Jill Mansell - Sheer Mischief

Serena merely raised an immaculate eyebrow. ‘No need to lose your temper,’ she observed, her tone mild. ‘Maxine, I don’t want us to be enemies. What I’m trying to say is that if you are interested in Guy, I can understand that. Personally, I’d be amazed if you weren’t.’

‘Well I’m not,’ lied Maxine. Serena sounded like a benevolent schoolmistress; the urge to act like a five-year-old and stick out her tongue was almost overwhelming.

‘All right.’ Serena, looking more tolerant then ever, said soothingly, ‘We’ll leave it at that then, shall we? ‘I truly didn’t mean to upset you, Maxine; all I was going to say was that if you were hoping some kind of relationship might develop, well ... I’m afraid it isn’t really on the cards.’

This was getting crazier by the minute. Maxine, shaking with suppressed rage, spoke through clenched teeth. What?’

‘I discussed the matter with Guy,’ explained Serena, unperturbed. ‘He told me that you absolutely weren’t his type.’

Chapter 22

The cliff path leading down to the cove was stony and narrow but worth the effort. The beaches at the heart of Trezale would, at eight o’clock in the evening, still be overrun by holidaymakers, whereas Shell Cove, on the outskirts of the town, was virtually empty. Few people could he bothered to stray the mile or so from the shops and bars; fewer still could face the prospect, at high tide, of clambering back up the steeply sloping track to the road at the top of the cliff.

Which was really just as well, thought Janey, since it enabled Maxine to rant and rave as loudly as she liked without fear of alarming the tourists.

‘... so Serena said, "We’ll say no more about it,"‘ Maxine spat furiously, continuing the monologue which had started 300 feet up, ‘and walked out of the kitchen. I had plenty more to bloody say about it, I can tell you!’

‘But you couldn’t tell her so you’re telling me instead.’

They had reached the bottom; rocks and crumbling gravel gave way to fine dry sand. Janey removed her shoes and wiggled her toes in its delicious warmth.

‘Damn right I’m telling you,’ said Maxine, pushing her hair away from her face with an indignant gesture. ’It’s the only way to make sure I don’t explode. The bloody nerve of that woman!’

‘She was right, though.’ Janey, who hadn’t completely forgiven her sister yet for barging into the flat the other week, couldn’t resist pointing it out. ‘You are after Guy.’

‘Not any more.’ Maxine’s dark eyes glittered with disdain. Then, catching Janey’s sidelong glance, she added forcefully, ‘And it isn’t because Serena says he isn’t interested, either. I wouldn’t have anything to do with a man who had anything to do with her. I can’t for the life of me imagine what he even sees in her, anyway.’

‘We’ve been through this before,’ Janey pointed out. ‘Perfect face, perfect body ...’

‘Oh that!’ Maxine threw her a look of derision. ‘Physically, she’s perfection on a sodding stick. But mentally she’s nothing, no personality whatsoever. Half the time it’s like trying to hold a conversation with a bowl of fruit.’

‘You mean she isn’t temperamental.’ Janey grinned. ‘Like you.’

‘I mean I’ve never seen her laugh,’ snapped Maxine, aiming a kick at a heap of seaweed.

‘Josh was telling her jokes yesterday and I swear she didn’t even get them. And then she has the nerve to discuss me with Guy, for God’s sake!’

Janey was struggling to hide her amusement. ‘At least that means they have conversations.’

‘But you should have heard the way she said it,’ howled Maxine. Kicking a bundle of seaweed along the shoreline was no longer enough; picking up the largest pebble within reach she hurled it into the sea. ‘She was so bloody superior and all the time I was having to bite my tongue because she thinks that now she’s moved in with Guy she’s home and dry. Except that I know,’ she added darkly, ‘what he’s really been getting up to whilst she’s away.’

‘Oh?’ This was more like it, Janey, whose attention had begun to wander, looked interested.

‘Exactly,’ Maxine declared with an air of triumph. ‘Those other women of his haven’t given up on him yet. They still phone up, and he didn’t come home onTuesday night until gone three. That would wipe the smirk off Serena’s face, if she only knew’

Tuesday, thought Janey. That was when she had bumped into him at the theatre. Innocently she asked, ‘Why, who was he with?’

‘Which particular female, you mean?’ countered Maxine, her voice awash with sarcasm.

‘Well, it was one of them, and that’s all that matters. When I asked Guy he told me it was none of my business and not to be so damn nosey, so I knew he’d been up to no good.’

If Guy had walked out of the sea at that moment, Janey would have thrown her arms around him and covered him with kisses. Tempted though she’d been to beg him not to mention their chance meeting to Maxine, she hadn’t had the nerve to do so. But Guy hadn’t said a word about it anyway. Her shameful secret was safe.

‘Maybe there’s an innocent explanation,’ she suggested cheerfully, but that wasn’t what Maxine wanted to hear.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Seizing another pebble and tossing it into the waves, she almost decapitated a passing seagull. ‘Taking his side all of a sudden? Give me a break, Janey –

he has more women than he knows whatto do with and he was hardly going to spend the night playing Monopoly. The man’s about as innocent as Warren Beatty, and the least he could do is have the decency to let me in on the agenda. After all, I’m glad he’s seeing somebody else.

Anyone’s better than that smug bitch Serena.’

‘Perhaps he thinks you might run off and tell her,’ said Janey.

‘If I thought it would get rid of her, and if it didn’t mean risking my job,’ Maxine replied crossly, ‘I bloody would!’

As children they had always taken the same route around the cove. Now, reaching the rock pools, they made their way across the slippery boulders to their favourite pool, the one that always contained the most interesting wildlife and which provided two comfortable seats worn into the rock by centuries of tides.

Maxine, having finally run out of invective, dabbled her bare feet in the sun-warmed water, and watched two miniature crabs skitter out of the way in alarm. ‘You haven’t been very sympathetic,’ she grumbled, casting a sidelong glance at Janey’s fuchsia toenails. ‘What’s the matter, are you still mad because we invaded your flat and spoiled your fun with Bruno?’

It was the first time the subject had been mentioned. Janey had been waiting for it to come up. She had also decided that there was no longer any point in holding back. ‘Don’t worry,’ she replied cheerfully, ‘we’ve made up for it since then.’

‘Oh. So you’re still seeing him.’

Maxine sounded disappointed. This had to be a first for her, thought Janey with a flicker of triumph. Two attractive men, neither of them the least bit interested in ever-popular, oh-so-irresistible Maxine Vaughan. Not what she was used to at all.

‘I am,’ she said with pride.

Now it was Janey’s turn to be annoyed. ‘Such enthusiasm,’ she snapped. ‘You were the one who nagged me to find myself a man, and now I have. Couldn’t you at least pretend to be pleased?’

Maxine sighed. Although diplomacy had never been one of her strong points, she recognized that she would have to tread with care. ‘But he’s somebody else’s man,’ she said, her tone even. ‘Janey, is this wise? What about the girl he’s living with?’

Janey’s mouth narrowed. This was rich; couldn’t-careless Maxine was giving her a moral lecture. Talk about double standards.