‘The gardens are looking impeccable. Who’s the gardener then? You?’ Leo asked.
Although she laughed, Penny’s voice was shaky.
‘Me? No, I’m afraid not. Gary likes it to be perfect, and I don’t get my lines right. The house is my domain. I seem to do better at keeping the curtains straight than I do the lawn edging. And I like making curtains and cushions - especially if they’re a bit complicated and I have to think about it.’
Leo looked through the wide opening from the kitchen to the dining end of the long through lounge, and could see exactly what Penny meant. Every peach and cream curtain and cushion had some sort of frill attached.
‘Well. I’m glad I managed to catch you on your own. You mentioned on Saturday that you might be interested in finding out a bit more about life coaching, so if you’ve got time for a chat now I can tell you all about it and you can decide if you’d like a session.’
The tin of tea bags clattered onto the worktop and Penny cast a nervous glance at Leo.
‘I’m sorry, Leo, but that won’t be necessary. I think it was the wine talking on Saturday. Gary was ever so cross. He said I’d given everybody the impression that there must be something wrong with my life - and of course there isn’t.’
Leo wasn’t at all surprised by this. ‘Where is Gary today? If he was here, I’d be happy to tell you both about it and put his mind at rest. It’s not about anything being wrong - it’s about what you could do to make life even better.’
‘He’s gone to take the Porsche back. I think it was supposed to go back yesterday - the three days were up. But he couldn’t bear to part with it. He’s very fond of nice things, is Gary.’
Penny splashed the milk into the saucer of her cup as she poured it.
‘Oh dear. I didn’t mean that to sound judgemental. He works so hard, he deserves the best of everything.’
Penny attempted an apologetic laugh as she cleaned up the spilt milk, but Leo could hear the quiver in her voice. The two women picked up their cups of tea and made their way out onto the terrace to sit at a small wooden table. It was a real sun trap, and perspiration gathered quickly on Penny’s top lip and forehead.
‘You know,’ Leo continued, ‘I get it that Gary doesn’t want you to talk to me, but it doesn’t need to be a proper session. We can just chat. And it’s not about finding fault with relationships. It’s about identifying where you want your life to go, and making sure that you’re both heading in the same direction. It’s really not about tearing things down. It’s more about building them up.’
Penny hadn’t lifted her head, and Leo wasn’t surprised to see a tear trickling down her face. Reaching into her handbag, she grabbed a clean tissue from the pack she always kept handy, and passed one across the table.
‘There you go, use that. And Penny,’ she said very gently, ‘you can take your glasses off. I know you’ve got a black eye - I can see the bruising below. It’s okay.’
Penny started to weep in earnest, knowing that her secret was out. But still she tried to deny what Leo knew was the truth.
‘I fell. It was a silly accident, and I caught my eye.’
Leo had been through this with other women so many times, and it never failed to infuriate her that somehow the victims were always the ones who felt impelled to lie. She would love to be able to give Penny a hug now, but she didn’t know how. Her own upbringing had seen to that.
These situations usually followed the same pattern though. The hardest thing of all was admitting that something was actually wrong; that you were allowing yourself - because that’s how it felt - to be mistreated. Once the floodgates were opened and the irrational sense of guilt and shame removed, she knew that Penny wouldn’t be able to stop and she hoped that Gary didn’t get home too soon.
The first thing that Leo had to do was to help Penny to admit the truth. It was a bit like lancing a boil - make the first incision and watch all the nasty stuff come oozing out.
‘Penny, I know that Gary hurts you. I know it - I’m