Sunshine and Sweet Peas in Nightingale Square

by Heidi Swain

  ‘What?’ I demanded rather than asked.

  Neil gave him a nudge.

  ‘Nothing,’ he stuttered. ‘Sorry. It’s just that dress . . . you look so . . .’

  His voice trailed off.

  ‘It’s Dior,’ smiled Neil. ‘Vintage.’

  Luke nodded but continued to hold my gaze.

  ‘I was paying more attention to the way it was being worn rather than who designed it,’ he said eventually.

  ‘Apparently, our girl’s a classic Hepburn,’ Lisa smiled, her annoyance with him momentarily forgotten.

  ‘And then some,’ Luke smiled back. ‘Kate, you look utterly exquisite.’

  It might have been a line, one he’d even used before, but that didn’t stop my cheeks reddening and my hands starting to sweat. For a second it felt like there were only the two of us in the room. I was grateful when Harold jumped in and broke the spell.

  ‘So,’ he demanded. ‘Come on then, out with it, my lad. Some of us have homes to go to.’

  ‘All right,’ said Luke, taking a breath before leaning across me to throw another log on the fire. ‘The truth of it is that I’m actually here because of you two.’

  Now he was looking at both me and Mark, who was perched on the arm of the chair opposite.

  ‘Us?’ questioned Mark.

  ‘Yes,’ said Luke. ‘You. Do you remember the day we met in the grocers?’

  ‘Avocado-gate,’ Mark nodded. ‘Yes, I remember.’

  ‘We talked about how I had beaten you to the punch and secured my house before you’d managed a viewing,’ I added.

  I was surprised my voice sounded so normal.

  ‘That’s right,’ Luke agreed, ‘and between you, you also told me that Prosperous Place had been sold and what you thought the plans were for it.’

  ‘And you denied you were anything to do with it,’ Mark quickly reminded him.

  ‘Because I wasn’t anything to do with it,’ he went on, ‘at the time.’

  ‘So how come we’re sitting here and you’re the one with the keys?’ asked Carole. ‘You look pretty at home to me.’

  ‘I am at home,’ Luke smiled dreamily, his expression momentarily transformed.

  ‘Just tell them the rest, for pity’s sake,’ encouraged Neil.

  ‘All right,’ he said again, taking another breath. ‘When I discovered that Prosperous Place had already been sold, and to developers to boot, I decided to do some digging. A very nice lady at the council put me in touch with the then current owner and gave me the name of the development consortium and their architectural team.’

  I thought back to my meeting at the council. Susan had mentioned that she had spoken to someone else about the situation. She must have meant Luke.

  ‘From there it was a short leap to our mutual friend Neil here, who wasted no time in telling me that he wasn’t happy with what was in the offing for the place and when I approached the vendor and enlightened him as to what was really going to happen, as opposed to what the development crew had told him was going to happen, he was of the same opinion.’

  Perhaps I should have believed that Neil wasn’t happy about the plans after all.

  ‘But why would the vendor care?’ I asked. ‘Surely he just wanted to get the place off his hands?’

  ‘He didn’t actually want to part with it at all,’ Luke explained. ‘He just couldn’t afford the upkeep any more. A place like this can become a complete money pit if the little niggles aren’t sorted soon enough and, well, you can see for yourself we are on the cusp here.’

  I didn’t know what everyone else thought, but I’d been inside long enough to know that it wouldn’t take many more winters before things were in need of serious repair. I was no structural engineer, but I had eyes in my head and they could pick out the peeling paint, the underlying smell of damp and the bone-chilling cold, none of which would do a property like this any favours at all.

  ‘So,’ Luke carried on, ‘I told him that I would match the price the developers were going to pay, but that I would restore Prosperous Place to its former glory.’

  As one our eyes swivelled back to him and there was a sharp intake of breath from all corners. Had he really just uttered the words that we had all been longing to hear?

  ‘So, you don’t want to tear it down or slap some glass monument to the side of it?’ Lisa gasped. ‘And you aren’t a part of the group of developers?’

  ‘No,’ said Luke. ‘I have no intention of doing anything like that. I want to do the complete opposite in fact and I’m absolutely not part of the group of developers. There are no developers now. It’s just me.’

  ‘And did the vendor believe your intentions were honourable?’ Carole butted in.

