The Language Of Spells Part 17

'What doesn't?' Gwen said.

'You through here, us back there. It isn't very friendly.' Harry stuck out his hand to Ruby. 'I'm Harry.'

'Cam's friend,' Gwen supplied.

Harry smiled easily. 'For my sins.'

Gwen opened her mouth to say we're fine, but Ruby was already getting up, gathering her coat and drink.

Gwen glared at her behind Harry's back. Ruby shrugged and mouthed what?

'h.e.l.lo, again,' Cam said.

Gwen sat down reluctantly.

'I don't think I ever met you, Harry,' Ruby was saying. 'Back in the day.'

'These two didn't do much socialising,' Harry said. 'By all accounts, they were permanently attached to one another.'

'Don't I know it,' Ruby said, rolling her eyes. Which was very unfair considering she had been exactly the same with David.

Gwen started to peel the label from her lager bottle.

'Oh, they were completely crazed,' Ruby said to Harry. 'They used to snog for hours and hours,' she said, warming to her theme. 'I thought they must've developed a way of breathing through their ears.'

Gwen aimed a kick at Ruby under the table.

'Ouch,' Harry said.

'Harry was after Gwen's time,' Cam said. 'We met housebreaking.'

Gwen raised her eyebrows and Harry said, 'Not breaking. House borrowing. It was strictly temporary.'

Ruby frowned. 'And then you became lawyers? Just like that?'

'Hey, hey.' Harry put his hands in the air. 'I'm no lawyer.'

'He's worse,' Cam said, smiling. 'Police.'

'You wish. The ladies love the uniform,' Harry said in a cheesy voice.

'That a fact?' Gwen said, extremely grateful they were no longer reminiscing about her and Cam's s.e.x life. Actually, she could see Harry being a hit with or without a uniform. There was something incredibly sure and solid about him. Something unruffled. Something that said: Hey, everything's going to be okay. Let's have a beer in the suns.h.i.+ne. Cam, on the other hand, broadcast something like: Everybody is up to something and I'm going to find out what it is. Come to think of it, they were clearly in the wrong jobs.

'I'm a solicitor, to be strictly accurate,' Gwen tuned back into the conversation to hear Cam saying.

'Which is like a lawyer, only more boring,' Harry supplied.

'Thanks for that,' Cam said, 'but, essentially, yes.'

'So you don't do all that exciting courtroom stuff?' Ruby sounded disappointed.

'Barristers do the big-ticket stuff. They go to High Court and argue criminal cases. Solicitors deal with the big three.' Cam ticked them off his fingers. 'Divorce, death and The Council.'

'That sounds depressing,' Gwen said.

Cam shrugged. 'Pays the bills.'

'Divorce, though. Must be full of people arguing.' Gwen shook her head. 'Sounds like a nightmare.'

'Put it this way, I'm not exactly desperate to get married. I've seen how people behave to each other. And that's people who once loved each other enough to say "I do".' He shuddered.

Harry clapped him on the back. 'Ignore Mr Grim, Gwen. I'm sure he's got a sensitive, romantic heart underneath his hard exterior. I bet he's like a caramel. All gooey inside.'

'I am not gooey,' Cam said, looking disgusted.

'Sure you are,' Harry said, smiling as if Cam wasn't about to hack him to little pieces with a letter-opener.

'I just can't imagine you having the patience ...' Gwen trailed off as she realised Cam was glowering at her. 'Sorry,' she said hastily.

'It's definitely one of the skills you've learned,' Harry said. 'When I met you, you were more likely to deck someone that annoyed you.'

'I tried that.' Cam managed a sort-of smile. 'But it turns out it's frowned on by the Law Society.'

'Spoilsports.'

Cam brightened. 'Now I just hit 'em in the wallet.'

Later on, Ruby was deep in conversation with a friend of Harry's and Gwen was waiting at the bar, admiring the different colours that alcohol came in. She was just planning a rainbow-themed drinking game, when she felt Cam next to her. Without turning, she knew it was him. Great. She had Cam-sense. That was a helpful power. Not.

'Can I talk to you about something?'

Gwen closed her eyes. His voice really was gorgeous. It made something thrum deep inside her, like she was attuned to its frequency.

Bob appeared and she gave him her order, changing her mind from red wine to Southern Comfort at the last moment. She needed a stiff ... drink. She needed a stiff drink.

'What's up?' she asked, finally looking at Cam.

He paused while Bob placed a Southern Comfort on the bar.

'I've been thinking about us.'

'I'm sorry about Ruby,' Gwen said. 'She's got no tact.'

'That's okay.' Cam was smiling at her. He looked like his old self: that gorgeous lopsided smile, the devil's touch in his eyes. 'I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm having trouble keeping away from you.'

'Really?' Gwen said, brilliantly. She concentrated on staying upright.

'I was so angry with you for so long, but now you're here it's not my primary emotion.'

'Your primary emotion?' He was using his calm tone again. The one that made him sound like a particularly suave robot. Gwen grabbed the Southern Comfort and drank.

'I think we should have s.e.x.'

Gwen choked, alcohol burning the back of her nose and throat. She coughed and snorted and had to get a tissue to wipe her streaming eyes. Finally, she managed, 'Pardon?'

'It'd clear the air.'

