The second was from the garage, confirming arrangements for his truck’s MOT.
The third began, ‘It’s Clancy. Harry and Rory were going to hitch to London—’ He listened to the rest in growing dismay. Jeez! Why had Clancy got involved? What was Jordy going to say? Then he sighed, hearing the worry in her voice and acknowledging that the boys really had put her between a rock and a hard place. The message had been left late morning and now it was evening. He returned the call without delay.
‘Hello?’ She sounded out of breath, even anticipatory, as if she’d hurried to reply. A hum of conversation in the background told him she was in a public place.
‘Thanks for letting me know about Harry and Rory,’ he said softly. ‘I’m glad you rang.’ He didn’t say whether he was glad because of the boys or just glad.
‘It’s been a bit tricky,’ she answered guardedly. ‘My first reaction was that it would be wrong to take them, but then it became obvious it would be wrong not to. If they’d gone with their plan – well, Harry’s plan – to hitch, who knows what could happen. I’m super-conscious their absence from home is soon going to become obvious, but what do I do? I could get Jordy’s home number from you and ring, but …’
‘Harry’s trusting you and he’s eighteen,’ Aaron finished for her. ‘It’s a delicate situation. I thought the discussion last night had gone well. We talked about their relationship and all the different ways they could proceed from here. I even offered to go with Harry when he told his parents, but Harry knows very well that he couldn’t rely on Jordy to react like a sensible human being instead of a homophobe.’ Aaron leaned against the wall, feeling reassured to hear her voice.
‘So, do you have a view?’ she asked now, breaking into his musings. ‘I can’t just let the boys’ parents start panicking because their kids haven’t come home. It’s already past eight so they’ll be wondering.’
‘True.’ He thought for several moments. ‘How about I talk to Harry?’
‘That would be great, but he’d need to ring you back,’ she said carefully.
He got that certain conversations were best not conducted in public places. ‘OK. Where are they right now? No, don’t tell me,’ he amended quickly. ‘If I don’t know then I can’t tell anybody. But are you with them?’
‘I am at the moment and I’ve been able to arrange a bed for them for a few nights,’ she added. ‘Hopefully, Harry will speak to you in a bit.’ She rang off.
Aaron began clearing up after his meal. A knock fell on his back door and Nelson jumped up in a whirl of woofs and claws skittering on the floor. When Aaron swung the door open, Genevieve stood framed in the doorway. ‘Oh,’ he said.
She smiled. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’ She looked at him uncertainly as Nelson fawned around her legs.
‘No,’ Aaron said, wrong-footed but deciding that ex-lover etiquette suggested he should be polite. ‘Want a coffee?’
Her face lit up and she came in and sat down at the kitchen table as she used to.
‘How are things going with your house?’ he asked as he put the kettle on to boil. ‘Nearly finished?’
Genevieve nodded. ‘Yes. I suppose that’s why I’ve called to see you, really. It’s probably a bit sad—’
Aaron’s landline began to ring. ‘Sorry, I should have said I’m expecting a call,’ he said, not able to let it go to his machine when he’d only just arranged with Clancy that Harry would call.
Genevieve smiled politely and picked up her cup.
It was Clancy. ‘Harry’s here.’
‘Put him on, please.’ He waited until he heard Harry’s gruff greeting. ‘Hey, Harry, you OK? I hear you’re with Clancy? That’s good. Have you told your parents where you are?’
‘Not yet,’ Harry replied reluctantly.
‘I feel that’s a minimum requirement,’ Aaron said carefully, hoping he sounded sympathetic and like a shoulder to lean on rather than a condescending adult. ‘They could call the police or anything. What about Rory?’ Rory lived with his mother in a small house on The Green, not far from the B&B and where all the shrubs seemed to grow in one direction because of the wind. She was about as opposite to Jordy as it was possible to be, quiet, smiling and very much live-and-let-live.
‘Rory hasn’t told his mum either.’ Harry sounded even more reluctant.
