Faith - Lesley Pearse [239]
Laura had noticed that James was attracted to Meggie when he came round to take her statement. He made several excuses to call back, each time in the early evening when Meggie was sure to be home. There were several phone calls before Meggie finally agreed to go out to dinner with him, but even just a couple of hours before her date she was looking for excuses to let him down.
Laura bullied her into going through with it, for she felt in her very bones that James was the man Meggie needed. Aside from being a real dish, he was the same age as her and widowed. His wife had died of cancer five years ago, and his three children, who were now in their late teens to early twenties, still lived with him. He was a kind and sensitive man and Laura sensed that even if Meggie ended up telling him about her past, he’d take it in his stride.
One look at her sister’s radiant face when she arrived home that night was to know the date had been a huge success. James phoned at eight the following morning and they talked for over an hour; all day after the call Meggie was alternately giggly or dreamy, a surefire sign that she was smitten.
Part of the reason Laura intended to stay up in Scotland for a while was to give Meggie the opportunity to have her house to herself. She’d also warned Ivy not to drop in unannounced.
Patrick suddenly stood up and tapped a fork on a glass to get everyone’s attention. ‘I think it’s about time we ordered some food. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m starving.’
Everyone else agreed they were too and Patrick went off to get some menus. Stuart turned to Laura. ‘What would you like?’ he asked.
‘It will have to be prawns,’ she said.
‘Any particular reason?’
‘Well, when I was on remand, and still believing I would be acquitted, I used to plan the meal I’d have when I got out. I didn’t think big, not even having dinner in a restaurant. I just imagined going to Marks and Spencer and buying prawns and salad, and eating it at home.’
‘It so happens they do some marvellous prawns in garlic here,’ he said. ‘But at risk of opening up an old wound, how did you feel when they found you guilty? We’ve never talked about that.’
‘I was completely demented,’ she said ruefully. ‘I couldn’t believe it was happening to me. The closest thing to it is the old cliché of thinking you are stuck in a nightmare, only you don’t wake up soaked in sweat and find yourself in your own bed.’
‘I shouldn’t have asked,’ he said. ‘Forgive me?’
Laura smiled. ‘It’s okay. But that will be the last time I ever mention it. In fact I shall delete the word “prison” from my vocabulary, unless of course it’s in connection with other people. Robbie, for instance! Have you heard anything more about him?’
‘They only kept him in hospital a couple of days. The stroke turned out to be a very mild one,’ Stuart replied. ‘He had a court appearance and got remanded in custody in London. But Calder is still in a bad way apparently. Even if he recovers he’ll never walk again.’
‘Poor man,’ Laura said.
‘Don’t waste any sympathy on him, a lawyer should be above reproach,’ Stuart said. ‘But I wish I knew exactly what he and Fielding were up to. I bet Patrick knows, but he’s being very tight-lipped about it.’
Laura smiled at his insatiable curiosity. She couldn’t care less what the two men had done. Perhaps when Belle and Charles came to trial her interest might be reawakened, but for now she wanted to forget all of them.
‘So what about you?’ she asked Stuart after everyone had ordered a meal. ‘Are you going abroad now, or what?’
‘No, I’m taking on a job near Oban.’
‘Really! What on earth are you going to do there?’
‘Doing up a very old place. The owners want to turn it