‘You mean she isn’t temperamental.’ Janey grinned. ‘Like you.’

‘I mean I’ve never seen her laugh,’ snapped Maxine, aiming a kick at a heap of seaweed.

‘Josh was telling her jokes yesterday and I swear she didn’t even get them. And then she has the nerve to discuss me with Guy, for God’s sake!’

Janey was struggling to hide her amusement. ‘At least that means they have conversations.’

‘But you should have heard the way she said it,’ howled Maxine. Kicking a bundle of seaweed along the shoreline was no longer enough; picking up the largest pebble within reach she hurled it into the sea. ‘She was so bloody superior and all the time I was having to bite my tongue because she thinks that now she’s moved in with Guy she’s home and dry. Except that I know,’ she added darkly, ‘what he’s really been getting up to whilst she’s away.’

‘Oh?’ This was more like it, Janey, whose attention had begun to wander, looked interested.

‘Exactly,’ Maxine declared with an air of triumph. ‘Those other women of his haven’t given up on him yet. They still phone up, and he didn’t come home onTuesday night until gone three. That would wipe the smirk off Serena’s face, if she only knew’

Tuesday, thought Janey. That was when she had bumped into him at the theatre. Innocently she asked, ‘Why, who was he with?’

‘Which particular female, you mean?’ countered Maxine, her voice awash with sarcasm.

‘Well, it was one of them, and that’s all that matters. When I asked Guy he told me it was none of my business and not to be so damn nosey, so I knew he’d been up to no good.’

If Guy had walked out of the sea at that moment, Janey would have thrown her arms around him and covered him with kisses. Tempted though she’d been to beg him not to mention their chance meeting to Maxine, she hadn’t had the nerve to do so. But Guy hadn’t said a word about it anyway. Her shameful secret was safe.

‘Maybe there’s an innocent explanation,’ she suggested cheerfully, but that wasn’t what Maxine wanted to hear.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Seizing another pebble and tossing it into the waves, she almost decapitated a passing seagull. ‘Taking his side all of a sudden? Give me a break, Janey –

he has more women than he knows whatto do with and he was hardly going to spend the night playing Monopoly. The man’s about as innocent as Warren Beatty, and the least he could do is have the decency to let me in on the agenda. After all, I’m glad he’s seeing somebody else.

Anyone’s better than that smug bitch Serena.’

‘Perhaps he thinks you might run off and tell her,’ said Janey.

‘If I thought it would get rid of her, and if it didn’t mean risking my job,’ Maxine replied crossly, ‘I bloody would!’

As children they had always taken the same route around the cove. Now, reaching the rock pools, they made their way across the slippery boulders to their favourite pool, the one that always contained the most interesting wildlife and which provided two comfortable seats worn into the rock by centuries of tides.

Maxine, having finally run out of invective, dabbled her bare feet in the sun-warmed water, and watched two miniature crabs skitter out of the way in alarm. ‘You haven’t been very sympathetic,’ she grumbled, casting a sidelong glance at Janey’s fuchsia toenails. ‘What’s the matter, are you still mad because we invaded your flat and spoiled your fun with Bruno?’

It was the first time the subject had been mentioned. Janey had been waiting for it to come up. She had also decided that there was no longer any point in holding back. ‘Don’t worry,’ she replied cheerfully, ‘we’ve made up for it since then.’

‘Oh. So you’re still seeing him.’

Maxine sounded disappointed. This had to be a first for her, thought Janey with a flicker of triumph. Two attractive men, neither of them the least bit interested in ever-popular, oh-so-irresistible Maxine Vaughan. Not what she was used to at all.

‘I am,’ she said with pride.

Now it was Janey’s turn to be annoyed. ‘Such enthusiasm,’ she snapped. ‘You were the one who nagged me to find myself a man, and now I have. Couldn’t you at least pretend to be pleased?’

Maxine sighed. Although diplomacy had never been one of her strong points, she recognized that she would have to tread with care. ‘But he’s somebody else’s man,’ she said, her tone even. ‘Janey, is this wise? What about the girl he’s living with?’

Janey’s mouth narrowed. This was rich; couldn’t-careless Maxine was giving her a moral lecture. Talk about double standards.

‘Look, Nina knows what he’s like and she accepts it. If she doesn’t mind, why should I?’

‘Oh, so you’ve asked her.’ Maxine threw her a challenging stare.

‘Of course I haven’t asked her.’ Beginning to feel cornered, Janey retaliated crossly, ‘And I can’t believe I’m hearing this holier-than-thou rubbish from someone who once had an affair with a man because she’d "forgotten" he was married!’

