wouldn’t know,” said Karen. She always found men who admired other women ostentatiously when they were with one rather irritating. In fact, she was not sure that she and Nick had much in common at all and what was worse, she was stuck with him for dinner as well.
Nick was keen to get downstairs but Karen made a point of studying , at some length, all the paintings on the upper gallery. Nick was clearly bored by her scholarly analysis but could hardly abandon her. When they finally went downstairs, Karen had lost sight of Adam’s party. Maybe they’d gone. She didn’t want Adam to see her here with Nick. It sounded ridiculous, even to herself. Could it be that she was ashamed of being seen with him? She chided herself for being such a snob. Somehow, the fact that he had that gorgeous golden creature on his arm, only made things worse.
She was beginning to relax when, horror of horrors, there was Nick greeting Adam and the blonde enthusiastically. Karen cringed inwardly as Nick pulled her forwards saying to Adam, “I managed to persuade Karen your lovely neighbour to leave her life’s work for a few hours and come out with me.”
“ Hello Karen,” said Adam. “Let me introduce you to Morgan Bosman. Morgan this is Karen Packer, Iris’s granddaughter.”
The couple whom Karen had seen with Adam earlier joined them. “And here,” continued Adam, “are my agent David Dowling and Glenna Dowling.”
David and Glenna smiled and shook hands with Karen and Nick. Morgan merely nodded vaguely at each of them. Her interest was clearly only in Adam.
“Can’t we go and eat soon, darling?” Morgan asked Adam. “I’m desperate after that ghastly car trip. The food on the motorways is utterly atrocious.”
“ Why don’t you join us at the Hussar? It’s the new Hungarian restaurant, it certainly serves better grub than you get on the motorway, we’re all going there afterwards. I’m sure they can add a few chairs to our table,” Nick said eagerly.
Karen was reminded of a puppy, Nick was so anxious to have them join the party. She hoped with all her heart that th ey would refuse. She could not bear the prospect of an evening with Adam and the icy Morgan. Luckily, someone heard her prayers.
“Th ank you, no,” said Adam. “I’m afraid I have already arranged a table in Porthleven at the fish restaurant for us, where I am sure the ‘grub’ will be quite adequate. In fact, we are running late and ought to be leaving. The owner of the restaurant can be quite nasty to late arrivals and I don’t want to find something unusual in my soup.”
Saved, thought Karen. Contrarily, she was rather annoyed that he should have made another arrangement in which she was clearly not included. But as they were leaving Adam came over and drew her aside, “I tried to call you this morning. You didn’t answer.”
“ I was in the studio with the radio on for most of the morning, except when I was on the beach with Humphrey,” replied Karen stiffly.
“ I wanted to ask you to lunch tomorrow. David and Glenna are amongst my oldest friends and are very fond of your grandmother. They were looking forward to meeting you and perhaps seeing some of your work. Glenna is quite a collector in her own right. So mix business with pleasure and come.” He looked at her quizzically. “Would that be a pleasure for you, Karen?”
Karen felt herself colour. Lunch with Morgan was not a pleasant prospect, on the other hand, David and Glenna did look like nice people. “Yes,” she said, “I’ll come.” She felt like telling him to get lost. It felt like he was just using her when it suited. Tomorrow all he wanted was an artist to entertain Glenna and David. She did not know why she had accepted his silly invitation.
“ Good. See you at one-ish. Now, we really must go.” Adam gave Karen’s arm a squeeze and smiled ruefully. He turned to shake Nick’s hand and then they were gone.
“ What a great guy!” exclaimed Nick. “I’m
Nick was keen to get downstairs but Karen made a point of studying , at some length, all the paintings on the upper gallery. Nick was clearly bored by her scholarly analysis but could hardly abandon her. When they finally went downstairs, Karen had lost sight of Adam’s party. Maybe they’d gone. She didn’t want Adam to see her here with Nick. It sounded ridiculous, even to herself. Could it be that she was ashamed of being seen with him? She chided herself for being such a snob. Somehow, the fact that he had that gorgeous golden creature on his arm, only made things worse.
She was beginning to relax when, horror of horrors, there was Nick greeting Adam and the blonde enthusiastically. Karen cringed inwardly as Nick pulled her forwards saying to Adam, “I managed to persuade Karen your lovely neighbour to leave her life’s work for a few hours and come out with me.”
“ Hello Karen,” said Adam. “Let me introduce you to Morgan Bosman. Morgan this is Karen Packer, Iris’s granddaughter.”
The couple whom Karen had seen with Adam earlier joined them. “And here,” continued Adam, “are my agent David Dowling and Glenna Dowling.”
David and Glenna smiled and shook hands with Karen and Nick. Morgan merely nodded vaguely at each of them. Her interest was clearly only in Adam.
“Can’t we go and eat soon, darling?” Morgan asked Adam. “I’m desperate after that ghastly car trip. The food on the motorways is utterly atrocious.”
“ Why don’t you join us at the Hussar? It’s the new Hungarian restaurant, it certainly serves better grub than you get on the motorway, we’re all going there afterwards. I’m sure they can add a few chairs to our table,” Nick said eagerly.
Karen was reminded of a puppy, Nick was so anxious to have them join the party. She hoped with all her heart that th ey would refuse. She could not bear the prospect of an evening with Adam and the icy Morgan. Luckily, someone heard her prayers.
“Th ank you, no,” said Adam. “I’m afraid I have already arranged a table in Porthleven at the fish restaurant for us, where I am sure the ‘grub’ will be quite adequate. In fact, we are running late and ought to be leaving. The owner of the restaurant can be quite nasty to late arrivals and I don’t want to find something unusual in my soup.”
Saved, thought Karen. Contrarily, she was rather annoyed that he should have made another arrangement in which she was clearly not included. But as they were leaving Adam came over and drew her aside, “I tried to call you this morning. You didn’t answer.”
“ I was in the studio with the radio on for most of the morning, except when I was on the beach with Humphrey,” replied Karen stiffly.
“ I wanted to ask you to lunch tomorrow. David and Glenna are amongst my oldest friends and are very fond of your grandmother. They were looking forward to meeting you and perhaps seeing some of your work. Glenna is quite a collector in her own right. So mix business with pleasure and come.” He looked at her quizzically. “Would that be a pleasure for you, Karen?”
Karen felt herself colour. Lunch with Morgan was not a pleasant prospect, on the other hand, David and Glenna did look like nice people. “Yes,” she said, “I’ll come.” She felt like telling him to get lost. It felt like he was just using her when it suited. Tomorrow all he wanted was an artist to entertain Glenna and David. She did not know why she had accepted his silly invitation.
“ Good. See you at one-ish. Now, we really must go.” Adam gave Karen’s arm a squeeze and smiled ruefully. He turned to shake Nick’s hand and then they were gone.
“ What a great guy!” exclaimed Nick. “I’m
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