‘Mum? What’s so funny? Did he suggest a romp and you said you’d forgotten how to do it? Honestly, it’s like riding a bike but a lot more fun and you don’t need to wear a helmet. Unless it getsreallyenergetic …’
Emily had sighed loudly in order to convey her exasperationat Tabitha’s attempts at humour. ‘One more wisecrack and I’m hanging up. Do you hear me? Let’s talk about something else.’
It took another ten minutes of probing before Tabitha dropped the subject of Joe. Clearly unwilling to reveal anything much about her date, Emily had, however, mentioned the name of his company – cue another fit of chortling from Tabitha – and how they had bought over another business as part of ongoing expansion plans.
‘It’s called Where the Hearth Is and he’s really excited about it. Apparently designer fireplaces are big business. You can get hole-in-the-wall ones, suspended ones, even ones for outdoors. Tabitha,pleasestop with the snoring noises. You are a rude and horrible child.’
Tabitha had been about to wind up the conversation when she remembered about Meryl. She’d let out an involuntary shriek, apologising when her mum complained of a ruptured eardrum.
‘Oops, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to startle you. I just remembered something completelyawfulthat I thought you should know about.’
Tabitha proceeded to fill Emily in on the Miroslaw/Martin saga, describing how she’d found his details on a dating site but omitting to mention she’d been checking out possible matches for her mum. She didn’t think she’d appreciatethatlittle nugget of information.
‘Thank God I was there and managed to stop her sending him the money! Lying toad, I wonder how many other women he’s scammed over the years.’
Emily had voiced her genuine shock and sadness for Meryl.
‘That’s awful! She seemed so thrilled to have met someone she believed could be Mr Right. She was positivelyradiantat Susan’s surprise party, telling everyone about himand how happy he made her feel. How did she take it when you told her?’
Tabitha continued the tale. ‘Well, she was totally distraught, of course. I don’t think she really believed me at first, until I showed her his dating profile. Then we decided to look at a few others and …’
‘Let me guess. Miroslaw aka Martin had spread himself around a bit more in the hope of ensnaring other unsuspecting females? Am I right?’
Meryl and Tabitha had found two other profiles, both added very recently. He’d used the same photo but the accompanying blurb was different each time. As was his name. Marvin and Maurice.
‘What’s with all the Ms? Or has he already worked his way through the rest of the alphabet?’
The two women had paused for a moment, both wondering how many others he had duped.
‘So, what’s she going to do? Has she been in touch with him?’ asked Emily.
Tabitha explained that – once Meryl had stopped crying and calmed down – they’d concocted a plan. ‘She was going to ring him and demand an explanation but I figured it was better to confront the bastard face to face. So she texted him and said there’d been a slight hitch with the money transfer but it would go through in a couple of days. And that she wasreallybusy with the shop but they could meet up to celebrate very soon. He texted back immediately gushing like a burst pipe. Made me want to throw up. Anyway …’
She told Emily she had the day off in a couple of days and planned to do a bit of shopping.
‘I persuaded Meryl that I’d pick her up from the shop if she closed up a little early and we’d head to his building company. She said he’d always been a bit cagey about it – fobbed her off when she mentioned dropping by – but he letslip the name one day. It’s only a half hour’s drive away. I thought we’d put him on the spot, let him know the game’s up. I can’twaitto see the look on his face when he realises he’s been rumbled!’
Something was clearly niggling at the back of Emily’s mind. ‘But didn’t Meryl ever visit him at his place? They’ve been dating quite a while, I would have thought …’
Tabitha interrupted. ‘No, he always made the excuse that he had a crappy flat above the business, didn’t want her to see it until he’d spruced it up a bit. Told her it wasn’t good enough for an elegant lady like her but that he had grand plans to modernise it or buy something better. Presumably with someone else’s money.’
The pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place. Miroslaw – or the M man – deliberately kept the women in his life at bay until he’d done the dirty on them. Which begged the question from Emily: ‘In that case, wouldn’t they just track him down at work too and contact the police? How long could he possibly keep this going without being caught?’
Neither of them had an answer to this, unless his previous victims had been too embarrassed or ashamed to admit their gullibility. What theydidknow was that Meryl was no pushover and would put aside her heartache in order to retain her dignity.
Tabitha was about to push a coin into a trolley and head into the garden centre when she found herself hesitating. Curiosity about her mum’s mystery man won the day and she made her way towards the fireplace shop. There was no guarantee Joe would evenbethere as he was a chimney sweep by profession. But Emily had indicated that he spent a lot of time at the new business and was in the process of combining the offices to cut down on overheads.
Pushing open the door, she was amazed at the vast arrayof fireplaces displayed before her. In every conceivable shape, size and configuration they twinkled and sparkled with warmth. No doubt fake but impressive nonetheless. Some were classic in style, others ultra-modern and a million miles removed from her childhood memories of hanging a stocking on Christmas Eve. Explain to your children how Santa was going to squeeze his way downthatone she thought, eyeing a futuristic number snaking its way down from the ceiling.
‘Can I help you?’ A voice broke her reverie and she turned to face its owner. Oh, wow. It wasn’t only the fireplaces that were smoking hot around here. Tabitha gulped and tried to regain her composure as she took in the easy-on-the-eye man who’d addressed her. Well over six foot, a body made for sin and a face that would make angels weep in envy. So, obviously taken or – more than likely – gay. Damn it.
‘Erm, I’m just having a look. Thank you. If that’s OK.At the fireplaces, not at you,she wanted to add. Just in case her tongue had inadvertently lolled out and she was drooling in a most unseemly manner.
‘No problem. Take as long as you like. I’m Adam and I’m here if you need anything. If you see anything you fancy …’
‘You!’screamed a voice inside Tabitha’s head. ‘I fancyyou! My boyfriend’s just dumped me and I know I shouldn’t be contemplating another relationship so soon but …’ She tried but failed to dampen her enthusiasm. Every cell in her body was on red alert, not helped by the fact he was looking at her in a very interested way. A veryheterosexualway. Unless he swungbothways but – hey – she was an open-minded person.
‘Actually, I was rather hoping to bump into the boss. He’s a friend of my mum’s and I was just passing and thought I’d drop by and say hi. My name’s Tabitha, by the way.’ She extended her hand and Adam shook it warmly. Nice grip, shethought. Very nice hand. Attached to other very nice body parts.