‘That was me,’ said Maxine, forcing herself to keep calm. ‘I’m different. But darling, sneaking around with a married man simply isn’t your style. You’re too nice ...’

‘Bruno isn’t married.’

This was Janey’s mantra, the phrase with which she endlessly comforted herself in order to justify her actions. Of course the situation wasn’t ideal, of course she wasn’t proud of herself, but at least Bruno was not married.

‘She’s his common-law wife,’ Maxine continued remorselessly. ‘They’ve been together for years.’ Then she softened. ‘Oh Janey, that isn’t why I’m against it. I just don’t want you to end up getting hurt, and I’m so afraid you will. Bruno isn’t your type of man. He’s—’

‘You mean he’s your type,’ Janey countered bitterly. ‘And you don’t want me to have fun.

Well I’ve spent the last twenty months not having any fun and I’m not going to go back to that again. I like Bruno and he likes me. A lot.’

For the first times their rôles had been reversed. Maxine, struggling to keep her older sister on the straight and narrow, and to prevent her from being hurt, realized that she wasn’t making a roaring success of the operation. It wasn’t as simple, she thought ruefully, as Janey had always made it look. But if she told her exactly what Bruno had suggested the other night she would only splatter Janey’s fragile self-confidence and probably lose her friendship into the bargain.

Hell, it was hard being a good guy.

‘I’m sure he likes you,’ she said cautiously. ‘But I still don’t think he’s the right man for you, sweetheart.’

‘Stop it!’ Janey had had enough. With a look of disdain she rose to her feet. ‘I know it’s come as a shock to the system but you’re just going to have to face up to it. Bruno prefers me.

And you’re jealous.’

* * *

Life at the moment, Maxine decided, wasn’t being very fair. Returning to Trezale House, she ran into Guy at the foot of the stairs.

‘I’ve been trying to work,’ he said, gesturing with a handful of contact prints in the direction of the darkroom, ‘and the bloody phone keeps ringing. Someone called Bruno has rung three times asking to speak to you. He wants you to phone him back as soon as possible.’

Serena’s car was parked on the driveway outside. Glancing at it through the hall window, Maxine said, ‘Can’t Serena answer the telephone?’

‘She’s in the bath.’

Josh and Maxine had taken to laying bets on the duration of Serena’s famous baths. The longest so far had been an hour and forty minutes. Maxine hoped Josh was upstairs, timing this one. Keeping a straight face, she said, ‘Oh, right.’

‘She also tells me that you lost your temper with her this afternoon.’

Maxine’s dark eyes flashed. ‘And did she happen to mention why?’

Guy nodded. For a moment she thought she detected a glimmer of a smile.

‘OK, maybe she went a bit far but there was still no need for you to fly off the handle like that. We all have to make allowances if we’re going to get on together.’

‘Nobody else does,’ Maxine retorted sulkily. ‘I don’t see why I should have to be the one who makes all the allowances around here.’

‘You aren’t the only one,’ he countered, his tone brisk. ’I’ve answered the phone three times this evening, haven’t I? And I’m passing on the message, even though I don’t approve of what you’re up to.’

‘What I’m up to?’ She looked astonished. ‘Tell me, what am I up to?’

‘Oh come on,’ Guy drawled. ‘It isn’t too difficult to figure out. Bruno, I presume, is Bruno Parry-Brent. I might not know him that well, but I’ve heard enough to know what he’s like. And now he’s panting down the phone after you. Or as near as dammit.’

‘It’s none of your business why he’s ringing up,’ Maxine countered furiously.

‘Of course it isn’t. I just thought you might have had a bit more sense than to get involved with a married man. He’s hardly ringing up to check table reservations, is he?’

‘He isn’t married,’ hissed Maxine.This was ridiculous, now she sounded like Janey. ‘And I’m not involved with him! I don’t even like the man.’

‘Oh please.’ At this, Guy rolled his eyes. ‘If they’re male, you like them. If they’re female, Bruno likes them. Let’s face it Maxine, the two of you are a perfectly matched pair.’

‘Come out with me tomorrow night,’ said Bruno.

‘No, I don’t want to go out with you tomorrow night.’ Maxine, who had deliberately waited until Guy was in the room before returning Bruno’s call, spoke the words slowly and clearly. For good measure she added, ‘Or any other night. Bruno, I’ve told you before; I’m just not interested.’

‘I know.’ He sounded amused. ‘But I am. And the harder you play to get, the more interested I become.’