The Lost Man(77)

‘That’s what Bub said too.’

‘Did he?’

‘Pretty much. And Mum.’

‘They’re right.’

They probably were, Nathan thought now. The guests may have been keeping a respectful distance but they all threw snatched glances towards the painting. Curious but reluctant to appear ghoulish. He saw Katy squeeze through the doorway and into the crowd, holding a tray of sandwiches. Instead of passing them around, she dumped the tray on a table and walked straight back out.

Ilse watched her with narrowed eyes. ‘God, they’re useless. Both of them.’ A pause. ‘I could sack them,’ she added suddenly, realisation dawning in her voice.

‘You might not have to. I think they’re planning to leave.’

‘Still. I could. If I wanted to.’

‘Yeah. I suppose so.’

A woman with shoulder-length strawberry-blonde hair caught Ilse’s eye across the room and raised her hand in a small wave.

‘Who’s that?’ Nathan said.

‘I don’t know. I thought she was waving at you.’

‘I don’t think so.’

The woman waved again, a little hesitant now, and Ilse sighed. ‘I’d better go and speak to a few people anyway. I’ll talk to you later.’

Nathan sipped his beer and watched her make her way over to the woman in the corner. Ilse offered her hand and they exchanged a few words, their heads tilted close to hear each other over the chatter. Then Ilse turned and pointed to Nathan. She said something else, and the woman thanked her and threaded her way through the crowd towards him.

‘Nathan. Hello. It was actually you I was waving at,’ the woman said, once she was in front of him. She gave an embarrassed smile. ‘You don’t remember me. That’s okay. It’s Melanie. Birch? From Atherton.’

‘Melanie.’ He was struggling.

‘From Atherton? Or I was, anyway, for a few years. And now, I’m back.’ She gave a self-conscious laugh. ‘Don’t worry, I was a couple of years behind you so I don’t think you even noticed me then. But I was friends with Jacqui when you two were dating.’

‘Oh. Right. I don’t –’ He was still struggling, but at least she was still smiling. ‘Jacqui and I have been divorced a while, so –’

‘Oh. Me too.’ She shrugged. ‘City bloke. Didn’t work out, surprise surprise, so after that I went travelling for a while. Was out west for a couple of years, and now I’ve ended up here again. Still working with the horses.’

‘Right.’ Nathan could now just about picture the girl he sometimes saw around at the gymkhanas, part of Jacqui’s loose circle. A strawberry-blonde ponytail and freckles in the summer. There weren’t loads of young people around, but they came and went with surprising frequency, to schools and jobs and other places. He wasn’t sure he’d ever known her name was Melanie, having only really had eyes for Jacqui. Melanie was pretty, though. Both then and now.

‘I’m sorry to hear about you and Jacqui. That’s a shame, I thought you’d work out. You were so good together.’ She hesitated, as if deciding how much to say, then gave him a small sideways smile. ‘We were all horribly jealous of her because there were so many arseholes and never any good guys and she grabbed you so quickly. She was always telling us how much fun you two were having and how you made her laugh.’

‘Really?’ Didn’t sound like Jacqui. Not at the end, anyway. Although – the memories were buried pretty deep – perhaps at the start. At the start, Nathan might have said the same about her. He looked at Melanie, properly this time. ‘So, how do you like being back?’

‘It’s very quiet. I’d forgotten.’

‘Yeah. It is. Quite quiet.’ Nathan’s mind was utterly blank. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Across the room, he saw Ilse glance towards them, then immediately look away. She was being talked at by an older woman who Nathan didn’t recognise.

‘Anyway,’ Melanie said. ‘Listen, I’m so sorry about Cameron, and I completely realise this isn’t an ideal time, but I wasn’t sure when I might run into you again so I wanted to say hi. I mean, I don’t know if you’re ever in town –’

‘I’m not. Hardly ever.’

‘Oh.’ She blinked, then recovered. ‘Well, if you ever were and wanted to catch up for a drink or something, let me know.’

‘Oh. Okay.’

‘You can call me over at Atherton. And it’s Melanie.’

‘Melanie. Yeah, I know. Got it.’

‘Good. Okay then.’ She smiled, and as she turned to move away, she touched his arm lightly in a way that no-one had touched Nathan for a very long time. The heat of her fingertips lingered on his skin, so clear and sharp it was almost painful. He watched her blend back into the crowd, then jumped as Harry suddenly appeared at his side.

‘I’m going to be honest, mate, I’m not sure you’re in any position to play hard to get.’ Harry handed him a fresh beer.

‘Jesus, Harry. I don’t even think that’s what she was –’

‘Well, you’ll never know if you don’t try, will you? You should give her a call. Start showing your face in town a bit.’