‘Come on, Benji. Looks like neither of us is wanted anymore,’ Nina said, taking pity on him and inviting him into the study. There wasn’t a lot for him to do in there, but at least he’d be out of the way, and he was company.
If Nina was honest, she felt at a bit of a loose end, too. Alex had arrived home late the night before and seemed to have taken charge of coordinating the marquee whilst Olivia and Dudley were busy coordinating themselves. So she sat in the study watching Benji dismantle one of Dominic’s old Transformers, watching the clock tick round and wondering when she should quietly slip away.
She’d spent half of the night before writing a letter to Olivia and Dudley, thanking them for welcoming her to their home and for making her time there so wonderful. She told them that it was the best job she’d ever had and that she would miss them enormously. It had been a good job she’d written the piece with a Biro, too, because, had she used her favourite fountain pen, it would have ended up a terrible blotchy mess with the tears she had shed over it. She was going to leave the letter on Dudley’s desk and would slip out of the house with her suitcase once the coast was clear.
Janey thought Nina was mad to miss the party and it seemed a shame that she’d never get to wear the beautiful dress that Olivia had bought her. She couldn’t help feeling a bit like Cinderella before her fairy godmother makes a timely appearance. It was hard not to feel sorry for herself as she sat in the study, listening to all the to-ing and fro-ing outside in the hallway – the laughter, the shouting and the general chaos that always seemed to surround the Milton family. How she would miss it all, but Nina kept having to remind herself that she wasn’t part of this family. She was just the hired help and she was no longer needed and, as ungrateful as it might seem to the Miltons that she was running away before the party, she just couldn’t bear to stay – being a part of the fun and the games only to have to leave afterwards; it was just too cruel a fate.
Needing someone to confide in, she’d even texted Justin that morning about her decision.
It’s all too much she’d written.
But you can’t leave! he’d texted back immediately.
But I can’t stay she’d said.
Are you sure they don’t want to keep you on?
Nothing’s been said she’d told him.
Talk to them, Nina! x
But she couldn’t put her own selfish worries first. This was Dudley and Olivia’s special day and she didn’t want to spoil it with talk of employment.
‘Do you fancy going out into the garden, Benji?’ Nina asked, suddenly in need of some fresh air. The little boy looked up from his home on the carpet. ‘We could see if we can find any snails behind the greenhouse.’ Nina wasn’t particularly fond of molluscs, but she thought it would be an incentive for Benji. Nina saw that she was right as he sprang up off the carpet, his toy forgotten.
They walked across the lawn together, careful to avoid the staff who were setting up in the marquee. Olivia had been most disappointed to find out that marquees only came in white, and that it hadn’t been possible to have one in silver or purple to match her colour scheme. Nevertheless, it had caused great excitement as it was erected on the lawn at the back of the mill house on Friday morning.
Nina hadn’t been quite sure what to expect, but was surprised when she saw an army of five men set it up. She’d taken several trips into the garden throughout the course of the morning to check on the progress. She’d never been in a marquee before, other than the tiny, tatty ones at the local fete, and she tried to imagine what it would look like once the furniture and decorations were in place. As she walked past with Benji, she attempted to get a glimpse inside the vast tent, seeing only a floating mountain of balloons in purple and silver, and a towering flower display filled with gigantic lilies that looked as if they had been carved from marble. The champagne, wine and glasses had all been delivered the day before, too. It was going to be a wonderful party.
‘Come on!’ Benji cried, catching hold of Nina’s hand. ‘Snails!’
‘I don’t think they will have gone anywhere,’ she told him, smiling at his youthful impatience to see everything immediately, and following him as he pulled her towards the walled garden.
‘Are you sure this looks okay?’ Dominic asked his mother in a bedroom that was used as a dressing room these days. ‘Because I feel like an idiot.’
