Page 20 of The Beekeeper's Cottage
‘We didn’t. You made an arse of yourself by making a pass at me. I called you out and you took offence at being rejected. You apologised because you didn’t want to lose face, and I accepted that apology because I could see that you were acting completely out of character.’
The shriek of the kettle coming to the boil invaded the silence between them.
Dominic gave a wry chuckle. ’Well, that told me, didn’t it? But you know I only did it because I could see how unhappy you were.’
‘And that makes you the perfect gent, does it?’ Grace squared up to him. ‘Dominic, when my husband made me a laughing stock in front of a house full of guests, the thing to do would have been to offer me support. As his boss, you could have taken him to one side and told him to shut up. But what did you do…? Corner me in the kitchen and make a clumsy pass at me. How in the world did you think that was going to make me feel any better?’
He hung his head. ‘I wasn’t thinking straight, I know. We’d all had a lot to drink.’
‘I hadn’t, Dominic. I was stone cold sober, especially after several hours of trying to fend off my husband’s drunken advances in front of a bunch of people I scarcely knew and then suffering the indignity of him snogging one of the guests right in front of me. Do you remember how everyone teased me for not finding it funny? There was nothing funny about the whole thing and you made it ten times worse!’ She glared at him, trying to push the memories back where they belonged.
‘I know, and I am sorry, Grace. I only did it because I wanted to make you feel better… I’ve always thought the world of you, you know that, but that doesn’t excuse what I did. It was entirely inappropriate.’
Grace sighed. ‘So you said at the time, Dominic.’ She gave a slight smile. ‘Look, why are we even going over this again?’
‘Perhaps because I’m still an idiot and I brought it up again?’
She smiled properly then. ‘So what do you see now, Dominic? Do you still see someone who looks unhappy?’
‘No…’
‘Then a woman scorned perhaps?’
He rubbed at a mark on the back of his hand.
Grace laughed. ‘Go and take a seat outside, and I’ll bring our drinks through.’
She joined him moments later, placing the tray on the table and taking a seat.
‘Dominic, let’s just be clear about all of this before we begin. What happened before is all in the past and I’m really not interested in it any more. Neither am I interested in making things difficult for you. I didn’t expect to see you today, but I am appreciative of the fact that you’ve bothered to come.’
Dominic cleared his throat, pushing his glasses up his nose. ‘Well, I won’t insult your intelligence by saying that coming here has been easy. Your letter has put me in a very difficult position.’
‘Yes, I’m sure… Do you still take sugar?’
‘Just the one please… So, as we’re being open and honest about these things, what is it you’d like me to do, Grace?’
‘I don’t want you to do anything, Dominic. I’m under no illusion that anything I have said to you about my husband’s disgraceful behaviour will spur you into action, but I told Paul that I would be giving you a letter detailing his activities unless he withdrew the threat of selling this place. He didn’t, so that’s exactly what I’ve done.’
Dominic sighed. ‘It isn’t that I don’t want to do anything about it, Grace, but it’s not as easy as that. Whether you like it or not, Paul is a very vital part of what we offer as a station. He’s also very good at what he does, as the countless messages from fans will testify.’
‘So, you’re loath to do anything which is going to affect the status quo. I understand completely, Dominic. At the end of the day it’s about ratings and revenue. I’m well aware of that.’
‘All I’m saying…’ He broke off. ‘I will admit that some of what you’ve detailed in your letter I found… surprising, shall we say, even for Paul. And I’ve no doubt that it’s true,’ he added quickly. ‘But I have known about Paul’s proclivities for years and the fact of the matter is that he is still outperforming pretty much all our other talent and…’
‘That’s the price you have to pay for genius?’ she suggested.
Dominic took a sip of his coffee and smiled appreciatively. ‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that, but, for some people, I can see that the behaviour fits the stereotype.’
‘And, of course, you don’t condone it for a minute…’
‘Stop giving me a hard time, Grace. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I made a pass at you, I’m sorry your husband’s a bastard, and I’m sorry that I can’t do anything about it.’
She regarded him with an amused expression on her face. ‘Fair enough,’ she said, picking up her coffee cup. ‘So how are the boys?’ she asked. ‘Both at uni now, I expect?’
Dominic nodded. ‘Yes, not doing a whole lot of work by the sounds of things but Will is in his third year at Reading, studying politics and international relations, and Luke is in Norwich doing photography.’
‘Is he now… And how do you feel about that?’ she asked, knowing that photography had been Dominic’s field before the lure of showbiz took him away from all that.
