Having a Ball (26 page)

"Just give me a minute and I'll walk you back part way," said Tom. He
pulled on a dressing gown and grabbed a towel. "Ready?"

Stevie scanned the floor for anything else that belonged to her and picked
up her shoes. "Let's hope we don't run into anyone."

* * * *

Having showered and changed into shorts and t-shirt, Stevie felt a lot
more alert. Now all she had to do was try and concentrate on the rest of her job
without letting anyone know about her and Tom. As she pulled her hair up into a
ponytail, she wondered if there
was
a "her and Tom".

After all, he'd been pretty adamant that he didn't do commitment. As far
as she knew, the night before had been a one off...assuming the morning was part
of the night before. She caught sight of her smiling face in the mirror and saw how
happy she looked.

Would it be really obvious to Evelyn and Alice that something had
happened? How bad would that be?

She had to pull herself together. This thing with Tom was probably going
to last until it was time for her to leave the house. So a couple of days, if she was
lucky. She should enjoy it for what it was and not get too attached. This was the
way he did things. He'd told her so himself.

Giving her reflection a stern glare, she set off to face the debris from the
ball.

As she approached the kitchen, she smelled bacon and suddenly realised
she was famished. Tom was already there, frying things.

"Morning," he said cheerily. "Fried breakfast?"

"Good morning. And yes, please." She tried not to look at him, in case her
face gave too much away. "Morning, Priya. Have you been here long?"

Priya and Evelyn were sitting at the end of the table, with mugs of coffee
in front of them. Evelyn was opening the donations tin.

"We old people don't need as much sleep as you do," said Evelyn. "I've
been up for hours."

"I think yesterday went really well," said Priya. "People had a really good
time."

"That was the idea," said Stevie. "I'm glad it worked out. We all put a lot of
work into it."

"Especially you," said Evelyn. "I don't think I saw you stop for one
moment."

Stevie laughed. "I did. But Lady Beryl found me and put me back to
work."

"She would." Evelyn emptied a pile of notes and coins onto the table.

"She was most concerned that Amber hadn't taken a photo of her and
Lord Grayingham" There was coffee in the machine, Stevie poured herself a mug
and sat down next to Evelyn.

"She can't help it," said Priya. "His position is pretty much all she's got.
She was Jonathan Grayingham's PA before she married him. He didn't have a
Peerage then, of course."

"Still," said Evelyn. "It wouldn't have killed her to have helped a little with
the ball."

Stevie thought of all of Lady Beryl's friends who had taken her card. "At
least she came and supported us and did door duty. That was a great help."

"Breakfast." Tom slid a plate of fried food in front of Stevie.

"Thank you." She looked up at him for the first time since coming in. He
grinned at her and placed his own plate at the seat opposite.

"Was it just me, or did that Salzburgh girl disappear with your pop star
friend?" said Evelyn.

Stevie assumed she was talking about Vienna.

For once, Tom didn't bother to correct her. He shrugged.

"Does that mean that you two aren't together anymore?" Evelyn lifted her
mug toward Tom.

"We weren't together in the first place," Tom said, with an exaggerated
display of patience. "She's a free agent. Always has been."

"Well I'm glad you're really not together now," said Evelyn. "She wasn't
good for you."

Tom rolled his eyes.

Priya was sorting out the notes from the coins. "There's a cheque in
here." She picked up a folded piece of paper.

"Oh, that's from Mr. Farrier. He said he had such a wonderful time that he
thought he'd make a small donation."

"He's the dancing man," said Evelyn.

"Oh yes. Dilan mentioned last night. He said it reminded him of some of
the Sri Lankan discos he's DJ'd for." Priya unfolded the paper and gave a little
shriek.

"What?" Evelyn grabbed the cheque out of Priya's fingers. "Oh my."

"What?" Tom and Stevie spoke at the same time.

"It's for five thousand pounds!"

"Let me see?" said Tom.

Evelyn laid the cheque in the middle of the table.

