Escape to the Country

by Sherlock, Alison

  Arthur followed her mother into the kitchen, chatting away about the weather.

  As they went inside, Eleanor hid her flaming red cheeks by trying to undo the string on the bale once more. She almost jumped out of her skin when a pair of large male hands quickly appeared and wrenched the knot open almost immediately.

  ‘Thank you,’ she muttered, straightening up but still not making eye contact with Tom. Instead, she scratched her neck as she fretted. After all, this man had been the main reason that her friends were so angry with her. Her main downfall. None of which was his fault which made her guilt even worse.

  He reached over and gently stroked the donkey’s mane. ‘Just to warn you, I think Arthur’s going to talk to your mum about perhaps decreasing the number of animals she has.’

  Eleanor was surprised that Arthur had mentioned such a thing to Tom. Perhaps they were closer than she realised. In shock, she made eye contact with him and saw him glance at her neck. She immediately dropped her hand and covered up the eczema patch with her hair.

  ‘Well, thanks for the heads-up,’ said Eleanor, trying to appear casual and confident despite her pyjamas and lack of make-up. ‘Have the neighbours been complaining?’

  ‘Not all of them,’ he replied, with a soft smile.

  Eleanor sighed. ‘I don’t blame them. I mean, look at it.’ She waved her arm around at the mess.

  He glanced around the garden. ‘Has she always been like this?’

  Eleanor shook her head. ‘Only since Dad walked out on us. Now it’s like living in London Zoo. I think we’ve lost the tortoise at least five times so far this week.’

  ‘Well, it’s not like it can get very far, is it?’ His blue eyes crinkled up at the edges.

  She tried not to match his smile. ‘Very funny.’

  She almost started to relax about him finding her like this. It wasn’t important what she looked like, she realised. Nothing mattered any more. She just felt so sad that she didn’t really care.

  However, she did get changed before joining the visitors in the kitchen for a cup of tea. But she only threw on a T-shirt and shorts. She tied her messy hair back in a ponytail and checked her face but, in the end, she figured it would have been too obvious to suddenly appear fully made up, so she slicked on some lip balm and went back downstairs.

  ‘Perhaps Ben can help you find a home for some of them,’ Arthur was saying.

  Eleanor glanced at her mum, who was trying to hide how upset she was. ‘I think that’s a good idea,’ she said. ‘Aren’t you seeing him tomorrow night? You could mention it then.’

  Her mother nodded sadly.

  Eleanor looked at Tom in despair.

  Thankfully he picked up on her signal. ‘The bicycle’s all fixed up for you,’ he said in a bright tone of voice.

  Eleanor was grateful for him to change the subject so easily, especially as she could feel her mum relax as the conversation moved on.

  They went outside and showed her mum the bicycle and then headed on their way.

  ‘Thank you,’ murmured Eleanor, as they left. ‘For being so gentle with her.’

  Arthur gave her a soft smile. ‘Everything will work out, my dear. You just wait and see.’ He gave her arm a squeeze and then walked away.

  Tom stopped and looked down at her. ‘Annie’s been pretty upset,’ he said. ‘It’s not my place to intrude, but whatever it is you’ve had a row about, it can be fixed.’

  Eleanor gulped back the pain that reappeared deep inside. ‘I’m not so sure,’ she told him. ‘But thanks anyway.’

  As she looked up and gave him a small smile, she found herself thinking that he had kind eyes. At that moment, she was extremely grateful that she hadn’t exposed his private life to the world. He didn’t deserve that. He was too nice. Then she closed the back gate and went back indoors.

  Her mum was still mulling over the idea of not keeping so many animals. Eleanor knew nothing she could say would sway her decision, so she went back upstairs. She curled up on her bed, staring at the photograph of her, Annie and Megan when they were younger. It had all gone so wrong and she had no idea how to fix it.

  Chapter 22

  At some point in the afternoon, Eleanor had drifted off to sleep on her bed, still clutching the photograph of her friends.

  She woke up to a knock on the door and realised it was nearly teatime. ‘I don’t want any food, Mum,’ she called out. ‘Just sort out dinner for yourself. I’m really not hungry.’

  It was true. She still felt sick to her stomach with loss and worry.

