Chapter 5

IN MID-WEEK Gertie arranged to meet with Gill for lunch, telling her it was to discuss her feelings for Jake and to fill in some of Jake’s background. Gill was apprehensive about what way the conversation was going to go, but could see no choice but to agree to the meeting. She was intrigued about Jake’s background, but was Gertie going to warn her off getting too close to her precious grandson?

They met at an old-established restaurant, filled with low light, dark mahogany and private booths. Gertie had insisted on sending a cab to collect her from the bank, the driver almost treated Gill like royalty.

The lunchtime meal that Gertie took charge of and chose for them both was light, delivered quickly and quietly and tasted delicious. They were left to talk after the dishes were cleared away and Gertie had poured them both a cup of tea in fine bone china cups.

“Jake was impressed with how you handled that injured hiker the other weekend, Gill. He said you were very calm and reassuring under pressure.”

“Oh, it was nothing, I only held Tim’s hand while Jake went to get help. We had no choice really, Jake knew the terrain and the exact location.”

Gertie patted her hand, “Well, I was impressed, too. Tell me Gill, what do you think of my grandson and what are your plans for any future together?”

“Oh! Well, I sort of expected you’d ask me something along those lines but asking me so direct, you’ve still caught me at a little bit of a disadvantage. I’m not sure what to say as it is so early in our friendship.”

“Well, getting directly to the point saves any misunderstandings, dear. Now, I know you are highly thought of as an excellent manager and a brilliant negotiator at Standhope Winter. So I’d have thought you wouldn’t have got caught out by us cutting to the quick.” She patted Gill’s hand and smiled. “Relax, my dear, I am not going to bite, I just want to understand where both of you are going. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

“I understand where you are coming from, but I have never had a boyfriend’s family ask me what my intentions were before!” Gill laughed, although the situation was too strange to be funny. “I think my Dad did pin my ex-husband down pretty smartly when he first took me out,” Gill smiled at the memory of her late father, “Wayne, my ex-, was, well is, nine years older than me and I met him when I did my internship at Winstone’s Bank. I was still at college then, while he was a rising star in the organisation. I was flattered to catch his attention and my Dad was after assurances that I was not going to be ... taken advantage of, I suppose.”

Gertie smiled back, “I realise it’s a little unconventional for a grandmother to get involved, but Jake is very special to me and, well, he never tells me anything about his private life. That’s why I tend to worry about him. And I worry about you too, my dear. I mean, how are you coping with a husband who cheated on you, with your family split between two homes, while taking on more responsibility at work?”

“I do keep my work and home life-”

“I know, Gill,” Gertie soothed, “I asked around and you are a very attractive and successful business woman, who will eventually reach the top of your profession, I’m sure. You entertain and are entertained, while Jake is, well, you know Jake.”

“Ahh. All right. First of all, I am not all out for revenge on men, to pay back my husband, if that’s what you think. I do get hit on a lot and I ignore them all. Jake is the only man I have dated since my husband left me. My priority is still my children first, my happiness and future come second to them.”

She paused and Gertie let her have her space, feeling she had more to say.

“I am not interested in going out with any of my single, high-flying business associates, who are perhaps simply looking for an uncomplicated good time. I am not built like that. I was a faithful wife who was replaced by a younger woman. I am angry about what happened but I am not bitter.”

Gertie nodded, but remained silent, encouraging Gill to go on.

“Jake is a man that I have known and liked for, well almost forever. As soon as I started working at the bank, he was always friendly and helpful. I count him as a friend. He’s bright, I mean really clever, much smarter I think than anyone I’ve ever met. And he is so warm and kind and gentle, he’s great with my two children and always has been.” She smiled, “He has them enthused about life around them, he engages and enlivens them, like their natural father never did or does. Jenny and Clay both said as much about Jake on Sunday night.”

Gertie smiled. “They are great kids, Jenny and Clay, all credit to you.”

“Thanks,” Gill continued. “I wish Jake was their father, sometimes, instead of Wayne. I think he is the best man I have ever known and ... I think I am beginning to fall in love with him.”

“I think he has already been in love with you too, for many years.”

“Maybe ... I don’t know what you’ve heard or from where. I never thought of him romantically, until now, when we have spent a little time together. I think the respect and affection I have always felt for him, has grown. As for him, how he feels about me, I am at a loss. Sometimes I think he does love me, but at other times it seems that Jake is not ... not keen on a physical relationship with me. I am trying to open myself up to him and I really want him to open up to me too. But every time I try to er, ... try to escalate our er, relationship -”

“Sex, dear, it’s all right to say sex. We’re talking girl talk here, and you should know that I was married three times, and each time sex was very much in evidence,” Gertie chuckled.

