Leo rang the bell and waited. Nothing. Not a sound from inside the house. But there was somebody there, she was sure of it. She rang again, but still nothing. How weird. Maybe Penny hadn’t seen her approaching the house, and had gone out into the back garden. Leo decided to walk round the side of the house and see if Penny was there. Lifting the latch on the gate to the back garden, Leo called out softly not wanting to startle Penny if she hadn’t heard the doorbell.
‘Penny, it’s Leo. Are you there?’
She made her way through the gate from the drive to the rear of the house. But the back garden was empty. This area was neatly and precisely arranged too, but fortunately not with symmetrical rows of annuals. Here there were beds of perfectly pruned roses interspersed with lavender. In one corner stood a small stone statue of a lady, emptying water onto some white pebbles. The perfect water feature, Leo thought with a smile. Against the fence was a large wooden slatted kennel, with its own two patches of neat and tidy grass, edged with a low hedge. Even the dog, it would appear, needed pristine surroundings.
Leo didn’t want to appear nosey by peering through the window, but as she approached the sliding patio doors which led through to the lounge, she was shocked to see Penny crouching behind a sofa, trying to hide from whoever had arrived at the front door. How awful. Penny clearly didn’t want visitors, and Leo had no desire to force herself on anybody. She needed to get away before Penny saw her.
The decision was taken out of her hands as Penny and Gary’s elderly and partially deaf Jack Russell became aware of her presence and trotted across the lawn starting to yap - a shrill, piercing noise which had driven Max to issue threats to strangle the dog on more than one occasion. Leo bent down, facing away from the window.
‘Hello, Smudge. How’re you doing, old man?’ She knew Penny would have heard, but by focusing on Smudge Leo was giving her time to get up from behind the sofa and they could at least pretend that this was all perfectly normal.
The patio door slid open, and Leo could hear Penny’s timid voice but couldn’t see her.
‘Leo - what a surprise. Give me a moment and I’ll be with you.’
Leo waited patiently outside, scratching Smudge on his fat tummy as he lay on the floor with all four legs in the air.
‘Not too old for a tickle then, are you Smudge,’ she said with a smile. She heard Penny’s feet thudding up the stairs through the open doorway, and wondered what was going on. Sadly she wasn’t surprised when Penny reappeared wearing a cardigan that she hadn’t had on before, and sporting a pair of large sunglasses. But not quite large enough.
‘Sorry to keep you, Leo. I thought as it’s such a nice day we could sit outside. Would you like some coffee or tea?’
Leo didn’t want either, but she needed to help Penny get past this difficult moment.
‘I’d love a cup of tea, Penny. Thanks. I’ll come and talk to you while you make it, shall I?’
‘No need,’ Penny answered in a breezy voice.
‘It’s no problem - Smudge has had my undivided attention for five minutes, so I’ll come in with you.’
Penny had managed to avoid looking directly at Leo, keeping her head down to look at Smudge, and now in the kitchen she had her back turned as she prepared the tea. But the sunglasses had stayed on, even in the dark kitchen. Leo felt anger well up inside her, but knew that it wouldn’t be appropriate to voice her feelings.
‘Are the girls not at home today?’
Penny gave a jerky shake of the head.
‘Gary took them to his mother’s and he’s left them there for a week. We were all supposed to be going on holiday, but Gary was concerned about a big project that’s coming up. Even though he’s off work on annual leave, he wants to be available. He says it’s not something that will wait.’
Leo’s face remained blank. Gary had never struck her as so diligent in his job that he would cancel a holiday, but it probably wasn’t a good idea to say so. She wondered whether he had made that decision before or after his wife had taken to wearing sunglasses in the house. What a bastard. She