A French Affair (4 page)

‘Aunt Rainey was a little bit crazy,’ said Gina eventually. ‘Wasn’t she?’

‘Well, she was pretty eccentric,’ said Matthew. ‘But she did very well and was a real asset to the centre. She was an erratic buyer but she always found interesting things. People came in regularly to see what she’d got her hands on.’

‘But how exactly does an antiques centre works? There didn’t seem to be many people around when we came the other day,’ said Sally.

‘It’s not like a department store with every stall manned. Owners rent space and take it in turns to man the centre. We always have two people on duty, but sometimes people come in to check their stock. We have about ten traders in the French House in total.’

‘So why aren’t they there all the time?’ asked Sally. ‘You’d think it would be easier to sell your own things if you’re actually there.’

‘Dealers have to buy stock, restore it possibly, and most of them have stock in other centres too. It may seem odd if you’re used to ordinary shops but it works perfectly well,’ said Matthew. He was back to perching on the edge of the sofa, frowning at them both.

‘I don’t think we can do this,’ said Sally, having thought about it for all of thirty seconds. ‘We know nothing about antiques and I don’t imagine it’s something you can just pick up.’

Matthew made a noise which sounded as if he was about to agree but Gina interrupted.

‘I disagree,’ she said. ‘I think we should give it a go. I certainly need the extra inheritance, and you do too, Sally.’

Sally looked at Gina in amazement. ‘Sorry? Run that by me again?’

Gina felt herself flush slightly. Generally she was the sensible sister and for her to support this mad idea was very out of character. However, whilst Sally had been asking Matthew questions, she’d been thinking about Aunt Rainey’s letter. She obviously wanted them to take over her stall – she wouldn’t have written specifically to say so if she hadn’t. She might have been eccentric but she wasn’t an idiot. And for some reason she was determined that they work with this rather difficult man – who was obviously reluctant to have her and Sally inflicted on him. But she wouldn’t be daunted. ‘I just think we shouldn’t dismiss it out of hand,’ she said quietly but firmly.

Sally frowned. ‘I’m sure we could get the will changed – convince the lawyers she wasn’t of sound mind or something. And it can’t be a lot of money, can it?’

‘I wouldn’t have thought it would be enough to worth wasting it on trying to get the will changed,’ said Matthew. He shrugged. ‘I don’t suppose anyone would know if I just sold her stock for you. No need for you two to get involved.’

There was another long silence before Gina said, ‘That would be cheating.’

‘Yes,’ said Sally. ‘I’m not as law-abiding as Gina, but if Rainey went to all this trouble to get us involved, then that’s what she wanted. We can’t just go against her wishes.’

Gina sensed her sister, in one of her characteristically lightning changes of mood, was coming round to the idea.

Matthew sighed. ‘The antiques business is not exactly thriving at the moment. It will be very tough to make any money and there’s a lot to learn.’

‘I’m sure. But we’re quite capable of learning new things,’ said Gina, wondering why she was suddenly so determined to take on another challenge.

‘I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t,’ said Matthew. ‘I’m just trying to think what’s best.’

‘Look,’ said Gina, ‘I do understand how daunting it must be for you. We’re two strangers and our dead aunt wants you to teach us what you’ve probably spent your life learning. I do completely get that you don’t want to take it on.’ She paused. ‘On the other hand, if you could find it in you to do that, we would try our very, very best to make a go of it.’

There was another agonisingly long silence. ‘I don’t want to seem obstructive,’ Matthew said at last, ‘I just don’t want you going into this whole business thinking it’s going to be like it is on
Bargain Hunt
or whatever, when it’s a lot more mundane than that.’

‘But?’ prompted Sally, helping herself to crisps.

‘Well,’ said Matthew, almost as if the words were hurting as they came out, ‘although I wasn’t related to Rainey, she was very good to me. When my father died a couple of years ago, she was a rock. If this is what she wanted, and you really are up for a lot of hard work and disappointment, I will take you on.’

Gina let out a long breath. She could tell it had been a big effort for him – and why wouldn’t it be? Why would Matthew want to take two sisters he knew very little about under his wing when he was obviously a serious type of person, who took his business very seriously too? But they could be serious too, especially Gina. ‘That’s very, very kind.’

‘We’ll try really hard not to let you down,’ said Sally.

