'h.e.l.lo, Miss Mackharven. This is Corinne Stiller at Greenways home.'

Thea's mouth went dry. Her legs turned to water. Instantly she called back.

'Thea,' Corinne was trotting out a well-reheared speech, 'I'm so sorry to have to tell you, but your grandmother died peacefully this morning.'

29.

Luke was not the only one to board a plane and head off to Guatemala City. Every five-star hotel in the capital was booked solid with news teams from all over the world. As the Seven Thirty Seven Thirty crew landed, headed by Alexa now that Thea had to organize and attend a funeral, rumours were beginning to spread like nits in a nursery that Minnie's visit was not entirely altruistic, that perhaps her trips to see the cute little children in the orphanage might be likened to one of her infamous after-hour sprees in Bergdorf's. crew landed, headed by Alexa now that Thea had to organize and attend a funeral, rumours were beginning to spread like nits in a nursery that Minnie's visit was not entirely altruistic, that perhaps her trips to see the cute little children in the orphanage might be likened to one of her infamous after-hour sprees in Bergdorf's.

Minnie's people, however, denied everything, insisting that the model was there on a private charity visit to open a health clinic and give the work of Guatemala Children a higher profile. No further statement would be made.

'Are you absolutely sure she's not going to talk to anyone else?' Thea demanded of Jake. Four days had pa.s.sed and she was talking on her hands-free kit, foot hard on the accelerator of her Peugeot 205. The speedometer was creeping steadily past 90mph as she made her way down the motorway to Greenways and Gran's funeral.

'I'm as sure as I can be,' Jake said sounding remarkably perky, given it was six in the morning his time. 'The Seven Thirty Seven Thirty crew are the only ones who've been allowed full access to our projects. If Minnie does choose to speak, she'll be honour bound to pick you.' crew are the only ones who've been allowed full access to our projects. If Minnie does choose to speak, she'll be honour bound to pick you.'

'Thank you, Jake,' Thea said, sticking up two fingers at a lorry overtaking on the inside. The driver made an obscene gesture. Thea gestured back.

'You're welcome. We're doing each other a favour.' A pause and then he said, 'Shame you can't be here.'

'I know,' Thea said, though she didn't mean it in the way Jake did.

'I'm really sorry about your gran.' He'd said it before, when she'd first told him why she couldn't come out, but it was nice to hear it again.

'Thank you.' Thea paused. 'Everyone thinks I should be relieved she's not suffering any more, but I just feel so sad.'

'Of course. You've been in semi-mourning for years and now you can go no-holds-barred. All those emotions you've had a stopper on can come flooding out.'

Terrified they might start flooding out right that second, Thea changed the subject. 'So the adoption is definitely going ahead?'

'Off the record, yes. All the papers were signed last night. There'll be an announcement some time this week.'

Thea sighed with relief. If Minnie had suddenly decided she'd prefer a Chinese baby, she would have almost certainly found herself jobless. 'We were right to send a team, then.'

'Totally right. You'll be on the spot when it all kicks off. Are you sure there's no chance you can join us?'

'I'd love to,' she said truthfully, 'but Alexa's out there already. They don't need me.'

's.h.i.t, I've got to go. Minnie's PA's waiting to see me.' Jake lowered his voice. 'Could be they'll make the announcement today. I'll talk to you later. Oh, and Thea, good luck.'

'Thanks.' But he was gone. Thea turned her radio back up.

'It's outrageous that some woman with a cheque book should just be allowed to wander in to an orphange as though it's Selfridges and pick the cutest baby she can find,' said a female voice.

'More outrageous than leaving the baby in the orphanage to its fate as a child prost.i.tute and a drug addict?' said another that was vaguely familiar.

'Minnie Maltravers is is a drug addict. She's done ninety days community service and an anger management course for hitting her maid with a handbag. But it looks as though she's going to get a green light to adopt a baby when so many decent couples are turned down.' a drug addict. She's done ninety days community service and an anger management course for hitting her maid with a handbag. But it looks as though she's going to get a green light to adopt a baby when so many decent couples are turned down.'

'It's irrelevant if other couples are turned down,' said the woman's voice. Who the h.e.l.l was was she? 'The point is one child will be rescued from a life of no hope into a life of opportunities.' she? 'The point is one child will be rescued from a life of no hope into a life of opportunities.'

'A life as the spoilt only child of an egomaniac.'

'Look, you don't actually think Minnie's going to bring this child up do you? That'll be done by teams of nannies. She'll see it once in the evening for five minutes before bedtime and occasional photo ops, if they're both lucky.'

