Design For Loving (4 page)

‘
You’re an uncle?’ Katie could not hide her surprise.

Lyall
looked amused. ‘Yes, is that so improbable?’ He turned to the others.

‘
Katie seems to think I came down in a flying saucer on the village green and sent Jack away in my place!’

They
laughed at this and Katie coloured furiously. ‘Looking it at from my angle, is it any wonder that I’m so sceptical? I go off for a couple of weeks holiday, leaving Jack in charge and I return to find he’s gone, Aunt Alice is away and you’re here instead.’

‘
But I would have been here whether Alice Mason and Jack had gone away or not,’ he pointed out reasonably.

Dylan
carved more meat and offered it to them. When their plates were replenished, he asked casually, ‘So what made you choose this neck of the woods to live in, Lyall? Why Lyndhurst?’

‘
Ostensibly, because I felt like a change from city life. Before going to Australia, I did freelance graphics mainly in advertising, but the company I did most of my work for has been taken over and the new people have brought most of their staff with them. Fortunately, I’ve still got a number of other contacts, but I fancied diversifying and so, when I learnt about Katie’s business enterprise, it seemed a golden opportunity to take up my other great interest
—
ceramics.’

Faye
cleared the plates and, a few moments later, returned with a sumptuous-looking tiramisu and some apricot tartlets.

Katie
studied Lyall as he shared a joke with Dylan. If her friends were prepared to accept him, then why couldn’t she?

‘
I’ve told Katie I’ve got a proposition to put to her,’ Faye said.

Katie
wished Faye would not be so open about everything in front of Lyall.

She
still couldn’t help thinking that, somehow, there was a connection between Lyall’s arrival in Lyndhurst and Jack’s sudden departure. She looked up to find three pairs of eyes watching her expectantly and said brightly, ‘This dessert is wonderful, Faye. OK, fire away, I’m intrigued.’

‘
Dylan and I have been discussing the situation and we’d like to help if we can, at least in the short term, while you’re going through such a rough patch. So how would it be if we waived the rent on the workshop, with the proviso that we take a commission on all sales for the time-being, rather than just what we sell in the shop?’

Not
for the first time, Faye and Dylan’s generosity took her breath away. She was so fortunate to have such good friends.

She
swallowed. ‘That’s a very generous offer, Faye, but I feel it’s only fair to point out that Lyall has already offered to put some money into the business.’

‘
I know, he’s told us. That needn’t make any difference. We just want to see the business expanding, not disappearing like Jack. After all, from a purely selfish motive, we’ve got a vested interest, because we can sell your jewellery over and over again in our shop, as you well know.’

Something
occurred to Katie, and she felt she had to voice her thoughts. ‘So what if Jack decides to come back?’

There
were startled looks all around the table. ‘Jack’s gone, Katie,’ Dylan said gently, ‘and the sooner you accept that fact and get on without him the better.’

Without
telling them about the e-mail and letter she had received, she couldn’t make them understand and, for the time being, she thought it would be more prudent to keep that piece of information to herself.

‘
All the same, just supposing he straightened himself out and did manage to return to pay off his debts. What then?’

‘
I’d assume you’d contact the police, if he had the gall to show up here. Katie, surely you wouldn’t take him back?’

‘
Until he’s had a chance to explain then I’m not prepared to judge him. I’ve known Jack for the best part of a year and, during that time, he’s been a good friend and colleague, as I’m sure Shelley will testify.’

Faye
could see that her friend was more upset than she had admitted at Jack’s disappearance and, always the peacemaker, said soothingly, ‘Well, we’ll just have to see what transpires, but I wouldn’t hold your breath, if I were you, love.’

There
was a silence and then Dylan got up to fetch the coffee. They moved into the sitting room and Lyall came to sit beside Katie on the sofa. She inched away from him, determined not to lose her head just because he had good looks.

They
spent the rest of the evening talking about general issues concerned with the village and, presently, Katie got up to leave.

