by Mel Sparke
“Sold the Golf then?”
“Yeah…”
“Who bought it?”
“One of Dad’s golf buddies-and don’t laugh at that rotten pun,” Matt jokily warned her. “He came round last night and gave me cash on the spot. He bought it for his son. They only live five minutes from us. I’ll probably see the guy driving it about.”
“Ouch-that must hurt,” said Cat, sensing his loss.
“Could have been worse,” shrugged Matt.
“How?”
“Your cousin Peter was all set to buy it.”
“Peter! I haven’t even had a chance to see him since he came home,” Cat observed, too surprised to be reminded of her cousin’s presence to take on board Matt’s meaning. “Not that I’m bothered. He was never very nice to me. Always bossed me about when I was little.”
“Brilliant!” exclaimed Matt, beaming at her. “I can’t stand him either! In fact, I hated the idea of him buying the car so much that I ripped up the cheque he gave me!”
“Why don’t you like him?” asked Cat, glad in a way for this conversation. It sure beat thinking non-stop about her father as she had been doing ever since yesterday afternoon.
Matt pulled a face and hesitated before he spoke.
“He just got up my nose,” he said finally, skirting around the truth. “Too much of a show-off.”
“So what did you tell him? About selling the car to someone else?”
“I told him I got a better offer.”
Cat smiled before she asked her next question. “And was that true?”
“Nope,” laughed Matt. “I took a hundred quid less from Dad’s mate.”
“Wow-you must really dislike Peter! What did you do-give him the cheque back?” asked Cat. “Oh, no, you couldn’t have. It’s in bits, right?”
“Right, but I picked them all up. They’re all in an envelope in here,” Matt grinned, patting his pocket. “When I phoned him this morning to tell him the deal was off, he said he wanted the cheque back. I tried to tell him I’d ripped it up for safety—”
”—instead of saying you did it ‘cause you hate his guts,” Cat interrupted, grinning wickedly.
“Exactly,” nodded Matt. “So I had to go grovelling through the rose bushes, picking out as many pieces as I could. I said I’d drop it off at his place later on.”
“Uh-huh,” Cat murmured, gazing round at the grimy interior of the car. “Then, with so much going on, how come you were passing my way this afternoon?”
“Well, I wasn’t really,” Matt shrugged, moving the car out into the traffic. “I just wanted to check you were OK. When I got in last night from Bushmeade, my dad told me what went on yesterday ‘cause he’d—”
”—heard it all from Mum. Thanks for coming; that was sweet of you. And Happy Birthday, by the way. Sorry I missed it,” Cat smiled as she stared at Matt’s earnest profile.
“Must have been a bit of a shock for you…” Matt mumbled, unsure how to approach the subject tactfully.
“What-having him turn up ranting and raving at the rehearsal? Or finding out he was trying to blackmail my mother?” asked Cat bluntly.
“Uh… both, I guess.”
“God, I tell you, Matt, I really thought my luck was changing,” she muttered, shaking her head wearily. “Then I find my long-lost father is just as much of a waste of space as my mum always said. You know, he only really came back after all these years on the off chance that Mum might have had some money he could scrounge off her for this new scheme of his. ‘Course, once he found out, he thought he’d landed on his feet…”
“Found out what?”
“How well Mum was doing-her good job, the nice flat and everything. And, best of all, your dad.”
“My dad?”
“Yeah-knowing Mum was dating someone who was loaded really got the pound signs going in his eyes,” Cat said bitterly. “I mean, can you believe he pumped me for information about how much your dad was worth? I thought it was just him being curious-maybe even jealous. I thought it was a sign that he wanted to get back with her. How dumb was I.”
“So he really said he’d agree to a speedy divorce, if she paid him off?”
“Paid him off big time,” Cat emphasised. “Mum finally phoned him and told him to come round to the flat yesterday lunchtime, when I’d left for the rehearsal. She had a feeling he was up to something and money was the bottom line.”
Cat stopped for a second and took a deep breath that sounded more like a sigh before she continued.
