Page 39 of A Chance in a Million
‘It’s a fridge disguised as a bookcase. Don’t worry, it isn’t too hard to find. The top shelf’s all Dickens. Bring a bottle. Glasses are in the dresser alongside.’
Jane located the fridge with ease and took out a bottle of champagne from half a dozen others. Picking up three crystal flutes, she went back outside and set them on a low table. By the time she had opened the bottle, poured wine into each glass and handed them out, she had recovered at least some of her composure and was able to address Veronica in normal tones.
‘So all this time you’ve known what happened to me. Why didn’t you say?’
‘I knew you’d tell me when you felt the time was right. I could see that you were still grieving. Like I’ve told you before, I know a thing or two about grief so I left it up to you. I’m the only one who knew and I chose to keep it that way until you felt comfortable telling me.’
Beside her, Flora raised her glass and clinked it against Jane’s. ‘Thank you for taking me into your confidence, Jane.’
Jane took a sip and as the wine trickled down her throat she gradually began to relax again and glanced across at Veronica. ‘And you didn’t say anything to David? Even though he used to be in the army and was injured himself?’
‘I didn’t say a word to anybody.’ Veronica set her glass back down on the table again. ‘So tell me, if David hadn’t forced your hand, when do you think you would have felt like talking about what happened to you? I sensed you were drawing close to opening up.’
‘You’re right – it would have been any day now, really. I knew I owed it to you to tell you the full story but I’ve been terrified of ending up in tears. I’ve been feeling so much more relaxed over these past few weeks and it might not surprise you to know that this is just about the first time I’ve spoken about this stuff without welling up. I honestly can’t thank you enough for helping me on my road to recovery. I owe you a lot, Veronica.’
Veronica gave her an affectionate glance. ‘You owe me nothing. If anything, I’m the one who should be thanking you. You may not realise, but since you’ve come into my life, you’ve been a ray of sunshine. I can honestly say I feel happier now than I have done for years. Thankyou.’
Jane was about to ask what she had meant about good news of her own when there was the sound of footsteps and Diana arrived, closely followed by Beatrice carrying a sleepy-looking Linda. Diana glanced at the bottle on the table and raised her eyebrows. ‘Are you celebrating? What’s brought this on?’
‘I’ll tell you in a minute. But first, how did your visit to the Costume Museum go?’
Diana came over and perched on the arm of the chair between her mother and her grandmother while Beatrice sat in the next armchair. Linda gave a weary wave and settled on her lap, snuggling down with a muffled yawn.
Diana was the first to reply. ‘It was great. They have a terrific selection of clothes and some of the stuff has given me ideas for my autumn collection.’ She glanced over at Jane and smiled. ‘What Paolo doesn’t know about fashion isn’t worth knowing.’ Her smile turned into a cheeky grin. ‘And he isn’t even gay.’ She winked at her sister. ‘Did you know that, Bee?’
Beatrice flushed momentarily but recovered. ‘You’d be surprised what I know, little sister.’
They were both looking cheerful and Jane took that as a good omen for Beatrice if she really was thinking of trying to rekindle her romance with Paolo. As far as she herself was concerned, she didn’t mind in the slightest and she realised that it wasn’t because of poor Mark or of her professed lack of interest in finding herself a man. It was because her affections – like it or lump it – now appeared to be directed elsewhere. Somehow the troubled man hidden beneath the unruly thatch of hair had established himself inside her head, maybe even her heart. This realisation was so striking, she swallowed half a glass of wine in one go and very nearly erupted into a fit of coughing as a result. Mercifully Veronica stepped in before Jane had to do any talking.
‘I’m glad you both had a good time. Anyway, there’s a reason for the champagne. Jane and I’ve been talking, but I have some news of my own. Diana, be a dear and go and call your brother, would you? He needs to hear this as well.’
Jane and Beatrice exchanged quizzical looks as Diana shot off to call David. Beatrice glanced back at her mother and did a bit of prodding. ‘Good news or bad? Since you’re drinking champagne, I’m assuming it’s good.’
‘Definitely good.’ Veronica smiled. ‘Only a few months ago this probably wouldn’t have interested me in the slightest but now I’m actually rather excited. Now, why doesn’t one of you go and get three more glasses and pour some champagne for all of us?’
Jane jumped to her feet and indicated for Beatrice and her sleepy daughter to stay put while she went to get the glasses. When Diana reappeared with her brother and his dog, Veronica wasted no time passing on news of the unexpected phone call she had received an hour earlier.
‘It was Eleanor, my agent in London. It appears that a major film company is interested in turning one of my books,Love Letter from Vienna, into a big budget movie. The director and a bunch of Hollywood bigwigs are coming over in September for the Venice Film Festival and they want to meet me. Eleanor says it isn’t a done deal yet, but it sounds extremely promising.’ She picked up her glass and looked around with a grin. ‘It might be tempting fate to bring out the champagne so early, but here’s hoping. So, cheers everybody.’
While Flora reached across to kiss her daughter-in-law on the cheeks, Diana went over to hug her mother and David was close behind. Beatrice, under the weight of a sleepy little girl had to settle for blowing her kisses. Dino, caught up in the excitement of the moment, decided it would be a good idea to climb onto Veronica’s lap to add his congratulations but was dissuaded by his master as Jane looked on and giggled.
‘Do you feel up to meeting this director and a whole bunch of other people?’ There was disbelief in Diana’s voice.
Veronica’s expression became more serious. ‘This’ll be a big step for me, I admit, but it’s time I tried to get back to normal life again. I’ve been moping around for too long.’ For a fraction of a second her eyes met Jane’s. ‘For now I’ve said I’ll be delighted to meet them. I can always back out at the last minute if I don’t feel up to it and, if I do change my mind, there’ll always be my agent and one of you can take my place alongside her.’
Jane saw Diana, Beatrice and David exchange glances. Somehow she had a feeling David would be even less willing than his mother to socialise with a load of strangers. Diana looked excited, but awed. Beatrice, on the other hand, with her TV experience, looked unperturbed.
‘Don’t worry, Mamma, you can do it. I’ll be with you all the way, holding your hand.’
‘And if they start giving you any trouble, I’ll be happy to come along and frighten the life out of them.’ Flora looked as if she meant it. ‘I know how to handle men.’ Jane stifled a giggle. One thing was for sure: she had little doubt that this spirited old lady would be more than a match for a bunch of Hollywood execs.
She also hastened to encourage her employer. ‘You’ll be fine, Veronica. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the experience. Do you think they’ll want you to write the screenplay?’
‘That’s what I asked Eleanor. I’ve no experience of writing screenplays but I wouldn’t want a bunch of anonymous writers in Hollywood to change the book out of all recognition.’ She looked up with a smile. ‘Eleanor agrees and she told me we need to fight for “full creative control and final approval of the script”. It promises to be an exciting meeting.’
‘When’s the Film Festival?’
‘The first two weeks of September. It takes place at the Palazzo del Cinema over on the Lido. So this means we’d better head back to Venice at the end of August.’ She glanced across at Jane and explained. ‘If it’s hot I often stay on up here until well into September, but not this year by the sound of it.’
