‘Too strong,’ Helen agreed ruefully. ‘He frightens me. He’s so—so assured, so arrogant.’
‘As long as he makes you feel something. That has to be an improvement.’
‘What do you mean?’ Helen asked sharply.
’You’ve been a bit—well, a bit emotionless since Michael,’ Jenny explained gently.
Helen bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve been hard to live with. It’s just that after Michael I find it hard to live with anyone.’
‘I know, love.’ Jenny squeezed her hand. ‘And you aren’t difficult to live with, completely the opposite, in fact. You seem to have lost all your zest for life, shut yourself in from people. I wish you could put it all behind you, be like you were before it all happened.’
‘You can never go back, Jenny. What’s happened happened, you can never change it, and I can never be that person again.’
‘I still wish—’ Jenny broke off as the doorbell rang. ’That will be Matt, and I’m still not quite ready. Be a pet and answer the door for me while I brush my hair.’
‘Okay.’ Helen climbed reluctantly off the sofa, her denims emphasising her slenderness.
‘And don’t seduce my boy-friend on the doorstep,’ Jenny warned teasingly.
‘He should be so lucky!’ Helen called after her.
She let Matt in, taking him into the lounge. He was very attractive in casual white trousers and shirt, looking healthy and attractive.
He quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘You aren’t ready.’
‘No,’ she sat cross-legged on the sofa, ‘I’m not going.’
‘Not going! But—’ he turned to Jenny as she came through from the bedroom. ‘Helen’s just told me she isn’t going.’
‘That’s right, she isn’t.’
Was it Helen’s imagination or did she see that look pass between them? She shrugged. ‘Is it that important? I’m sure you two would rather be without an unwanted third person.’
‘You aren’t unwanted,’ Matt said smoothly. ‘We would love you to come along.’
‘I’ve already been through all that,’ Jenny told him, as she picked up her bag from a chair. ‘She can be very stubborn, can our Helen.’
‘But—’
‘She doesn’t want to go, Matt,’ Jenny said firmly. ‘And nothing will persuade her.’
This time Helen was sure she could sense an undercurrent, a feeling they knew something she didn’t. Jenny hadn’t emphasised the word ‘nothing’, and yet the inflection had been there all the same.
‘Is there something you aren’t telling me?’ she asked them.
Jenny frowned. ‘Why should you think that?’
She shrugged. ‘Just your manner. Is there something?’
‘Well, actually—’
‘No,’ again Jenny cut in on Matt, ‘there’s nothing. Shall we go, Matt?’ she said pointedly.
‘But—’
‘Shall we go?’ she repeated firmly.
He sighed. ‘Oh, all right. But he isn’t going to like it.’