by Ella Grey
“I told you – Matt is not a Lothario and he’s definitely not aging – late thirties, I’d say? And he’s not bald either.”
“Which means he probably hasn’t been married long enough to use the old ‘my wife doesn’t understand me’ line.”
“Leah, he hasn’t used any line,” Olivia’s heart sank. She’d been out of the game too long to even recognise any such line.
Anyway, Matt hadn’t exactly said anything remotely like that, had he? He had just been friendly because he recognised her and was probably taken aback that they lived in the same area – end of story.
“Oh I suppose you’re right – I am being stupid,” she admitted. “The man is just being nice because he feels sorry for me and desperate, lonely idiot that I am, I immediately want to jump on him.”
“Is he that good-looking?”
She imagined Matt’s sparkling eyes and open, laughing face. “Yes,” she said, dreamily, “he is.” Then she burst out laughing.
“Oh, dear – you definitely have it bad then.”
After lunch, they decided to have coffee in the living-room.
“So Andrew’s in good spirits?” Olivia asked, putting a plate of chocolate marshmallows on a tray before remembering that Leah, who was surrounded by handmade chocolate on a daily basis, would have no interest in high-sugar mass-market chocmallows.
“Mmm I love these,” Leah leaned against the work-top while waiting for the kettle to boil, “but I’m stuffed after all that lunch.”
Olivia wondered how on earth someone who never seemed to stop eating and was surrounded by such temptation every hour of the day could manage to stay so slim. Not that Leah was stick-thin, but she had a nice figure, and could still get away with wearing a white T-shirt with slim jeans, unlike Olivia who these days looked as though she was wearing an inflatable swimming-aid round her middle.
“Yep, he was in flying form,” Leah answered. She had met up with Andrew the previous night for a drink and as was so often the case ‘one’ had turned into a lot more. “We had a great old natter – and he was asking for you.”
“Was he?” Olivia was pleased. She and Andrew had always got on well, although they were never particularly close. She remembered him phoning her once or twice after Peter and although she was sure it was just a polite duty call, she appreciated the gesture.
Some of their so-called social circle had all but ignored her afterwards, which had been deeply hurtful.
Back then, Leah had been abroad, Robin in New York, and she and Kate had kept in fleeting contact but by then both had their own lives.
It was only when Leah returned that the three had become friendly again. She was somehow the heart of the group, the one that kept them connected even after all these years. Olivia supposed it was different too, because she and Peter had been so close back in college that no one else had ever really got a look-in.
“So what does he make of Amanda’s party?” Olivia asked with a slight grin. She and Leah hadn’t quite made up their minds as to whether they were going to attend that little soiree, but as neither of them were expectant mummies – nor likely to be, Olivia thought wryly – it was unlikely.
“Taking it all in his stride, as usual,” Leah answered. “Oh, she overdoes the helpless kitten act, but you know Andrew, he doesn’t take the blindest bit of notice.”
“Is he still so easy-going?” It was hard to believe that Andrew had done so well for himself. Unfortunately a knee injury had prematurely ended his hopes of becoming a professional rugby player. But his computer studies had served him well and he was one of the few who had actually made any money out of the dot-com boom.
A tech entrepreneur in that he had a great business idea plus the wherewithal to follow it through, rather than just a fancy website and catchy buzzword. Andrew had come up with breakthrough web-based business-to-business software and like all the best ideas, his was simple and easy to operate and he had little problems in raising venture capital for it.
He also showed great vision, and sold the company for a small fortune just before the tech bubble burst. Since then he’d invested his money in commercial property tax-incentives across the city, earning him a comfortable living with little effort.
Which is exactly how Andrew Clarke liked it. Now it seemed he was quite happy to just sit back and enjoy life. Which was nice work if you could get it, Olivia thought.
“So what else is new with him?” she asked.
Leah grimaced guiltily. “I’m not too sure. We were so out of it I can’t remember much to be honest. He kept buying rounds of tequila, which is why I was so twisted last night.”
