Yet it had happened with Max, and since then she’d been doing her best to make it un-happen, or at least to convince herself that it had been just a silly little flirtation. She and Robert had been going through a bad patch, she’d got briefly carried away with the excitement of it all and ultimately, it had meant nothing.
Yet the hairs on the back of her neck told a different story. The sooner this was over and she could go home, the better, she thought. She just had to get through the next couple of hours, then she could breathe once more.
When the singing was over, the mayoress announced that all the other children could now use the playground. Immediately, a gaggle of youngsters and their mums and dads flocked towards the entrance and before long, you could hardly see the climbing frames, swings, slides and roundabouts through the sea of bodies.
While Lowenna and a little friend were occupied in the sandpit, Liz found a bench nearby and plonked down, relieved to have a moment to herself.
‘Hello, Liz.’
A deep voice behind made her jump and her heart seemed to pole vault into her mouth, threatening to land, with a splat, on the ground in front.
She knew exactly who it was, of course.
‘Hi,’ she said, twisting around to find Max standing right beside her and forcing her mouth into a tight, painful smile. ‘How are you?’
It was a fatuous question, but she couldn’t think of anything else. She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t respond to it.
‘I got your email,’ he said instead. ‘I thought you weren’t coming. What made you change your mind?’
No sugar soaping, no niceties, nothing. He was straight to the point.
‘They asked me to lead the choir. I felt I couldn’t say no.’
He laughed, loud and humourlessly.
‘And there was I, hoping you just couldn’t keep away. How disappointing!’
His voice was heavy with sarcasm and she writhed uncomfortably on the bench. She’d far rather have kept things light, pretending that nothing had happened, but she should have known that small talk wasn’t his thing.
‘Max…’ she started to say, and his body stiffened, every fibre on alert. ‘I can’t…’
He gave a low, hollow groan, which hurt her, too, like a blow struck deep into her gut.
‘It’s OK,’ he said, swallowing. He was trying to compose himself, she could tell, and he was speaking more to himself than her. ‘I’m going to go and mingle. They’ll wonder what I’m doing.’
And with that, he turned and walked off. She didn’t try to stop him. Instead she watched him retreat, his shoulders square and head held high, until he melted into the crowd and was no longer visible.
She had a hard lump in her throat and her eyes stung, but at the same time she was grateful that he’d gone. As long as there was enough space between them, she felt protected. It was when he came too close that her foundations weakened, her defences started to crumble.
‘I just saw your husband.’
When Liz looked up, Chabela had taken Max’s place.
She was wearing a white T-shirt with three-quarter-length sleeves, a bright red, swishy skirt that ended just below the knee, and red sandals.
Smiling, she pointed towards the entrance and Liz caught sight of Robert, coming in her direction. He looked tall and handsome and immediately, the lump in her throat dissolved and her pulse started to relax.
‘Hey!’ he said, bending down to give her a kiss. His lips felt warm and reassuring. ‘I’m sorry I missed the ribbon cutting. How did the sea shanties go down?’
Liz smiled. ‘They were a big success. The kids made a few mistakes but no one noticed. I think we got away with it.’
‘Well done!’ Robert turned to Chabela now and shook her hand. ‘How are you finding the Secret Shack? I hope Loveday’s not making you do all the work?’
He arched an eyebrow.
‘Oh no,’ Chabela replied, rather too quickly. ‘She’s being really helpful. I’m enjoying myself, actually. It makes a change from marking essays.’
‘Good.’ Robert gave a thumbs up and she responded with a dazzling smile.
Liz was momentarily taken aback; everything about the Mexican was glossy, she thought: shiny hair, gleaming eyes, even her skin looked as if it had been polished and buffed to a sheen, like a piece of valuable walnut or mahogany, yet she didn’t seem like the type to spend hours primping and preening; it must be natural. Lucky thing. Liz wondered why she hadn’t noticed before.
‘Are you hungry?’ Robert offered Liz his hand and pulled her up to standing. ‘I think the food’s ready but I’ll have to leave you to it. I have to go back to work, I’m afraid.’
