Nothing New for Sophie Drew: a heart-warming romantic comedy

by Katey Lovell

  “So what happened?”

  “In the end one of her friends sent me a message telling me to leave Gina alone, saying I should have taken the hint. I probably should have, to be fair, but what kind of adult just breaks all contact rather than having the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ conversation?”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “It was. It made me really wary of getting into another relationship, and it wasn’t until I met you that I felt it was worth taking the risk of going through that heartache again.”

  “So that’s why you said you weren’t confident.” I remembered the first night in the pub, where he’d said things weren’t always what they seemed. He might have had women interested in him, but he’d never acted on it because of his own Gina-induced fears. “And it explains why you were so wary about texting me when I was on Tawna’s hen do.”

  “I didn’t want to be overbearing, and after what happened at the festival…”

  I blushed with embarrassment at the memory.

  “I don’t give out my number very often these days either. I guess my experience has made me wary.”

  “I’m honoured you gave it to me.”

  “I should have done it sooner, but better late than never. So, that’s that. Now you know. What other embarrassing stuff did Mum tell you? She didn’t dig out the photos of me in the bath as a baby, did she? Because as you know, everything has grown a lot since then.”

  “Haha,” I said, poking out my tongue. We’d become increasingly intimate lately, and I certainly had no complaints. “No baby photos. Mostly she was telling me about how she used to enjoy painting.”

  Max nodded. “She was really good. We were up in the loft one Christmas, getting down the box of decorations, and I saw these canvases stacked up against the wall. I’d never seen them before, because they’d never been on the wall, but they looked way too professional to be hidden out of sight. Turns out they’d been pieces Mum had done for her foundation degree.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, made me feel a bit guilty, to be honest, that part of the reason she stopped was me. Not just me, my brothers too, but she gave up her dreams to be a mum.”

  He smiled a sad smile.

  “I don’t think she gave up her dreams. I think her dreams changed. You four are her world, and Dylan and Isaac. Being there tonight showed me that. You’re such a tight-knit unit.”

  “You should have been around when we were kids.” Max laughed. “It was mayhem in our house. We’d be stealing each other’s CDs, or using our parents’ bed as a ring so we could play wrestling. Grant broke my arm once, pretending to be Hulk Hogan. They rushed me to the hospital and I was in tears, not because of the pain, but because they made me take off the Ultimate Warrior ribbons I’d tied to my arms so they could set the cast. There were times I hated being an Oakley, like at school when teachers would assume we had the same personality because we share the same parents. I like it now though. I never have to be alone, because one of my brothers will be there for me whenever I need them. It’s like a team.”

  “Do you want a big family?”

  “Definitely. At least three. Do you?”

  I bit my tongue, took a breath. Darius had said my pushiness, my neediness, was unattractive. I didn’t think I’d been pushy or needy, but I wasn’t going to lie to Max about how important having a family was to me. It had been different for Darius, he’d already got Summer.

  I downplayed it though, not wanting to scare him off. “Sure, one day. With the right person, at the right time.”

  “That’s how I feel. I’d want everything to be right before bringing a new little person into the world. I’d want to offer my children the stable and loving home I had growing up.”

  “Then they’ll be very lucky.”

  When Max didn’t speak I looked up at him. He was looking at me intently, and that’s when he said it. I was so surprised I couldn’t process it properly. It just rang in my ears.

  I didn’t say it back, but only because I was too stunned to speak. In my mind I was shouting it from the rooftops. I love you, I love you, I love you.

  August

  Chapter 29

  “Look at how many people are here!” I squeaked, as a jovial librarian escorted us into a back room set up with a large projector, rows of uncomfortable-looking plastic seating and an entirely female crowd whose giddiness suggested they’d already drunk their body weight in Prosecco.

  “We should have had a drink before we came,” Tawna whispered. “This lot are hammered.”

  “But they won’t be able to focus on Patrick,” Eve reasoned. “I doubt the clarity is going to be IMAX standard anyway, looking at the equipment. It’s on a par with the overhead projector they used to use back in primary school.”

