Page 2 of For Love or Money
‘I was going to say illegal.’
‘Well, I think it’s great,’ Orla said. ‘I wish I’d known I could hire somebody like you when I suspected my ex of cheating.’
‘Me too,’ Janice beside her said. ‘Do you have a card?’ she asked Lesley.
‘Er ... no, not on me.’
‘Well, give me your number, then.’
‘I’d like your number too, please,’ Orla said, reaching down to take her phone out of her bag. ‘I’d love to tell my friend about you.’
‘Oh, well ... I don’t like to ... I mean I have to be very discreet in my line of work. You understand,’ Lesley said, tapping her nose. Damn! Why did she have to get carried away and take it too far?
‘But you’re not at work now, are you?’ Ronan asked wide-eyed, fidgeting with his tie.
She was sorry she’d started this now. So she was glad of the diversion when the door was suddenly flung open and a harassed-looking man burst into the room.
‘Helen!’ he panted.
Their hostess looked up, startled. ‘Conor? What—’
‘Ian McKellen was at the show tonight. He’s coming for supper!’
Lesley recalled that Helen’s husband was a bigwig in one of Dublin’s main theatres. She couldn’t remember which one – she hated the theatre.
‘So you’ll have to get rid of this lot.’ Conor gestured at the guests, who were all gazing up at him in astonishment. ‘Have they eaten all the food?’
‘Well, we’ve just finished the mains.’
‘You’ll have to rustle up something else, then. I’ve got Cathy stalling him in the green room, but he’ll be here soon.’
‘I suppose I could do a quick risotto. But we haven’t had dessert yet.’
‘What is it?’
‘Gateau Diane.’
‘You can give them doggy bags.’
The singletons watched this exchange as if they were at a tennis match, their heads swivelling between Helen and her husband. They turned to Helen now, the ball back in her court, all their hopes resting on her return.
‘Good idea,’ she said, and you could almost hear the collective groan as she lost the point. ‘I’ll start parcelling up cake for everyone to take home,’ she said as she stood. ‘And you can all have a refund, or come along another night for free, whichever you prefer.’
‘But we haven’t had a chance to talk to everyone properly yet,’ Matthew piped up from the end of the table as Helen left the room.
‘You’ve had two courses and pre-drinks,’ Conor said. ‘You’ve already made your minds up about each other. Haven’t you?’ he demanded, looking sternly around the table.
‘Absolutely!’ Lesley said, reaching down to grab her bag, as the other guests looked at each other uncertainly. She didn’t need to be told twice.
‘Oh, I didn’t see you there, Aloysius,’ Conor was saying as she hurried to the door. ‘You’re welcome to stay for supper, if you’d like.’
She turned around and realised he was speaking to Al.Aloysius! Well, he’d kept that quiet.
In the hall, Helen handed her a little cake box. ‘Where’s Al?’ she asked, looking over Lesley’s shoulder.
‘He’s still in there. I think he’s going to stay – your husband said he’s allowed.’
‘But he’s already eaten. And I thought you two would really hit it off.’