‘But you’ve only just arrived!’ Liz protested. ‘Can’t you at least stay for half an hour?’
She was still feeling shaken and wanted some backup. Besides, she knew if Robert were with her, it was less likely that Max would try to speak to her again.
But Robert shook his head. ‘Too busy, sorry.’
Chabela must have sensed Liz’s disappointment, because she touched her arm.
‘Don’t worry, we can have lunch together.’ She hesitated. ‘That is, if you want to…’
Liz did her best to pull herself together. ‘Good idea.’ She made a mock-tragic face. ‘That poor hog must be well and truly roasted by now. It smells delicious.’
Robert said goodbye and the women headed for the food area, with Lowenna trotting by their side. After loading their plates with meat, apple sauce, cold potatoes in mayonnaise and salad, they sat on a corner of rug on the grass beneath the oak tree.
The rug belonged to Tabitha, who had just opened a bottle of wine when she saw the threesome approaching.
‘Good timing!’ she said, grinning. ‘I’ve got extra glasses. Come and join us!’
After they’d eaten, Danny got out his mouth organ, Tabitha her guitar and they started to play some folk songs. The pair sounded very good together and soon they had quite an audience as folk gathered around in a circle and a fair number joined in with the singing.
As Liz glanced around the field, she could see different groups of people eating, just chatting together or playing frisbee. There was even a game of rounders under way. This involved some quite elderly grannies and grandpas versus children, which didn’t seem very fair, but they were all clearly having a lovely time and no one minded.
You could feel people’s happiness; it was palpable, and Liz found herself thinking how lucky she was to live in such a beautiful village, among kind people who looked out for each other and who – most of the time, anyway – seemed to have each other’s best interests at heart. To her, it was more than just a place, it was a state of being.
She had discovered Tremarnock long before she’d found Robert, and initially it was the village and its inhabitants that had helped her and Rosie back on their feet. Little by little, they’d built a new life for themselves, then she and Robert had fallen in love, Lowenna had come along, and their joy had seemed complete.
That she, Liz, would do anything at all to jeopardise this hard-won happiness seemed unthinkable – yet she had.
‘Hey! You look like you’re a million miles away!’
She was brought back to the present by a nudge in the ribs from Tabitha, who had put down her guitar and was squatting beside her. The music and singing had stopped and Liz hadn’t even noticed.
Tabitha, who was of mixed race, had long, wavy, jet-black hair, brown skin and soft brown eyes, which were now fixed on Liz.
‘I was just thinking how lucky we are to live here,’ she said, smiling. ‘I’d rather be in Tremarnock than anywhere else in the world.’
‘Me too.’
Just then, a group of people standing around and talking a little way off moved apart and Max came into view. He was in the middle of them all, the centre of attention, moving his hands and arms in a way that suggested he was in the process of trying to explain something rather complicated.
He hadn’t seen Liz y
et, but she stiffened all the same. It was all she could do not to cry out in surprise.
Tabitha must have sensed something. Looking from Liz to Max and back again, her eyes widened and she cleared her throat self-consciously.
‘He seems a bit different from the time he came before,’ she commented, watching Liz rather too closely for comfort. ‘He seems tense and uptight.’
‘Does he? I haven’t noticed.’ Liz tried to act casual but her voice came out as a bit of a squeak.
She leaned forwards to scratch an imaginary itch on her ankle and when she glanced up, he was staring at her again. His look was intense and a bit wild, almost desperate, perhaps, as if he were trying to plug a gap in a dam with nothing but his finger, like the Dutch boy in the famous story.
She wasn’t sure how to respond. Without realising it, she held her breath for several seconds, convinced that Tabitha would hear her heart pounding in her chest.
Half of her wanted so much to dash over and throw her arms around him, just as if he were that little boy by the dam who needed comforting. The other part wanted to run – fast – the other way.
‘What’s up, Liz?’
This time, Tabitha’s tone was concerned and urgent. ‘You can talk to me, you know.’
