This Could Change Everything(47)

‘Couldn’t be bothered to turn up at the Red House the night I told you to be there, though, could you? No manners, that’s your trouble.’

‘Did I ever say I’d be there?’ Conor retorted. ‘It was your idea, not mine. And if you don’t mind, you’re interrupting a private conversation.’

Which caused the dreadful woman to rock backwards on her cream patent heels and let out a screech of laughter that had heads turning from all directions to discover what was happening.

‘Blimey,’ said the old man who’d been throwing crumbs to the birds. ‘Tape up the windows. A racket like that’ll shatter glass.’

Ignoring the bird man, she raised her eyebrows at Conor. ‘A private conversation, is it? About what, exactly?’

‘Are you for real?’ Conor stared at her in disbelief. ‘What on earth makes you think I’d answer that question?’ He turned to Belinda. ‘Look, I’m really sorry about this. I don’t even know who she is.’

‘Don’t you? She seems to know you.’ Belinda sounded amused.

This was getting uncomfortable now. ‘OK, she accosted me the other week and ordered me to turn up for a blind date with her friend. I mean, seriously, who in their right mind would do that and expect it to happen?’

‘Stop it,’ Belinda said to the awful woman, who’d started cackling with laughter again like a helium-filled witch. Then she looked back at Conor. ‘Well I suppose I did, otherwise I wouldn’t have gone out and got my hair completely wrecked in that storm.’

As the words slowly sank in, Conor realised that leopard-print woman hadn’t joined them because she’d recognised him. She was here because Belinda was her friend.

The friend.

Unbelievable though it seemed.

Actually, unbelievable was an understatement.

‘It was you?’ He needed to double-check.

‘It was me,’ Belinda agreed.

‘Sorry.’

‘So you should be,’ leopard-print woman chimed in. She frowned. ‘So how come you two were talking to each other anyway?’

‘He knew Jess,’ Belinda said simply. ‘He thought I was her.’

‘Ah, right. God love her.’ She gave Conor a challenging look. ‘What happened, did you stand Jess up too?’

‘No,’ said Conor. Although in a will-writing way, he kind of had.

‘So anyway, here she is. My friend Belinda.’ Leopard-print woman made lavish presenting gestures with her hands, like a TV game-show hostess. ‘I said she’d be a good match for you, and I was right. Regretting standing her up now, you ungrateful bastard?’

Which, in the realm of awkward questions, had to be up there with the best of them.

‘Leave him alone, Caz. You’re a nightmare sometimes.’ Belinda shook her head.

‘You don’t say,’ Conor murmured, earning himself a scornful glance from Caz.

‘Why don’t you give us ten minutes?’ Belinda looked encouragingly at her friend. ‘I’ll meet up with you in Aqua and we’ll have a nice lunch, yes?’

‘Fine,’ said Caz.

When she’d left them, Conor said, ‘Quite a character.’

‘Caz? Oh yes.’

‘Is she your . . . best friend?’

‘I know what you’re thinking.’ Belinda’s smile was dry. ‘She’s loud, she’s over the top and she says it like it is. If something’s on her mind, she comes out with it, for better or for worse.’

‘I’d noticed.’

‘But she’s also one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. Seriously, she has a heart of gold. Caz lives next door to me and Evie, and I couldn’t have coped without her. She’s always there to lend a hand, cheer me up when I’m feeling down, help me out if I need anything at all.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’ Conor changed the subject. ‘OK, can I just say, I felt guilty about deciding to stand you up, especially in that weather. So I got myself ready to come over after all. Then at the last minute someone called me in need of help. I didn’t want to go, but I had to. They were desperate.’

‘Really?’

‘I promise, hand on heart. I ended up spending the next six hours clearing up a fallen tree with a chainsaw. In the rain.’

‘Karma,’ said Belinda, ‘for not wanting to meet me in the first place.’

Could he say it out loud? Conor paused, gathering his courage. ‘If I’d known it was you, I’d have wanted to meet you.’

‘Oh.’ She smiled.

‘I thought Caz would be setting me up with someone just like her.’

‘Well, I did once own a pair of leopard-print slippers.’

‘And I went over to the Red House at eight o’clock the following Saturday,’ he added. ‘In case you’d decided to give me another chance.’

‘I did think about it,’ Belinda admitted. ‘But then I decided that only a complete loser would give herself the opportunity to be stood up two weeks running.’

He exhaled. ‘I still can’t believe it was you.’

‘I’ve just realised something else.’ She indicated the camera slung around his neck. ‘Those photos on display in the Red House . . . We were looking at them while we were there, and someone mentioned the photographer’s name. They’re yours!’