‘Well, you don’t look like one,’ Olivia said. ‘A quick trip to the hairdressers and a half-hour session with a nailbrush to remove all that paint, and you’re now the smartest young man in East Anglia,’ Olivia said, brushing invisible dust off his jacket.
‘I feel like a chump,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘Once every so often, one has to step out of one’s comfort zone for the pleasure of others,’ Olivia told him. ‘Doesn’t it feel nice to be out of those scruffy old clothes of yours?’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Dominic said. ‘They’re comfortable and they’re practical.’
‘But it’s so nice to see you in something smart. The girls will swoon.’
Dominic sighed. There was only one girl he wanted to swoon and he wasn’t even sure if she was coming to the party.
‘Faye won’t recognise you,’ Olivia went on.
‘She’s coming?’ Dominic said.
‘Of course she’s coming. Although she keeps telling me she won’t.’
‘Does she?’
Olivia nodded. ‘Have you said something to upset her again?’
‘No!’ Dominic said.
‘Because I won’t have Faye upset, Dominic. You understand?’
‘Mum, I’m not going to upset Faye.’
‘Well, you seem to be doing nothing else these last few years,’ Olivia said.
‘Hey – that’s not fair!’
‘No? It’s true though, isn’t it?’
‘Mum, I know it’s your anniversary today, but you’re not going to get away with picking on me.’
‘These things need saying – whether it’s an anniversary or not,’ Olivia pointed out, her face unusually grave.
Dominic ran a hand through his dark hair and took a deep breath. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘you don’t need to worry about me and Faye anymore.’
Olivia’s bright eyes widened at this declaration. ‘Really?’ she said.
‘Now, don’t go getting excited,’ Dominic said quickly, but he could already see that it was too late. ‘I’m just going to talk to her. I think—’ he paused. ‘I think I might have made a mistake when I split up with her.’
Possibly for the first time in her life, Olivia was speechless.
‘Well, say something!’ Dominic prompted her.
Olivia nodded. ‘She’s here now.’
‘Faye?’
‘Of course Faye!’
‘In the garden?’
His mother nodded again. ‘I told her to come to the party, but I didn’t tell her to work in the garden – not with the party and everything – but she seemed quite determined to finish putting in a row of obelisks for the roses.’
‘She’s in the rose garden?’
‘Yes!’ Olivia said.
‘Okay,’ Dominic said, his eyes darting from side to side as he tried to gather his thoughts. ‘She’s in the rose garden.’
‘Well, go on then!’ Olivia said and, needing no more encouragement than that, Dominic shot out of the room, still wearing his suit.
Faye was waist-deep in roses when he saw her, wielding a hoe with feminine menace. She didn’t see him approaching at first and he took a moment just to look at her. Her dark hair swung about her face and her bare arms were the colour of dark honey. She was smiling as she worked and Dominic couldn’t help smiling, too, as he watched her – and that’s when she saw him.
For a moment, they just stood there staring at one another – him in his smart trousers, white shirt and jacket and her in a pair of blackberry-stained denim dungarees.
‘Hi,’ she said at last, resting her weight against her hoe.
>
‘Hello,’ he said.
‘You look—’ she paused, biting her lip, her head cocked to one side, ‘nice.’
He shrugged, embarrassed that he was still wearing the ridiculous clothes.
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘So do you.’
Faye laughed and Dominic couldn’t help but laugh, too, but he hastily cleared his throat and suddenly looked very serious.
‘Faye,’ he said, but it was no good. The words just wouldn’t come. Indeed, did any words actually exist that were up to the job of telling Faye exactly how he felt at that moment? He didn’t think so, and so he had no choice but to show her how he felt instead, moving towards her and finding her lips with his in the dappled shade of the rose bed.
They didn’t see the jay swooping low over the lawn to their left, nor did they notice the blackbird that hopped across the path behind them. The world had concentrated into the tiny space that they occupied and nothing else seemed to matter.
‘Goodness!’ Faye said a moment later. ‘I wasn’t expecting that!’
