having her sister around, you know.’
Leo’s face lit up at the mention of dinner, and Tom could see she was tempted. Not by his company, of course, but it looked like the lure of the food was proving to be irresistible.
‘Go on, Leo. I’d enjoy your company, and you’d be out of the way so Max and Ellie could have some space. If you hide somewhere in the house, Ellie will feel obliged to ask you to join them. Call them and say you’re eating with me.’
Leo clearly didn’t need asking twice, and she pulled out her phone.
‘Shit - the battery’s flat. Can I borrow yours to send Ellie and Max a message, please?’
Tom slid his phone across the worktop, and Leo picked it up and sent a quick text message to both of them. She knew her sister would still be at work, and Max would undoubtedly have his phone switched off, as he nearly always did. But they would find it eventually.
‘Let me get you a drink, as you’re staying. What would you like?’
‘Well - my tipple of choice is vodka, ice cold. But if you’ve not got that, wine is fine.’
‘Vodka coming up. It’s in the freezer, so I guess that will be cold enough for you.’
Tom grabbed a couple of glasses and poured Leo her vodka shot and a glass of red for himself. He laughed as she downed it in one, but rejected a second, pointing at the red wine instead.
‘I only ever have one shot. And only occasionally. It would be a very bad habit to get into, much as I love it. Anyway, I want to savour this food of yours, so one shot, one glass of red, and that will do thanks.’
Putting her dead phone back in her bag, Leo turned to Tom.
‘Why are all men such bastards, Tom?’ she asked.
‘Well, that’s charming,’ he said, laughing. ‘I invite you to dinner, lend you my phone, and you tell me all men are bastards. Nice.’
Leo laughed.
‘Okay, not quite all then. But so many of them are, aren’t they? I’ve been talking to somebody today, who shall remain nameless, but her husband is a brute. The things that poor woman has gone through, and the fact that she consistently lies to cover up for him is so sad.’ Leo rested her chin on her clasped hands, elbows on the worktop.
‘That’ll be Penny then, at a guess,’ Tom said, pulling his mouth into a grimace of distaste. Not for Penny, of course.
‘What makes you think that?’ Leo asked.
‘Oh come on, Leo. I saw the way he treated her. Gary’s one of those guys who states his opinion as if it’s a fact, and one that we should all agree with. Especially Penny.’
Leo looked at Tom with raised eyebrows, her head on one side.
‘Well, well. That’s very astute for a man, if you don’t mind me saying so.’
‘Does your insolence know no bounds, woman? I’m going to feed you, don’t forget - so how about deciding that I don’t fit into your stereotypical man mould and show me some respect?’ Tom gave her a stern look, and Leo grinned at him.
‘Okay - maybe not all men are toe rags. I’ll allow you to be an exception. Mind you, I allowed Max to be an exception, and now I’m not quite so sure,’ she said. Tom noticed the frown was back, and decided to be serious for a moment.
‘What’s up, Leo? What are you so worried about?’
Leo took a gulp of her wine.
‘I’m worried about Ellie. There’s stuff going on with Max at the moment that I don’t think I should tell you about, mainly because I think - or sincerely hope - that Ellie is talking rubbish. But she’s got a few things on her mind, and I thought I could help her with one of them, but it seems not.’
Tom said nothing and just moved around the kitchen getting some spicy nuts out to nibble with their drinks.
‘I told you something about my father the other day, but there’s a bit more to it. When I was about fourteen, he disappeared as he always did - but this time he didn’t come back. Ellie was distraught, although I’ve always struggled to understand why. But then Ellie always did see the best in everybody.’
Leo grabbed a handful of nuts and munched them for a moment.
‘The thing is, we’ve no idea what happened to him. Ellie’s mother said she’d had him declared dead seven years after he