Never backwards in coming forwards, that was Nuala.
Maddy’s childhood drama classes came flooding back.
‘[didn’t sleep with him,’ she protested, as convincingly as she knew how.
‘Liar liar pants on fire,’ crowed Nuala. ‘Look at your face.’
Oh well, it had been worth a try.
‘OK, but you mustn’t tell anyone. Really, I mean really, really.’
Nuala nodded vigorously. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’
‘Good,’ said Maddy, ‘because if you breathe one word about this, you will die. And that’s a promise.’
Chapter 17
Hillview was the name of the house. Maddy tensed as she reached the entrance to the property and saw, half-hidden by • an overhang of ivy, the battered wooden sign.
Checking for the hundredth time that the road was empty both ahead and behind her as far as the eye could see, she turned the Saab into the bumpy driveway. Then her heart began to race as she realised the danger of being spotted was behind her now. When she’d rung Kerr on his mobile she’d assumed he was at home; it had come as something of a shock when he’d told her he was here instead. It had come as even more of a shock when he’d invited her over to join him.
‘Come and take a look at the place. I could do with a second opinion.’
Maddy shivered with a mixture of lust and trepidation. ‘But what if someone sees me?’
‘They won’t, how can they? The house is completely hidden from the road. And, trust me, nobody ever comes here. Not even Jehovah’s Witnesses.’ Kerr’s voice was persuasive, as irresistible as melted chocolate. ‘You’ll be quite safe, I promise.’
‘OK.’ Maddy had swallowed hard. As if she could say no.
Hillview. Well, it was situated on a hill and many years ago there undoubtedly had been a view, but that was before Pauline McKinnon had instructed her gardener to get planting those leylandii. Now the fiendishly fast-growing trees surrounded the house like a fortress. Intimidating but, under the circumstances, useful.
Kerr’s dark blue Mercedes was parked at the head of the drive. Pulling up behind it, Maddy exhaled slowly and gazed up at the house itself. Hillview was a rambling Victorian property built from honey-coloured Bath stone, with diamond-leaded windows and steeply sloping gables. The garden was hopelessly overgrown, the window frames could do with a paint job and the shadows cast by the towering leylandii created an air of gloom, but these were all problems that could be solved. She could just see it, advertised in Country Life. This house was eminently marketable and would fetch a good price.
The front door opened and Kerr appeared on the top step, wearing jeans and a bleached blue rugby shirt. Feeling the tug of an invisible elastic band, Maddy jumped out of the car and raced into his outstretched arms. It might not be the cool thing to do, but she didn’t care. Nobody had ever made her feel like this before and if she didn’t kiss him this minute she might self-detonate.
It was no good, Kerr McKinnon was everything she’d ever wanted. Clinging to him as his tongue slid into her mouth, Maddy realised that this was what she’d been missing out on all these years. He was the elusive piece of the jigsaw making her feel, for the first time in her life, complete.
Oh God, he was electrifying, how could she ever bear to give him up?
‘This is hopeless,’ Kerr murmured, holding her close. ‘You’re meant to be putting me off you.
I don’t think you’re even trying.’
‘OK. Sorry.’ Quick, think, what was the most off-putting thing a besotted girl could say? ‘I love you, I want to marry you, can we get engaged?’ whined Maddy. ‘Then we can live happily ever after and have lots of babies. In fact, I think I may already be pregnant ...’
‘Sorry, nice try, it just doesn’t seem to be doing the trick. Maybe I should show you over the house.’ Taking her by the hand, Kerr led the way across the shadowy hall and up the winding staircase. ‘I’d especially like you to see my old bedroom.’
Guessing from the look in his eyes that his intentions were — thank goodness — completely dishonourable, Maddy said innocently, ‘Got any etchings up there?’
‘No,’ Kerr gave her waist a squeeze, exploring the sensitive gap between her top and her jeans, ‘but I’ve got a double bed.’
Oh God in Heaven, how could she ever, in a million years, get bored of an experience as indescribably stupendous as that?
‘I can’t believe I’m here. In your mother’s house,’ whispered Maddy when she was finally able to speak normally again. Breathe normally, too, rather than pant like a dog.
‘It’s where I grew up. It was my house too,’ Kerr reminded her.
‘I know. It feels a bit funny, though. You’d feel a bit funny if we’d just done this in my family home.’
‘I’d be bloody terrified. Imagine being caught by Marcella.’
Heavenly though it would have been, they couldn’t spend the entire afternoon in bed. After a quick shower, Maddy headed downstairs where Kerr was in the kitchen making a pot of coffee.
‘OK? I’d have opened a bottle of wine but you said you’d told Marcella you were going shopping.’ He kissed Maddy on the mouth. ‘If you’re hungry I’ve got some stuff in the fridge.’
‘I’m not hungry.’ That was the great thing about new-man syndrome, it shrank your appetite to thimble-sized proportions. ‘Marcella knows I’m seeing someone, by the way. She was dying to meet you, so I had to tell her you were married.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought you were the type. A married man?’ Kerr raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s terrible.’
‘Your wife doesn’t understand you.’ Maddy’s tone was reassuring. ‘It’s a hopeless situation, you’ve both been miserable for years and you’re on the verge of splitting up. Plus, of course, she’s a complete bitch.’
‘Oh well, goes without saying. That’s all right then.’
‘Marcella doesn’t think so. She isn’t thrilled. We nearly had a big fight about it.’
‘But not so big a fight as if you’d told her who you were really seeing,’ said Kerr. ‘Do I have a name, by the way?’
‘No. Easier not to give you one. You’re just ... married.’
‘Any kids?’
‘No way. I’m not that much of a cow. Although,’ Maddy was struck by a thought, ‘maybe you could have had just one, then found out it wasn’t yours after all ... Oh well, never mind, too late now.
Anyway, let’s not talk about Marcella. When are you going to put this place on the market?’
‘Well, that’s one of the reasons I asked you to come over and see it. One of the reasons,’ Kerr said with a smile. ‘You see, I had a word with my bank manager yesterday. Business is good at the agency and I may not need to sell the house after all. I can take out a second mortgage, which would cover the nursing home fees. That way, my mother’s taken care of and I could move out of that flat. Live here instead.’
Here. Crikey. Good grief.
‘Well?’ prompted Kerr. ‘What d’you think?’
Maddy shook her head; she didn’t know what to think. It all depended on how their relationship panned out, didn’t it? Because secretly seeing each other and hoping to God that the novelty would wear off and that sooner or later they’d call it a day was all very well, but the chances of it happening by mutual agreement were, frankly, slim. It was far more likely that one of them would get bored first and finish with the other, and although it didn’t seem terribly likely at present, Maddy was rather hoping to be the finisher rather than the finishee. If she could just man age to persuade herself to go off Kerr McKinnon, how much easier it would be, knowing that he was living here, just a couple of miles from Ashcombe. If, on the other hand, he broke her heart and left her bereft, it wouldn’t be easy at all.