are,’ she said hopefully. ‘And Saul only talked to you in the garden that time because Wayne had shown interest in you and he wanted to suss you out.’
‘And pigs might fly,’ I said. ‘No, I keep trying to stick my head in the sand, but it’s not really working.’
Then I looked up and said, despair suddenly welling up, ‘Oh, Treena, Ned and I’ve been getting on so well together and having such fun working in the garden! It’s just like old times, when we were at college.’
‘What, when you were just good friends?’ she said disbelievingly.
‘Well … no, perhaps we’ve grown a bit closer than that,’ I admitted. ‘But once he knows who I really am, that’s all bound to go totally pear-shaped.’
‘Maybe not. I mean, you can’t exactly help being related to the Vanes, can you?’
‘No, but if he dislikes the idea of having a distant Vane ancestor so much, then he’s hardly going to …’
‘Welcome you into the family with open arms?’ she suggested with a grin.
‘What on earth do you mean?’ I demanded. ‘As far as the Grace family tree is concerned, I’m barely a bud on the smallest twig.’
‘Oh, come on! Even Luke could see that you and Ned have fallen for each other and he’s usually totally unaware of that kind of thing.’
‘I’m sure you’re wrong and Ned only thinks of me as a good friend, and now a close ally in the restoration of the garden … and that’s fine by me. I don’t want anything else,’ I said firmly.
‘Yeah, right!’ she said.
‘And you’ve some need to talk, Treena, because you and Luke—’
‘Are in a relationship,’ she said calmly. ‘I did say we were going out together and now … well, we’ve just sort of slid into something that might turn out to be more. But it’s early days yet and I don’t want to rush into anything. He’s coming over Monday night to stay,’ she added, slightly ruining the effect of this declaration. ‘He’s decided to close the dig on Tuesdays, now he knows everything else in Jericho’s End is shut then.’
‘Good idea,’ I said, leaving it vague about which I meant – the sleepover or the closing day.
‘Some of the volunteers can only come at weekends, so it wouldn’t have been logical to have their one day off then.’
‘The full-time ones seem to work even longer hours than I do,’ I said. ‘In theory, I get Sundays off as well as Tuesdays, though I told Ned I’d give him a hand this afternoon.’
At the thought of him, all my worries came crashing down on me again. ‘Treena, what on earth am I going to do about Ned?’
‘Well, you could wait and see if the Vanes really do know who you are and threaten to tell Ned, out of spite …’
I shook my head. ‘I don’t think they would tell him because, after all, they disowned Mum when she was pregnant, so they wouldn’t want to acknowledge me, would they?’
‘So, if Saul did guess who you were, he was just warning you not to try to claim any relationship with him.’
‘Possibly – not that I ever wanted to!’
‘And if that’s so, then he’s not going to do anything else about it and you can stop worrying, can’t you?’
‘Not if Wayne knows too, and keeps dropping hints to Ned, because he’s bound to realize it’s something more than the resignation letter. It would be like carrying an unexploded bomb around with me all the time. It feels a bit like that now,’ I added. ‘Only, when I’m really happy I manage to forget it, or convince myself everything is going to be all right.’
‘There you are, then, you’ve answered your own question: you need to have it out with Ned, or it’ll always be hanging over you,’ she said firmly.
In my heart, I’d always known that would be the inescapable conclusion.
‘Yes … but things will never be the same between Ned and me again.’
‘Don’t be daft – you’ve blown it up out of all proportion. Though it might be a shock to Ned, once he’s got over that, I’m sure it won’t change how he feels about you.’
I wished I could feel as sure about that as she did. She must have seen the doubt on my face, because she added cheeringly, ‘On the bright side, it doesn’t seem like Melinda’s told Mike where you’re living now, does it? I mean, there’s been no sign of him, has there?’
‘Mike …’ I echoed vaguely.