  ‘Good job we brought some chocolate with us then,’ said Megan, stalking into the room and throwing a box of Maltesers on the bed. ‘Tom had a stash of these, so I promised I’d give them to the kids. I’m saving their milk teeth and sharing them with you instead.’

  Eleanor struggled to sit up, feeling shocked as she watched Annie follow Megan into the small bedroom and look around.

  Megan stared up the walls. ‘Wow. Your mum hasn’t changed anything here in decades, has she?’

  Eleanor shook her head. ‘Well, you know what Mum’s like,’ she said.

  The bed jumped as Megan threw herself onto the end. Annie remained standing, avoiding eye contact.

  The only sound for a few moments was Megan ripping open the box and grabbing a handful of Maltesers. ‘Anyone?’ she offered, holding out the box with her other hand.

  The response was a deafening silence.

  Megan sighed. ‘Well, this isn’t at all awkward,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘What’s that?’ She pointed at the photograph which Eleanor was holding.

  Still in shock, Eleanor handed it over to her. She did notice that Annie couldn’t resist peeking over Megan’s shoulder to see what it was and was thankful to see a small smile of recognition pass Annie’s lips.

  ‘I’ve got this same photo on my bookshelf,’ said Megan before handing it over to Annie. ‘You?’

  ‘On my bedside cabinet,’ muttered Annie.

  Megan took the photo from her and peered at it. ‘God, we look so young. I think this was one of the last photos we had of us together before you both abandoned me.’

  ‘Abandoned you?’ said Annie.

  Megan looked up the bed at Eleanor. ‘You went to London and Annie sailed around the world. And don’t think I’ve forgiven either of you for that yet.’

  ‘Doesn’t mean that I was happy,’ said Annie, looking utterly miserable.

  Megan looked at her. ‘I always imagined you like Kate Winslet in Titanic,’ she said. ‘You know, arms stretched wide at the front of the boat.’

  ‘With Leonardo DiCaprio right behind me,’ added Annie with a sad smile.

  They all sighed in unison. ‘How many times did we watch that DVD?’ asked Eleanor softly.

  ‘Too many,’ said Annie, sitting down on the bed. ‘It was nothing like that, of course. It was horrible and lonely.’ For a second, Annie looked bleak. She had had a rough time after her father had died and part of the reason for working on the cruise ships was to get away from her wretched home life.

  Eleanor would have done the same, but she could never leave her mum. Except she had, she realised. She’d moved away as quickly as she could and her mum was stuck here with the animals. Yet another regret to add to the growing list.

  ‘So are you going to move back to London?’ Annie suddenly asked, looking straight at Eleanor.

  Eleanor shook her head. ‘No. I’m not. No job and it turns out that I was pretty lonely there as well.’

  Annie frowned but didn’t reply.

  ‘What about all the celebrity parties you went to?’ asked Megan, in between mouthfuls of chocolate. ‘They must have been fun.’

  ‘Not really,’ said Eleanor. ‘If you’re a celebrity then you get the VIP treatment. But they all know that you’re a journalist so treat you like a leper and you’re left alone in case they say anything they shouldn’t. Most of the time, I ended up near the bar, grabbing a free drink.’

  ‘So why did yo
u carry on if you hated it so much?’ asked Annie.

  Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. ‘I didn’t know what else to do. And I didn’t want to let Mum down. She’d given up so much for me to go to university and live out my dreams. I didn’t want her to know they hadn’t come true, so I kept on lying.’ A tear rolled down her cheek. ‘I’m sorry I lied to you both for so long,’ she said. ‘I was an idiot.’

  ‘Well, that we already knew,’ quipped Megan before looking serious. ‘Are you going to write a story about Tom?’

  Eleanor shook her head fiercely. ‘No. He’s too nice to deceive. Besides, I don’t want to go back to that way of life.’ As she said the words, she knew it was true. That part of her life was truly over. ‘I don’t want to be that person any more,’ she said aloud.

  ‘So don’t,’ said Megan, with a shrug.

  ‘It’s not that simple,’ Eleanor told her. ‘What do I do instead?’

  Megan grabbed some more chocolates. ‘Anything that makes you happy.’

  Eleanor shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know what that is any more. I just feel a bit lost.’