‘No?’ Dominic said.
She shook her head. ‘I mean, I’ve been hoping for it. So much!’
Dominic stroked her cheek and they gazed at each other for the longest of moments, as if nothing else in the world existed. ‘I’d better go,’ Faye said at last.
‘Don’t go,’ Dominic said.
‘But I’ve got to get ready for the party. I can’t very well turn up looking like this.’
‘Why not?’ he asked. ‘You look absolutely perfect.’
Faye laughed. ‘But I still have to go.’
‘Listen,’ Dominic said, grabbing her small hand in his before she disappeared. He swallowed hard and looked down into her gentle face and wondered how he had spent so many years without her in his life. ‘I need to say sorry.’ He felt her squeeze his hand in response.
‘It’s okay,’ she told him.
‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s not okay. I treated you appallingly and I can’t ever forgive myself. I don’t know what happened to me. I left home and I became a different person,’ he said, raking a hand through his dark hair and leaving it sticking up, so that Faye’s own hand came up to flatten it back down.
‘It’s okay – really,’ she told him again.
‘No,’ he insisted. ‘It’s not.’ Dominic shook his head. ‘I think I just got so focussed on my work and of my own sense of importance. I don’t think I was a very nice person.’
‘Of course you’re a nice person,’ Faye said. ‘You were just working so hard.’
‘It’s no excuse,’ he said. ‘How could I shut you out like that? How could I think my work was more important?’ He gave a funny sort of laugh. ‘Because, the truth is, it means absolutely nothing without you.’
They stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity, and then Dominic took a deep breath. ‘I hope you can forgive me,’ he said. ‘I hope – I hope we can—’
‘Try again?’ Faye said.
Dominic gave a nervous little laugh. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I think I’d like that.’
‘I would, too,’ Faye said, squeezing his hand again and sealing the deal with another kiss.
Olivia was standing by the dining-room window when the two of them walked by hand in hand a moment later and her hand flew to her mouth in order to stop her scream of delight. Since her son had run out of the house, she hadn’t been able to keep still and had been pacing back and forth in front of various different windows around the mill in the hope of catching a glimpse of Dominic and Faye and to find out exactly what was going on.
He’d made a mistake. He’d actually admitted to making a mistake, Olivia thought. After all those years of her trying to tell him that Faye wasn’t the sort of girl to pass by, it had finally sunk in.
Olivia could hardly believe it – Dominic and Faye were a couple again – on her and Dudley’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. She couldn’t have asked for a better present.
Chapter Thirty-Two
After a manic morning of people falling over each other and dogs and children being screamed at, everything was in place for the guests’ arrival and a strange quietness fell upon the mill. Nina stood looking out at the billowing white palace of the marquee. It looked glorious, as did the cheery bunting that had been threaded through the trees. Weeks of panic and preparation, and shopping and shouting had resulted in this and, for the Miltons, the party was just about to begin. That meant one thing for Nina – it was time to leave.
It didn’t take long to pack. She’d only acquired two more possessions since she’d arrived at the mill: the dress Olivia had bought her and the painting Dominic had given her. It would be a shame not to wear the dress, but ungrateful to give it back, so she folded it neatly, and gently laid it on the top of her suitcase.
Nina looked at Dominic’s painting. A sunset. The perfect metaphor for an ending. She felt as if she should leave it in the room – that it wasn’t hers to keep, but she couldn’t bear to part with it, so she slid it into a large paper bag and placed it under the red dress.
She felt a small stab of pain, which spread, adrenaline-like, through her body. For a moment, she couldn’t move. She stood perfectly still in the centre of the room, her suitcase in her hand.
Opening her bedroom door for the last time, she walked down the stairs, placing her things in the hallway and leaving the letter she’d written on the table by the door before venturing into the living room where Olivia was painting her nails with silver polish.
