‘Janet and Carole told me.’
‘Oh my God, those sneaky witches,’ she cried. ‘So they have known about all of this?’
He shrugged. ‘I needed accomplices.’
‘So who did all the work?’ she asked and she looked at his hands. ‘These hands are soft again – city hands – so it wasn’t you.’
‘Rude,’ he said. ‘But you’re right, I did nothing. Your friend and boss David did it all. His team were amazing and he was thrilled with the commission.’
‘What are you like?’ She laughed.
‘Something good I hope.’
‘Better than good. You’re so good, I’m going to let you wear my top hat,’ she said.
‘Oh wow, what an honour.’
They kissed again and Amanda took him by the hand and started to walk.
‘Where are you taking me?’ he asked as they walked by cosmos daisies that Amanda could have sworn giggled as they passed.
‘To bed,’ she said. ‘We have a lot of time to make up making out.’
‘Can I wear the top hat?’ he asked.
‘Let’s see how good you are first.’
Simon laughed and they ran into the house.
41
Amanda
Amanda woke early and saw a large flat velvet box on the pillow next to her while Simon slept.
She picked it up and felt its weight and poked him in the shoulder. ‘Hey, is this from you?’
Simon woke and feigned shock. ‘No? Who has been in here? Was it the tooth fairy? Did you lose a tooth?’
Amanda made a face at him. ‘No really, what is this?’
‘Why don’t you open it and find out?’ he said, leaning on his elbow to watch her.
Amanda ran her hand over the blue velvet, feeling the fabric, and then she lifted the lid slowly.
‘The pearls!’ She gasped and turned to him. ‘You bought the pearls? From Janet?’
‘Maybe,’ he said.
‘Why?’
‘Because I didn’t know if you would want to be with me after I’d left and I also wanted to help you help Diana. And because I could. I was always planning on returning them to you, whether you wanted me or not.’
Amanda touched the pearls. ‘You didn’t need to do all this. The garden, the pearls, the money…’ Her voice trailed off.
Simon lay on his back. ‘I know, but I have it and I can, and it feels good to be able to do something with the money.’ He turned back to her. ‘I had money, I lost it and during that time, I saw what mattered. The friendship and kindness I have seen here outweighs anything I had in London.’
Amanda closed the lid to the box and put it on the bedside table. ‘Would you have come back if you didn’t get the money back from Charlie?’
