if I take these to a mate of mine in London who works at Christie’s? I promise I’ll return them,’ said Ivo.
‘Sure,’ said Merritt easily. ‘Take as many as you like. I hate to disappoint you but they’re not worth anything,’ he said, laughing at Ivo’s enthusiasm.
Ivo said nothing. Instead he asked to borrow Merritt’s car, which he agreed to. Merritt liked Ivo the more he spent time with him. He was funny, self-deprecating, wicked and clearly in love with Kitty. He knew little about him as he spoke in circles when he mentioned his family, except to mention he was a huge disappointment to his father. Merritt understood that, remembering his own father’s anger at his divorce from Eliza.
Ivo was well read and well bred, thought Merritt, but he didn’t wear it like a badge of honour. He genuinely liked learning new things and he was clever, Merritt noticed. He had a gift for languages; he spoke three apart from English: French, Italian and a smattering of Russian.
‘It’s how I used to order my hookers,’ he explained to Merritt when he asked why he learned Russian.
‘What about Italian?’ asked Merritt, shocked.
‘I use it for the ladies only; and I like to order in French just to piss the waiters off in Paris,’ he said, and Merritt laughed. There was so much about Ivo he didn’t know, but he figured it was none of his business. At least not while he was the dumped boyfriend of his sister.
Ivo piled up the car with as many paintings as he could fit into the back seat and the boot, and he drove off towards London with a toot of Merritt’s car’s horn.
Dialling his phone, he pressed it up to his ear as he drove.
‘Henry? Ivo. No I don’t want to stay, relax mate. Listen, you sitting down? I think I’ve found a ghost. I’ve found the ghost of George Middlemist.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Willow sat with her lawyer in the mediation rooms. Kerr’s lawyer sat opposite.
‘I’m not prepared to wait any longer,’ the mediator said. ‘Since Kerr Bannerman has missed this second appointment, I will give temporary custody to the children’s mother, Willow Carruthers. If your client deems it fit to grace us with his presence and argue for his existence in the children’s lives, then please do keep us informed,’ said the mediator, standing up. A formidable woman. Willow felt afraid for Kerr’s sake, if he did ever front up.
Kerr’s lawyer sat down wearily in the chair after the mediator had left. ‘Do you know where he is?’ she asked Willow.
‘No idea,’ she said honestly. Kerr’s disappearance was not unusual, and she knew he was fine. He was too arrogant not to be. Even though the banks were pursuing him and his record label kept calling Willow for his whereabouts, he refused to show his face. She wondered where he was. He clearly didn’t need the money from her now, she thought, as her lawyer turned to speak to her.
‘So you’re a single mother in the eyes of the law now.’ She smiled at her client.
‘I always have been, in my own eyes,’ she said, and this time it was really true. She was up early every morning now, caring for her children, tending to the scrapes and the struggles; but mostly she was getting to know them.
She knew now that Poppy liked boiled eggs but not scrambled and that she wanted to be a puppy doctor when she was grown up; she knew her favourite story was Madeline and the Bad Hat, because she read it to her every night before bed.
She knew Jinty rubbed her dummies on her face when she was tired, and liked both her teddies in her cot before she would sleep. She liked the sound of the birds in the courtyard, and she ate the dog’s dried food at least twice before Willow realised.
But the most special pleasure she had was in watching Lucian emerge from his silent, anxious world.
Willow was diligent with the exercises, and kindergarten had helped. His sounds were coming and his confidence was growing. She didn’t know whether to scold him or praise him when he snatched the crayons off Poppy one morning, causing Poppy to burst into tears with shock at her brother standing up for himself.
Willow had known that Kerr wouldn’t show up to mediation. Another month had passed since the first scheduled visit and Kerr had obviously found a source of wealth more valuable than Willow’s paltry stream.
At least, it was