“She could tell he’d been drinking already-Dutch courage, I guess-and then he launched into what he was after. When she refused, he flipped out. She told him to leave and that’s when he came to college, shouting about how I must have said something to put her off. Nice, huh? Very fatherly and caring, I don’t think.”
“And he couldn’t have been more wrong, could he?” Matt glanced at her with a wry smile. “I mean, you were completely on his side up to that point!”
“I know. I-I—”
Matt let one hand stray from the steering wheel and grabbed at the faded box of tissues that the previous owner had left tucked on the shelf under the dashboard. He’d been meaning to chuck them out-together with the dog-whiffy sheets of newspaper in the back-when he got home. But now, for Cat’s sake, he was glad to have them.
Cat took a handful of tissues and blew her nose before carrying on.
“I actually felt really bad for my mum when she was telling me about it yesterday,” she sniffed, dabbing her eyes dry. “She must have gone through hell living with him. Trying to protect me from all of it…”
“Well, maybe in a weird way you’ve been lucky,” suggested Matt.
“How do you work that one out?” Cat asked, frowning her perfectly plucked eyebrows.
“You used to feel like there was a big hole in your life, never having your dad around, never knowing where he was, didn’t you?”
Cat nodded, sniffing again.
“So, now you know. You don’t have to wonder any more; you don’t have do all that ‘what-if?’ agonising stuff… So it’s lucky you got a chance to meet him and find out what he was really like. Even,” said Matt, reaching over and squeezing his friend’s arm, “if what he was really like wasn’t very nice.”
“Maybe…” muttered Cat, lost in thought.
“Hey, listen, if you’re OK, Cat, can I drop you at the end of your road? I’m in a bit of a hurry…”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied. “I need to nip into the newsagent anyway. I’m seeing Zac tonight and I want to buy him the biggest box of chocolates I can, for coming to my rescue yesterday.”
“Lucky he decided to come along and watch you rehearse, even though you hadn’t exactly given him much encouragement lately.”
“I know, bless him. He’s always there when I need him…” said Cat dreamily as she reached for the door handle to get out. “Anyway, where are you off to in such a rush?”
“I, urn, just want to catch the garden centre down River Road before it closes.”
Cat nodded, still thinking blissful thoughts of Zac. Matt’s words only clicked as he chugged out into the traffic.
This has been a strange, strange week, she mused, watching the rusty Lada drive into the distance. But the strangest thing of all has to be the idea of Matt hanging out at a garden centre…
CHAPTER 21
EVERYTHING’S COMING UP PALM TREES
Anna stared at the gargantuan urn that dominated the centre of her living room without really seeing it. She was glad to be flopped out on her sofa and glad her Monday shift finished at four.
But that was all she was glad about.
I know I got a fright when that ghost thing lurched out in Chillerama, and I know it was an accident, the way I leant into Matt, she remembered, running it all through her mind again. But why didn’t I move away? Why did I let his arm stay around my shoulders? Why do I keep giving him hope when I think we should just be friends. Shouldn’t we?
> She jumped at the sound of the doorbell, nearly spilling the lukewarm contents of the mug she had balanced on her tummy.
Hurrying over, Anna hauled open the door, only to find a small palm tree standing there. With legs.
“Hi…” said Matt shyly, peering out from behind the leaves.
“Oh. Hi,” said Anna uncertainly.
“I thought… well, I had this idea. For that urn thing,” said Matt, one hand appearing and pointing into the room behind her. “You said it’s too big for your flat but you didn’t want to get rid of it, right?”
“Uh-huh,” nodded Anna.
“Well, I thought you could have it sitting at the top of the stairs here, see?” His hand pointed at the space to his left.
Anna said nothing.
“It’s wide enough. And this…” he lifted the palm tree just enough for the fronds to wobble “…would look really good planted in it. Maybe.”
He knew he was babbling, but he didn’t know what else to do. Anna was staring as if he was mad.
“And, uh, I got you something else,” said Matt from behind the plant as he juggled with the weight of the plant and pulled the wrapped present out from his pocket.
