Page 41 of The Happy Hour
‘Shoot,’ Ash said, his teasing tone gone.
So Jess told him everything about Felicity – Tina – from their interactions in the shop, her longing for the mirror, then the water-feature purchase, followed by Jess’s trip to her house. They were skirting round the market, heading towards the river, and she wondered if Ash even remembered he was supposed to be taking her to a final film destination. He offered the odd comment, a couple of murmured swearwords when Jess described the state of Felicity’s house.
‘What did Wendy say?’ he asked, when she’d finished.
‘Wendy said, “hmmmm” a lot, then told me I had to give her time to think.’
‘Entirely noncommittal, then.’
‘The thing is, I’m not sure it’s really any of our business. It’s Tina’s life, and she hasn’t asked for help. She didn’t want to talk about it when I tried to bring it up while I was there.’
Ash took a few moments to reply. ‘It could be that her inviting you to her house, to deliver this item, was her way of asking for help. You said she was quite strange about it – specific about the time and date?’
Jess nodded.
‘She would obviously have known that you’d see how she’s living, so it might have been her first attempt at trying to do something about it.’ He sipped his coffee, his brows furrowed. ‘The main thing is to keep the dialogue going, keep talking to her, show her that she can trust you. That way, she might get to the point where she wants to bring it up herself.’
‘What if she doesn’t come into the shop again? What if she panics?’
Ash shook his head. ‘If you go down thewhat-ifspath, you’ll send yourself round the bend. Give it a couple of weeks, and if she hasn’t been into the shop again, we’ll rethink. Maybe plan a follow-up visit to see how the water feature’s working. It’s got moving parts, so it’s not a totally stupid idea.’
‘It would definitely be harder if she’d bought a statue,’ Jess agreed. ‘Although, if it had been one of the hares, I could have done a welfare check to make sure it hadn’t murdered her.’
Ash’s laughter burst out of him. ‘I’m going to have to examine those hares properly. I’m always so keen to see you, I forget that the shop exists.’
‘Oh.’ Jess’s cheeks burned. ‘It’s so kind of you to help, with Tina.I feel better now I’ve shared it with you: it’s like a weight’s been lifted.’ She hadn’t missed that he’d saidwe’ll rethink.He’d made it sound like it was theirproblem, not just hers.
‘I’ll always help, if I can.’
Jess glanced at him, and all her nerve endings tingled to life. Their laughter had faded, and even though they were down by the river, theCutty Sarka proud silhouette behind Ash, the space busy with visitors, Jess felt like it was just the two of them. She wanted to step closer to him, to find another way to orchestrate herself into his arms.
‘Thank you,’ she said quietly.
‘Of course,’ Ash whispered. Then he looked around him, as if he’d forgotten where they were, and cleared his throat. ‘Here we are.’
‘The final stop on your film tour?’
‘I’ve saved the best until last.’ Ash strode over to the small, red-brick tower with the glass-domed roof.
Jess followed, intrigued. ‘Who used the foot tunnelin a film?’
It was a historic piece of Greenwich architecture, joining the south and north banks of the river, and was used every day by pedestrians and cyclists. But while Jess appreciated its purpose, and the engineering that must have gone into it, it wasn’t her favourite place. It was cold and bleak, and she wouldn’t even think about using it at night. Then she remembered what Ash had said by the naval college. ‘Ah. A horror film.’
‘A little-known zombie film calledTwenty-Eight Days Later.’
Jess grimaced. ‘Are you going to go down into the tunnel and chase people as if you were a zombie? Because I’d have to film that.’
Ash laughed. ‘It would make a grand finale for my tour. Has Hollywood done a zombie in a trilby?’
‘I don’t know, but I do know the tunnel is supposed to be haunted. People see ghostly Victorian figures, rather than flesh-eating zombies.’
‘Are you a secret ghost hunter?’ Ash asked. ‘There’s a lot of important history around here. Maybe I should have done a ghost walk instead.’
‘Maybe,’ Jess murmured, but she didn’t want to go into the tunnel, to get submerged in the gloom.
A tourist boat was gliding serenely down the grey river, and an aeroplane powered overhead on its way to City Airport. ‘Do you know what’s been missing on your tour?’ she asked.
‘What’s that?’ Ash had stepped closer, and it didn’t look like he had any intention of taking the stairs that led into the tunnel either.