'Exactly,' Thea said, as she turned off the motorway. The presenter's voice cut in.

'Thank you, Dilly Wells and Hannah Creighton for adding your voices to the debate. Listeners what do you think? Call us on...'

f.u.c.k. Hannah Creighton again. The woman was everywhere, like mercury in the water. For the thousandth time Thea wondered what would have happened if she hadn't sent that email. Would Luke and Hannah still be together? Would Clara never have been born? Would Thea and Luke have ended up together? Would Hannah never have entered the limelight and gone to her grave known primarily for the excellent lentil salad she produced annually for the school fete?

'We'll never know,' Thea said swinging into the Greenways car park.

As she expected the funeral in the home's chapel was a spa.r.s.ely attended affair. Thea, Corinne from Greenways, a couple of the Polish nurses, Aunt Maria and her husband George, who had flown in from Malaga for the occasion even though they had never bothered to visit Toni Mackharven when she was still alive. Thea managed to get through the service conducted by a bored vicar, who had never met her grandmother, without crying. She saved her tears for the crematorium where another few words were said and the coffin wobbled behind the curtains and the person she loved most in the world was really gone. Then back to Corinne's office for tea and boring plain biscuits. Thea resolved to stop at the first garage she saw on the way home and clean them out of Skittles.

'We always watch the programme on satellite,' Aunt Maria said as soon as she'd got through the usual stock of plat.i.tudes about Gran finding herself in a better place. 'It's very good, but I have to ask you one thing why does Emma Waters always seem to go for those p.u.s.s.y-bow blouses? They make her look like Mrs Thatcher. I mean, I know she was a wonderful woman and all that and she made Britain great again but I still don't want to see her lookalike reading the news. It's a bit scary. Do you think she realizes?'

'I'm not sure she does.'

'There's nothing you could do is there?'

'I could have a word.' For the first time that day Thea smiled as she thought of how Emma would react. She put down her cup, ready to start extracting herself, when an idea struck her.

'Do you think I could go and see Mrs Kaplan?' she said to Corinne.

Corinne looked surprised. 'Do you know her?'

'I met her son here last time I visited. He's in Guatemala at the moment, but she might appreciate a visit from me.'

'I'm sure she would.' Corinne smiled. 'She's in room forty-nine. Just go and knock on the door.'

Thea knocked with some trepidation. She remembered once finding her grandmother sitting in a pool of urine, her room smashed to pieces as if she were some rock star. But Mrs Kaplan was sitting peaceably in an armchair staring out at the beautifully tended gardens.

'h.e.l.lo, Mrs Kaplan. I'm Thea; I'm a friend of Jake's. My grandmother used to live here: Mrs Mackharven. I've just been to her funeral.'

'On the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond,' Mrs Kaplan sang under her breath.

'Jake's in Guatemala. He's working with some of my colleagues.' Thea noticed a large black-and-white photo of Jake on the mantelpiece, his arm round a very pretty blonde girl. Absurdly she felt a tinge of jealousy. Then she wondered if the girl was standing in a trench, like Tom Cruise's leading ladies, to make him look taller, and she grinned.

'Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny.'

'We went out for dinner. He's a nice man. A credit to you. Though don't be getting any ideas about us. He's way younger than me and he's not my type. And I'm probably not his, though I do wonder...'

'If you were the only girl in the world,' she trilled.

Thea squeezed her hand. 'OK, that's all for now. I just wanted to check you were all right and let you know where Jake is. He'll come and see you soon.'

She walked back down the sage-green corridor for what she knew would be the last time. Everyone she'd told had gone on about how at least now there was some kind of closure, knowing she no longer had to come here, that her grandmother had some kind of peace, that her financial burden was lifted. But all Thea could feel was total bleakness: the person who'd loved her most in the world had gone.

'Now I've got no one,' she said to herself, as she got into her car. She rested her head on the wheel for a moment, taking deep breaths.

'Come on, Thea. You'll survive. We all do.'

Her phone started ringing. For a moment, she stared at it, debating whether to pick up. Then she took a deep breath.

'h.e.l.lo?'

'Thea, it's Luke.'

'Oh, hi, Luke. How's it going?'

'Badly.' No 'How are you, Thea?' she noticed. 'Do you know what's happened?'

'No. I've been at my grandmother's funeral.'

'Of course. Anyway, it's b.l.o.o.d.y mayhem out here. They've made the official announcement: Minnie's adopted a little boy.'

