by Clare Lydon
She glanced left and saw her friends’ sad faces, trying to make the most of it. The wind whipped up and the hairs on the back of her neck began to complain. Eden leaned down and put her mouth beside Lib’s ear. “Shall we head to the wine bar and see if we can get a drink and a seat? At least until this passes.” As if to back up her decision, rain cascaded off the end of her nose, her head like an overflowing gutter.
“Yes please,” Lib replied. “And once we’re there, I’m buying a bottle of red because we need to heat up.” She hugged her wet jacket, then winced. “Whose idea was it to have a birthday in March, anyway?”
“Don’t you just love springtime?” Sarah was seated at one of around 20 wooden picnic tables under the wine bar’s canopy, staring at the festival crowds. The rain was hammering down now, but most people were embracing it. A steady stream were also heading towards them, their feet slipping in the mud as they raced for a spot of cover. “Remember that time my birthday was super-hot?”
“It’s called global warming.” Her sister had selective memory. “Remember last year when you had that barbecue? Jason ended up cooking everything inside, and you had 30-odd people crammed into your lounge.”
Heidi remembered it well, because Maya had been eight months old and the star of the party. She’d been passed around like a parcel and hadn’t moaned once.
“I had forgotten. Funny the stories you tell in your head, isn’t it?” Sarah paused. “Sometimes, I pretend I’m not married with three kids. It feels liberating.”
Heidi eyed her sister. “To other people or just to yourself?”
“Mainly to myself. I’m never anywhere without my husband or children to get away with it. Maybe I’ll try it today. Not identify myself as a wife and mother first. Instead, I’ll just be me.” She pointed at her chest. “If anyone asks, I’m single, okay?”
Heidi furrowed her brow. “If you’re planning to cheat on Jason, I’m not on board.”
Sarah punched her upper arm with her fist. “Oh, relax! It’s just a game, nothing more. I’m not going to do anything. I love my life, just sometimes I’d like to step off it. Today seems like as good a time as any. Especially since I came to soak up the sun at a festival and we’re stuck in a dripping-wet tent freezing our tits off.”
“You were being hopeful with the sunshine.” Heidi let her gaze wander the bar. Calling it a tent was pushing it; far more people than intended were now sheltering under the canopy. Was it built for such a downpour? Heidi glanced up uncertainly. If it collapsed, they might drown. The rain had been playing havoc with her wedding bookings of late, but she was becoming an expert at manoeuvring crowds at speed when she had to.
She glanced at her watch: 4pm. She pitied any photographers dealing with this weather today. She’d done a wedding this week and had shouted so much, she’d left hoarse. That day, the weather had included thunder and lightning, too, and she’d got a fabulous shot of the bride and groom in the storm.
This time last week, she’d been shouting at Eden. Heidi had only met her twice, and both times had been brief but impactful. She’d even enjoyed chatting with her at the wedding. She’d found her intriguing. Even a little hot. Was she in the crowds getting soaked now? They’d only arrived half an hour ago and she hadn’t spotted her. There must be at least a few thousand people here, so the chances were low. Still, it might make the day more interesting if she did. So long as Eden wasn’t in a hurry.
Sarah nudged her with her elbow. “So, are you in? If anyone asks, we’re both young, free and single?”
Heidi frowned. “Do I have to play along?”
“Yes. You know why?”
“Because it’s your birthday?” Heidi knew the rules.
“Bingo! We can keep our real names, I’m not asking you to go too far. I know what a stickler for rules you are.” Sarah poured more wine. “Anyway, let’s get drunk and dance in the rain. That’s what single people do with their weekends, isn’t it? What do you say?”
Heidi looked at Sarah, before topping up her glass. “I might need to catch you up before that happens.”
Chapter 7
Eden threw herself under the bar’s canopy. Her short blond hair was plastered to her face, and her cagoule so wet, it was like another skin. She peeled it off, trying not to think of the time her uncle skinned a rabbit in front of her. She hadn’t been able to eat rabbit since.