  She wasn’t far off the mark. The projector did look like it had seen better days.

  “Let’s find a seat. It’s already filling up,” Tawna said, shuffling past two tipsy-looking women with actual watermelons on their laps.

  Our seats were central, and I was next to Eve. Tawna sat on her other side, looking uncomfortable in her surroundings. She wasn’t used to slumming it.

  “Gummy sweet?” Eve asked, waving a packet of veggie Percy Pigs under my nose.

  I reached in and grabbed a handful. She turned her back on me to offer the sweets to Tawna, who shook her head, making an excuse that she was cutting out sugar until her final wedding dress fitting, and suggesting we should be careful too, now the wedding was just two weeks away. I stuffed three Percys in my mouth in a minor act of rebellion.

  The library worker – a total stereotype in large round glasses, a sensible knee-length tweed skirt and a twinset cardi and blouse – stepped up to thank us all for supporting the event and ran through a generic list of safety issues. Once she’d pointed out where the loos were, that it was a non-smoking venue and that in the event of the fire alarm going off we were to leave quickly and calmly through the door we came in through, the lights dimmed and the familiar opening of Dirty Dancing started to play, with Baby and her family arriving at Kellerman’s holiday camp as “Big Girls Don’t Cry” played out in the background.

  My spirits lifted at the oh-so-familiar script, and I soon found myself mouthing along to the words. I snuck a look at my two oldest friends. Tawna caught me looking and smiled softly at me, her eyes misting over. She reached her hand across Eve’s lap, and I found myself extending my hand towards Tawna. She squeezed, the motion pushing my Scrabble ring so the large tile pressed uncomfortably against my finger, but I didn’t pull back. Instead I reciprocated the pulse, before turning my attention back to the screen, ready for Baby to fall for Johnny as hard as the three of us had, many moons ago.

  The music faded out and the lights flickered on, everyone filtering out of the library once the main attraction was over.

  “That film will never get old,” Eve enthused. “It’s glorious.”

  “It really is,” I agreed.

  “And Patrick…” Tawna left her sentence hanging, but her voice was laced with dreams.

  “I still can’t believe he died,” I said sadly. The day we’d heard the news, the three of us had sat in a stunned silence as we processed it. He might have been much older than us – older than our parents even – but he’d been the object of our affections for many years. That dangerous yet caring juxtaposition was impossible to resist, and those hip thrusts… well, they spoke for themselves.

  “Nor me,” Tawna said, tears in her eyes. “All those hours we spent drooling over him as we watched that film over and over. We must have seen it dozens of times.”

  “Hundreds,” Eve corrected. “And that scene where he’s tapping his hands against his shoes as Baby and Penny are dancing to “Hungry Eyes” – we used to rewind that every time.”

  “And the sweat on his arms…” Tawna swooned.

  I couldn’t hold back my sigh. There was something about that scene, some quiet intensity along with the way he moved to the music that
had got our hormonal teenage selves all flustered. Who was I kidding? I was equally as flustered by it now.

  The night was starting to fall, a blanket of violet velvet hovering over the pinky-orange glow on the horizon, and the three of us screamed out “I’ve Had the Time of my Life” as though our lives depended on it as we ordered an Uber to take us into town to meet everyone who was joining us for Tawna’s third and final hen do.

  Chapter 30

  Eve, Tawna and Tawna’s mum and I were preparing for the wedding rehearsal.

  “You look lovely with your hair up like that, Tawna,” Mrs Maguire said. “Maybe you girls should have gone for up-dos for the wedding.”

  “The whole point is it’s laid back and natural, not Hollywood glamour, Mum,” Tawna replied, while sharing her annoyance with Eve and I via a silent glare. “It’s too late now anyway. The wedding’s in less than twenty-four hours.”

  “Keep still,” I instructed. “Unless you’re going for the wonky eyeliner look.”

  Tawna sat up straighter and didn’t budge an inch. Even when her mum made more little jibes about her choices, Tawna was nothing but sweetness.