Liz opened her mouth and for a split second, she thought that she might tell her friend everything. She trusted Tabitha and valued her judgment. And after all, what were friends for?
Instead she said, ‘Nothing.’ Shifting her gaze away from Max, however, she knew that he was still looking at her. She plucked a daisy from the grass and started to pick off the delicate petals, one by one.
‘Nothing at all.’
Chapter Thirteen
It was one of those lazy summer Saturdays that seemed to go on for ever. The combination of warmth, sunshine, food, music, plenty of bonhomie and even more alcohol meant that no one was in any hurry to leave, and indeed, there was no need.
Most people didn’t have work the next day and there was no school for the children. When Danny suggested fetching the portable outdoor speaker from his pub, he received numerous offers of help, and soon there was a bit of a disco going on beyond the oak tree.
At any other time, busybody officials or, indeed, the police, would no doubt have been summoned to quash the noise and close the party down. However, as most of the officials and even some of the local cops were here enjoying the fun, it was unlikely that the celebrations would be interrupted.
There wasn’t anybody to complain anyway. Practically all the residents from round about who might have been disturbed by the noise were in the field, too. The only possible objectors were the squirrels, hiding in trees, or the rabbits in their burrows, and they were sensibly keeping well out of it.
By about four o’clock, Liz felt that she’d done her bit, shown her face for long enough and could quite justifiably slip away with Lowenna without causing any raised eyebrows.
The little girl, however, had other ideas.
‘Me, me!’ she shouted, tugging at her mother’s dress and pointing in the direction of the blaring music.
Liz could see Rosie standing at the edge of the makeshift disco floor, chatting to a school friend, while Rafael was showing off nearby, doing a worm dance.
‘It’s time to go home now,’ Liz said, but Lowenna shook her head and tugged even harder.
‘I’ll come over with you,’ Tabitha suggested, taking her own son, Oscar, by the hand. ‘We can gawp at the teenagers. That’ll annoy them!’
It would have been difficult to say no, and as they got closer to the action, Liz could tell that something was up with Rosie. She was smiling at her friend, but she looked strained and her eyes were sad. Liz knew her so well.
She hadn’t clocked Chabela from where she’d been sitting, but she saw her now, standing to one side with Rick, Alex and Jesse. They were an unlikely foursome and Liz felt slightly uneasy, though she wasn’t sure why. Loveday was nowhere to be seen.
The men were watching Rafael and laughing. Suddenly Jesse broke away and started doing his version of the Milly Rock hip-hop dance, complete with hand swoops and circles.
Chabela, who’d been quite still, resting one leg in front of the other, uncrossed her arms, clapped her hands, tossed back her long black hair and laughed unrestrainedly. She had a big, wide mouth, strong white teeth and the smile, so spontaneous and free, seemed to fill her entire face. It was very infectious.
‘Muy bien! Magnífico!’ she cried delightedly, which seemed to spur Jesse on, because his movements became more and more exaggerated. Meanwhile, Rafael switched to walking on his hands, which looked quite dangerous on the uneven grass. Liz hoped he wouldn’t fall.
Lowenna was clearly enchanted and tried to copy, bending down to put her hands on the ground and raising one leg in the air. Everyone laughed louder, and this made Oscar go all silly, rolling around and pulling daft faces.
As she watched, Chabela took hold of the edges of her bright red skirt and swished it back and forth whilst jiggling in time to the beat. She looked beautiful and carefree and Liz couldn’t help noticing Rick inching ever closer, as if he couldn’t bear to be too far from her orbit.
Then, without warning, Jesse stopped what he was doing, took a few steps towards her, grabbed her hand in one of his and wrapped his other arm around her waist. Straight after, he proceeded to whisk her away from Rick onto the makeshift disco floor, whirling her around in a somewhat clumsy version of a waltz.
Chabela laughed again, before breaking off and doing a twirl, followed by a sort of solo salsa, twisting her hips in a sultry fashion and moving her arms fluidly in time to the beat. She was a natural dancer and clearly loved it. So lost was she in her own rhythm that she didn’t seem to notice all eyes were on her.