Lib grabbed Eden’s cagoule and took off her ‘I am 40!’ badge, handing it over with a grin. “We wouldn’t want anyone thinking you were 39, would we?”
But she was still 39 for the next eight hours. She was just about to tell Lib that, when her arm was yanked. Before she knew it, Eden was sat at a wooden bench, undercover, her friend Issy looking triumphant.
“Don’t say I never do anything for you,” Issy said. “I had to fight off three groups of people for this table.”
“Thank you,” Eden replied, giving Issy and Kath her drinks order. When she turned to Lib, her friend was frowning at her phone.
“Everything okay?”
Lib shook her head. “Not sure. I just have to give Mum’s carer a call, okay?”
“Of course. Take your time.” Eden wished there was something she could do, but there wasn’t. The only thing she could do was be there for her.
When she looked to the next table, she did a double-take. Sitting there, laughing with a woman who looked like her twin, was Heidi. She’d been easier to find than Eden had thought.
When their gazes snagged, Heidi’s face betrayed the hint of a smile.
Eden raised her hand in greeting, then shifted to the end of her table, which was nearly touching theirs. “I was just thinking when I was getting soaked, we could do with your crowd management skills. It’s carnage.”
Heidi gave her a measured smile. “Bit of a big crowd. I’m focusing on my wine-drinking skills today.” Her eyes raked Eden. “Good to see you again, even if you do look a little… damp.”
“I prefer moist.” Eden paused. And then wanted to stick her fist into her mouth.
Heidi raised a single eyebrow her way. “I’m sure you do. This is my sister, Sarah.” She held out a hand. “This is Eden. Who’s rapidly turning into my stalker.”
“A terrible stalker. Grade-A awful. I need to be more stealth.”
“Agreed.” Heidi stared at her for a beat too long, then back at her sister. “Eden and I have met twice briefly, the last time at a wedding I did.”
Heidi’s sister sat up straight. She looked from Eden to Heidi, her interest piqued.
“We had a post-dinner drink at the wedding,” Heidi continued, “and I gave Eden some advice on turning 40.” She pointed at Eden’s badge. “Is it today?”
Eden touched the badge. “Tomorrow.”
“Happy birthday for then.” Heidi’s stare was heated, in stark contrast to the rest of the day. “Did you plan on spending it in a field in the rain?”
“It was top of the list.”
“We’re here for Sarah’s birthday, too. She wanted to get away from…” Heidi paused, glancing at her sister, the words stuck for a moment. “From her life for a day. So here we are, drinking wine in a downpour.”
“Happy birthday, fellow Pisces.” Eden cast her gaze to the sky. “Our star sign is kinda apt with all the rain. When my wine eventually arrives, we can cheers our birthdays.” Eden turned her attention to Heidi. “And we can also cheers the universe, because it clearly wants us to keep meeting, doesn’t it?”
Heidi nodded, her gaze still firmly on Eden. “Seems that way, doesn’t it?”
When she said the words, their gazes locked and anticipation danced on Eden’s tongue. It’d been a while since that happened. She frowned as she stared at Heidi, thoughts forming in her brain that hadn’t been allowed to for quite some time. Like, was she interested in Heidi?
Eden gulped. Was this what happened when a big birthday approached? All her usual rules went out the window. Was she having some sort of midlife crisis?
She shivered a
s some wind whipped through her wet clothes. Eden shifted on the bench, Heidi’s big brown eyes still focused on her.
She took a deep breath. Heidi probably had a girlfriend, anyway. Or a wife who loved PJ Harvey like she did. She could just ask, but that seemed a little forward. Also, she’d never hear the end of it from Lib, who’d just hung up her phone call and was leaning across, holding out a hand for introductions. She was never one to stand on ceremony.
“I’m Eden’s flatmate and best friend, Lib. Lovely to meet you.”
Heidi and Sarah agreed the same, just as Issy and Kath returned with wine.
Cheers all round.
Lib filled their glasses, and they all crowded together for a toast.