‘
I’ll walk you home,’ Lyall offered.

‘
There’s no need,’ she assured him and intercepted a puzzled look from Faye.

‘
Oh, but there most certainly is. I wouldn’t allow you to walk off in the dark when I live practically next door.’

Reluctantly
she agreed, then thanked Faye and Dylan for a lovely meal and set off beside Lyall. The path was dimly lit and, as they crossed the narrow lane, he took hold of her arm and she felt as if his fingers were burning into her flesh. Having seen her into the cottage, he muttered goodbye and disappeared into the darkness and she realised that she had enjoyed the evening more than she cared to admit.

The next morning, Katie decided to make an early start at the workshop. To her surprise, she found Lyall already there, hard at work. He looked up and grinned. ‘Great minds think alike, eh? Coffee’s on.’

For
a time they worked in companionable silence. Her silver jewellery required a lot of concentration. At present, she was engrossed in chasing putting a simple line decoration on a bracelet.

Lyall
said, ‘I’m going for a leg stretch. I won’t be long and then we’ll have coffee. By the way, where’s Shelley this morning?’

Katie
explained about Shelley supplementing her income by working in the local pub in the evenings and often having to do chores for her family before setting out in the morning. He left the workshop to return a few minutes later clutching a bulging carrier bag.

‘
Croissants. Dylan’s heated them up for us. I only had a scratch breakfast and suspect you did, too. We could do with a microwave in here.’

Shelley
put in an appearance just then and, over coffee and croissants, Lyall said, ‘We really need to talk, guys, about this venture of ours. It’s necessary to see if it’s all going to come together, isn’t it?’

‘
Oh, it’ll all be all right on the night,’

K
atie assured him, sounding more confident than she felt.

‘
Hmm, but I still think we need a proper plan,’ he insisted. ‘What’s your opinion on this, Shelley?’

Shelley
seemed surprised that he had asked her. ‘Me? Oh, I’m happy to leave the decision making to you and Katie. I just want to get on with making my jewellery.’ And with this remark, she got up and went into the back room.

As
Lyall came to stand beside her, Katie smelt the fresh fragrance of his cologne, a mixture of musky woodland scents, and she suddenly had an irresistible urge to reach out and touch him and wondered if he were aware of the magnetism too.

As
if reading her thoughts, his hazel eyes met her topaz blue ones and he gave her a devastating smile. Just then Shelley returned and the moment was gone.

They
spent the next twenty minutes discussing the layout for the exhibition. Katie had to admit that Lyall was so full of ideas that he fired them with enthusiasm and spurred them into action so that, by the end of the day, they had made great headway and things were certainly beginning to look up.

* * *

Katie was in the middle of supper when the phone rang. When she picked up the receiver there was silence.

‘
Who is this?’ she asked irritated.

She
was just about to slam it down when Jack’s voice said, ‘Katie, it’s me. Are you alone?’

Relief
flooded through her. ‘Jack, thank goodness! What on earth’s going on? And where are you?’

‘
In a call box. I haven’t much change.’

‘
Then give me the number, I’ll call you back.’

‘
No. It’s best you don’t know where I am. I’m in big trouble, Katie, and just needed to get away, but I didn’t want to leave without saying I’m sorry for what’s happened.’

‘
And so you should be! We trusted you, Jack and you stole from us, there’s no other word for it! I just can’t believe the way you’ve behaved. You’d better have a good explanation.’

‘
Please, Katie, one day I promise I’ll repay you, just trust me.’

‘
I don’t know if I can. You’ve let Shelley and I down very badly, Jack, disappearing like that with the exhibition such a short way away. Return everything and then we can talk.’

There
was a silence and then he said, ‘I only wish I could, Katie, but I’m afraid that’s not possible. I don’t have the things anymore.’

She
was exasperated. ‘What d’you mean? What have you done with our exhibits and the money from our account?’

There
was a pause and then he said, ‘I was in debt, Katie.’

