broke off as the young retriever dog lying in its basket in front of the Aga gave a small protesting yelp as Amelia pulled its tail, gently chiding her daughter as she went to rescue the dog. ‘No, Amelia, you’re hurting Flossy. You have to be gentle with her.’
A couple of hours later as she stood in front of the pretty Victorian cheval-glass in Olivia’s best guest bedroom studying her appearance, Tullah reflected that she would much rather simply have spent the evening relaxing with Olivia and Caspar instead of having to sit down and make polite dinner-party conversation. She had met both Jon and Jenny, together with Saul before and whilst she had liked the older couple, so far as Saul was concerned...
The dress she had chosen to wear had been a sale bargain she had been coaxed into getting by her mother and sister up from Hampshire for a shopping weekend, and as she had protested at the time, she didn’t think it was really her.
Lucinda, her sister, had shaken her head in her elder sisterly way and told her to stop being silly. ‘Of course it’s you. That vanilla shade is perfect with your skin colouring and hair and the dress itself couldn’t be simpler or easier to wear. If I wasn’t so huge at the moment I’d be tempted to buy it myself.’
‘Well, you aren’t going to be pregnant for ever,’ Tullah had countered, but Lucinda had shaken her head and groaned.
‘Believe me, at this stage another three months feels like for ever, and besides, I doubt I’m ever going to be slim enough to wear anything like that again—or to have the occasion to wear it.’
The vanilla colour of the Ghost dress did suit her, Tullah was forced to admit, but she was still aware that the narrow, slender, slightly clinging effect of the silky fabric with its bias cut was not something she would ever have chosen for herself.
The dress’s round neckline was discreet enough, but the way the fabric moved, the way it clung sensuously to her curves... Fortunately she had spotted a separate jacket in the same fabric, which she had also brought with her. As she slipped it on, she acknowledged that she was going to be rather hot wearing it.
Downstairs the doorbell rang.
Pulling the jacket around her, Tullah hurried to the door and went downstairs, expecting to see Jon and Jenny standing in the hallway with Olivia. She came to an abrupt halt halfway down the stairs when she realised that the first arrival was not Olivia’s aunt and uncle but her cousin!
‘Tullah.’ Olivia’s eyes widened slightly and appreciatively as she saw her friend.
‘No matchmaking,’ Caspar had told her firmly, but really... it was such a waste....
‘You remember Saul, don’t you?’ She continued smiling from Tullah to Saul, who was standing next to her.
‘Yes,’ Tullah agreed coolly, pretending not to see the hand Saul had extended towards her and making sure that she stood on the opposite side of Olivia from him and just out of eyeshot.
‘Yes...well, Caspar’s in the dining room, Saul, if you’d like a drink. You obviously managed to sort out your babysitting problem,’ Olivia said, smiling.
‘Luckily yes,’ he agreed. ‘Since the custody case, I’m having to be a bit more careful about whom I leave them with...’
As she listened to him, Tullah was glad that neither he nor Olivia was looking at her because she knew her expression must be betraying her feelings. What kind of father exactly was Saul if it took the full weight of the legal system to compel him to ensure that his young children were left provided with a proper babysitter? One read of appalling cases