“Happy wet birthday to Sarah, and to Eden.” Heidi increased the wattage of her smile when she said Eden’s name. “But mainly Eden, seeing as she is 40.”
“In eight hours,” Eden added.
“Having turned 40 last year, I’d say not to be too judgemental of your life on such an occasion,” Heidi told her. “People make a big deal of 40, but it’s just another day. It’s like New Year: nobody wakes up on the first of January a new person. It just takes some time to get used to your new status, and then you slip into it naturally. I know many of my friends took stock of their lives, working out if they were happy. I was, even though nobody believed me because I was single.”
“I’m single and happy, too.” Eden’s gaze was focused on Heidi. “Some of my friends don’t believe me, but it’s true. I have freedom. I can do what I want, when I want. That’s the best feeling, wouldn’t you agree?”
Heidi glanced at her sister, who was giving her a look Eden couldn’t decipher. “Sure,” Heidi replied. “Most of the time.”
“Your life might be calm, but it’s also predictable,” Lib said. “We all think Eden should pep up her life with a bit of romance, but she lives to work, and that’s it. Forty is going to be your year of shaking things up, isn’t it?”
Eden sucked on her top lip. “I’m planning to live a little more dangerously. I might even go on holiday, confound you.”
“I would love it if you did.” Lib paused, turning to Heidi. “Are you still single?”
Eden could have cheerfully strangled her.
“She is,” Sarah replied, making Heidi shut her mouth. “So am I. And up for a good time!” Sarah followed that statement with a whoop and a fist pump. “Talking of which, who wants a shot? I’ve got my husband’s credit card, so let’s put a dent in it.”
Sarah got up, taking orders.
Beside her, Heidi rolled her eyes.
A few hours later and Sarah was down the front of the festival with Eden’s friends, all of whom had consumed far more alcohol than Heidi or Eden. After agreeing this band wasn’t their favourite, the pair made their way back to the bar. It was far less crowded now the rain had let up. Heidi bought a carafe of red wine and brought it back to Eden. She insisted on paying as it was Eden’s birthday.
“You sure you don’t want to be in there, dancing away the last of your 30s?” Heidi reorganised her bum on the bench. It was going to take days to warm her bones after this.
“Not to this music. Maybe when the main attraction comes on, then you can show me your killer moves.”
“Deal.” She smiled at Eden, unsure when she’d become so relaxed around her. Especially after their first less-than-stellar meetings. It didn’t happen often with people she’d only just met.
Did she like Eden that way? Heat crawled up her chest and into her throat. Yes, she’d said she was ready to date again. But this time around, it wasn’t just about her. This time, she had cute, complicated, curly-haired baggage. But she wasn’t going to worry about that right now.
“So do you have big plans for your 41st year?”
Eden shook her head. “I like my life how it is, so no midlife crisis here.” She paused. “Did you change yours much?”
Heidi shook her head. “No. I set up my business five years ago, so that’s already established. Plus, I made big changes in other areas when I was 39, so I left 40 alone. You need some uneventful years, too.”
“Lib would say they’re my favourite type. She thinks I work too hard and don’t play enough.”
“Is she right?”
Eden shrugged. “Maybe. But perhaps I like work and being in control.” She smiled. “Thanks for the wine.”
“You’re welcome.” Heidi stared into Eden’s crystal-blue eyes. They reminded her of the sea.
Eden shifted under her gaze as the rain picked up again, drumming once again on the canopy.
They both stared upwards, then out to the field where a crop of umbrellas were blooming under the bright stage lights.
“This reminds me of last weekend’s wedding,” Eden said. “I’ve thought about you this week, but I didn’t think we’d meet again. I’m glad we did, though.”
“Me, too.” Something flipped in Heidi’s stomach. “I got some good ones of you and your friends later on when you were chatting. Very natural.” She wasn’t going to tell Eden she’d been staring at the photos all week, marvelling at her hair. It wasn’t looking quite so salon-ready today thanks to the rain.