‘
So you robbed us in order to pay off your creditors!’ She was incensed. ‘I don’t believe this! How could you, Jack? Why didn’t you confide in me?’

‘
You were on holiday,’ he reminded her quietly.

She
swallowed, aware that if she vented her anger on him he’d more than likely ring off and then she would lose contact with him altogether.

‘
If it hadn’t been for Lyall Travis offering to help out, Shelley and I would have been finished,’ she told him now.

‘
Lyall! What exactly did he tell you?’

Jack
sounded suddenly wary.

She
told him what Lyall had said and how he had stepped in to help them with the exhibition.

When
she had finished, Jack said, ‘It was because of Lyall Travis that…’

Infuriatingly
his voice died away as his money ran out and she was left staring at the receiver and wondering what on earth he had been about to say.

Four

Later
that evening, as Katie was doing some paperwork, the phone rang again, making her nearly jump out of her skin. To her relief, this time it was Aunt Alice. Katie was so pleased to hear her voice and suddenly everything seemed normal again.

‘
Mary’s daughter’s returned from holiday, and so she’s able to take over from me now. There’s really no longer any need for me to stay. I’m thinking of coming home in a few days’ time.
’

‘
I’m delighted to hear it. We’ve all missed you,’ Katie told her old friend.

‘
How’s Jack? I haven’t heard a word from the young rascal since I’ve been away.’

‘
Oh, he’s fine,’ Katie said, hoping she would be forgiven for the white lie. ‘He’s away by himself for a few days, one or two things to sort out on the financial front, you know.’

Aunt
Alice chuckled. ‘Sounds like Jack
—
and Lyall Travis?’

‘
Oh, he’s turned out to be a godsend. He’s quite an artist, you know, so he’s producing some pieces of jewellery for our exhibition.’

They
chatted for a time and, much to her relief, no further questions were asked about Jack.

K
atie had a restless night, mulling things over in her head and wondering if she should mention Jack’s phone call to Lyall. In the end, however, she decided it would be best to wait and see if Jack contacted her again. If only he had finished what he had started to say about Lyall. She had an uneasy feeling that she wouldn’t like what he had to tell her, but she really needed to know.

After
all, supposing she had been misjudging him and the root of the problem had been Lyall all along. Perhaps he hadn’t told her the truth about what had really happened between himself and Jack whilst she had been away. She eventually drifted off into a deep sleep to awaken unrefreshed, with a headache.

Lyall
was already hard at work when she arrived at the workshop. ‘Night on the tiles?’ he wanted to know, surveying her pale face with interest.

‘
Certainly not, not that it’s any of your business!’ she snapped and he winked at her, hazel eyes sparkling with amusement. She realised that this man had the ability to both charm and infuriate her.

Collecting
her work, she settled at the bench and was soon immersed in engraving a complicated design on a bracelet. Soon her ill humour evaporated with her headache.

After
a short while, Shelley joined them and they worked in silence for the next half hour or so. Lyall set down the cuff links he had been working on and got to his feet.

‘
Faye tells me you would have been at a craft fair this weekend if Jack hadn’t made off with your stuff.’

‘
Well, that was the original plan, but we’ve had to abandon it for this year,’ Shelley told him. ‘Just as well really because it’s my youngest niece’s birthday and I’ve promised to help her with her party. I’m an expert at blowing up balloons, don’t you know!’

‘
Full of hot air, eh?’ Lyall teased. ‘So where exactly is this craft fair tomorrow?’

‘
Oh, near Tunbridge Wells,’ Shelley informed him. ‘The seasoned exhibitors do a kind of circuit round most of the craft fairs. It’s a good way of making yourself known to the public. We’d just managed to get two or three slots and now we’re going to have to miss this one.’

‘
Sounds as if Jack’s got a lot to answer for. I suppose neither of you have heard from him?’