Gill sighed, “Yes, sex. I know ... well, it’s pretty obvious that he reacts positively, to my er, stimulation, but Jake keeps reining me in. I mean that he’s the one that’s stopping me getting carried away, and it was always the other way around when I first started courting Wayne. I mean, Jake kisses like a dream and, er, he makes me go weak at the knees. He’s a wonderful selfless lover. He’s just beautiful but -” she sighed again.

“But?”

“I’m not sure if he really wants a girlfriend.”

“But aren’t you getting together this weekend, then?” Gertie chuckled, “and this is another completely child-free weekend?”

“Yes! As soon as Wayne collects Jenny and Clay, Jake is going to pick me up and take me back to his little flat -”

“Little flat?” Gertie raised her eyebrows, “is that in New Timber Lane?”

“Yes,” Gill was puzzled, “why, does he have another love nest somewhere else?”

“No no, he’s lived there a long time, since he was old enough to stop living with me and make his own way into the world. It is so handy for the city; it’s just that I haven’t been there for such a long while and wonder how he’s looking after himself. It’s on the ground floor above the basement garage, if I remember?”

“Yes, at the back of the building. I mean, we dined at a little table in the living room that he had set out beautifully, with linen and crystal glasses. We were tight for time, as I had to leave after our meal to pick the kids up, so I left him to do the washing up and putting away, as he insisted. He didn’t show me around the flat or anything, so I assumed other than the kitchen diner it was just a couple of bedrooms and a bathroom. It was all very neat and tidy, but Spartan, minimalist, no pictures and photos on the walls, like a typical bachelor pad, that needed a woman’s touch.”

“Yes, of course, I agree it probably does need a woman’s touch, and not mine, but I’ll have to keep a closer eye on him. Jake does stay with me sometimes, usually the night before our monthly walk. Are you coming to the next one by the way? It’s the weekend after next.”

“I’ll definitely be coming, well if Jake comes as usual, and the kids have already said that they want to come as well, only it’s Wayne’s weekend with them, so he may not want to give them up.”

“Invite him along, too. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“Yes, the mother of his child.” Gill’s shoulders slumped; she took a final sip of her tea, before Gertie topped it up from the pot. “We never mention her name in the house, but it isn’t all her fault, I suppose it takes two to tango. And she’s half his age, so he should have known better and been more careful about precautions. I shudder thinking about it. I only knew just after Christmas that he’d had a girlfriend all along and she’d had a baby, I couldn’t get tested for ... diseases quickly enough.”

“All clear?”

“Oh yes! Absolutely! All clear, for sure. If not, well, I wouldn’t be showing my face in public.” Of course, Gertie would naturally be thinking of Jake’s safety, Gill thought. “Jenny would probably look after the baby during the walk if Wayne and his partner did come on the ramble.”

“Do you still feel upset about the end of your marriage?”

“Yes, I suppose I still am.” She picked up her refreshed cup of tea to take a sip, then put it down and played with the spoon in the saucer. “It’s just that I didn’t even realise we had a problem. Nothing was ever said between us about it not working out, or any dissatisfaction on his part. Even when he said he wanted the divorce, he tried to explain it away as being because we grew apart and the divorce would be better for both of us. Wayne never admitted to any affair until I finally confronted him about a week after his girlfriend had the baby. Then, there’s the effect on the children, the poor lambs don’t know which way to turn since we separated.”

“The children always take it hardest, the poor dears, their whole world collapses.”

“Yes, it does. They are so quiet most of the time at home, I feel they don’t want to talk about what a great time they had at their Dad’s, in case it depresses me and I suspect they don’t want to tell Wayne what a great time they’ve just had pony trekking on Dartmoor with Jake.” She put her cup down again. “And I just felt so stupid. It was all going wrong for my marriage under the surface and I didn’t have a clue. I still feel stupid!”

“You weren’t stupid then and you certainly aren’t stupid now. I have never said anything about this to Jake, Gill, but my second husband, not only had an affair and a baby before I knew anything about it, he had a whole separate family.”

“No!”

“Yes! And, like you, I never suspected a thing. He kept his other life completely separate from us, so there were no clues. Mind you, I wasn’t looking for any. We both had busy lives, he was a QC and I had my charity work at the hospital.”

“How did you find out about his other family?”

“I didn’t go looking for them, they came to his funeral. A family turned up, a woman wearing black and two pre-teenage children. They came to the church service, slipping unnoticed into the back, and then followed us out to see the actual interment. There were lots of older children there, all relatives that I knew, but this little group stuck out like sore thumbs, because the rest of the family had been asked to keep all the younger children away. They were keeping themselves to themselves, and looking so sad. One of my nephews invited them back to the house for refreshments afterwards, but they declined, so I went over to apply a little more pressure. I assumed this young woman knew my late husband from work, or her husband or father was a friend of his, but no, in his anger and sorrow, one of the sons burst out that my Albert was his father!”