Aaron decided it was up to him to take a stance. ‘OK, here’s the deal. Clancy says you can use her phone to tell your parents that you’re in London. It’s up to you whether you tell them why or where but if she can’t ring back and tell me they at least know that you’re safe, I’ll go round and tell them myself. I can’t leave them worrying.’
‘Shit.’ The line became muffled as Harry conferred with someone, probably Rory. Then he returned. ‘If you talk to Dad, what are you going to tell him?’
Aaron blew out his lips as he considered. ‘That you’re safe and in London with somewhere to stay tonight, and same for Rory’s mum. I won’t say more, partly because it’s your decision but mainly because I think you ought to tell him yourself.’
Silence.
Eventually Harry’s voice again, ungracious and sullen. ‘I’ll ring him. But, Aaron, there’s a gay community down here, like there is most places apart from Nelson’s Bar. We could come to live in London and just never tell Dad we’re gay.’
‘You could try it,’ Aaron agreed sombrely, his heart going out to his young relative for having to face such decisions. ‘You just have to think about how your parents would feel if they found out some other way.’
‘Yeah.’ Harry’s sigh down the line was almost loud enough to make Aaron pull the phone away from his ear. ‘OK, I’ll think about it. Thanks. I’ll ring home now.’
It was when he finally put the phone down that Aaron remembered Genevieve’s presence and tried to recall whether his side of the conversation could have revealed its sensitive nature. But when he turned around, she’d gone. Damn. He’d been rude after all. He couldn’t even kid himself that he’d been focused on the wellbeing of his young relative. The fact was that when he’d heard Clancy’s voice on his answering machine everything else had just fallen away, even the bad mood he’d come home in.
He couldn’t help that he felt something stirring for Clancy, and that all he felt for Genevieve was guilty regret.
Still, there was the man she’d been kissing outside the B&B – over breakfast, no less! Maybe that’s why she’d called tonight, to mention it, not wanting there to be any difficulty between them as they each moved on with their lives. That would be a relief.
It wasn’t until he was going to bed later that he saw an envelope on the doormat at the front door with Aaron written on the front.
Dear Aaron, he read, when he opened the note.
Under the circumstances, we’ve decided not to go ahead with the work on our garden, at least for now. We’re sure you’ll agree that it would be awkward and hope to see our deposit returned.
Regards,
Doreen and Francis Trent
Beneath the sign-off were their bank account details, neatly printed. Aaron stared at the notepaper. Doreen and Francis were Genevieve’s aunt and uncle, and they were cancelling work he was due to begin in a couple of weeks. It wasn’t that he was short of work at this time of year, but he felt he was being chastised – and not very fairly, considering his only crime was not being able to feel what Genevieve wanted him to feel.
Ignoring the fact that it was stated clearly in his business terms and conditions that deposits were non-returnable, he logged onto his internet banking and returned Doreen and Francis’s deposit. He briefly considered typing WTF? or SHE ended it! in the reference field but decided not to further alienate anyone and simply put As requested instead.
Genevieve was moving on, Aaron was moving on; least said, soonest mended.
Chapter Fifteen
Clancy had been dreading the meetings and confrontations awaiting her in London but Harry and Rory’s situation was proving a useful distract
ion.
Will’s wide-eyed expression was priceless to see she had two strapping teenage lads in tow when she turned up in the evening at the pub where they’d agreed to meet. It was a quiet pub, in Chalk Farm terms, but they looked suitably impressed at being in a London bar. ‘These are my friends Harry and Rory,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ll get the drinks.’ She settled the lads at a nearby table with a couple of pints of lager. Nelson’s Bar not having a proper pub hadn’t stopped them getting familiar with beer.
It left Clancy free to take a deep breath and turn her full attention to Will. It had been more than two months since she’d seen him, and nearly five since he’d exploded her life by being caught with Renée. Since then, through carelessness or thoughtlessness, he’d let other, lesser missiles detonate too. Oops, my wedding’s on Instagram. Oh, dear, text regarding baby sent to wrong woman … And yet there had been those sneaking worries that when she saw him again something of their old life together would spring back into focus and cause her pain.