  The wedding had come around quickly. In twenty-four hours, Tawna wouldn’t be Miss Maguire anymore, she’d be a married woman. And in just one hour’s time we’d be at the rehearsal.

  The concept of a rehearsal amused me, but when I’d made light of it to Tawna she’d pointed out there were a lot of people involved and plenty that could go wrong.

  “The ushers need to know their role, and Johnny’s brother needs telling where to go to do the readings. Paul will need showing ten times, you know what he’s like. You and Eve have to be aware of when to take my flowers and help with my train. Summer hasn’t even seen the church yet and I know she’ll be excited. It’s better that she gets it out of her system tonight rather than tomorrow.”

  Tawna had made a last-minute decision to ask Summer to be her flower girl. As Johnny’s goddaughter, she’d love the chance to swan around in a princess dress for the day. I got a lump in my throat just thinking about it.

  “I can’t wait to see her again.” I was less excited about seeing her father though. He’d still not replied to any of my messages, effectively ghosting me as Gina had Max.

  “When we went dress shopping last weekend I was astonished by how grown up Summer is now, she’s shot up again,” Tawna said. “The chubbiness has completely gone from her cheeks. She’s a real skinny-malinkey.”

  I stood back to admire my handiwork, Tawna’s dramatic smoky-brown eyelids and bright red lips. The look was totally different to the one I’d be helping create for the wedding itself, but that was what she wanted.

  “That’ll do.” I nodded.

  “You’re beautiful, Tawna,” Eve said. “Really beautiful.”

  I handed Tawna a mirror and as she caught sight of her reflection she beamed with delight.

  “Thanks, Soph. This is exactly the look I was aiming for.”

  “You’re welcome.” I smiled, as Tawna smoothed her index finger along her eyebrows. “It’s good practice for tomorrow. I’ve never done wedding make-up before.”

  “It could be your next new career,” she replied. “Sophie Drew, make-up artist.”

  “I don’t think so.” I laughed, although I was pleasantly surprised by how neat Tawna’s make-up was. The eyeliner in particular. I usually found it hard enough doing my own, let alone someone else’s.

  “You know, I’m not sure about that shade of eyeshadow, Tawna.” Frown lines appeared around Tawna’s mum’s eyes. “It’s too dark. You look like you’ve been in a fight and the other person won.”

  “It’s the fashion,” Eve explained. “Smoky, sultry.”

  Mrs Maguire, who had always liked Eve, disagreed. “Just because it’s fashionable doesn’t mean it looks good. I remember the eighties. I thought I was the bee’s knees with my back-combed bleached-white hair. Had delusions that Bananarama would want me to join them. When I go through the photos I can’t believe how silly I looked.”

  “I’m sure you’ll love Tawna’s style tomorrow,” I placated. “It’s less showy and makes the most of her naturally beautiful features.”

  Tawna’s mum softened. “She is beautiful, isn’t she?”

  Eve and I nodded, and Tawna looked pleased at the positive attention.

  “She takes after me,” Mrs Maguire added, without irony, before looking at the gold watch around her wrist. “Are we going then? We don’t want to be late. There’s no tradition of the bride being late for the rehearsal, is there?”

  “I don’t think so, Mum,” Tawna said patiently, and I wondered how long it’d be before the two of them had a serious falling out. Rubbing each other up the wrong way was their speciality. There had been many times when Tawna’s dad was alive that he’d had to act as referee between their spats. “We won’t be late though. It’s only a five-minute drive. We’ve got ages.”

  “You don’t want Johnny thinking you’re standing him up. He’s a good catch. He might start having doubts if you don’t turn up on time.”

  “That’s hardly likely.” Tawna chuckled, but the comment was still enough to make her move towards the door. “Johnny loves me. That’s why he’s marrying me tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow was going to be a big day. Bye-bye Tawna Maguire, hello Tawna Hamilton. Tomorrow, everything was going to change.

