by Nikki Ashton
“No worries,” Martha replied. “I just hope it works, although I’m not sure why it would.”
“Come on,” Stacey said hugging Martha to her side. “Let’s get stage side and watch the first step on the return of Dirty Riches.”
As Luke took his place at the microphone, he glanced to his right. She was there standing next to Stacey, thank God, because he didn’t think he could do this if she wasn’t. The minute he’d set eyes on her, outside their hotel room, he’d instantly felt calmed. It was like lowering himself into a warm bath, his muscles instantly relaxing and the cold blood running through his veins suddenly warmed. He wondered whether the guys had somehow arranged for her to be there, but he’d acted like such dickhead to her over the last few weeks that he doubted whether she’d even throw a glass of water on him if he were on fire, never mind agree to save his arse from an embarrassing public performance. Although, he did think she looked too damn sexy to be having a job interview, he just hoped that if it was with a man interviewing her that he kept his hands to himself, his eyes off her arse and his mind clean. But, whatever reason she was here, thank God she was.
As the curtain was pulled back to reveal the surprise band – not even the bride or groom knew who was playing – a huge gasp and roar went up throughout the ballroom. Luke quickly looked up at the tented ceiling with its crystal chandeliers sending shards of light around the room, and said a small prayer.
“Good evening everyone,” he roared above the shouts. “We are Dirty Riches and this first one is for the bride and groom, Joe and Molly. Let’s give it to ‘em boys.”
As Skins hit out his rhythm and Jake struck the first chord of their ballad “Forever Love”, Luke glanced at Martha, who offered him a small smile, and he relaxed, belting out the first note perfectly.
Chapter 31
Martha, seeing Dirty Riches on stage for the first time, was mesmerised. The guys looked cool and were all dressed in various styles of tuxedo, although Jake had added a rather fetching frill to his shirt and a sky blue cummerbund in homage to Joe’s team colours. The stage wasn’t huge, but apart from Skins, they all managed to strut around it looking hot and sexy. As soon as Luke started to sing, Martha couldn’t take her eyes off him, he was born to be a front man, he owned the stage. His voice, deep and throaty, sounded perfect, and his presence was immense. He dipped his microphone stand and leaned forwards, his eyes closed to the audience as he gave every bit of passion he had to the song, then bringing it back upright he unhooked the microphone and bent his knees to belt out a huge note, bringing cheers from everyone in the ballroom, including Martha.
Throughout each song, Luke glanced in Martha’s direction, as if checking that she was still there, and then carried on giving an amazing performance.
Finally, after just over eighty minutes, the band rocked out the last few bars of Shattered Lives, which was followed by a massive eruption of clapping, cheering, and cries for more. Martha felt her heart burst with pride. He’d done it: he’d got back on a stage, performed to an audience, and he’d done it brilliantly.
Stacey squealed and pulled Martha into a hug. “Thank you so much,” she cried above the noise. “I don’t think he would have done it without you here.”
“I think you’re giving me too much credit,” Martha sighed as Stacey released her. “I think he would have been great even if I hadn’t been here.” She glanced over at Luke and the band who were busy being congratulated by Joe and his stunning wife, Molly.
“I’d better go,” Martha said into Stacey’s ear. “I’ll call you soon.”
“No, stay. Have a drink with us.” Stacey pulled at Martha’s elbow, dragging her towards the stage and Luke.
Martha shook her head. “I can’t. We’re not exactly on speaking terms, and I just don’t want to stand around and watch him getting off with one of the bridesmaids.”
“Oh sweetheart, he won’t. He misses you, and being an arse is just what Luke does when he’s hurting.” Stacey cupped Martha’s face gently.
“No, I have to go.”
Martha threw one last tearful glance at Luke and made her way out of the ballroom.
“Stupid crap piece of shit!” Martha cursed as she kicked the front grill of her car.
She was still twenty miles from home when her faithful old Ford Fiesta, coughed, spluttered, and ground to a halt. Luckily it was only about fifteen yards from a 24 hour garage – that was shut for refurbishment. To top it all off she had no signal on her phone to call the breakdown people, and not one car had driven past in the last half hour.
Sighing heavily, she plonked herself down on the grass verge and pondered what to do. Luckily, she had a spare coat in the car, so she could sit it out and wait for someone to come past, or she could start to walk – although in her shoes she’d probably only get half a mile if that, or maybe she could push the car onto the part of the garage forecourt that hadn’t been fenced off, and then sleep in the car. None of which were particularly good options to have. Pulling her coat tightly around her against the growing cold, and realising not only was no one coming, but if they did they could be white slave traders, she decided that her safest option was to lock herself in the car.
Martha put the car into neutral and through the open car window, she managed to steer it onto the garage forecourt. It would be still visible from the road, so if Betty did happen to call the Police and report her missing, then they’d find her easily. Then it struck her: Not only did Betty have no idea where she was, she wasn’t even at home because she was staying overnight with Noah as they were going off to see his parents first thing in the morning.
