‘Let’s have a coffee,’ he said. ‘To tell the truth, you’re not the only one who needs time before we go back. Tonight something really weird happened.’
She waited until they were seated comfortably before saying, ‘What happened?’
‘When I was chasing after you through those confusing streets it was as though time had slipped back.’ He stopped, embarrassed. ‘No, you don’t want to hear about that.’
‘Yes, I do. Where did time slip back to?’
‘Your wedding day. When Dan jumped out of the car and ran. I went after him but he vanished into side turnings until I couldn’t see him any more. And then tonight—’
‘I did the same,’ she said with a little smile to show there were no hard feelings.
‘It was eerie—like being part of a ghost story.’
She patted his hand. ‘It’s not like you to be afraid of ghosts.’
‘I wasn’t before. I think I am now. You can be like a ghost yourself.’
‘You don’t mean you’re afraid of me?’
‘Not exactly. But sometimes I think I could be. It depends on you.’
The arrival of a waiter made them fall silent. While he poured the drinks Freya mused over his words, wondering if she had the courage to pursue them further. Sadly, she realised that she didn’t. Not yet, anyway.
When the waiter had departed she said lightly, ‘Not all ghosts are evil. Sometimes they’re friendly—like the one who’s just appeared in my life.’
There it was again he thought, the glancing reference to another man. And suddenly he couldn’t bear to be shut out of her confidence a moment longer.
‘Is it anyone I know?’ he asked.
‘Oh, yes, it’s someone you know, and when I tell you the name you won’t believe me.’
Out of sight, he drove his nails into his palm.
‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘Tell me who it is.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT,’ Freya said in a soothing voice. ‘No need to get agitated.’
She didn’t know it but there was every need. Agitation was growing in him with alarming speed. He hated her having another man, but most of all he hated his own reaction.
‘Just tell me who it is,’ he said.
‘And stop giving me orders.’
‘I’m not giving you orders. I’m pleading with you. Don’t you recognise the difference?’
‘Is there a difference? When a man says please isn’t it mostly an act, to hide the fact that he’s not giving you a choice?’
‘Is that experience talking?’
‘Yes, it is. Dan used to do it—and Amos too. I hear him talking to my mother. When he says, “Please, my dear...” there’s always a slightly ironic note that means he’s really saying, stop wasting time arguing.’
‘And of course you’ve decided that I’m tarred with the same brush as my father?’
‘Well—’
‘Come on, we’ve discussed this before, so let’s have the truth. In your eyes I’m as big a bully as he is—just a bit more cunning in how I go about it.’
‘Look, I’m sorry, I—’
‘Too late to be sorry. My Amos side has taken over. Tell me what I want to know or I’ll do something violent.’
‘Oh, yeah? Such as what?’
‘Such as this,’ he said, and stamped his foot hard on the ground. ‘Ouch!’
‘Is that the best you can manage?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ he said, pulling off his shoe and rubbing his foot.
‘Have you hurt yourself?’
‘Yes—my ankle and further up. Ouch! Ouch!’
‘I’m not surprised. You slammed it down so hard that the shock must have gone right up your leg. Here, let the nurse do her job.’
She took over, removing his sock and rubbing the foot while he breathed hard.
‘That’s better,’ he said with relief. ‘But could you go a bit harder on my ankle? Yes, like that. Ahh!’
When she’d done his ankle she moved further up his leg, massaging the calf muscle until its tension relaxed.
‘Thanks,’ he said at last. ‘I think I’ll survive now.’ He pulled on his sock and shoe, saying wryly, ‘Perhaps I’d better give violence a miss in future.’
‘Yes, you’re not very good at it, are you? I guess it just doesn’t come naturally to you.’
‘Oh, I don’t know. In the years we’ve known each other I can remember a dozen times when I’ve wanted to thump you.’
‘But you never did. Admirable self-control.’
‘Self-control, nothing. I was just scared of how hard you’d thump me back.’
‘You do me an injustice. I’m a nurse.’
‘But a nurse would know exactly where to thump to reduce me to a shivering wreck.’
‘Don’t tempt me.’
‘Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. Whatever you say, ma’am,’ he said, saluting vigorously. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘I was thinking suppose that policeman came upon us again just now.’
‘The one who thought I was attacking you?’
‘Yes. Imagine how confused he’d be.’
He joined in her laughter before saying, ‘I’d have to explain to him that Freya the goddess has all sorts of secret knowledge and skills that she keeps to herself, and that the rest of us had better be very careful. Including him.’
Freya regarded him fondly, relieved and happy that their old, jokey relationship was coming back.
‘So, do you still want me to tell you the name of the ghost whose appearance has transformed my life?’ she asked.
‘I’d kind of like to know.’
‘You’ll never believe it.’
A sudden dread struck him. ‘Oh, no! Tell me it isn’t Dan. Freya, you couldn’t—’
‘No, of course I couldn’t. It’s not Dan. It’s Cassie.’
He stared, astonished into silence. ‘What—what did you say?’
‘I said Cassie.’ Freya regarded him with her head on one side, enjoying his look of stunned bafflement.
‘Cassie? You mean Marcel’s wife? I don’t understand. How can—?’
‘Before I left London Cassie called to tell me something that will make a world of difference to me. Did you know that Amos was so set on me marrying one of you that he actually gave me a large sum of money?’
‘I heard a rumour, but I wasn’t sure. I suppose he was hoping that one of us would marry you to get our hands on it. How did he think that would make you feel?’
‘Does he worry about how people feel as long as they do what he wants?’ she asked ironically. ‘The odd thing is that he’s not an unkind man. He does care about people’s feelings—in his own way. But his way is