Her posture straightened again, her face draining of blood and her pencil-thin eyebrows drawing together in anger. She understood. Not that Leonard cared. He had heard enough. Even though he wanted to know who was updating his aunt about him, he wished to be gone from this woman’s toxic presence.
“Thank you for the tea,” he said, feeling nauseous, but standing and making his intention to leave plain. “And once again, just so we’re on the same page, am I right in saying you’re no longer planning to challenge the will?”
“That’s correct. As you’ve seen, I’ve informed Hope and Masters. Have they not contacted that ill-mannered and foul-mouthed woman who represents you? Maybe they’re trying to find the courage to pick up the phone.”
Finally, Leonard had cause to bark out a laugh. Helen Wallis would be professional, of course, but she would also have given them a piece of her mind for taking on his aunt’s case in the first place.
“In all the years I’ve used that ill-mannered woman, she has never lost me a case.”
“That’s nice. Will you let yourself out?”
“It would be my absolute pleasure.”
* * * *
On the drive to Wales, his mind kept being drawn back to his aunt’s comment about Adrian. Had she really found out something about him in a police report? Or had she just heard rumours from her source in Wales and decided to get on her a homophobic bigoted high horse? He leant more towards the latter. If Mary saw her father still—a man very much alive—then Aunt Millicent clearly had no problem telling bare-faced lies.
He didn’t want to believe a word she said, but then how much did Leonard really know about his new lover? Not that he cared if Adrian turned out to be HIV positive—well, he did care, of course, but only about the man and whether he was healthy, taking care of himself and on the right medication.
But if that was the case, he wanted Adrian to trust him enough to tell him. They’d had sex repeatedly now, safe sex every time, and Adrian seemed like the kind of man who would be open and honest about that kind of thing. One thing was for sure. He would not let the hurtful words of a woman he had come to despise affect what was blossoming between him and Adrian.
However awkward or uncomfortable the conversation might be, they needed to talk.
Chapter Twenty
Toni
Adrian held the sketch up to the light and rechecked the living room layout. He knew he had been fussing with the arrangement for the past twenty minutes, but he wanted to get everything looking perfect. Two Chesterfield sofas and two matching armchairs in burnished brown leather sat around a Persian rug and a teak Thai coffee table, facing the newly restored open log fireplace, effectively partitioning the front of the room from the back.
“It’s faultless, buddy,” said Toni, her hands on her hips.
As usual, Toni had her blonde hair tied up with a red polka-dot silk scarf and wore a pair of denim dungarees over a white tee, looking like a second world war poster for female manual workers. Even peppered in grime and dirt, she managed to look sexy. Jack certainly thought so, because she kept telling him ‘lay off’ every time he snuck up behind and wrapped his tanned, muscled arms around her after they had finished helping him shift another piece of furniture into place.
“Lenny is very exacting. And I don’t want him to have to move anything around again when he gets here.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” said Toni.
“I’m looking forward to meeting this guy who has you all hot and bothered,” said Jack.
In only a black singlet and denims, Jack looked like a lean model off the front cover ofMen’s Health. An intricate tattoo sleeve covered his muscled right arm from shoulder to wrist, and the head of what appeared to be a lion sat between his firm pecs and poked its head above the cut of his vest. Even following an afternoon of moving furniture, his black, slicked-back hair and long stubble looked perfect and defined his tanned masculine sexiness. Right now, Jack pulled Toni onto his lap in a corner of one of the leather sofas. Adrian wanted to tell them not to get dirt on the leather, but they had been apart all week and he knew how that felt.
“Not as much as me,” said Adrian.
Toni laughed, jumped up and pulled the sketch out of Adrian’s hands.
“Ade, the only things lacking in this room are chinaware for the dresser shelves, cushions for the settees and artwork. Those walls are far too bare.”
“That’s Lenny’s call. I wasn’t sure what his choices would be.”
“You should be framing these and putting them up,” she said, waving the sketch at him. “They’re fantastic. If he doesn’t want them, I do.”
“Is it beer time, yet?” asked Jack, heading for the fridge.
Adrian and Toni had stocked up on supplies during the week, now the house had a working kitchen. And Jack had bought food with him, according to Toni. But they still had the basic kitchenware Adrian had brought from home. At some point, Lenny would need to decide on pots, pans, plates and cutlery. Adrian checked his phone for the time, four-fifteen, just as a message popped up on his display.
Lenny: Five minutes away.
“Okay then. I think we all deserve some downtime. Lenny’s almost here. Let’s sit around the dining table until he arrives. Have you thought about where you want to go for dinner tonight?”