“I might die out here,” she cried to herself, her voice cracking with emotion. “They may never find me until it’s too late.” Okay, perhaps she was being a little melodramatic, it was only a B road, but it was one of the main roads to and from the motorway, so it was unlikely that her purple Ford Fiesta would be her final resting place.
Having grabbed an old duvet cover that she used to cover the seats when Ernie was in the car, Martha settled down on the back seat for a long night. Although it wasn’t even eleven, the evening’s events had caught up with her and her eyes grew heavy. So, despite the cold and the seat belt clip digging into her back, Martha felt herself drift slowly into sleep.
“Martha, Martha, wake up!”
The shouting and the torch being shone through the window startled her. Martha shot up, banging her head on the driver’s seat. She put a hand up to touch her sore forehead, lost balance and fell sideways into the footwell, her nose squashed against the seat that had already caused her pain.
“Open the door!”
Recognising the voice, Martha groaned as she tried to manoeuvre herself into a position from which she could pull herself up onto the back seat. With much huffing, puffing and cursing she finally managed it. Staring at Luke through the window, Martha opened the back door to disarm the central locking.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Luke demanded shining his torch in her eyes.
“Okay Mein Fuhrer I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” Martha groaned holding her hand in front of her eyes.
“Have you lost your mind, sleeping out in your car? Some lunatic could have found you, not to mention that it’s bloody freezing.” Luke turned off the torch and held out his hand to her. “Why are you sleeping in your car?”
Martha ignored Luke’s hand and got out of the car without his help. “I just fancied going camping, but didn’t have a tent so thought that this was the next best thing. What the hell do you think I’m doing? I’ve broken down.”
Luke shook his head and breathed deeply through his nose. “Let me guess you don’t have breakdown cover.”
“For your information Mr Smartarse, I do, but don’t have a mobile signal.” She thrust her phone at Luke. “Here check for yourself.”
He looked at the phone and grinned. “Okay, sorry.”
“Yes, well I’m not totally stupid. I figured sleeping in the
car was safer than sitting on the side of the road for hours. I even pushed it from over there.” Martha pointed to where she’d broken down.
“What by yourself?”
Martha frowned. “No with the kind man who stopped to help me when he saw I’d broken down. I thanked him and sent him on his way.”
Luke laughed quietly. God, he loved it when she was all feisty and furious.
“Okay, okay,” he replied. “Instead of losing it, let’s just get you home.”
“What with you?”
“No,” Luke said with a smile. “With the nice man who helped you to push the car. Of course with me.”
Martha felt her throat constrict and her legs wobble at the thought of being alone with Luke, in the confines of his car, which tonight happened to be his sports car. She had no idea what sort it was, all she knew was that it was silver, and only had two seats inside that were in uncomfortably close proximity to each other.
“Just call the breakdown for me, as soon as you get a signal,” she said, her narrow eyes daring Luke to argue.
He dared. “No fucking way. I’m not leaving you here, you’ll come home with me and then we’ll call the breakdown in the morning. Although to be honest, I think it’s about time that heap of junk went to scrap.”
“Don’t speak about Fiona like that! Only I’m allowed to slag her off.” Martha turned and ran a hand along the roof of her car.
“Fiona, really?” Luke sighed and shook his head. “Lock it up and then get in my car, and don’t argue.”
Martha could tell by his tone that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Plus deep down, she was glad that she wasn’t going to have to spend the night on the side of the road.
Once she’d collected any valuables out of the car and locked it up, she sat herself in Luke’s, relishing the soft cream leather seat and the warmth of the heater that Luke had turned up while he’d been waiting for her.
“Thank you,” Martha said as Luke thrust the car into gear. “I do appreciate you stopping.”
“No problem,” he replied his eyes remaining firmly on the road.
“How did you know it was me anyway?”
“Because believe it or not in the weeks that we were together, I actually got to know things about you. Like the fact that you screw your nose up at the first taste of your cup of tea, that you bite your bottom lip when you’re reading and that you drive a purple, ten year old, Ford Fiesta with a number plate that ends WKD.” Luke glanced at her sideways. “You see Martha it wasn’t all about sex; I was actually interested in you.”
Not sure what to say, or even what Luke was trying to say, Martha silently looked through the window into the passing darkness. After a few minutes, Martha turned to him.
“I never thought it was only about sex for you,” she said quietly. “You never gave me that impression.”
Luke shrugged. “Well I thought you did, otherwise you’d have known that I was serious about us, and would never have risked what we had by sleeping with Rachel.”
“Please Luke, let’s not do this now,” Martha groaned rubbing her eyes. “I’m tired and you’ve had a big night, so I’d hate for either of us to say something else that we might regret.”
“Okay, but I’m telling you again, it didn’t happen.”
Silence fell over them with just the hum of the engine droning in the background. Martha was itching to turn on the radio, but the dashboard was akin to the control panel of an aeroplane, so she had no idea which was the correct button to press. She decided to make small talk instead.
“You did brilliantly tonight, by the way,” she said.
Luke smiled. “Thank you, it was nerve wracking but it turned out okay.”
“Better than okay, you really were brilliant.” Martha took a deep breath. “Skins seems to think that I helped you to sing. I know you told me that’s what happened, but it might just be a coincidence.”
