A smiling blonde woman came to serve her. Slightly plump, and in her mid-thirties, she looked as elegant as her window.
It didn’t take Claire long to outline her ideas, and within minutes of being shown wallpaper pattern books and swatches of fabrics, she knew that she had found someone on her own wavelength.
‘What I’d really like is for you to come out to the house,’ she confided. ‘I don’t want to employ an interior designer as such, because I want the house to reflect our own taste. I want it to be a home, not a show place, but I need advice on where I can find the right kind of decorators—you know the sort of thing.’
‘Yes, I do, and most of my clients feel the same way that you do. There is a move away from the very traditional interior design service now, to one where we work alongside the client.’ She picked up a diary. ‘I could come out on Thursday morning if that’s any good.’
‘That’s fine.’ Claire gave her directions, and left the shop feeling buoyed up with achievement.
It had occurred to her that since Jay’s craftsmen could make panelling and bookcases, they must also be able to craft kitchen units for her, and on impulse, instead of going straight home, she asked her taxi driver to call at the factory on the way.
The foreman remembered her and made her welcome. When Claire explained what she wanted, he readily agreed that it was something they could do.
‘Any work in hand would have to take precedence, of course,’ Claire acknowledged, ‘but what I had in mind was something in antique pine?’
‘You’re in luck there. Jay recently bought up some old pine doors from a demolition site. I’ll have to check with him that he doesn’t have something in mind for them, of course.
Hastily concurring with this, Claire left it that once Jay had returned, and if he was in agreement, someone could come out to the house to measure up for her kitchen.
She had already decided that in the girls’ room she would have fitted walls and cupboards built which could then be painted and decorated with stencils, and that in the guest rooms, the same simple type of built-in furniture could be marbled, dragged or sponged in a variety of paint finishes to create a very luxurious effect.
The displays in some of the shop windows reminded her that Christmas wasn’t very far away. She already had a fair idea of what both girls wanted, and she and Jay had already talked over the idea of riding lessons and then possibly a pony to share if their enthusiasm lasted.
This would be the first Christmas that she had not had to scrimp to buy Lucy even the simplest present. She glanced down at her daughter’s burnished head. Already she could see the difference in Lucy; she was a little girl who needed a masculine influence in her life, and she adored Jay. Heather, too, had blossomed, and now she chattered as happily as Lucy, as both of them drew her attention to a shop window filled with a cornucopia of childish delights.
The bright sunny day had given way to a frosty evening when they eventually got back to the house. After supper, when Claire was tidying up, the phone rang.
When she picked it up and heard Jay’s voice, she was almost too stunned to speak. They chatted for several minutes, mostly about the children, and even though she had not been expecting the call, when he eventually rang off she felt curiously bereft.
What would he be doing tonight? Would he be alone in his hotel room, or, far more likely, would he be out somewhere being wined and dined? And then afterwards, would he …?
Angry with herself, she pushed the thought away. She had no right to question the very personal side of Jay’s life. If he chose to go to bed with someone that was no concern of hers. So why was there this unpleasant little ache inside her? Shaking her head, she switched off the lights and made her way slowly upstairs. The house felt empty without him. Already she missed him; she missed his company at supper, missed hearing about his days, missed their chats by the fire after dinner.
He came back at the end of the week, and the whole house seemed to come alive. Both little girls flung themselves at him the moment he opened the door, and Claire saw in the look he gave her over their heads that he was pleased with the change in Heather.
After dinner he told her about his trip. She learned that in addition to the contract which was now due to be signed after the New Year, he had also received commissions from several of his client’s friends and from his sister.
When Claire enthused he frowned.
‘Yes, it’s good for business, but it does mean I’m going to be away quite a lot, although I hope only for the next few weeks.’
‘Well, the girls will be pleased,’ she remarked drily, ‘especially if you keep spoiling them with presents like those you brought back this time.’
The huge patchwork dolls Jay had brought back with him from Dallas were so exquisitely detailed that Claire felt they were more for just looking at than playing with, and she knew, just from the workmanship, that they must have been horrendously expensive.
‘Guilty conscience presents,’ he explained, frowning suddenly as he added, ‘which reminds me.’ He got up. ‘I won’t be a minute. Wait here.’
He was back almost immediately carrying a large manilla envelope which he gave to her.
‘Your wedding present,’ he told her quietly.
Claire opened it and took out the contents, smoothing them with suddenly tense fingers. She read through the papers once again and then again just to make sure she wasn’t making any mistakes.
‘You’re paying for the work to be done on the cottage! But it will cost thousands! Jay, you mustn’t feel you need to do that …’
‘I wanted to do it. Let’s face it, Claire, I could have offered to pay for the damage in the first place, then you wouldn’t have needed to marry me.’ He held up his hand when she would have interrupted. ‘No, I’m not implying that you married me purely for material reasons—I know how much you love Heather—but you have to admit that it was an excellent lever, and I used it deliberately. In fact, that storm couldn’t have come at a better time as far as I was concerned. If you hadn’t had to move in here, we would have had to have a long courtship, with all its attendant problems, and for selfish reasons I wanted our marriage accomplished fast. I’ve already made the mistake of trapping one woman into marriage; I wanted to give you an escape route if you ever felt you needed it. I was going to suggest that when the work is complete you let the cottage—everyone likes to have their own financial independence; it won’t bring in much, but at least it will be yours.’
His sensitivity made her want to weep. How long had it been since a man, any man, had shown her such consideration, such care?