"Oh," Jo said.
"Well," said King, "we can discuss it later. Let's see what's upstairs." He bounded up the staircase. Nervously, she followed.
Upstairs, the real problems started. It turned out that the participants in our mythical marriage were going to have to share not just a bedroom, but a study. King announced he was going to need a home office. That way he wouldn't have to go to work every day, and he could spend more time with her.
“I need an office too," she protested gaily.
"Of course, you do, darling. Maybe we could divide up the space, so we have a cubicle each. Or one of us could work in the bedroom. We'll have to see."
He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. She managed to stop herself from shaking him off.
"Well, now, what else is there? Where does this staircase lead?"
"There's another floor," she said. "Pop up and take a look. I'll wait for you down here."
"Great," he said, and started to mount the stairs.
Jo was furious and felt she couldn’t even express it. He was spoiling it all for her, and he knew it too. Dividing up her house into cubicles! He was provoking her on purpose, safe in the knowledge that she couldn't shut him up. She turned her back on him, and then recoiled as she found Turner two steps behind, leaning nonchalantly on one of the partition walls of the old offices. Standing there, between her and the stairs, he was cutting off her exit to the ground floor.
She was about to yell at him to get out of her way, but then she saw his face, and stopped in surprise. He was smiling like the cat that had got the cream.
She said, with as much dignity as she could muster, "He and I have a few things still to discuss. But I'm sure we can work it out."
"I once had friends who bought a house to renovate and ended up getting divorced," he informed her.
"He and I aren't married," she retorted.
"Then it might not cost you as much," he said, still smiling. "They found it very expensive.”
For a moment, there was silence, except for King banging about overhead. Jo stared at the floor. She could feel him watching her.
"Jo," he said, in a much softer tone.
She looked up at him in surprise.
"Surely, you aren't really going to-?"
"It's great up here!" King came clomping noisily back down the stairs. "It'll be perfect for the children, don't you think?"
Jo flinched. And now children too. Why was he doing this to her? She had asked him for a simple favor and he was doing everything he could to tank her.
"Yes, of course, it will, and a guest room. Anyway, Mr. Turner, you’ve met my boyfriend. Surely, we can get on with the formalities now?”
Her voice broke on the final word. She was on the verge of tears. Damn him doing this. She waited for Turner to ask who they thought they were fooling, and to throw them out on the street as the impostors they were.
Instead, he said blandly, "Absolutely, yes. I expect you'd like to seal the deal as soon as possible?"
"What?" she said.
"My lawyer suggests ten o'clock on Friday. Is that convenient to, err, both of you?"
"I'll be dealing with this on my own," he said, before King could get a word in. “The house will be in my name."
Turner raised his eyebrows.
"At least for the time being," she added reluctantly.
"So, Friday at ten? It's the only appointment my lawyer has available. Next week, she's going on holiday."
"Fine, I'll be there."
He shook King’s hand and turned to her.
"Goodbye, Ms. Claybourne. I'll see you on Friday."
"Thank you very much," she said, holding out her hand.
"Not at all a problem,” he replied. He held her hand a moment longer than was necessary and smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll be very happy in this house."CHAPTER FIFTEENIt took her a long time to get to sleep that night. She was thinking about Mr. Turner. She couldn't understand what he was up to. He had seen through her and King. That was as clear as day. Yet, he had agreed to sell her the house. Why? Was he using her for some purpose she didn't understand? Were he and his brother playing some odd little game? Was King a part of it? None of this made any sense at all.
Her thoughts drifted back to the conversation from earlier.
"I thought that went very well," King had said, as they were walking away.
She bit her lip, choosing her words carefully.
“I don’t understand why you went off script like that. Cubicles? Children? Really?"
“I’d have been doing you a favor if he had backed out. That place is a real dump and you know it.”
“It is not. It had some damage to that one side. You can’t even tell from the front facade.”