Martha didn’t necessarily want the kudos from Luke of her being his inspiration to sing, but she was curious to know if it was true.
Luke clenched the steering wheel, wondering if Martha thought that made him weak. “It’s no coincidence, believe me. For some reason just seeing you calms me down. You in front of me relaxes me, and helps me to sing.”
“Oh.” Was all that Martha could find to say.
“Yeah, pretty fucking stupid eh?” Luke replied coldly.
Martha turned to look at him, thankful that in the darkness Luke wouldn’t see the tears clinging to her lashes. “No,” she replied in almost a whisper. “Not at all.”
Luke waited, hoping that Martha would acknowledge her part in his life, realising that he couldn’t possibly have slept with Rachel, but she didn’t. That was her only response so Luke decided to make light of it.
“Huh,” he snorted out a laugh. “I knew those fuckers had organised for you to be there tonight.”
“You’re not mad then?” she asked. “Stacey called me and said I might be able to help.”
“Yeah well you did,” Luke replied softly. “And no I’m not mad.”
Luke wasn’t mad that they’d called her, his heart had soared seeing her, and he knew tonight may well have been very different if she hadn’t been there. He was just sad that she hadn’t been there as his girlfriend, supporting his success, rather than just supporting him like a crutch.
Martha sucked back the tears. Her heart ached to be able to tell him that she still loved him, and that she wanted to always be there for him and wanted to try and forgive him. But she couldn’t. Luke had made it quite clear over the last few weeks what he thought of her. They continued home in silence, both of them with the idea that they were no longer loved by the other one – both of them incorrect in their assumptions, and both of them scared to admit their own feelings.
As the car turned into the village, Luke’s phone rang on his hands free, and flashing up on the display on his dashboard, was Rachel’s name. Luke immediately hit a button on his steering wheel to drop the call, but it was too late Martha had already seen it.
“It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said without looking at Martha.
“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” she replied through clenched teeth. “You’re still seeing her then?”
“I told you, nothing happened. She keeps pestering me.” Luke now shot a look at Martha and grimaced when he saw the tightness of her jaw.
“Well I’m not surprised, you dump her, you shag her and then, according to you, ignore her.” Martha sighed. “Never thought I’d say this but I feel sorry for her.”
Luke screeched to a halt, sending Martha lurching forward.
“Why the hell do you feel sorry for her?” he shouted hitting his hand against the steering wheel. “She ruined my life, our lives.”
“I think you’ll find you did that, Luke. You know, when you slept with her.” Martha stared at him, as she clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from slapping his face.
“I’ve told you, I didn’t sleep with her, despite what those pictures show.” Luke’s voice trembled as he tried hard to keep it together.
All he really wanted to do was smash his fist into something. He was so frustrated that no one would believe him. Even Skins just gave him lip service by nodding and saying “Okay, whatever you say.”
“So, if I ring her she’ll back that up will she?” Martha asked.
Luke was so adamant that, despite the photographs, Martha was beginning to have doubts about his guilt. Surely speaking to Rachel could clear his name and maybe help them to start again, but the way he’d treated her recently, he didn’t want to appear to want a reconciliation anyway.
Luke dropped his head into his hands and shook his head.
“What Luke, what would she say?” Martha asked insistently.
Luke looked at her and knew that he had to be honest. If he was honest about this, then maybe she’d believe him.
“She’d say it happened,” he almost whispered. “I asked her to call you, but s
he’s insisting it happened. Apparently, it was quick and unsatisfying, but it happened.” He turned to look out of the window, not wanting to see the hurt on Martha’s face again. The look on her face when she saw the photographs shattered him. That look of anguish and pain stabbed at his chest, and he didn’t want to see it again.
Martha started to unbuckle her belt. “I’ll walk from here,” she said quietly.
“No way, it’s late. Not a chance.” Before she had time to argue, Luke put the car into gear and drove on. “And I meant it when I said I’ll take you back tomorrow to sort your car out.”
Within minutes they had stopped outside Martha’s cottage. The wheels had barely stopped turning, before she was out of her seatbelt and had the door open.
“Thanks for the lift.”
“No prob…”
Before Luke had time to reply the car door was banged shut and Martha was running up her path. Luke watched as Martha let herself in, and then he waited until he saw a light go on upstairs. He pressed a button on his steering wheel and the noise of a phone dialling echoed in the otherwise silent car.
“Hey baby,” Rachel’s voice rang out.
“What do you want, Rachel?” Luke asked his tone flat.
“You, all the time,” she giggled. “I need to see you, I miss you.”
Luke sighed and bit at his bottom lip as he thought about his answer. “Okay,” he eventually replied. “I’ll come over tomorrow night.”
Chapter 32
“This is really good of you, Pete,” Martha said, giving him a sad smile. “Luke did offer, but I just can’t face him.”
“It’s fine, I wasn’t doing anything anyway,” Pete said. He momentarily took his eyes off the road and frowned at Martha’s dark circled eyes. “I take it you didn’t sleep much last night.”