Matthew looked down at Oscar and rubbed him at the
base of his tail with his foot. Then he sighed. ‘I miss Rainey. She wasn’t like a mother to me or anything like that but she stopped me getting too gloomy. She encouraged me to get Oscar although everyone else said I’d be mad to get such a big dog. But it was the right decision. If she wants me to do this, then I owe it to her to carry out her wishes. She was very wise.’

It was a long speech for someone who didn’t seem in the habit of making long speeches. The room was very still. A log shifted in the grate and Oscar groaned in his sleep.

‘Then let’s drink to our new partnership,’ said Gina, raising her glass.

‘Yes. Here’s to us,’ said Sally.

‘To us,’ said Matthew more quietly. He was obviously still getting used to the notion.

They all clinked and then Sally said, ‘We’re like the Three Musketeers!’

‘Are we?’ said Matthew, looking puzzled.

‘Well, not really—’ began Gina.

‘Oh, OK, we’re not going to have sword fights or anything but there are three of us,’ said Sally. ‘And Oscar can be D’Artagnan. He was a dog.’

Gina was used to her sister coming across as slightly dotty and stole a glance at Matthew. He might pull out of the arrangement or condemn Sally as a complete idiot.

‘Oh, I remember. Dogtanian.’ he said. ‘On children’s telly?’

‘That’s it,’ said Sally. ‘I knew dogs had something to do with it.
The Muskahounds
.’

‘Right,’ said Gina, getting up and adding another log to the fire, patting Oscar at the same time. ‘Now, what’s the first step in our new adventure?’

‘You’ll need to come over to the centre and we’ll see what stock Rainey left. I’ll find you some space and we’ll see how you get on,’ said Matthew. Whilst not sounding exactly enthusiastic he did seem serious about helping them. ‘What usually happens is that the dealers rent space – an area or a cabinet, depending on what they deal in – and then serve in the centre to pay rent. If you’re really good at selling’ – he directed this at Sally – ‘you could do more hours.’

‘I am really good at selling,’ she said bluntly, ‘but I’m terribly short of time, what with the twins and all that. I’ll do what I can though. I’d enjoy it,’ she added a little wistfully.

Gina was aware that her sister, who loved being a mother, sometimes felt the lack of another life. ‘I’ll help out whenever I can,’ she said, glancing at Sally and then Matthew. ‘I’m used to doing pitches so I expect I can sell too. But what worries me is I’ll have absolutely no idea what I’m selling.’

‘I’ll have to give you a crash course – both of you,’ said Matthew.

‘What’s the best way to learn?’ asked Gina, who liked to do things properly.

‘By doing it,’ said Matthew. ‘There isn’t a correspondence course – well, there probably is – but if you’re going to deal and not just collect, you have to learn by doing.’

Sally got up. ‘More wine? Or should I make some tea?’

‘No thank you, nothing more for me,’ said Matthew. ‘I’ve got an antiques fair to go to very early tomorrow morning.’ As he got to his feet, so did Oscar, causing Sally to step back a bit but not actually jump on to her chair.

‘I should go too,’ she said. ‘My girls wake horribly early.’

Gina smiled. ‘It seems I’m the only one not getting up at dawn.’ She stretched a little. ‘I’m going to feel very smug tomorrow.’

Matthew raised his eyebrows. ‘I think you should come with me to the fair. I’ll pick you up at six thirty. We need to be there by seven.’

This was like a verbal bucket of cold water. Gina opened her mouth to give him all the reasons why this was a totally unreasonable suggestion but there were so many, she didn’t know where to start and so she shut it again.

‘Absolutely,’ said Sally excitedly. ‘We should make a start on this straightaway.’

‘But we haven’t seen what Rainey has already,’ Gina pointed out, having at last thought of a sensible objection.

‘She had very eclectic tastes,’ said Matthew. ‘I’ll steer you away from anything too radical. And bring cash if you can, or we can stop at a cashpoint on the way. You don’t have to buy anything; it would just help you get your eye in. But this is a good local market, not too big. The perfect place to start.’

Gina clung to her wineglass for support. ‘I just think we should feel our way into this a little and not go on a buying trip before we’ve even seen the centre properly.’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, stop being so sensible,’ said Sally. ‘Golly, if I could go off on a spending spree to a market I’d be ecstatic.’