‘
Not a dicky bird,’ Shelly told him, and Katie shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. Lying did not come naturally to her and, normally, she despised this kind of deception. When she finally looked up, she found Lyall studying her thoughtfully and was certain that he didn’t believe her. Could it be that Jack had been in contact with him too?

Lyall
consulted his watch. ‘I’ve got to collect a few items from my friends in Sevenoaks this afternoon, but I’m sure the pair of you can manage perfectly well without me.’

Shortly
after he had departed, Shelley announced that she had just remembered she’d got a dental appointment at two o’clock and so she went off too.

Left
alone, Katie found it difficult to concentrate. After a while, she decided to call it a day and returned to the cottage.

Jack
made no attempt to get in touch with her again that evening, and she realised that it would be ridiculous to hang about the entire time, on the off chance that he might ring. She was surprised that he hadn’t at least tried to text her, but, perhaps, he thought it would be too risky to use her mobile phone number.

The
next morning was glorious, June at its very best. She had a leisurely breakfast in the small cottage garden which, at this time of year, was a tangle of roses and honeysuckle. She had a small paved area with pots full of petunias and deep blue trailing lobelia.

She
was back in the kitchen when there was a knock at the front door. Her first thoughts were of Jack, but it was Lyall standing on the doorstep clutching the milk. ‘It’s much too nice a day to be moping indoors...let’s go to the craft fair anyway.’

She
gaped at him. ‘Whatever for? We’ve absolutely nothing to sell and it’s no good accepting orders we can’t possibly fulfil.’

‘
Granted, but there’s no harm in taking a look at the opposition, is there? After all, how often do you get the chance to wander around and see what’s on show?’

She
considered, head on one side, her beautiful topaz blue eyes suddenly sparkling. ‘You could have a point. Some of the other folk there will also be exhibiting in London, so it could be useful to see the competition and, of course, there are lots of other things to see besides the jewellery.’

He
smiled at her sudden enthusiasm. ‘Good. You’ll come then?’

‘
You’ll have to wait whilst I change.’

When
she came downstairs a few minutes later, dressed in a smart black skirt and a pink top, it was to find Lyall doing the washing up. ‘Oh, there’s really no need…’

He
grinned. ‘There’s every need. You’ll only have it to face when you get back. Anyway, I helped myself to a cup of coffee. You’re looking very stylish.’

‘
Thanks.’ Feeling a warm glow at the compliment, she swept up her jacket and bag.

‘
Aren’t you forgetting something?’ He looked so amused that she felt the colour rise to her cheeks, as she wondered if her skirt was hitched up or something. Smilingly, he indicated her feet and she realised she was still wearing her fluffy pink bedroom slippers.

Laughingly,
she found her shoes, and a few moments later they were speeding away into the Kent countryside past fields of grazing sheep and hedgerows dotted with pale pink dog roses.

Once
again she discovered him to be an easy companion, silent for a time and then chatting about general topics of interest. They stopped for coffee en route because, as Lyall said, on this occasion they weren’t in any particular hurry.

They
chatted over cups of cappuccino and she found herself relaxing in the pleasant atmosphere of the hotel lounge. It wasn’t until she had told him about her art degree course and a fair amount about her family that, rather belatedly, she recognised the skilful manner in which he was getting her to talk about herself. Well, she didn’t intend to tell him about Peter, not yet at any rate.

She
buttered a second scone. ‘All right, so you’ve managed to discover all this about me, but what about you?’

His
hazel eyes flickered, as if she had caught him off guard, but he answered coolly enough. ‘If you think I’ve got any skeletons in the cupboard then you’ll be sadly disappointed. What in particular would you like to know about me?’

‘
Well, a bit about your background would be a good starting point.’

‘
OK, I was born in London but, when I was around ten, my father died and so we moved to Derbyshire to live with my grandparents. My mother married a couple of years later and my sister arrived about a year after that. She lives in Australia, but I’ve already told you that.’ And what about relationships? She wanted to ask him, still convinced that he had come to Lyndhurst to recover from a broken love affair, as she herself had done, but before she could ask him anything further, he looked at his watch and got to his feet.

