The Antique Love by Helena Fairfax Page B

Kurt far too often in conversation. He had begun to wonder recently if it had been such a good idea for Penny to accept Kurt’s help. He couldn’t for the life of him understand what motivated a man of Kurt Bold’s standing to help Penny in her small shop—apart from the obvious ulterior motive, which didn’t bear thinking about. Penny’s grandfather was old-fashioned. It had even crossed his mind to ask to meet Kurt for himself in order to check him out, but he was conscious of the fact that Penny was in charge of the shop now, and he didn’t want to interfere in her life. Besides that, it seemed Kurt’s presence was keeping David well away from Penny, and that could only be a good thing.
    “Well, Kurt said something strange.” Penny continued. She put down her needle and began to fiddle with the discarded buttons. “And it was out of the blue. He saw Mum on a television screen, and he said we look alike.” Penny lifted her eyes to give her granddad a searching look. “Do you think that’s true?”
    Daniel laid down his magazine. Is this what had been bothering her? Or was it merely the fact that it was Kurt who’d noticed the similarity? Once again, he longed for a woman’s intuition, but Penny was looking at him expectantly. All he could do was what any other parent would do in his situation—open his mouth and hope he found the right words.
    “I suppose it was clever of Kurt to notice.” He watched with dismay as Penny’s eyes lit up. It pained him that Penny had grown up continually comparing herself to her mother and finding herself wanting. Her mother was still admired as one of film’s great beauties, and the thought that a man like Kurt had seen some similarity between them obviously meant the world to her. Her grandfather could have let the conversation go at that, but that would have been the easy way out. He forced himself to say what he had been thinking for a long time.
    “Penny, after your mum died, everybody put her on a pedestal. Even your grandmother. Your mum became somebody she never was in real life. The person she became didn’t exist except in people’s imaginations and on a film screen. It’s not true that you look like your mother.” Penny’s head bent, and she began picking at the stitches she’d just made. Her grandfather’s heart went out to her. “But you can’t expect to be your mother. You’re your own person. I told you, you’re not second-best. You never have been, and I want you to promise me never to accept second-best from anyone.”
    She lifted her head at that to give him half a smile. Daniel reached over and patted her hand.
    “You’re the best granddaughter anyone could want.” He lifted his hand to look at his watch. “And I bet you’ll knock them dead in town tonight—but shouldn’t you be getting your clubbing gear on?”
    Penny leapt up, scattering buttons. “Is that the time? And it’s not clubbing gear, Granddad. That went out in the sixties.”
    “What goes around comes around.” He indicated her cocktail dress with approval. “And you look beautiful. Make sure you don’t get chatted up by any strange men.”
    Penny pulled a face and made a dash for her room.
    * * * *
    It was a fun evening. Because the demands of the shop took up so much of her time—especially since David had left—Penny didn’t get out as often as she would have liked. It made a change for her to get dressed up and relax with Tehmeena and the rest of her girlfriends. They met at an Italian restaurant, where they were all shamelessly flirted with by the waiters, and they laughed themselves silly and enjoyed a great time. Now they were standing on the pavement outside, discussing where next to go.
    “Let’s go to Belinda’s,” someone suggested.
    Tehmeena, always the liveliest of the group, chorused her approval. Penny stood back and held up her hand with a laugh.
    “I have to get back,” she said. “I’ve had too much wine already. Us shop-workers have to