‘To an antiques market?’ Gina demanded, not convinced.

‘Well, I’d rather it was fabric or paint or stuff like that, but I’d go like a shot. Really, Gina if we’re doing this, we should get on and do it.’

Gina reached out for Oscar’s head, which was level with her chin, and rubbed it thoughtfully.

‘I’ll pick you up at six thirty tomorrow morning,’ Matthew repeated as he nudged Oscar towards the front door. There was a firmness about him that made Gina feel that arguing would be pointless.

Gina closed the door behind him and then confronted her sister.

‘I never guessed that was going to happen,’ said Sally.

Gina bit her lip. ‘It is a bit of a shock. But a good shock, I think. I feel weirdly positive about it, as if it’s the right thing to do.’ She looked at Sally, suddenly guilty. ‘Is it all right with you?’

Sally shrugged. ‘Well, my gut reaction wasn’t positive, but I’m up for anything that gets me away from my lovely girls, just for a little bit. And you never know, we might make that profit and get that little bit of extra money Aunt Rainey promised us.’

And with that she flung her scarf round her neck, grabbed her bag, blew a kiss at her sister and was gone.

PRIDE MEANT THAT
Gina was up, washed and dressed when Matthew knocked on her cottage door the next morning, but with her toast and marmalade clasped uneaten in her hand and her coffee cooling on the side she could barely bring herself to smile. Only her professional PR-girl grit made it possible.

‘Hi. Time for a cup of coffee before we go?’ she said, trying not to sound desperate.

Matthew shook his head. ‘No. Come on.’

Figuring he wasn’t a morning person either, she slung her bag over her shoulder, picked up the coffee and followed him to his beaten-up old Volvo. The seats were all down at the back, presumably to leave room for a substantial chest of drawers or small dresser should he need it. No large furry face looked out at her.

‘No Oscar?’

‘Jenny’s minding him. I need the space.’

They got in and buckled up. He gave her an inscrutable look.

‘Do you always take your coffee with you when you travel?’ he asked.

‘Only if I’m not driving. I never drink and drive.’

He didn’t respond to her joke and she decided it wasn’t really all that funny. But she felt there was absolutely nothing wrong in taking one’s coffee with one, if one hadn’t been given time to drink it.

‘How far are we going?’ she asked a bit later. She’d finished her breakfast and, having buried her dirty mug in her handbag, was now trying to get marmalade off her fingers by wiping them on her scarf.

‘Not far. And there’s a public loo near so you can wash your hands.’

She chuckled. ‘I hate having sticky fingers. I would have put something else on my toast only I couldn’t find anything.’

‘Are you settled in properly now?’

‘No. It’ll take me ages but I’ve got my work stuff sorted.’

‘What is it you do again?’

Gina paused for a second before replying. People – people like Matthew Ballinger, who even on very brief acquaintance she knew to be old-fashioned and a bit stuck in the past – were often very sniffy about public relations.

‘I’m in PR,’ she said brightly.

‘Which is?’

His comment was non-committal but Gina knew she had been right. She took a breath and gave him the answer she always gave people who thought PR was a waste of time and money. ‘I help people promote their businesses so they do better, employ more people and thus keep the economy going.’

There was a moment’s silence before he said, ‘I see.’

Gina sighed. He obviously didn’t. He clearly disapproved
of PR. He probably disapproved of a lot of recent inventions like social networking, the internet, Google, which was probably why he dealt in things that were at least a hundred years old. Then some imp made her decide to enlighten him. ‘I expect the antiques centre could do with some PR.’

He gave her a horrified glance. ‘We do not. We manage perfectly well without it.’

‘Really? You said business wasn’t very good at the moment. Maybe you need a bit of help?’

‘Not that kind of help, thank you.’

‘Well, if you change your mind, you know where I live.’

‘Indeed.’

They drove the rest of the way without speaking. It wasn’t exactly a companionable silence but it suited Gina. She watched the countryside flow past as they sped along.

After about forty minutes, they entered a large market town and Matthew parked the Volvo in the municipal car park and pointed the way to the Ladies. ‘I’ll wait for you,’ he said.

The Ladies was surprisingly clean and Gina was glad of a moment to freshen up before facing the unknown.

‘Just follow my lead,’ Matthew said as she rejoined him. He guided her through a passage where a bakery and a pub kept their dustbins.