"Well, it looks genuine," Tom said, after examining it. "He hasn't signed it
'Mickey Mouse' or anything."

"He must have
really
enjoyed himself." Priya sounded dazed.
"Goodness."

"Fantastic." Stevie grinned. Since the ball had more than broken even, all
the proceeds from the charity box was pure profit. "There's some writing on the
back." She turned it over. "Please name a ward the Cherry Farrier Ward." She raised
her eyebrows. "So they really were married. I wondered if she was just the other
woman."

"Wow," said Priya. "That's rather sweet that he wants to immortalize her
in a hospital ward."

"Depends on the ward, surely," Tom said. "She might be less than
enthusiastic if it's the dysentery clinic."

* * * *

They spent the rest of the day cleaning up and putting things back in their
original places. Stevie was pleasantly surprised to find that there wasn't any
damage beyond a couple of red wine stains on the library carpet. She was on her
hands and knees attacking one of these when Alice appeared. Stevie sat back and
studied her.

The teenager looked awful. Her first real hangover, Stevie guessed. She
remembered how that felt. Coupled with the guilt of what could have happened,
Alice must be feeling like she wanted to die. Stevie felt a twinge of sympathy.

"How're you feeling?"

Alice winced. "I've been better."

"It's called a hangover," said Stevie. She bit her lip. Oh no. She sounded
just like Marsh. She'd have to put a stop to that.

Alice sank into a chair. After a moment she said, "Uncle Tom keeps
offering me fried things."

Stevie grinned. "And you don't want to eat anything?"

"No."

"It might help. Try a slice of toast."

"Maybe." She sounded doubtful.

Stevie went back to tackling the wine stains.

"Stevie," said Alice, after a while.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For being so understanding last night."

Stevie raised her eyebrows.

"I mean, you didn't tell Gran. That's...well...thank you."

"I didn't tell Evelyn because I didn't want to upset her. She had a lot
riding on this ball. I didn't do it for you, Alice."

Alice nodded, clearly miserable. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"It's called peer pressure. You need to learn to resist and stand up for
yourself."

"I know."

She looked so sad sitting huddled in the chair that Stevie felt sorry for
her. "Hey, at least you got to meet Pete."

A bit of life came back into Alice's features as she remembered that. "I
was so shy I couldn't think of anything to say. Jemmie did all the talking. Pete must
have thought I was so lame."

"Jemmie? Is that the girl who called herself Veronica?"

"Yes."

Stevie had guessed as much from the list of email and postal addresses
she'd compiled when selling the tickets. She also had a good idea about who had
sold the tickets on eBay. She would pass the information on to Evelyn. Since the
Farriers didn't appear to want to sue, there didn't seem to be any pressing need for
further action. "Are you going to stay in touch with them?"

"Well, they'll be on the forum," said Alice. "But no, I don't think I'll be
friends with them or anything." Alice stared into space.

Stevie watched her and felt as though she was witnessing an important
turning point in Alice's life. She was glad she'd been on hand to help Alice make the
correct choices.

Marsh must have felt like this all the time while she was growing up. And,
being a man, he would've had no idea about how girls' minds worked. Poor Marsh.
Stevie knew she hadn't made things easy for him. She gave the floor an extra scrub
and moved on to find the next stain.

Alice hauled herself out of the chair. "I'm going to the kitchen. For
toast."

Stevie smiled and returned to her work.

* * * *

"Well," said Evelyn. "I thought you all did such a great job with the ball,
that we should have a celebratory meal. I'll cook. And we can open one of Frank's
special wines."

"That
is
an honour," Tom muttered to Stevie. "Mum doesn't often
bother cooking for just us."

Did that mean Evelyn was a terrible cook?

He seemed to guess her concerns. "Don't get me wrong. She's a wonderful
cook. She just can't be bothered for just family."

Just family. Did that mean she was part of the family now? "If it's a family
thing, do you want me to fend for myself?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said Evelyn. "You worked so hard on this ball we
couldn't possibly leave you out. Besides, you're part of the family now,
practically."