‘
We’d best be making tracks if we’re to get to this craft fair before lunchtime. You can have the next fascinating instalment of my life history another time.’

It
was interesting to wander round the craft fair. Usually, when Katie had been manning a stall she only took a break of half an hour or so and spent most of that chatting with her friends. She knew several of the stall holders and they naturally wanted to know where Jack and Shelley were, and why they hadn’t got a stall.

Lyall
attracted a number of curious glances, but she was relieved that he was there to help her ward off difficult questions.

‘
So what do you reckon to the opposition?’ he asked her now, as they moved away from a jewellery stand.

‘
Oh, that last lot of jewellery was very attractive, but not very original. I reckon we can do equally as well, given half a chance.’

‘
Of course, our goods are a bit pricey,’ he ventured.

‘
I refuse to sell tat,’ she snapped back and, smilingly, he took her arm and steered her towards another stall.

‘
I wasn’t criticising, just making a point. Our stuff is real class. It’ll knock ‘em dead.’ Relaxing she laughed. ‘I’m not sure if that’s my objective. Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence!’

She
was all too aware of his hand on her arm and an odd little frisson shuddered down her spine. The man at her side was undeniably attractive, but what exactly did she know about him? So far he had told her very little about himself, and she couldn’t help feeling there was a great deal more to find out.

She
tried to ignore the arm. ‘There’s a refreshment tent over there, behind that group of trees, but it’ll probably be crowded.’

It
was rather a crush and quite noisy in the tent, but surprisingly, they were serving good ploughman’s lunches, which washed down with ice-cold lemonade shandy proved most acceptable. Katie spotted a couple of people she knew and waved to them. They came across bearing laden trays. ‘What’s this, taking a sabbatical?’ the cheerful red-head asked, as her companion fetched a couple of chairs.

‘
Oh, I thought it would make a change to wander round and eye up the competition for once,’ Katie said carefully.

The
girl laughed. ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, has she, James?’ She looked meaningfully at Lyall. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, Katie?’

‘
Lyall Travis, Rachel Saunders and James Humphries. Lyall’s just joined our team in Lyndhurst. Actually, we’ve had to pull out from this function because we’ve got a bit behind with our work for the exhibition. Jack’s the one who’s taken the sabbatical; it seems he needed a break.’

Rachel
raised her eyebrows. ‘You’re kidding, but we only saw him a week or so ago, and he never said a word.’

K
atie frowned. ‘Where was this, Rachel?’

‘
Oh, you know that exhibition in Croydon. I must admit I was a bit puzzled, as you’d said you definitely weren’t going to be there. Actually, we’d got no intention of going ourselves, had we, James? But as we happened to be in Surrey, at the time, we decided to pop in. Jack said you and Shelley were taking an early lunch break
—
probably round the shops. What’s wrong, Katie?’

The
slightest pressure on her arm from Lyall made her say quickly, ‘Nothing, nothing at all. I was just surprised that you’d been there, that’s all. Jack forgot to mention it.’

Her
mind was racing on. If Jack had gone to that particular exhibition then he must have been selling their stock. She couldn’t question Rachel anymore, but she was incensed to think how he had double-crossed them and how easily. He had made off with several hundred pounds worth of stock and raw materials and, for all she knew, probably intended to set up in business again and use their original designs to copy from.

* * *

Aunt Alice returned to Lyndhurst on Tuesday and Katie stopped by to see her during her lunch-break.

Alice
Mason gave Katie a warm hug, her kindly face wreathed in smiles. As they sat exchanging news over a cup of tea, Katie thought how tired the older woman was looking. She pushed a letter towards Katie. ‘This was waiting for me when I got back. It’s from Jack. You should have told me! I suppose I oughtn’t to be surprised that he’s gone off into the blue, but I shall miss him. Go on read it, dear. At least he had the decency to write before he took off…posted it in London on his way to goodness knows where.’