The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,42

wince she crossed her fingers in her pockets. Her mother had been a nightmare when she was a teenager, even bigger on melodrama than Fiona herself had been. Fiona couldn’t remember her ever dispensing sensible guidance and advice.

‘So Gabe. Tomorrow. Where is he taking you?’

‘I have to tell him where I want to go. I have no idea what to choose but it needs to be somewhere traditional, somewhere Japanese people go.’

Setsuko gave one of her gentle smiles. ‘We shall decide over dinner.’

Chapter 10

‘You take Fiona to Meji Shrine today,’ said Haruka in a scolding voice to Gabe as he arrived the next morning for breakfast, at the same time as giving him a welcoming hug. ‘And you look like hell. You drink too much.’

He ignored the latter comment – he was a big boy, after all – instead shooting Fiona an accusing ‘what have you been saying?’ glower. Haruka was very good at making him feel like he was in the doghouse but she was the one person he couldn’t bring himself to be rude to. Or Setsuko for that matter. The latter was far too gentle and the former had a backbone of steel that he wouldn’t want to mess with, plus the fact that this had become his second home and, despite the admonishments he received from Haruka on a regular basis about the way he lived his life, he knew it was well meant and that she cared.

Fiona’s eyes widened and she held up her hands in innocence. ‘I haven’t said a word.’

No, she probably hadn’t, not intentionally, but Haruka had a way of winkling information out of you without you realising it. The woman had an uncanny talent for listening to what was said, and hearing what wasn’t said.

‘Is that where Fiona would like to go, or where you’ve decided she should go?’ he asked, knowing the tiny woman’s bossiness outweighed her stature.

Haruka smiled, serene, confident, and a trifle smug. ‘It is a very beautiful, peaceful place and I think Fiona san will enjoy it very much.’

‘We talked over dinner last night and I think it will be perfect for what I want,’ snapped Fiona and he had to bite back a smile at her quickness to defend her host and herself. Looked like someone else had fallen slave to Haruka’s indomitable will.

‘Okay, the Meji Shrine it is. Certainly a gorgeous day for it.’ The chill of early spring had receded today and the promise of summer shimmered in the warm morning air, along with bright sunshine and a clear blue sky.

Putting his shoulders back, he gave Fiona a discreetly assessing glance as she busied herself checking everything was in her camera bag. Today he was going to try to be on his best behaviour, even though a trip to the shrine was right up there on the tedious list. Seen one, seen a dozen. But he owed Haruka and while guilt wasn’t entirely the right word for how Fiona’s challenge had impacted him yesterday, he did feel a sense of obligation. In his defence, he felt it was hardly shirking his duties to take her to the top tourist spots. That was definitely part of the deal … and it wasn’t his fault he’d seen them all before a dozen times and couldn’t bear to go again. Okay, so he might have been a tad selfish in dumping her and running – he was man enough to admit that.

What he’d found more difficult to swallow and had brooded about last night over the better part of a very nice and very expensive bottle of red wine, was her apparent disappointment in him. The watchful waiting while she drank her tea, as though she expected a better version of him to appear.

Well, she was in for a long wait. This was as good as it got these days. But her disappointment had chafed at him, like a burr under his skin, and all evening her words had kept coming back to him.

Her phone beeped – a text notification, he guessed – the sound loud and discordant in the kitchen. Fiona glanced at the screen and then at her watch, frowning before shoving the phone into her back pocket.

‘Right,’ he said. ‘We’d better be off. Make hay while the sun shines and all that. Got everything?’

‘Yes,’ said Fiona, brushing the end of her thick plait over her palm, as he’d seen her do a couple of times. Her eyes were a little unfocused as if she