Loving

‘Like it?’

‘It’s lovely! I’ve never had any before.’ She flushed, wondering what on earth Jay must think of a woman of her age who had never tasted champagne, but he looked more sombre than amused.

‘You can drink it with your first course,’ he told her, ‘I’ll order wine to have with the main meal.’

‘Mummy, what’s that you’re drinking?’ Lucy demanded, and when Claire told her, she said eagerly, ‘May I have some?’

She was just about to refuse, when Jay summoned a waiter and said something to him. Within seconds he returned and put down two glasses of fresh orange juice, to which he added a very small amount of champagne before handing them to the girls.

Watching Lucy’s beatific expression as she sipped her drink, Claire could only marvel at how much Jay had enriched their lives already.

‘You’re spoiling them. You’re spoiling all of us,’ she remonstrated.

‘A little bit of spoiling once in a while never did anyone any harm.’

It was mid-afternoon before they left the restaurant. Claire had eaten caviare, and truffles, and vegetables so perfectly fresh that the flavour had been indescribable. It was a meal she would never forget, even if it had not marked their wedding ceremony, and she shuddered to think how much it had all cost.

‘Feel like a quick trip round the factory before we go back to the hotel, or would you prefer to go straight back?’

‘I’d like to see round the factory,’ Claire told him eagerly. The more she saw of Jay’s work, the more eager she was to see how it was produced.

Jay’s factory was situated in a purpose-built modern building on the edge of an industrial estate. His small work-force treated Claire deferentially but with reserve until they realised that she was genuinely interested in their work, and then it was as though the floodgates had opened.

These were craftsmen, Claire realised, listening to them—men who took a pride in what they were doing, and who believed that what they were creating today would be the heirlooms of tomorrow.

‘You haven’t forgotten that you’re taking us to the zoo tomorrow, Mummy, have you?’ demanded Lucy sleepily later on that evening after she and Heather had been put to bed.

They had all dined together in the suite, and then they had watched television together.

At first Claire had felt uncomfortably aware of her changed status, but Jay’s manner towards her was so calm and matter-of-fact that her tension had gradually gone. Now she felt pleasantly tired.

‘I don’t know about you, but I feel that an early night is in order,’ he remarked easily when she went back into the sitting-room.

‘I agree, especially bearing in mind tomorrow’s trip to the zoo!’

Jay had stood up as she walked into the room, but he made no move towards her as she walked across to her own bedroom.

‘I’ll say goodnight, then,’ she said gravely, pausing outside it.

‘Yes. Sleep well.’

So now she was married, Claire thought flatly as she closed her bedroom door behind her. What was Jay thinking right now? Was he comparing tonight to his first wedding night—comparing her to Susie?

Stop it, she chided herself. Jay married you because he doesn’t want another relationship like the one he had with Susie.

THEY HAD A FORTNIGHT of relatively uninterrupted peace, with Jay commuting daily to the factory, and then he came home one night and announced that he had to go back to the States.

‘Apparently there are a couple of points in the contract they want to discuss. I shouldn’t be gone for too long. I might even pick up some additional bu

siness! Apparently my client’s sister wants to talk to me about remodelling her indoor swimming pool and its surroundings, using our stuff. If all goes well I ought to be back by the end of the week.’

They all went with him to the airport to see him off, and then Claire got a taxi back to Bath. With nearly a whole day to spare, she was determined to make a start on her plans for the house.

The blue and terracotta colour scheme at the hotel had fired her imagination, and already she had a few tentative ideas of what she wanted to do, but first she needed to find someone to help her, and she remembered seeing a small shop in Bath which had advertised an interior design service.

She found it easily enough and paused outside to admire the window. A bolt of material was draped carelessly over a single chair; an arrangement of toning dried flowers displayed next to it on a pastel-toned kilim rug.

Feeling slightly apprehensive, Claire went inside, warning Lucy and Heather not to touch anything.

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