  ‘Then stay here,’ said Annie, reaching out to squeeze her hand. ‘You’re home. The village, your mum and us, what else do you need?’

  ‘Apart from a steady pay check? Nothing but you two,’ Eleanor told her, another tear rolling down her cheek.

  There was a muttered oath and then the three of them were hugging and crying and promising never to fall out again.

  ‘We probably put too much pressure on you,’ said Annie.

  ‘No, you didn’t. It was all me. But you know how I feel about you guys, don’t you?’ said Eleanor, looking from friend to friend. ‘How I really feel about you?’

  Megan smiled. ‘We love you too,’ she said.

  ‘I just wanted everything to be perfect,’ said Eleanor, scratching at a flaky patch of eczema between her fingers. ‘I needed to be perfect.’

  ‘But you aren’t,’ said Megan in a soft tone.

  ‘Nobody is,’ added Annie.

  It turned out that the only person who had expected 100% perfection was Eleanor herself. And look where that had left her these past few weeks.

  ‘But I thought that if I wasn’t then maybe you wouldn’t like me anymore.’

  Megan rolled her eyes. ‘You idiot! We’re not your dad. We don’t feel like that about you. We don’t care about that scar on your knee where you tried to jump over the wall on the way to school and failed spectacularly.’

  ‘Or the hundreds of freckles on your nose,’ said Annie.

  ‘Or your split ends, if you had any,’ added Megan.

  ‘Oh, I’ve got loads now,’ sighed Eleanor. ‘I need a decent haircut.’ She frowned. ‘Maybe I should take mum with me as a treat.’

  ‘So I can trust you around Tom?’ asked Annie.

  Eleanor nodded. ‘Absolutely. I’m definitely not writing a story about him. But I don’t want him to know about my past. He knows that I lost my job.’

  ‘Does he?’ said Annie, looking surprised. ‘How?’

  ‘It’s a long story,’ Eleanor told her. ‘But please just let him think that I was a financial journalist. I know that means more lies, but I think…’

  ‘Oh my god! It’s because you like him!’ said Megan, her eyes gleaming.

  ‘Of course I don’t,’ said Eleanor quickly.

  ‘You’re blushing,’ Annie told her, grinning.

  ‘I’m not,’ said Eleanor, even though she could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks.

  ‘This is so exciting,’ said Annie. ‘You and Tommy King! Can you imagine?’

  The trouble was, Eleanor could and was desperately trying not to.

  ‘Oh, great,’ drawled Megan, making a face. ‘So you both get this amazing love life and I’m stuck at home with Neal.’

  ‘Neal’s lovely and you know it,’ said Annie, before beaming at Eleanor. ‘I can just see you two together.’

  Eleanor was frantically shaking her head. ‘No,’ she told them. ‘It’s never going to happen. He’s never going to look at someone like me.’

  ‘Rubbish,’ said Annie. ‘Look at me and Sam! If I can be a countess, you can be a famous singer’s girlfriend.’

  Megan sighed. ‘Your lives are so exciting.’

  ‘I don’t want exciting,’ Eleanor told them both. ‘I want dull. I’d be really happy with boring and dull right now.’

  But she let Annie rattle on and Megan pretend to be jealous because she was so happy that they were friends again. She knew how close she had been to losing them and was determined to make sure that would never happen again.

  Chapter 23

  Now that Eleanor had made up with her friends, she was desperate to see them as often as possible. So the following morning, she quickly finished her animal chores and cycled to Willow Tree Hall.

  On the journey, she mulled over how quiet her mum had been that morning. But she still hadn’t mentioned the conversation with Arthur over relinquishing ownership of some of the animals. Eleanor made a mental note to pop in and see Ben to ask his advice. After all, he was her mum’s oldest friend.

  She arrived at Willow Tree Hall just in time to see Tom loading up Sam’s car with his weekend bag and guitar. She wandered over, still feeling slightly sweaty from her bicycle ride. But the last time he’d seen her, she had been in her pyjamas and a complete mess. Did it really matter anymore? He would never be interested in her anyway, so what was the point in bothering?

  That morning she had just pulled on her cut-off jeans and a T-shirt. No fancy silk jumpsuit. No pristine white clothes. No heavy make-up. Just some mascara and tinted moisturiser.