'Great,' Thea said, noting the lack of sympathy. Luke had never been good at the touchy-feely stuff. t.o.s.s.e.r. What had she ever seen in him? 'So we didn't send you out there in vain?'

'Well, yes, you did. Because Minnie's f.u.c.king left the country with the baby.'

'She's left?'

'Yup. Slipped out last night, apparently, in her private jet. No one even s.n.a.t.c.hed a photo of them. We don't know where they are. And we're stuck out here with b.u.g.g.e.r-all to do.'

30.

Just a month ago, Poppy would have felt her heart crumble when Luke called from the office to say he was off to Guatemala City that night. But this time she took it on the chin. Of course she'd miss him but now she had Brigita to share the load in the day. She was happy to chat about Clara's little foibles to the point where even Poppy got a bit bored. And every evening she had a party to go to, flanked by the ever faithful Meena.

'How long will you be gone for?' she asked, buffing her nails, her phone on speaker. She still couldn't bring herself to do the Meena hairdresser and make-up artist thing, but she had had a spray tan at the Bliss spa in South Kensington the other day and she was starting to use more make-up.

'A week maybe.' A pause and then Luke said, 'Sorry.'

'It's fine,' she said cheerfully. 'It's your job.'

'I'll pop home to collect a few things. Say goodbye to you and Clara.'

'Good,' she said, 'but you'd better be quick because I'm going out as soon as she's in bed.'

'Going out? Again?'

Another chance to tell him about the column, but Poppy didn't want to do it on the phone. So she simply said, 'Yes. I'll see you later then.'

But in fact she didn't see him because Luke got stuck in traffic, by which time Meena had arrived in a minicab and whisked Poppy off.

'Where you going tonight, girls?' said Abdul, the Somali driver, whom they'd had on a couple of occasions, and who appeared to live vicariously through them.

'It's a book launch.' Poppy squinted at the invitation. 'A history of hats.'

's.h.i.t, that sounds a bit boring!' Meena was alarmed.

'No, it's by Lady Emmeline de la Vere, so I think it'll be full of Tatler Tatler-type people.'

'Thank Christ for that.' Meena fanned herself in mock relief.

With each outing, Poppy's shyness was diminishing. It made her feel important to be ushered through the door when she produced her invitation, and a gla.s.s or two or three or four of champagne always helped her feel more self-confident and got her in the mood. As soon as she entered the huge, echoing former brewhouse in Brick Lane, she saw Charlie at the bar. She headed straight for him.

'You again.' He kissed her on both cheeks. 'You're becoming one of the fixtures at these events, like the Geldof sisters, or Sienna Miller she'd turn up to the opening of an envelope. You're going to have to start behaving outrageously so I can write about you.'

'I'll do my best.' She was glad Charlie didn't know she was the bimbo. Long might it last.

Tonight, as every night, she scanned the room for Toby, but once again without success. He hadn't replied to her last text and with almost superhuman force of will she had not sent another one. She told herself not to be so silly. She was behaving like her mother with a new, silly crush. She had to concentrate on the fact she had a very glamorous new job and not mess it up.

So she and Meena drank three pink c.o.c.ktails ('laced with guarana', the barman told them, whatever that meant), then joined a very small Chinese man in a corset and a very large black girl in gold leggings on the dance floor.

'This past couple of weeks have been so much fun!' Meena screamed over 'Billie Jean'. 'When does the first column come out?'

'Tomorrow!'

'Ooh. I can't wait. After that we'll be getting even more invites, won't we?'

I will, Poppy thought, but she was too kind to correct her friend. Though in any case, she wouldn't dream of going anywhere without Meena. A warm hand fell on her shoulder. Poppy looked round. will, Poppy thought, but she was too kind to correct her friend. Though in any case, she wouldn't dream of going anywhere without Meena. A warm hand fell on her shoulder. Poppy looked round.

'h.e.l.lo!' she gasped, hoping her moves hadn't been too stupid.

'Hi.' Toby kissed Meena then Poppy on both cheeks. 'How are you, gorgeous? Looking fantastic.'

Poppy's throat suddenly felt as narrow as a spider's wrist. 'I'm well,' she shouted above the music. 'How are you?'

'Very good.' Toby had that look in his eyes that reminded her of Clara the first time she tried ice cream, a look that said 'Why did you keep this from me for so long?'

'Come and have a drink.'

She looked at Meena, but she winked and waved and carried on dancing. So Poppy followed Toby through the crowd to the bar.

'Champagne?'

'Actually I was on the c.o.c.ktails.' She smiled, hoping she sounded Holly Golightly-esque.