The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,41

side of Gabe. But then, he’d been at the top of his profession and he’d earned the right.

Tightening her mouth, Setsuko added, ‘But he has been troubled for a long time. Mother says he is blind to the beauty of the world. He has lost his way.’

It sounded a little fanciful to Fiona. Gabe had become jaded and cynical. Too much success too early on.

‘Yumi. She was bad news.’

‘Why?’ Fiona asked out of politeness rather than real interest.

Setsuko’s lips twisted. ‘She’s a very famous model in Japan and she was Gabe’s muse for a long time. They had a very passionate affair and it was a little bit infamous. She was a Japanese treasure, everyone loved her and she was an icon … but to be with a foreigner … it is not always seen as a good thing by the more traditional people. My grandmother was horrified that I married an American even though his parents are Japanese. Our culture was very isolated for many years. I think Yumi liked that she shocked people, perhaps more than she liked Gabe. But he was very much in love.’ She clasped her hands behind her back and continued to walk through the garden. ‘When she suddenly married Meiko Mitoki, it was a great shock to everyone … especially Gabe. He took it badly.’

‘I can imagine,’ said Fiona, trying not to show too much prurient interest.

‘He is a flawed man but he has a good heart.’

‘Mmm, I’m not sure even he’d believe that.’

‘He feels deeply but he hides it well. When Yumi ran away to get married, she didn’t tell him. He was in love with her and he didn’t know anything about Meiko until after the wedding. It was on the news. He is very wealthy. An important businessman. It was a big story.’

‘Oh.’ Her heart clenched at the betrayal. ‘That must have been awful. Especially when it was so public. I didn’t know.’

‘He was in a very bad way for a little while. Drinking too much whisky and sake. My mother saved him.’

Fiona whipped her head around.

‘He didn’t eat. He didn’t take care of himself. Mother left him to feel sorry for himself for a while but he stayed sad for too long. She bullied him into eating. To coming to the house for meals.’ She chuckled. ‘She raised his rent so high that he had to go out and work. She stole his clothes at night so he had to put clean ones on. She filled his bottles of whisky with tea.’

Fiona laughed. ‘She sounds evil.’

‘That’s what Gabe thought; they had many big fights but he didn’t leave. I think he likes fighting. And then one day he came into the garden with her. I don’t what she said to him but after that he started living again. Going out, not getting drunk all the time, taking pictures again. That was three years ago.’

‘But he’s still in love with Yumi.’

‘He thinks he is. It’s a habit. That’s what my mother says. She never liked Yumi. My mother tries to look after him.’ Setsuko smiled. ‘She loves to take care of people. Take them under her wing. You are her new project.’

‘Don’t you mind?’ asked Fiona, thinking her own mother would be quite jealous if she heard that. Judy Hanning was very possessive of her daughter and liked to think that they were very close.

‘No, not at all. We have always had a good, strong bond,’ Setsuko sighed. ‘I wish it was like that with Mayu. She’s very … modern and outspoken. She never listens to me.’ She spread her hands out in bewildered disapproval.

‘She’s a teenager,’ said Fiona with a reassuring smile. ‘It will change. And she’s a good kid. I enjoyed her company the other day and you’d never have known that her grandmother had coerced her into taking me out for the day.’

Setsuko laughed. ‘She took you to her favourite place. I don’t think it was a particular hardship.’

‘Maybe not.’ Fiona grinned. ‘But all the same, she was good company and wouldn’t you rather she was confident and independent?’

‘I guess so. The American part of me, yes. But everything is so loud. The music, the clothes, the films. I don’t understand any of it.’

‘I’m not sure you’re supposed to. Mums and teenagers never see eye to eye. It comes later,’ said Fiona as if she knew what she was talking about. She was the last person who should be dispensing any advice on mother-daughter relationships. With a