'Yeah, that's romantic,' Gwen said. She blew her nose and pocketed the tissue.

'I'm not talking romance. I'm talking closure.'

'Closure,' Gwen echoed.

Bob returned, uncorking a bottle of red wine with a pop.

'Yes,' Cam said easily. 'Then we can move on. As friends. As adults.' He looked he was discussing the weather.

'Wow,' Gwen managed.

'You don't have to decide right now,' Cam said.

'That's generous of you.' Gwen was torn between wanting to slap his smug face and wanting to tackle him to the floor and- 'Get me some nuts! Dry roasted!' Harry yelled across the pub.

'Gwen?' Cam said. 'Have you finished ordering?'

Gwen blinked. Bob was standing in front of her. His face was perfectly impa.s.sive. 'Right. Yes. Thanks.' Gwen was determined not to look at Cam, knew that she was blus.h.i.+ng furiously. She scooped up her change and stuffed it into her jeans pocket, then picked up the drinks. Then she looked at him. He was looking cool and collected as always. And he was smirking slightly which, unfortunately, didn't make him any less desirable. b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Chapter 11.

When Gwen woke up the next day, it was snowing and she thanked the sainted boiler man for fixing her heating. By lunchtime the flakes had stopped falling and she went outside to marvel at the fresh white blanket, the world made clean and new. She almost tripped over a lump on her back door step and made a mental note to always check before striding out. It was a package of silver foil topped with a layer of snow an inch thick. The path was pristine, any footprints masked by the new snow.

The air was still and cold, the world m.u.f.fled. A magpie flew down from a nearby tree and Gwen automatically greeted it. It perched on the garden wall and screeched, a sound that was so exactly the sound of the front gate opening that Gwen did a double-take. A moment later, Amanda appeared from the side path and Gwen laughed at herself: it had been the gate.

'Is this a good time?' Amanda said. 'For tea?'

'Certainly.' Gwen scooped up the parcel, the foil freezing to the touch, and brushed the snow off the top. 'Come on in.'

'What's that?' Amanda nodded at the parcel.

'I've no idea. Someone left a ginger cake on my step the other day, though.' Gwen watched Amanda's expression. There was something tense behind her grey eyes. A wariness that stayed even as they exchanged pleasantries.

The warmth of the kitchen made the tips of Gwen's fingers and ears tingle. 'It's proper cold today,' she said, flicking the switch on the kettle.

'My car says it's minus six,' Amanda said. She was looking around as if she'd never seen a kitchen before. She turned suddenly. 'Can we have our tea in the other room?'

'The living room?'

'Any other room. Iris only ever showed me the kitchen. I'd love to see the rest of the house.'

'Sure.' Gwen found Amanda's enthusiasm oddly touching. 'Help yourself. Coffee or tea?'

'Is that real coffee? Yes, please,' Amanda said, already halfway out of the door to the hallway.

Gwen pottered between the kettle and the fridge, trying to ignore the magpie, which was on the kitchen windowsill, its long tail feathers half-crushed against the gla.s.s. She wanted to open the window and shoo it away; it was bad luck for a magpie a with its drop of devil's blood hidden under its tongue a to be near a window. Gloria had always said that it meant a death in the household, but that was ridiculous. Superst.i.tion. Still, Gwen tried to keep her eyes averted. If she didn't see the bird, maybe she could pretend it wasn't there.

With the tea brewed and the silver foil parcel unwrapped to reveal an iced Christmas cake, complete with a red frill and a snowman on the top, Amanda still hadn't reappeared. Gwen wrapped her fingers around her mug and wandered through the downstairs. In the living room, Amanda was on her knees in front of the writing bureau. The top was open, revealing a clean and empty interior and Amanda was busy opening the drawers underneath. She straightened up when Gwen walked in, bas.h.i.+ng her head on the open lid.

'Oh. Hi.' Amanda was striving for casual, but couldn't stop herself from rubbing her forehead.

'Looking for something?'

Amanda flushed. 'I'm sorry. I just had to check something. I needed ... to check.'

Gwen was alarmed to see tears in her eyes. 'Hey, it's all right,' she said, stepping forward. 'Can I help?'

'No, no. I was just ... looking. Being nosey, I suppose.' Amanda forced a laugh.

'Were you looking for something in particular?'

Amanda took a deep breath. 'I'd love that cup of coffee,' she said brightly and marched past Gwen.

'Okay then,' Gwen said to the empty room.

Amanda was in the kitchen and she turned and gave Gwen a bright smile. 'The garden will be lovely in the spring. Iris had green fingers.'

So they were pretending nothing had happened. 'Take a seat.' Gwen gestured, sitting down herself. 'You seem upset. Is there anything I can do?'

Amanda shook her head. 'It's probably nothing. Just something Lily said, and she was probably just being mean. You know what she's like.'

'Not really,' Gwen said.

'Of course, you missed all of that.' Amanda sat forward, her face animated. 'She's bad news. You can't trust her.'

Gwen was tempted to point out that she'd just caught Amanda investigating her furniture.

'Seriously. You need to watch out for that one.'

'Why do you say that?' Gwen hated herself for asking. She felt like she was taking part in a b.i.t.c.hy conversation, the kind of nasty gossip that had made her own life so miserable.

'You know that house she lives in?'