  When Nadia was the first person I saw when we walked in, my heart sank. My gut reaction was to tell her to get out, that this was the wedding rehearsal for one of my oldest and best friends, but I didn’t do that. Of course I didn’t. What I actually did was smile as broadly as I possibly could and attempted to kill her with kindness.

  “I didn’t realise you’d be here.” My voice sounded syrupy sweet. “It’s good to see you.”

  “I had to be here, Summer’s the flower girl.” Nadia nodded in the direction of Summer and Darius, who were playing a complicated hand-clapping game. My body tensed at the sight of him. “Darius has enough on his mind with the best man duties so I booked us into a hotel for a couple of nights.”

  “How lovely. A few nights away is as good as a little holiday.” The corners of my lips were tearing apart, I was smiling so hard.

  “You’re right, it’s good to be away from it all. Newcastle wouldn’t have been my first choice though, I’d have loved to have taken Summer to the seaside.”

  “There are some lovely beaches up here, but I guess you don’t need them. When you’re in Devon you’ll be able to spend as much time as you like at the beach.”

  Nadia’s face contorted. “What do you mean?”

  “Darius told me about how you and Summer might be moving to the coast.”

  Nadia recoiled. “What? Why would we be moving to the coast?”

  “To be with Rob,” I said. My mouth dried up, as did my courage, but I’d come so far that I kept going. “Darius said you’d only be willing to stay up north if he paid you.”

  “Rob’s moving to Liverpool,” she said, looking confused. “Me and Summer going down there was never on the cards. I wouldn’t pull her out of school, not when she’s happy and settled. Rob was always coming to Liverpool. He’ll be away with work, obviously, but when he’s got leave he’ll spend it with us.”

  “Let me get this straight; you were never going to move?”

  “Never.” She looked so honest that I had to believe her.

  “Darius told me you’d only stay in Liverpool if he gave you money. He asked me for a loan.”

  Nadia gasped at the revelation. “You didn’t give it to him, did you?”

  I nodded woefully, overcome by a sensation of nausea. “I gave him over a grand.”

  “I know the two of us haven’t always seen eye to eye, but do you really think I’m vicious enough to take Summer to the other end of the country? Darius is her dad. I’d never tell him he couldn’t see her.”

  “So why did Darius say that?”

  “Because he’s desperate for money, most li
kely. He’s up to his eyeballs in debt, always has been. Surely you’ve noticed he’s got no control over his spending, as soon as he gets money it’s as though it’s burning a hole in his pocket and it’s gone. He barely pays his child maintenance, and he doesn’t give Summer the full amount.” Nadia scraped her hair back off her face, using her fingers as a comb. “I couldn’t live like that, not knowing if we were going to have enough money in the bank to buy a loaf of bread at the end of the month, that’s why I sent him packing in the first place. It was bad enough when it was just the two of us, but when Summer came along things had to change. She deserved more.”

  “He told me half his wage came to you for Summer,” I mumbled. My mouth felt as though it was stuffed with cotton wool. Maybe my whole head was stuffed with cotton wool.

  “Yeah, right,” Nadia said drily. “He loves her, and I know that – it’s the only reason I don’t drag him through the courts to make him pay his fair share – but what he gives Summer would barely keep her in shoes let alone everything else.”

  Suddenly it all made sense, how there’d be times Darius would expect me to pay for things and other moments of extreme generosity. He’d spend until he had nothing, then get me to fund his lifestyle. How could I have been so stupid?

  “I did try to warn you,” she said, pity etched on her face. “The thing is, you were so taken with him there was no way you were ever going to believe me.”

  I thought back to our conversations, the ones where she’d told me to watch myself or to take care. I’d always thought her comments were deliberately patronising, but the truth was very different. She had been trying to teach me, pass on the lessons she’d learned from being with Darius.

  “You thought I was a bitch, I know,” she continued, “but I’m not a bad person. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes but I’m no worse than anyone else. And if you ever want to spend time with Summer, you can. She’d love that, she really misses you.”