It had come more from her brain than from her heart. You were supposed to be in love with him. You’d decided to spend your life with him. Can it have all gone? But then, unbidden, a picture of Aaron’s dark eyes swam into her imagination, a smile lurking in their depths.
The fears for this meeting gurgled away. Will’s blond hair was as neat and fashionable as always and in his work uniform of untucked shirt and black trousers he looked familiar yet undeniably different, especially as he was growing a beard that was so blond it put Clancy in mind of fuzz on a gooseberry. ‘How are you?’ she asked him politely rather than an acid: ‘So, how’s married life? Have you bought any baby clothes?’ Justified in jabbing at Will she might be but it wasn’t the best way to get what she wanted from him. Her stomach was harbouring the odd butterfly but she’d called this meeting so she was going to keep control of it.
‘Good,’ he answered, casting a glance at Harry and Rory, then flashing a smile at her. He wiped his palms down the legs of his trousers. ‘Good to see you.’
After a bolstering sip of wine she plunged straight in. ‘Is Renée still in a position to buy my half of the apartment?’
‘That is so what I was hoping you were here to ask!’ Relief swept over Will’s face. For the next hour they worked on the awkward business of easing apart the joint threads of their lives. Clancy began to relax. Now she was with Will she wasn’t aware of much between them but memories. What he’d done still hurt but the stark fact was that what she’d thought was a solid relationship hadn’t been enough for him. More to the point, it shouldn’t have been enough for her, just because they fit together well. Will had been right – he hadn’t been the love of her life.
When Aaron finally rang, Clancy easily put her conversation on pause while she talked to him. Then, while Harry borrowed her phone and went outside to make his calls, Rory in anxious attendance, it only remained for Clancy to wind things up with Will.
‘I don’t think we can plan any more until we meet with the others tomorrow afternoon,’ she said brightly. ‘Except one small thing. As I still own half of the apartment for now, I’d like Harry and Rory to have use of the second bedroom for a few days.’
Will’s eyes widened, then scrunched closed in a long-suffering expression. ‘Really?’
‘Really,’ she said firmly.
‘But why? It’s weird,’ he protested, and, ‘it’s an imposition. I’ll be uncomfortable.’
‘Because they need somewhere safe to stay for a few days and they’re good kids,’ she replied coolly. She added, ‘It was weird for me to see you having sex with Renée when I hooked up for a conference call. It was an imposition that you told me about your wedding in case I saw Mel’s Instagram. I was miles more than uncomfortable when you “accidentally” messaged me instead of Renée about your baby. I think you owe me.’
Will flushed so deeply scarlet that it made Clancy wonder whether Aaron could have been right and that Will could have done those things to avoid looking her in the eye and telling her. ‘Just for a few days, right?’ he mumbled. ‘It’s a good job Renée’s away.’
‘A few days,’ she agreed, unable to care too much about Renée’s feelings. What would happen if the lads declined to return to Nelson’s Bar with Clancy on Friday was a worry for another day.
She was beginning to feel exhausted by the upheavals in her life, but Harry and Rory hadn’t yet returned with her phone. Clancy passed the time telling Will a little about Nelson’s Bar, finding herself nostalgic for its peace and quiet.
He looked bemused. ‘Sounds lovely,’ he said, in a voice that suggested it sounded anything but.
Finally, the lads reappeared, Harry looking so red-faced and mutinous that Clancy’s, ‘Did you speak to your family OK?’ was barely necessary.
Harry nodded once and moved close to Rory. ‘We just said we wanted a bit of time in London, hanging out. Dad ranted. I said I thought he wanted me to see more of life and we’ve never been to London. He said why sneak off, if that’s all it was. But we didn’t sneak. We just … took an opportunity.’
Rory, too, was unsmiling. ‘Mum’s not proper pleased that I took off without telling her, either.’
Clancy made sympathetic noises, not wanting to say anything that might appear to put her on the side of the parents. The only way she could think of to deal with the situation was to maintain friendly relations with the teenagers and keep in touch over the next couple of days. On the cusp of adulthood, if they just vanished into the streets of London she could do little to stop them. However, it would cause untold upset to their families if they did, so she said brightly, ‘People get upset when they’re worried. They know you’re safe, that’s the main thing.’