"Oh." Stevie cast a quick glance at Tom to see how he was taking that
piece of information.

His face was thoughtful. He caught her watching him and looked
away.

She felt a small stab of disappointment. So that was it. He still thought she
was needy and looking for something permanent, while all he wanted was a
fling.

"I'll go get the wine," he said. "Any particular type?"

While he and Evelyn discussed which bottles to open, Stevie examined
her hands. Was she needy and looking for something permanent? She glanced up to
see Evelyn, who was humming and flicking through pages of a cookbook. She
thought about the house and its embracing feeling of warmth. She thought about
the idea of being here as someone who genuinely belonged, rather than someone
passing through. She would love that. In the short time that she'd been there, she'd
come to view Evelyn and Alice as more than just clients, and now Evelyn had
indicated she felt the same.

And then, there was Tom. When she'd first met him, she'd thought he was
arrogant and annoying, but eminently fanciable. In the time they'd spent preparing
for the ball, she'd seen him mellow and relax and turn into someone much more
likeable. And she genuinely cared for him. But he clearly didn't want to be tied
down. Perhaps they could be friends.

But did she really want to be one of his booty calls, like Vienna? An
involuntary sigh escaped her.

Evelyn looked up from her book. "Are you all right, Stevie?"

"Yes, I guess the long night is catching up with me." Stevie forced a smile.
"I might go have a quick lie down."

* * * *

Text from: Stevie's phone
To: Marsh's
phone
Ball went well. Lots to do today clearing up tho. Speak soon.
Hope all well with Jane + baby. S

##

Text from: Marsh's phone
To: Stevie's
phone
Glad to hear it. Jane and baby fine.

* * * *

Once dinner had been cleared away and all the dishes put in the
dishwasher, Alice and Evelyn disappeared up to their rooms, leaving Tom and
Stevie free to take their glasses of wine to the gazebo. The fairy lights were still up
and the place had a magical air about it.

Stevie leaned back and closed her eyes. The wine and good food was
making her feel lovely and mellow. "This is perfect," she murmured.

Tom reached across and stroked her cheek. "Isn't it?"

She looked over to see him smiling. "You look different from how you
were two weeks ago."

As he caressed her cheek, he never looked away from her face. "How do
you mean?"

"Well, you were grumpy and had these frown lines from having a
headache all the time." She reached across and touched his forehead. "Just
there."

He kissed her in reply. A long lingering kiss that made Stevie ache with
pleasure.

"I've wanted to do this for a long time," Tom said. He ran a playful finger
down the curve of her neck.

"Why didn't you?"

His hand stopped moving. "I wasn't sure it would be a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I thought you wanted more than I could offer." His gaze moved up to her
face. "I mean, this is lovely, but..."

Suddenly, Stevie wished she hadn't asked. He already thought she was
needy and now she'd just confirmed the impression. She shook her head and put a
finger to his lips. "This is enough," she said, and leaned in to kiss him.

If a few days were all she had with him, she might as well make the most
of it.

Dear Thomas,
We are delighted to offer you the job
as regional manager for the new Doha branch of the company. A formal
letter containing details of the offer will follow.

We look forward to working with you.
The
Directors.

##

From: Tom Blackwood

To: Olivia Gornall

I've just had an email to say I
got the Doha job! I have to wait for the formal letter etc.

##

From: Olivia Gornall Olivia Gornall

To: Tom Blackwood

Wow. That's great news. I
guess you're going to take it.
Have you told Stevie?

##

From: Tom Blackwood

To: Olivia Gornall

Not yet. I'm working up to it.

* * * *

Once the aftermath of the ball had been cleared up, Stevie had very little
reason to remain. She decided she would leave the next afternoon.

That morning she and Tom had breakfast together. Evelyn seemed to be
leaving them alone and Alice hadn't rolled out of bed yet. They sat next to each
other at the table in the kitchen, knees touching. The idea of not being able to do
this every day hurt. Stevie told herself that she should enjoy what time she had left
with him, but it didn't help.