‘Thank you,’ said Elliott, adjusting his grip on the chicken.

‘Was it recent? Her dying?’ Why did asking sound so crass?

‘Four months ago.’

‘That’s tough. Did she live with you?’

Elliott looked uncomfortable. ‘This is my childhood home. Since Dad died last year it’s been just me and Mum running the place. With Lee’s help and a lot of sound advice from Horace we’ve muddled through.’

‘Geez, that’s tough, losing your mum and dad so close together; that’s really harsh.’

There was a moment where Elliott looked like grief was weighing him down. His eyes were full of sadness and his lips pressed into a hard line. ‘Thanks. It has been tough.’ He swallowed hard and Darla thought he was going to open up some more but he seemed to perk up and returned to methodically checking everywhere for something to put the chicken in. ‘How about this?’ he asked, pulling a string bag from a drawer.

‘Perfect,’ said Darla.

She quite liked the odd looks she received from some hikers as they bounded past her with a jolly ‘Good morning!’ and did a double take at the head of a chicken sticking out of the string bag as it swung at Darla’s side.

‘And to you,’ she said with a smile.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ros had had the Sunday from hell. When she got home she decided to have a long soak in the bath in the hope of it easing the tension gripping her shoulders and the troubles that were occupying her mind. She tuned the radio to the classical channel, turned it down low and eased herself into the water. If a little Debussy and Jo Malone couldn’t help her unwind then nothing could.

She let her mind drift off and every time a picture of her mother popped up she mentally rubbed her out like an error on a whiteboard. Ros was almost dropping off when she thought she heard something. She listened but there was nothing. It was probably time she got out anyway.

She wrapped her hair in one towel and another around her body. What she needed now was a cup of camomile tea to finish the calming process. She was drying her ear with the corner of her towel as she exited the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen. After a few strides across the living room, something made her stop and look up.

‘Ros!’ Cameron’s alarmed voice made Ros jump and drop the edge of the towel she’d been holding around herself. Cameron was sitting rather close to a pretty woman. His eyes widened. ‘Towel. Australian outback on show!’ he garbled.

‘Outback?’ queried the woman, turning to Cameron, which gave Ros a chance to cover herself.

‘The bush,’ explained Cameron.

‘Oh, that’s funny,’ said the woman with a giggle. She got to her feet and embraced Ros while she was still trying to get the towel properly around herself. ‘You must be Ros. I’m Gina. I’ve heard so much about you.’

Ros was fixed to the spot. ‘Have you?’ She’d never really cared what people said about her but right at that very moment it seemed incredibly important. She would have liked to find out what Gina had heard but she had the more pressing matter of her virtual nakedness. She hastily readjusted the towel. ‘Pleased to meet you, Gina. I’m afraid I need to get some clothes on.’

‘Of course. Then you must join us. We’re ordering a takeaway.’

Ros realised what they were intently studying was the local Indian menu.

‘Ros will have had a full roast dinner at lunchtime,’ said Cameron. ‘So she probably doesn’t want anything.’

‘I bet you can squeeze in a bhaji though,’ said Gina.

‘Um.’ Ros gripped her towel. It was hard to think about food when there were so many thoughts vying for her attention.

‘Can I get you a drink while you put something on?’ asked Cameron.

Too many questions. ‘I just need to get some underwear on,’ said Ros and she made a dash for the bedroom, very aware that her bottom was in view as she exited. She raced into her room only to walk straight into someone. She squealed in alarm. Cyril toppled backwards and forwards before settling on Ros’s forehead.

‘Are you okay?’ asked a concerned-sounding Cameron from behind her.

‘Why has Cyril taken up residence in my bedroom?’ she asked with the cardboard cyborg still leaning against her forehead because she had no free hands as she was still gripping the towel tightly to her, although she was now even more aware that it only covered her front.

‘Let me just . . . um . . . excuse me . . .’ Cameron inched past her with his face turned away. He took hold of Cyril and uttering more apologies he sidestepped out of the room and shut the door.