“I’d love to see them sometime. Maybe we could meet for a drink first.” Eden’s face was pensive, like she was expecting the worst.
Heidi let her words sink in before she replied. “Did you just ask me out?”
Eden blew out a long breath. “Apparently I did. I’m not sure what happens when I’m around you, but I either trip you up, annoy you or ask you out. I don’t have any beige settings.” She leaned in. “If we’re honest, I already swept you off your feet the first time we met in Waitrose, right? So the groundwork was laid.”
“Totally laid.”
Eden tilted her head, letting time slip by for a few seconds before she crinkled her nose. “I notice you haven’t answered yet, by the way. I pay attention to this stuff.”
“I do, too.” Heidi’s body and heart were leaning forward, wanting nothing more than to say yes. But in the back of her mind, one word was lit up: Maya.
Eden liked her, but she didn’t know she had a child. Would she have asked her out if she knew?
“You’re taking too long now. Do I need to remind you it’s my birthday, and I’m putting myself on the line here?”
Heidi’s insides churned.
Eden wasn’t finished. “I mean, this isn’t a difficult question. Would you like to go out for a drink with me? I’m not asking you to go horse-riding or skydiving.”
“I’d say no to both of those, just so we’re clear.” Heidi hated horses with a passion ever since one had galloped off with an eight-year-old her on its back. “But I’m not going to say no to this. It’s just, there are some things you should know first. I come with baggage.”
But shit, this was awkward. How should she phrase it? Would Eden think that just because she had a child, she’d once had a partner and they’d split up? Most people did. Most people assumed you wouldn’t voluntarily make yourself a single parent.
Heidi wasn’t most people.
Eden reached over and grasped her hand. “Don’t we all have baggage? You’re overthinking it. And just for the record, you make me very nervous, which I’m pretty sure is a good thing if you read those dating books. Which I don’t, by the way, but my friends do and they fill my mind with useless information for picking up women.”
“You can chat, you know that?”
“It’s been said before. Especially when I’m nervous. Have I mentioned you’re making me nervous?”
Heidi was staring at Eden’s mouth, imagining it on hers. She shook herself.
Focus.
Because Eden was still talking. It was like some kind of valve had been opened, and then she was off like a horse that had been caged. A little like the one that had thrown a tiny Heidi.
“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, don’t tell me everything. Save some mystery. I’m all for mystery. In fact, I think we should promi
se not to stalk each other online before we meet up. Save the family photos till at least the third date.”
“I haven’t even agreed to a first date and we’re having a third?”
Eden made Heidi laugh, which counted for a lot. Eden was funny and attractive. Perhaps that was all Heidi needed to know for now. They could go on one date and get to know each other before she dropped the Maya bomb. Then, she’d be ‘that woman Eden liked who happened to have a child’. It made complete sense. Plus, she’d be sticking to her sister’s rules for the day.
She’d been quiet for too long again, hadn’t she? “Sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment. But sure, let’s keep some mystery. And let’s go on a date, why not? I haven’t been on a date for nearly two years, so I should warn you, I’m a little rusty.”
Eden licked her lips, before dropping her gaze to Heidi’s mouth. “I’ll bring a can of oil. Extra virgin, of course.” Then she blushed at her own joke. “Is this a 40-something thing, you think? These terrible sentences that keep slipping from my mouth?”
“You’re not 40 yet.”
Eden’s blue eyes smiled. Heidi didn’t even know eyes could do that.
“I like you. You’re very perceptive. And you listen, which is a very underrated trait in a person.”
“I agree.”
Eden shifted closer, casting her eye out to the field, then back to Heidi. Heidi could smell Eden’s perfume now, something musky. It made her stomach flip-flop.
“So we’re going on a date.”
“Looks like it.”
“I don’t date.”
“Neither do I.” Heidi grinned. This was absurd. She turned to Eden. “Aren’t we a pair?”
Eden’s stare dropped to Heidi’s lips. “You could say that.”
A tingle of anticipation ran down Heidi’s body. “But even though we don’t date, I’m glad we ran into each other again.”