Page 87 of The Love Letter

‘And I can’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday than shopping!’ Joanna gave Marcus an affectionate kiss.

‘You owe me for this.’

‘Zoe, I . . .’

Joanna heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned round and saw Simon staring at her from the kitchen door, the shock in his eyes mirroring her own.

Zoe stood behind him in her coat.

‘Did I mention Simon was coming to stay, Marcus?’

‘Simon who?’ Marcus asked.

‘Warburton. He’s a distant cousin of ours from Auckland in New Zealand, on Grandmother Grace’s side. He wrote and said he was coming to the UK and could he stay with us for a while. So,’ said Zoe, ‘here he is.’

Marcus frowned. ‘I didn’t know we had any distant cousins.’

‘Nor did I until James’s memorial service,’ Zoe improvised hastily.

Joanna was speechless as she watched Marcus shake hands with Simon.

‘Good to meet you, Simon. So, we’re distantly related?’

‘Yes, it seems that way.’ Simon had recovered his cool.

‘Here for long?’

‘A while, yes.’

‘Good. Well, we must meet up for a boys’ night out at some point. I’ll show you the best places in town.’

‘I look forward to it.’

‘Come on then, Jo, let’s hit the road. Jo?’ Zoe said.

Joanna was still staring at Simon. Zoe watched her nervously.

‘Yes, I’m coming. Right. Bye, Simon. Bye, Marcus.’ Joanna turned and followed Zoe out of the front door.

Simon shrugged on the jacket he’d been holding. ‘I’m off too. I thought I might take in some sights. Good to meet you, Marcus.’

Zoe and Joanna spent a delightful morning on the King’s Road, then caught a bus to Knightsbridge. They wandered round Harvey Nichols until their feet ached, then took refuge in the café on the top floor.

‘It’s on me, by the way,’ said Zoe, as she grabbed a menu from the bar. ‘Any woman who is prepared to take on my brother deserves at least one free lunch!’

‘Thanks, I think,’ Joanna said with a grin, as Zoe ordered two glasses of champagne.

‘You know, I think you’re really good for Marcus. He needs a steadying influence and he’s really fallen for you. If he asks you to marry him, please say yes, and then we can do this kind of thing regularly.’

Joanna was touched by how eager Zoe was to make friends, and once again felt horribly guilty for any duplicitous thoughts she’d had of shopping Zoe to her newspaper. When their lunch arrived, Joanna tucked into her delicious open-faced sandwich, topped with Parma ham and peppery rocket. She noticed that Zoe only picked at hers.

‘Wasn’t it tragic about William Fielding?’ Joanna mentioned as she sipped her champagne.

‘Dreadful. I went to visit him in hospital, you know, the day before he died.’

‘Yes, Marcus mentioned it.’

‘He was in a terrible state. It really upset me, especially as we’d had that chat about my grandfather only a few days before. He gave me a beautiful signet ring for safe keeping. Here, I’ll show you.’ Zoe fumbled in the zip pocket of her handbag, produced the ring and handed it to Joanna.