“Oh dear,” Olivia smiled, trying to remember the last time she had been ‘out of it’, “that bad?”
“I must have been, because Josh barely spoke to me before he left for work today. Apparently, I nearly woke up the street coming home last night. I can barely remember getting home. Andrew was worse.”
“Oh dear,” Olivia said again, thinking she sounded like her mother. Leah’s exploits were beginning to make her feel ancient and there was only a year between them.
“I’d say Amanda wasn’t too impressed with Andrew either.” Then she put her head in her hands. “Oh crap, I’ve just remembered!”
“What?”
“Oh, I’m such an eejit. I starting shooting my mouth off about work, about how it was impossible to qualify for a business grant, and all sorts of rubbish like that.” She paused. “And then Andrew …” She trailed off, shaking her head in embarrassment.
“Andrew what?”
“He offered to help me out. Well, no, knowing me I asked him to help me out. And we had this long conversation about him putting money into the business and I told him all about my dream of opening a shop and basically plans for world domination.”
“You didn’t?” Olivia laughed.
“Oh I hope he didn’t think I was serious. He’s probably sick to the teeth of people looking for a leg-up.”
“Don’t be silly. Andrew’s your friend – he knows it was only the drink talking. Anyway, if the two of you were as bad as one another, then chances are he won’t remember either.”
“I hope not. I’d hate him to think I was being a leech.”
“He won’t think that. Anyway, if I were you, I’d start worrying about what you’re going to say to that poor boyfriend of yours for staying out most of the night with some other guy.”
Leah cringed. “I know. I told Josh we were going out for one or two. Then I arrive in at all hours of the morning twisted.”
Olivia couldn’t help but giggle. “How does he put up with you?”
“I don’t know, and at the same time I don’t know what I’d do without him either.” Her voice grew serious. “You know, I never thought I’d see myself settling down, particularly not with someone like him.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I don’t know. I just thought I’d spend the rest of my life chasing after the same troublemakers that I did all throughout college. The unattainable ones, the dangerous ones, not the normal, down-to-earth nice ones, like Josh.”
Not to mention good-looking, Olivia thought, picturing her friend’s extraordinarily attractive boyfriend. “Yes, but you guys are a partnership – you’ve both brought something to the relationship. He’s lucky to have you too, Leah. Not every girl would be as understanding.”
“I know.” Leah’s face clouded slightly and she turned her attention to making the coffee.
She put the two mugs on the tray with the chocolate marshmallows and followed Olivia into the living-room, where Ellie sat playing with her toys in the corner.
“Which house did you say that guy lived in?” she asked, setting down the tray.
Olivia went over to the window. “I’m not really sure. It’s either the one with the green door …” she pointed to one of the redbrick semis across the green, “or that one with the hanging basket.”
Although she’d lived in Lakeview for some time,
she had kept herself to herself and knew only a handful of her neighbours. Maeve McGrath had a lovely daughter-in-law Liz, who ran a kennel service just outside the town and possibly due to their shared interest in animals, was probably the closest thing she had to a friend there.
Cherrywood Green was a quiet, mature little mews and a lot of the residents were older and settled with grown-up families. They liked their privacy and generally didn’t interfere with one another – which was exactly why Olivia liked living there.
Leah’s gaze followed in the direction she was pointing and as she did, the green door opened and Matt stepped outside.
“That’s him!” Olivia exclaimed, jumping out of sight and feeling immediately foolish.
“Hmm,” Leah continued peering out the window. “Not much of a Lothario, I suppose – no gold medallions and as far as I can tell from here, he does seem to have all his own hair.”
“Leah!”
“What? I’m just telling you what I think. Now, he’s getting into – oh, nice car – obviously worth a few quid.”
Olivia stole a look as Matt steered his Volvo out onto the road and around the other side of the green.
