Roo refused to budge. Her mind was evidently made up. Since there was nothing else he could do, Todd loaded the many bin bags into the car and drove off. When he’d gone, Roo unlocked the front door and said, ‘Don’t try and make me change my mind, because it’s not going to happen. Here, try this.’ She aimed the nozzle of the atomizer skywards and squished perfume into the air.
The mist fell like fine snow around Ellie’s face. The scent was divine, Mediterranean lemons in a bottle. ‘It’s your Annick Goutal.’
‘If you want it, it’s yours. Come on up, I’ve got loads more stuff upstairs.’
She wasn’t kidding. The place was full of boxes and half-filled bags. ‘You can have all my makeup,’ Roo gestured carelessly. ‘I won’t be needing it anymore.’
She was bare-faced, wearing just the dusty old T-shirt and a battered pair of jeans. Ellie said, ‘OK, this is getting too much now. You can’t give away your makeup.’
‘If you don’t want it, I’ll find someone else who does. And I’ve given up drinking too. There’s a couple of bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in the fridge, if you’d like them.’
‘Roo, you don’t have to do this.’
‘I want to. It makes me feel better. And I’ve got a job.’ She beamed. ‘I start tomorrow.’
Oh good grief. ‘What kind of a job?’
‘I’m volunteering at the charity shop on Ormond Road. The hospice place next to the travel agents.’
‘That means you’ll be standing up all day. It’ll make your feet hurt.’
‘If little old ladies can do it, I’m sure I can too.’
This was debatable; little old ladies who volunteered in charity shops tended to be made of sterner stuff than Roo. She was something of a hothouse flower.
‘Have you heard from Niall?’
‘No. I’ve blocked his number.’
‘You could be a nicer person and still see Todd, you know.’
‘Don’t keep on. Not seeing Todd is my punishment for having been bad. I deserve to be punished,’ said Roo.
‘OK, fine.’ Ellie paused. ‘Shall we go to the pub now?’
‘This isn’t funny!’ Roo took a swipe at her with a pair of gold lamé trousers. ‘No!’
‘Are you giving those to charity?’
‘Probably.’
Ellie danced out of reach. ‘Good.’
Chapter 30
‘Jamie? Are you there?’ She didn’t say it out loud, just in her head. But he heard her anyway.
‘I’m always here.’ He appeared in the living room, grinning and barefoot. ‘I’m like Lurch in The Addams Family. You rang?’
‘You’re better looking than Lurch.’ Ellie waited. ‘Which is your cue to tell me I’m looking pretty good too.’
‘You already know that. That’s my favorite dress.’
They’d spotted it three years ago in the window of a little shop in Totnes. Simply styled in slippery, matte silk, it was peacock blue with swirls of emerald green and gold handprinted around the neckline and hem. It was a beautiful dress and she’d worn it when they’d gone out to dinner on his last birthday.
‘The main reason it’s your favorite is because you discovered you could undo the zip with one hand.’
Jamie said good-naturedly, ‘Just as well I’m staying home tonight. Wouldn’t want your dress coming undone while you’re out at your fancy do with your boss.’
Ellie pumped her tube of lip gloss. ‘I hate to break it to you but you aren’t really here. Your zip-unfastening days are over.’
‘I know.’ He watched her apply a layer of gloss to her lips. ‘Is that the one that tastes of apricots?’
‘Yes.’ Ellie’s throat tightened; he used to kiss it off her, deliberately getting it all over his own mouth.
‘Don’t cry. You’ll wreck your makeup.’
Easier said than done. She threw the lip gloss into her evening bag and said, ‘I’m going now.’
‘Have fun.’ Jamie’s expression softened. ‘I mean it. I want you to enjoy yourself.’
A glitzy dinner at Claridge’s in Mayfair. What wouldn’t she give for her and Jamie to be able to spend the evening there together? OK, stop this, don’t think about it now. ‘I will. Bye.’
***
Zack wasn’t Jamie but he created quite an impression. As the taxi pulled away down Brook Street, Ellie glimpsed their reflection in the window of Vidal Sassoon opposite Claridge’s. She was looking like a better than usual version of herself and Zack, in his dark suit, was quite literally turning heads. One girl, too busy ogling him to look where she was going, slipped off the curb and almost toppled into the gutter.
Zack, not realizing why she’d stumbled, rested a protective hand in the small of Ellie’s back and said, ‘Careful, these pavements aren’t great.’ He