Then she explained what she’d arranged with Will regarding their accommodation.
‘Won’t you be there?’ Harry asked, looking unsure.
‘Well, as Will’s my ex, that would be bizarre,’ she said frankly. ‘I’ve got Rory’s number and you’ve got mine. How about I ring you tomorrow? We can meet up for a bite to eat after my meetings. Will you be OK during the day?’
The lads shrugged and said yes so she waved them off in the company of Will, who was wearing a long-suffering expression.
At her hotel, Clancy kept telling herself Harry and Rory were adults, that she’d come to live in the UK on her own at their age and that they were not in any way her responsibility. None of these things stopped her worrying whether she should have tried to switch hotels to one where she could get two rooms, and hang the expense.
In the morning, after a fitful night’s sleep, she was on the phone to Rory by nine o’clock. ‘I’ve just realised we could meet up this morning. My meeting’s this afternoon.’
‘It’s OK.’ Rory sounded young and excited. ‘Will’s given us an A to Z of London ’cos my phone can’t run a map app and we’re nearly at the tube station. He’s going to show us how the underground system works. We want to go to Covent Garden and see the buskers.’
‘That sounds great,’ Clancy said, relief trickling through her at this demonstration that yes, eighteen was adult. And, evidently, Will was earning back his nice-guy credentials.
But that left her with a long morning to while away, alternately trying to read or watch TV, changing books, flicking channels, until it was time to go.
She’d agreed that the most sensible place for the meeting was in the IsVid offices in Islington but it was freaky to arrive outside the yellow-brick building not knowing the code to get in. She’d once been so very much part of the team.
Will came down to take her in the lift to the fifth floor where he said the others were waiting. She had to physically square her shoulders before entering the conference room. There was a noticeable hesitation before she, Asila and Tracey hugged each other and it felt as if the harsh words exchanged here in May hovered above them. Monty, who’d played the biggest role in Clancy’s acrimonious departure, was stiff and non-huggy. Paradoxically, his palpable unease helped settle Clancy d
own. As she deliberately took the seat at the head of the table as if assuming authority, she patted his arm. ‘Don’t worry. I want things sorted out as much as anyone.’
Monty managed a wintry smile and began passing out coffee and tea from the drinks station at the side of the room.
It proved to be a long drawn-out meeting. Negotiating Clancy’s exit package and funding it were not matters of a moment and the ball was slow to get rolling as everyone waited for everyone else to air their views. It was nearly six when they broke to digest what had eventually been discussed. Clancy’s mind clanged with figures, with valuations, assets and liabilities.
She hadn’t had much spare capacity to worry about Harry and Rory but it was still a relief to call Rory’s phone and discover they’d found their way to the Thames and followed it as far as the Houses of Parliament.
Clancy relaxed. ‘If you still want a meal, we could meet up outside Westminster tube station.’ She was conscious that they could drain their collective purse rapidly in London.
‘Wicked,’ replied Rory. ‘We’re up for it.’
An hour later, she was watching them order pie and chips in St Stephen’s Tavern and thirstily draining pints of lager.
Will was OK and the apartment was great, they told her. When they’d tried to offer him money for food, he’d waved it away as ‘the least of his worries’. Renée was away all week, an arrangement Clancy strongly suspected to have been put in place once she knew Clancy was going to be around. No matter how convinced you were that all was fair in love and war, facing the person whose fiancé you’d stolen was probably uncomfortable. Renée wasn’t to know that any impulse Clancy had once had towards making life difficult for her appeared to have faded and died, along with her feelings for Will.
After dinner, Harry asked, awkwardly, whether Clancy was able to help them find out about jobs in London and somewhere to live. Though alarmed at this indication that she might not be able to deliver the boys back to their families at the end of the week, Clancy took out her phone and they began searching the internet for London jobs+ accommodation.
A Summer to Remember Page 15