  ‘Hey. You’re heading up to Glastonbury now?’ she asked, as Tom lifted in the final bag into the boot.

  ‘Yeah,’ he told her. ‘I need to meet up with my band to rehearse and do some interviews for the TV companies.’

  She smiled. ‘Sounds very glamorous.’

  ‘It really isn’t.’

  She found it easier to relax with him. She supposed that now that he had seen her in her pyjamas, soaking wet and generally in a mess for various days running, she could stop putting on her air of refined style.

  ‘What, no tent?’ she quipped, glancing in the boot.

  He smiled. ‘Five-star Winnebago all the way, thank god.’ He glanced around, as if to ensure they weren’t overheard. ‘You’ve made it up with your friends, I hear.’

  She nodded. ‘It’s all okay now, thanks,’ she told him.

  They were interrupted by a furry grey blur as Dylan hurtled out of the front door and rushed straight towards them.

  ‘He doesn’t seem to understand that I’ve got to go away for a few days,’ said Tom, looking worried.

  ‘He’s going to miss you,’ said Eleanor as the dog sat down and gazed up adoringly at Tom.

  He reached down to stroke the soft fur on Dylan’s head. ‘Do you think I should sing him a song on stage just to cheer him up?’

  ‘As your number one fan, he would expect nothing less,’ Eleanor told him.

  ‘I was thinking about doing a Coldplay number as it was their slot that I’m taking over,’ said Tom. ‘Which is his favourite do you think?’

  Eleanor felt a thrill at his question. ‘I reckon Dylan has always liked “The Scientist” the best out of all of Coldplay’s songs.’

  He broke into a grin and her heart caught in her throat for a second.

  ‘Will I see you when I come back?’ he asked, his voice low.

  ‘You’re not heading back to London afterwards?’ she asked, her throat still constricted. She was suddenly upset that he was leaving. Suddenly aware how much she was going to miss him for even that short a time. But they had known each other for such a brief time. How was it possible that she had begun to care about him?

  ‘I thought I might stay on here for a while longer,’ he said, in a casual tone. ‘What about you?’

  She nodded. ‘I was thinking the same.’

  He was sta
ring at her, his blue eyes boring into hers as if he could read what was in her very soul. But then he stood up as the rest of the family joined them and the moment was lost.

  Eleanor watched as Annie and Sam also said their goodbyes.

  ‘Maybe you’ll fall in love with some glamorous hippie there,’ Annie was teasing Sam.

  Sam shook his head. ‘Nope,’ he murmured. ‘I’ve got everything I’ll ever need right here.’

  As they kissed, Eleanor looked away, trying to remember when she had ever been kissed with such passion.

  After they had left, Eleanor stayed at the hall.

  ‘So what shall we do today?’ she asked. ‘How are the plans for the fete coming along?’

  ‘I don’t even know where to begin,’ said Annie, staring down at a blank piece of paper.

  ‘Okay,’ said Eleanor. ‘Well, we’ll have to put our thinking caps on.’ She turned to look at Megan. ‘Oh and I was thinking about offering to babysit for you one evening if you and Neal fancied going out.’

  But Megan didn’t look excited at the offer. ‘Thanks, but we never go out anyway,’ said Megan, looking miserable. ‘Neal keeps saying that we’re saving up, although I don’t know what for.’

  There was a short silence whilst they all reached for a biscuit, lost in their thoughts.

  ‘Well, at least we know Alex will cheer us all up when he arrives later on,’ said Annie.

  ‘Who?’ asked Eleanor.

  ‘He’s Sam’s friend from school. Alessandro… Our interior designer.’ Annie looked very excited.

  ‘You’ve got to meet him. He’s amazing,’ said Megan. ‘I can’t believe I’ll miss him because I’ve got to pick the kids up from school.’

  ‘And I can’t believe I’m finally going to get my brand new kitchen,’ said Annie, beaming.

  Eleanor had envisaged someone tall, discreet and very Italian in the way the designer had been described. Only one of those things was right.

  ‘Ciao!’ yelled the dark-haired man in jeans rushing across the entrance hall to give Annie a bear hug. He was even shorter than Annie. ‘Let me look at you,’ he said, stepping backwards. ‘Jeez, am I ever going to get you out of those bloody skinny jeans?’