Ros threw on her most casual clothes and gave her hair a quick blast with the hairdryer. She reached for the doorknob and then paused. Was she intruding by joining them? But then it was her apartment and the invitation had seemed genuine. Although perhaps three was a crowd. What was she about to walk in on? She imagined Cameron and Gina in a steamy embrace. Instead of being cautious she was now keen to intervene and stop any such interaction without thinking too hard about what her motivation was.

Ros flew out of her bedroom to see Gina curled up on the sofa alone and Cameron carrying three mugs. ‘Heavens, Ros. You made me jump,’ he said, nodding at the drinks sloshing violently. ‘Are you okay?’

Her mother had cannoned into her life unexpectedly, she was utterly confused about how she felt about Cameron and she’d just exposed herself to a complete stranger. ‘Fine,’ she said in a small voice.

‘Sit next to me,’ said Gina, unfurling her legs and patting the space beside her. Ros was happy to oblige as it put her between Gina and Cameron. ‘We’ve ordered an Indian banquet so there’ll be plenty for all of us and you can just have whatever you fancy.’

‘Thank you – what do I owe you?’ asked Ros.

‘You’re good,’ said Cameron, putting down the mug and taking a seat in the chair opposite. ‘My treat.’

‘You seem to be doing okay for a student,’ said Gina. ‘I didn’t know any student who lived in a pad like this one. When I was at uni, I lived in a dump with mouldy ceilings and mice who lived in the kitchen wall and used to pilfer my Weetabix.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s only a stopgap until July, then I’ll be in some suitably scabby dump,’ said Cameron.

‘I wouldn’t be in a hurry to move out of here,’ said Gina, turning to face Ros. ‘Your place is really lovely,’ she added.

‘Thanks,’ said Ros. She wasn’t very good at small talk but that was usually because she wasn’t that interested in the mundane minutiae of other people’s lives, but Gina was different. She’d not known she existed until a few hours ago but now she was compelled to know everything about her. She looked at the woman sitting next to her – short dark hair framed petite features, pretty light eyes with a warm smile and of slim build but with an ample bust. She was quite the package. ‘Tell me about yourself, Gina,’ said Ros.

‘I’m from up north. Bolton,’ she said in a forced northern accent. ‘I studied business marketing at De Montfort and now I’m a brand manager for a pharmaceutical company in Derbyshire.’

‘She’s being modest,’ said Cameron. ‘She’s flying up the corporate ladder.’

‘Impressive,’ said Ros, with a tight smile. ‘And how do you know Cameron?’ Ros asked.

Gina wriggled a bit as if settling herself in for a long story. ‘Cam and I go way back.’ Ros noted her use of a name abbreviation. ‘We were like what? Eight or nine when I moved onto your street?’

‘Eight. She had roller boots,’ said Cameron, ‘and I was determined to get to know her so I could have a go on them. She saw this as an opportunity to boss me about. I basically became her bitch for a whole summer.’

‘Hardly the best start to a relationship,’ noted Ros.

‘Nah, I wasn’t that bad,’ said Gina, tucking her hair behind her ear.

‘Huh! I was at her beck and call 24/7, had to give her backies on my bike and I even had to let her have daily cuddles with my hamster.’

Gina started to giggle, which pulled Ros’s attention back to her. ‘Only thing was when I finally let him have a go on my roller boots his feet were way too big to fit in them.’ Both Gina and Cameron burst into laughter and Ros did her best to join in but it was hard when she was feeling tense and hadn’t gleaned much information of any importance.

‘You’ve been friends a long time then. You must be close?’ Ros tried to look at both of them but they were too far apart and it was probably beginning to look like she was shaking her head so she focused on Gina. Sweet perfect girlfriend material Gina.

‘Yeah, we’ve dated off and on for years. He’ll always have a special place in my heart,’ said Gina, getting up and kissing Cameron on the temple as she passed. ‘Loo this way, is it?’