‘Ah, Nina!’ she said, turning her head, which was full of curlers, and proffering an immaculate hand towards her. ‘What do you think?’ She indicated the finished hand.
‘Very nice,’ Nina said, admiring the silver-tipped hands.
‘You’re welcome to use it, too, if you like.’
‘Oh. Thanks,’ Nina half-smiled, not quite seeing herself with silver nails.
‘Have you seen the painting Dommie’s given us as an anniversary present?’ she asked. ‘It’s a portrait of Dudley and I from one of my favourite photos of us. It’s simply wonderful!’
‘I shall have to take a look,’ Nina said, blinking back the tears and doing her best to avoid having to lie. ‘Listen,’ she said, ‘I just wanted to say thank you for everything.’
‘Oh, you don’t need to thank me! It’s us who should be thanking you!’ Olivia said.
‘But I wanted to make sure you know how grateful I am for everything you’ve done for me – before the chaos of the party and everything.’
Olivia shook her head. ‘You are the sweetest girl!’ she said. ‘Has Dudley had a word with you yet?’
Nina shook her head, knowing that it would be easier if she slipped away without seeing her boss again. She didn’t think she could bear it.
‘Well, make sure you—’ Olivia was cut short by the telephone and Nina took the opportunity to leave.
She headed out of the mill without any real direction in mind. She supposed she should make her way to Janey’s, where the futon lay in wait, until she found a place of her own.
It was hard not to slip into self-pity, but Nina refused to feel down. She’d had the most amazing summer. She’d just have to go and create an equally amazing autumn for herself somewhere new.
The driveway was beginning to fill as the first of the guests arrived and Nina squeezed through with her suitcase, taking surreptitious glances up at the windows to make sure nobody had seen her leaving.
She turned around to take a last look at the mill. Its windows winked at her in the bright afternoon sun, almost as if it were bidding her to stay. Oh go on, it seemed to be saying, how can you leave me?
‘Don’t make this any harder than it already is,’ she said out loud. But the universe didn’t appear to be listening to her, for there in the driveway stood Alex.
‘Hey!’ he said, a grin brightening his face. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Home. I mean, to a friend’s,’ Nina said.
‘You’re leaving?’
Nina nodded.
‘You’re not staying for the party?’ he asked, a deep frown on his face.
‘I can’t,’ she said.
Alex looked at her as if she was quite mad. ‘You’ll be missed,’ he said.
‘Everyone will be having much too good a time to miss me,’ she said.
Alex laughed and shook his head. ‘You’re funny,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘What?’ Nina said.
‘You have absolutely no idea of your own worth, do you?’
Nina stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say.
‘I wish you’d stay,’ he said. ‘I’d like you to meet Amy.’
‘Amy?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘or was it Amber?’ His eyes were bright and mischievous.
Nina smiled. Alex would never change, would he? She had been right to believe that he had never really been in love with her, and she now feared for poor Amy. Or Amber, even. ‘Maybe I’ll meet her another time,’ she told him. ‘Whatever her name is.’
He grinned at her and then he sighed. For more than a moment, they stood looking at each other, brief memories of their shared time together floating through their minds. ‘I’ll be seeing you, then,’ Alex said at last with a light smile, and Nina nodded.
‘Bye,’ she said, watching as he walked towards the house before turning for the long walk down the track that led out onto the road. The hedgerows had reached skyscraper proportions and looked like enormous green waterfalls and the fields beyond were golden under the summer sunshine. It had been a truly glorious summer, Nina thought again, and she would lock it away in her heart and never forget it.
‘Blast it!’ Dudley said with a grunt.
Olivia turned around from her dressing table, a curler still lodged in her hair.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘This bloody tie. I – can’t – seem – to – get – it – right,’ Dudley puffed in frustration.
‘Come here,’ Olivia got up from her chair and crossed the room. ‘You always were all fingers and thumbs on important occasions. I even had to straighten your tie at our wedding – remember?’
A Summer to Remember Page 27