Anna could hardly see his face for leaves, but she could see his hand extend towards her, holding out the gift-wrapped parcel.
Still standing in the doorway, she took the proffered parcel and began, slowly, to peel off the sticky tape that bound it. Pulling back the sheeny, shiny wrapping paper, Anna stared down at the framed photo in her hands.
The couple snapped in the shot were cuddled close on the Chillerama car; the boy with his arm wrapped protectively around the girl, his eyes locked lovingly on hers.
“You and me…” she murmured, her heart aching for that warm, happy sensation she’d felt when they’d been together for that brief moment in the spookily illuminated dark yesterday. Before they’d come out into the bright light of daytime; before she’d doubted her own feelings once again.
Anna gazed up at Matt and could barely make out his sweet face through the palm fronds.
“Matt-put that stupid plant down,” she said.
He dropped it on to the steps immediately and straightened up, unsure of whether he’d annoyed or pleased her.
“Come here, you!” She laughed at the sight of his Andrex puppy soulful gaze.
Matt stepped over the threshold, straight into her arms.
At last, he thought, catching a glimpse of the sparkle in her eyes before their lips met…
SOME SECRETS ARE JUST TOO GOOD TO KEEP TO YOURSELF
Sugar Secrets…
1 …& Revenge
2 …& Rivals
3 …& Lies
4 …& Freedom
5 …& Lust
6 …& Mistakes
7 …& Choices
8 …& Ambition
9 …& Dramas
10 …& Resolutions
11 …& Scandal
12 …& Guilt
13 …& Luck
14 …& Love
15 …& Conflict
Sugar SECRETS…
…& Love
SNEAK PREVIEW!
“What’s with the disgusting, flowery, waistcoat thing?”
Matt Ryan cocked his head to one side and grimaced at Joe Gladwin, who had slipped sheepishly out of the hire shop fitting room and was now standing in front of Matt and Ollie, blushing furiously.
Joe hadn’t been looking forward to trying on the smart hire suit his father was insisting he wear for his forthcoming wedding, and having his two mates take the mick was doing his head in. For someone as sloppily turned out as Joe usually was, the floral waistcoat, crisp white cotton shirt and navy tie, jacket and trousers felt about as comfortable as a suit of medieval armour.
“Pink roses are Gillian’s favourite flowers,” Joe explained wearily, opening his jacket to reveal the full extent of the nightmare underneath. “Her mother found the material and made waistcoats for me, Dad and the ushers. Look, we’ve even got matching handkerchiefs.” Joe delved into his Nike sports bag and pulled out a crumpled square of material, also patterned in the same clashing colours of pink, green and mauve on a navy background.
“Oh…” said Ollie Stanton, raising his eyebrows.
“Very nice,” added Matt, scratching his chin while trying to hide the smile that was breaking out at the corners of his mouth.
“Horrible, aren’t they?” said Joe miserably.
“Mmmm.” The boys nodded in unison.
“So, are you going to look in the mirror then?” Matt asked. “See what you look like?”
Joe grimaced then reluctantly turned to study his reflection in the full-length mirror.
“Arrgh! I look ridiculous!” he wailed, his eyes bulging and his face contorted in horror. The suit was very conservative, very staid, very not Joe. He scanned the alien image. OK, so he liked baggy clothes, but this generously proportioned suit didn’t quite fit properly. He laughed bitterly. “I look like a tramp on a bad day.”
“Oh, I dunno, it’s not so awful,” said Ollie measuredly. “I’d say you look sort of… like, urn… what do you think, Matt?”
Tact never being one of his strong points, Matt grinned and said, “Like a prat!”
“Cheers, mate,” Joe replied. “Thanks for the morale boost!”
“Could be worse…” said Matt then paused, his grin widening even more, “I dunno how though, mate!”
Ollie began to snigger and soon Joe saw the funny side and began to chuckle away at his own expense.
