Second Shot

I didn’t want to make it obvious that I’d only come in to keep an eye on her, but I didn’t want to go into a cubicle, either, just in case she left before I came out. Instead, I walked past her to the basins, which were frosted green glass bowls with taps that you had to wave at in order to get any water out of them. I wet my hands, more to give me something to do with them rather than through any dire need. The soap smelt of bergamot, which was nice if you liked to carry out your ablutions in Earl Grey tea.

“Are you OK in there, sweetie?” Simone called.

A big sigh emanated from inside the cubicle. “Ye-es, Mummy,” came Ella’s voice, slightly singsong, humoring her.

I grinned into the mirror at the tone. Simone let her breath out fast down her nose and rolled her eyes, but a sneaky little smile made a bid for freedom across the corners of her lips. Just for a moment we shared the connection before the smile ran its course and faded away. I finished washing my hands and shook off the excess water into the bowl.

As I moved across to the stack of individual hand towels, Simone said, almost abruptly, “Look, I’m sorry if I was rude out there. Rupert kind of sprang this whole thing on me and I don’t like surprises.”

I shrugged. “Part of my job,” I said mildly, “would be to make sure you didn’t get any”

She pulled a face, considering, then said, “You don’t look like a bodyguard.”

Not the first time I’d heard comments like that. I glanced into the mirror one last time and saw an ordinary face — to me, nothing special- surrounded by a short bob of red-blond hair. Neat, businesslike. Together with the suit, the surface look said quiet, competent, maybe even a little wary, but the last thing I’d been aiming for was to stand out in a crowd.

I dropped the used towel into the laundry bin provided and returned Simone’s cool appraisal, probably still too unsettled to be as diplomatic as I might otherwise have been. “And you don’t look like a millionairess.”

She froze, her eyes widening. But just when I’d braced myself for an outburst, she smiled, a genuine show of amusement.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Charlie, but everybody’s been acting so timid around me lately,” she said with a bubble of laughter rising through her voice. “They all want to tell me how to live my life, but you’re a breath of fresh air after all these stuffed shirts.”

If that’s how you think of Sean, lady, then you’re not looking nearly deep enough.…

“I’m sure they only have your best interests at heart,” I said neutrally.

She gave a snort of derision. “Oh, sure,” she said, cynicism making her face suddenly hard. “Either that or their best interest rates-one or the other. Everybody seems to want a piece of me.”

“Including Matt.”

She shot me a quick warning glance, then shrugged. “Matt’s trouble was that he’s a man,” she said, abrupt. “He didn’t always think with his head-if you know what I mean.” Her eyes slid to the closed cubicle door, but her free hand gestured expressively to the front of her cargo trousers.

“Even after you won the money?”

Simone’s smile twisted. “No, he lucked out there,” she said with a hint of bitter sadness. “I knew he was fooling around with some of the girls at the place he works. Oh, he always denied it, but sometimes you just know, don’t you? Then one night I caught him coming in late with some lame excuse and I–I just totally lost my temper with him. I just went postal,” she admitted, flushing. “He didn’t say anything, which was as bad as an outright admission, right? He just went upstairs, packed a bag of his stuff and walked out. I thought he’d come back the next day, but he didn’t-how’s that for guilty conscience? And then a week later my numbers came up and now everything’s a whole lot more complicated.”

There was something in her face. I paused, tilted my head on one side in a way I knew I’d picked up from Sean. “You still love him,” I said, that part of it a statement. “So why not take him back-forgive and forget?”

She gave a restless twitch. “It’s not that simple anymore, is it? Why did he wait until after he found out about my win before he came back? How can I ever be sure …?”

“That he came back for you or for the money,” I finished for her.

Simone nodded unhappily. ‘And as for the way he’s behaving over trying to stop me looking for my dad, well, that’s just unbalanced,” she said in a low voice, breaking off and shaking her head. She gave a slow, weary smile. “Sometimes I wish I’d never bought that goddamn ticket.”

“Language, Mummy,” Ella’s voice drifted over the cubicle door, making both of us start. Simone colored again, as though she’d forgotten her daughter’s eavesdropping presence.

“Four going on forty,” Simone muttered, and, louder: “Sorry, sweetie.”

“That’s all right, Mummy,” Ella said in a patient tone that suggested she knew adults couldn’t really be held responsible for their actions. “I’m all finished,” she added.