Page 80 of For Love or Money
‘Which are? Evening wear? General knowledge?’
Lesley shook her head. ‘It’s only in stories that all the pretty girls are thick. Sorry.’
‘True. It’s a story the rest of us tell to comfort ourselves.’ Jane said. ‘Talent, then? I’m not a bad singer. And I can juggle a little. I had to learn it once for a part.’
‘Well ... maybe if we get desperate. But no, where you’re really going to come into your own is in the history section.’
‘History?’ Jane huffed a laugh. ‘Thanks very much.’
‘Think about it,’ Lesley said, sitting up and swinging around to face Jane as she warmed to her theme. ‘You and Peter had a whole life together. You’ve got children. Divorced or not, you’ll always be family. Stella’s known Peter for five minutes – a blip! You’ve had a quarter of a century together—’
‘More,’ Jane said quietly.
‘Well, there you go. There’s no way she can compete with that, no matter how good she looks in a swimsuit.’
‘I don’t know,’ Jane said, her eyes drifting to Peter and Stella, paddling along the shoreline. ‘It’s true I used to know Peter inside out. Better than he knew himself – not that that was saying a lot. But the Peter I knew all those years was a drunk and a womaniser. He’s changed. Maybe Stella knows him better than I do now.’
Perhaps she was right. Lesley was conflicted. Now that she’d befriended Stella, she didn’t feel good about plotting against her like this. On the other hand, if she and Peter would be as miserable together as Rafe seemed to think, wouldn’t she be doing her a favour in the long run?
‘He might be a bit more domesticated, but he’s still the same person,’ she said to Jane. ‘Back me up on this, Al.’
‘She’s right,’ Al said, sitting up and turning to them both.
‘And why should Stella swoop in and get the benefit after you put in all that work on him?’ Lesley continued. ‘If anyone’s entitled to the new, improved Peter, it’s you.’
‘Am I, though? It was my decision to get divorced. Maybe I should leave them to it.’
‘No.’ Al shook his head. ‘You said yourself Peter’s changed. You wouldn’t have kicked him out in the first place if he’d been even half as tame as he is now.’
‘Plus you’d be rescuing him from the clutches of a gold-digger, don’t forget,’ Lesley added. ‘Who knows what she has in store for him once she’s got a ring on her finger?’
‘I’m tempted to say it’d serve him right. He who lives by the sword ...’
‘But you don’t mean that,’ Al said.
‘No,’ Jane said wearily. ‘I don’t.’
‘So, history it is!’ Lesley said.
Jane gave her a crooked smile, then lay back and picked up her book. But Lesley could tell she was still watching Stella and Peter over the top of it.
26
This was the easiest money she’d ever earned, Lesley thought, as she lazed in the sun, letting the heat seep into her bones. Suddenly she felt drops of cold water on her stomach, and she jerked upright to see Scott standing at the end of her lounger, shaking his head like a wet dog, sending a spray of water in every direction. Rafe was beside him, water glistening on his tanned, taut body.
‘We’ve got jet skis,’ Scott said, grabbing a towel and swiping randomly at his face and arms before tossing it onto a lounger. ‘We got one for you too,’ he said to Al. ‘So who’s in? Lesley?’
Al looked at her questioningly. She shielded her eyes and looked out at the powerful machines zipping around on the horizon, bouncing on the waves. It did look exciting. ‘I’ve never been on a jet ski.’
‘It’s great fun,’ Al said. ‘You’ll love it.’
‘Okay, then. I’m game. Is it difficult to steer? Will I get thrown off?’
‘No. Just hold on tight to me,’ Al said. ‘You’ll be perfectly safe, I promise.’
‘Hey, why do you assume you’ll be driving?’
Al shrugged. ‘You have to have a licence to do it here. Sorry, I just assumed you wouldn’t have one.’