“He’s not bad, though hard to tell from here, really,” Leah continued a running commentary. “I wonder why the wife wasn’t with him? Judging by the get-up, he looked like he was going off somewhere nice – Sunday lunch perhaps?”
Olivia didn’t answer. She was too busy thinking how handsome Matt looked in his dark suit.
“Ah – there’s someone else coming out now,” Leah said, beckoning. “Must be the wife.”
“We shouldn’t be doing this – we’re like a pair of children spying on people.” Olivia was trying to stay sensible although she had to admit she was interested in getting a look at Matt’s wife – very interested.
“Don’t be stupid – this is better than Coronation Street – here, take a look. She’s got the kid with her too.”
“What’s she like?” Olivia looked over, expecting to see a stunning blonde with a perfect body and an equally perfect face and heart plummeting, realised that the woman coming out of Matt’s house fit the bill exactly.
The son looked about the same age as Ellie and was cute, dressed all in denim and running way ahead of this mother to chase after something in the air – a butterfly.
They had definitely just moved into the area, as Olivia was certain she had never seen either before.
“I wonder why they’ve not gone with him though?” Leah moved away from the window. She sat down on Olivia’s sofa and began spooning sugar into her coffee. “He must be one of those workaholic types – off into the office on a Sunday or something.”
“I doubt it.” Matt didn’t come across as a workaholic type. He came across as someone energetic and fun, someone who enjoyed life.
But then again, what did Olivia know? She’d met him – what, twice? Hardly a proper meeting either time. How could she possibly make any assumptions as to what type he was?
Feeling strangely deflated she joined Leah on the sofa and picked up one of the newspapers, hoping to take her mind off the image of gorgeous Matt’s equally gorgeous wife innocently out for a walk with her son on a Sunday afternoon – completely unaware that some slattern across the road had taken a fancy to her husband.
All of a sudden, Olivia felt ashamed of herself. Matt Sheridan was not interested in her and certainly had not been flirting with her. He was simply a decent, happily married family man, who was reasonably chatty to strangers and silly women who had problems reversing out of driveways.
So there was no point in wasting her time thinking about him any longer – no point at all.
14
But trying to forget about Matt wasn’t proving easy.
The following Thursday evening it was lashing rain and, having discovered she’d run out of milk, Olivia made a quick dash to the shop around the corner, leaving Ellie waiting in the car.
It would take forever to get her organised to go out in this weather and she’d only be a minute or two at the most. She was chatting pleasantly to Molly the shop’s proprietor, when Matt walked in.
“We must stop meeting like this,” he chuckled, shaking his wet head out of its hood and flashing her a broad smile, instantly turning Olivia’s insides to mush.
Calm down she thought, berating herself for getting carried away simply by the sight of a decent-looking guy. If she heard any of her friends were behaving like this around a married man she would murder them.
Although having thoughts about carrying on wasn’t exactly the same as actually carrying on, but still ...
“Hello,” she said easily, praying that the heat in her cheeks wasn’t blatantly obvious – but either way she knew that the shopkeeper’s keen eyes were taking in everything.
Molly Brogan was a lovely woman, but there was something about Irish women in small-town corner shops that ensured they had access to an information network better than most government agencies.
Her daughter Trish worked at the local newspaper, The Lakeview News, so it seemed a certain level of ‘inquisitiveness’ ran in the family.
Molly was a chatterbox who seemed to know everything, and like most women Olivia knew at that age – with the exception of her own mother – was constantly offering her introductions to Mrs Murphy’s son or Bill Harrington’s nephew, or whoever she thought might be suitable for the “misfortunate young single mother”.
So Olivia tried her very best not to let her true feelings be known, especially where Matt was concerned. And for all Olivia knew, Molly might already know Mrs Sheridan, who she was certain wouldn’t be at all pleased to hear that the neighbours were making eyes at her husband in the corner shop.
But judging from Molly’s apparent interest, and blatant appreciation of Matt’s good looks, she herself was as yet unaware of the Lakeview newcomers.