Jesse stopped moving completely at that point and simply stared, with a slightly stupid grin playing on his lips. Meanwhile, Rick seemed thoroughly agitated, shifting from one foot to another. It was as if he didn’t know what to do with his body and was having some difficulty holding back and preventing himself from charging onto the dance floor to claim Chabela for himself.
As if this wasn’t enough, Rafael then pushed forward with a sort of swagger, and the folk around the edges, including Felipe, who was taking a well-earned break, took a step back. The others were either jigging desultorily, as if aware that the entertainment was happening elsewhere, or had given up altogether and joined the audience.
Rafael, who was tall, thin and athletic, ran a hand through his Mohawk – a bright green strip of hair that stuck up at right angles to his scalp and bristled down the centre. The rest of his head was shaved.
He knew that he was a causing a stir and milked it for all it was worth, flexing his muscles and cracking his knuckles to show off the thick silver rings on his fingers and thumbs.
He was wearing his trademark black T-shirt and jeans and had large round holes in both earlobes, lined with silver rings, like flesh plugs, off which hung substantial wooden crosses.
Some of the villagers had found him rather intimidating at first, but now that he’d settled into village life, they’d grown used to him. They knew that he was a bit of a softie, really, and wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Besides, his school didn’t allow the Mohawk or flesh plugs so he only ever showed them off at weekends, which meant that everyone got some respite from them.
Raising his arms above his head, he clapped a couple of times like a swaggering male flamenco dancer, then, watching Chabela all the time, he started to mimic her moves, snaking his hips in an outrageously sexy way while his feet strutted back and forth, seemingly independently of the rest of him.
She appeared to remain in her own world but she must at least have been aware of his presence, because sometimes she would mirror his shapes, rather than the other way around. And although no part of them was touching, it was as if their bodies were at one, entirely in tune and synchronised, like a pair of courting swans.
It was rather as if the villager
s were being treated to their own, personal Latino dance performance and they seemed entranced. However, when Liz checked on Rosie, she could see that her daughter was very upset, biting her lip and trying to hold back the tears. After all, Rafael was her boyfriend, sort of, anyway, though he seemed to have forgotten it. Plus, Rosie was shy and sensitive, which was hardly surprising, given her history. He really should have known better.
On the other side of the dance area, Loveday had appeared now, too, and was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at her boyfriend, Jesse, who was like a lovesick fool. Liz didn’t even dare look at Audrey, hovering in a proprietorial fashion near Rick, but thought that she could sense disapproval emanating from the older woman’s every pore.
Liz’s heart sank. Chabela was clearly enjoying herself immensely, pouring her heart, body and soul into the music, and seemed to have no idea of the upset she was causing.
She couldn’t be accused of leading Rafael or Jesse on because she was barely looking at them, so absorbed was she in her own rhythm. Indeed, she looked almost as if she were in a trance. But Liz guessed that this would be no consolation to Rosie, or Loveday, for that matter, and it wouldn’t stop Audrey from gossiping, either.
‘Encore!’ someone shouted, when the music came to an end and Rafael stayed where he was, eager for more. He was so young and fit that he probably could have gone on dancing for hours.
For a moment it seemed that Chabela would continue, too, but during the pause, she glanced up, scanned around the audience for the first time and a shadow fell across her face.
Perhaps the penny had dropped and she’d realised the attention that she was attracting. Whatever the reason, she smoothed her wild hair, tucked it behind her ears as if embarrassed, and frowned in dismay.
‘I’m tired,’ she said, wiping a lower arm across her brow with an exaggerated sweep. ‘Thank you, señor.’ And with that, she gave Rafael a mock curtsy and melted, apparition-like, into the crowd.
Liz turned back to Rosie. She was about to ask if she wanted a drink or an ice cream but didn’t get the chance, because the girl put her hands over her eyes and started to half limp, half run across the field towards the exit.
The Girl Who Came Home to Cornwall Page 17