“So how come they’re going for a church do?” Ollie finally asked, trying to be sensible again. “It’s not as though it’s the first time round for your dad, is it? And you’d have thought that at their age they’d have got over the childhood fantasy thing of a wedding in a cutesy church with meringue frocks and bogey-nosed page boys. Why all the fuss?”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that fancy,” answered Joe. “I don’t know what Gillian’s wearing, but I can’t imagine it’ll be too over the top…”
“Unlike the waistcoats,” Matt chipped in cheerfully.
“Hmm, I know what you mean,” pondered Joe. “But I get the feeling they just wanted to make the effort to do things properly. You know, make a statement and all that.”
“Well, they’ll certainly be doing that when you guys take your jackets off,” Matt muttered. “And having The Loud play is a bit of a statement too. I hope your dad’s not expecting you to play covers all night like most wedding bands. Much as I’d pay thousands to see it happen, I can’t imagine Ollie singing The Power Of Love somehow.”
“Like you’ll be paying any attention, Matt,” came Ollie’s sardonic reply, “you’ll be far too busy snogging one of the bridesmaids. Or chasing a waitress, pleading for her phone number. You’ve always said weddings are the best place for getting off with someone. Saturday’ll be your chance to prove it.”
Matt was about to contradict his friend, then thought better of it. If only you knew, Ol, he thought, how far off the mark you are.
“Er, have you got your best man speech sorted yet?” he said, turning to Joe.
Joe turned pale. The mere mention of the fact that he was going to have to stand up and speak in front of eighty people made him want to throw up. The wedding was only five days away and although he’d been agonising over the speech ever since his dad had asked him to be best man, he still only had a few rambling thoughts and a blank piece of paper to show for all his hours of effort.
“It’s getting there,” he hedged. “If I’m lucky, it might be ready by the year 3000.” Joe smiled wryly then did an awkward twirl in front of his friends. “What with that to worry about and looking like this, I’d quite cheerfully cut my head off right now rather than have to go through with this wedding.”
“You think that’s bad,” Matt countered. “Imagine what it’ll be like on your own wedding day. Nerves times ten thousand, I’ll bet.”
Joe liked hearing Matt talk about him
as though it was a foregone conclusion that he would get married. The way his romantic life had gone so far (ie nowhere), the idea of him spending his life with a woman other than his mother sounded ludicrous. Apart from the occasional peck on the cheek, he’d never really kissed a girl-not intimately, in the full-on, exchanging saliva sense of the word-let alone been part of a couple.
It suddenly struck him that most of his crowd of friends were involved with someone. There was Ollie and Kerry, Sonja and Owen, Cat and Zac, Maya and Alex. And he’d noticed that even Matt and Anna had seemed quite close recently-he’d seen them exchange significant glances, although no one else seemed to have picked up on it.
And then there’s me, he thought. The saddo no one’s interested in.
“I think the chances of me getting married are about on a par with Liam Gallagher becoming a vicar,” Joe tried to joke.
“Come on, Joe,” rallied Ollie, “it’s not your fault that the female population hasn’t cottoned on to what a great guy Joe Gladwin is yet. Hey, for all you know, the perfect person for you might be at this wedding on Saturday!”
“Yeah-and she’ll take one look at my clothes and run a mile,” grinned Joe.
“Don’t be so negative,” scolded Ollie. “Love always happens when you least expect it.”
“I’ll tell you something,” Joe carried on. “If-when-it happens, I’ll have it printed on the invitation that suits are banned.”
Matt grabbed one of the many grey felt top hats from the shelf to his left and placed it at a rakish angle on his head. He grinned inanely into the mirror. “I wonder who’ll be the first out of us to tie the knot…” he mused absent-mindedly.
“Come on, Matt,” Joe laughed. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out…” He raised his eyebrows meaningly at Matt, then the two of them turned to Ollie and looked very pointedly at him.
“What?” Ollie was confused.
“You and Kerry, silly,” said Joe. “You guys are bound to be the first to go waltzing up the aisle. It’s obvious. Maybe I ought to get out of these clothes and let you try them on, so you can see what you’ll look like on the Big Day.”