“So, how are you?” he asked, paying for his newspaper. “Did you get to where you wanted to the other day?”
“Yes,” she answered and wondered why it was that the mere presence of Matt Sheridan made her monosyllabic. “Yes, I mean – thank you for helping us out – it was very good of you.”
“No problem. How’s Ellie?” he asked and Olivia marvelled at how friendly and easy he was when her own insides seemed to be melting. “A dotey little thing,” he said, nodding towards Molly in order to include her in the conversation. Once again Olivia couldn’t help thinking how lucky his wife was to have ended up with such a charming, friendly – oh, sod it – yummy husband.
“Lovely just like her mother,” Molly said, with a slight smile and a definite meaning in her tone.
Matt laughed. “You’re right about that,” he said, studying her closely and in that moment she knew that she wasn’t mistaken. It hadn’t been wishful thinking, he did seem keen on her, and as much as she knew how wrong it was, Olivia couldn’t help feeling warmed by the thought of it. It had been ages since she’d felt like this.
Sod’s Law.
She laughed in what she hoped was a carefree manner. Beep! Beep! The sound of a car-horn from outside brought her back to reality.
“Better go,” Olivia gasped. “Ellie’s in the car on her own and she could be up to all sorts.” She snatched up the milk from the counter and smiling a quick goodbye at them both, hurried out of the store.
“You forgot your change,” Molly went to the door and called after her, but it was too late. Olivia’s car was already halfway down the road.
“Poor thing,” the shopkeeper shook her head sadly and went back behind the counter. “Having to bring up that child on her own.”
“On her own?” Matt murmured offhandedly, before picking up his own change and putting it in his pocket.
“Yes, and an absolute shame it is too,” Molly continued, obviously bursting to fill him in. “The husband died suddenly while she was pregnant with the little one,” she informed him, leaning forward conspiratorially. “Just took a turn and dropped dead one day after comin
g home from a hard day’s work, apparently.” She sighed dramatically. “Isn’t it terrible the way the young people are under so much pressure these days with work and big mortgages and everything? It’s the stress that does it, if you ask me. And him a radiologist, practically a doctor himself – but that didn’t save him.” She sighed dramatically. “She moved here not long afterwards. It’s not easy bringing up a child on your own, but I’ll tell you one thing, father or no father, you won’t find a better-behaved young one than Ellie Gallagher and that’s no easy claim these days. A lovely little thing, so she is.”
“She is indeed,” Matt replied.
“But it’s an awful shame,” Molly rambled on. “Such a young couple and married only a short while when tragedy struck. God love her, it was a terrible thing to happen to anyone but especially to someone so young.”
Matt nodded. “I’d better be going,” he said, putting his newspaper under his arm and heading for the door. “Thanks again,” he smiled at a visibly disappointed Molly.
But despite his own curiosity, Matt was unwilling to partake in idle chit-chat about Olivia, a woman he hardly knew, yet who’d occupied his thoughts since he’d first laid eyes on her.
15
Robin and Ben met his sister and her husband for dinner in a trendy restaurant on the Upper East Side – Brian spending a rare few consecutive days at home.
Robin adored Sarah, and while lately she and Ben had been making more of an effort to visit her and little Kirsty in New Jersey, they didn’t socialise enough together.
Now she studied the menu the waiter had given them with habitual caution.
“So, how’s Kirsty?” Ben asked, and instantly his sister tensed.
“Don’t mention the war,” Brian grunted, rolling his eyes as he set down his menu. “It was hard enough convincing Sarah to come out tonight as it was. For some reason she seems to think that the child will spontaneously combust if she’s not around.”
“Brian, don’t start, please,” his wife whispered, embarrassed. “I’m just a bit worried after that last stay in hospital,” she added by way of explanation. “The baby-sitter is new enough. She doesn’t really know how to handle Kirsty if anything –”