  Clearly she wasn’t ready to pop the champagne cork before she was in receipt of all the facts.

  ‘They weren’t sure to begin with,’ he said, fiddling with the fire again, ‘but I convinced them in the end.’

  ‘And how exactly did you manage to do that?’ Lisa demanded.

  ‘It was easy,’ he shrugged. ‘I’m the pretty front man, remember? I just wheeled myself out, whipped off my shirt and they fell at my feet.’

  Lisa shook her head, mortified.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he laughed.

  ‘So, what did you say to make him believe that your intentions towards the place were so different to the developers’?’ I asked.

  ‘I told him the truth,’ he said, turning his attention back to me.

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘That I’ve recently discovered I’m a descendant of the Wentworth family and that I have every intention of reclaiming and restoring my family home.’

  Chapter 17

  The ensuing silence lasted long enough to confirm that everyone, aside from Neil who it turned out had been the ultimate double agent, was deep in shock.

  ‘Shall I go and make some more coffee?’ Luke offered. ‘Give you all time to take my announcement in.’

  ‘I’ll give you a hand,’ said Neil, gathering mugs.

  I looked at Luke, trying to gauge his reaction to ours. If I were in his position I wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling. It wasn’t as if he owed us an explanation, but I appreciated the effort he was making to put us in the picture.

  Prosperous Place was now legally his, thankfully back in the Wentworth family fold – assuming he was telling us the truth – and whatever he decided to do with it was up to him. I had wondered before if any of Charles Wentworth’s descendants had inherited his generous and benevolent spirit and it turned out the affirmative answer was standing right in front of me, offering to make coffee while planning how to restore his family home to its former glory.

  Was it possible that we had a real-life hero in our midst? The question popped unbidden into my head and I quickly batted it away and reminded myself that, thanks to my husband’s deception, I didn’t believe in those any more.

  ‘Well, what about that then?’ Lisa exploded before Luke was out of earshot. ‘That’s a turn-up for the books, isn’t it? You should see your faces!’

  ‘You,’ said John, giving her another of his trademark squeezes, ‘are a total minx. How do you think I feel knowing that you’re standing there drooling all over Mr Gorgeous?’

  ‘I can’t imagine you care two hoots because you know I love you and I know you drool all over that calendar I gave you of Kylie last Christmas.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ John laughed, ‘and well played.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Lisa bowed.

  ‘Will you two stop, for goodness sake,’ Carole scolded. ‘This is—’

  ‘What is it, Carole?’ snapped Harold, shutting her up.

  I could tell from her tone that she was going to try and twist the situation and turn it into a drama and Harold had obviously picked up on that too.

  ‘Well . . .’ she faltered.

  ‘It’s our dream come true, isn’t it?’ he said, quickly cooling the words that were poised to
pour out of her mouth. ‘The most unexpected, but the very best outcome any of us could have hoped for.’

  ‘It really is, isn’t it?’ joined in Graham, unaware that his wife had been going to try and put a quarrelsome kink in the plot. ‘Prosperous Place isn’t doomed after all. There’ll be no pillaging or pulling apart.’

  ‘There certainly will not,’ said Luke, who, with Neil’s assistance, had made coffee in record time. ‘Not on my watch.’

  ‘So, tell us then lad,’ said Harold, taking the mug Luke offered. ‘How exactly are you related to Mr Charles Wentworth and how come it’s taken you so long to find your way home?’

  Luke looked from one of us to the other and it was then I realised that his eyes did look familiar, but not because I’d seen them in an aftershave advert. I had gazed upon them when I had researched Prosperous Place before my move to Nightingale Square and again since, seated at Harold’s dining table admiring a certain portrait.

  ‘It’s Abigail, isn’t it?’ I couldn’t resist butting in as I stirred a heaped spoon of sugar into my drink. ‘You’re related to Doris’s family. That’s why you were so interested in my house.’

  ‘I thought you didn’t take sugar,’ Heather quietly reminded me.

  ‘I do when I’ve had a shock.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Luke. ‘You’re almost right, Kate. It turns out I’m a descendant of the boy no one was supposed to know existed, but how did you know that?’

  ‘It’s your eyes, lad,’ said Harold, thankfully saving me from having to become lost in them again. ‘There’s a definite family resemblance about the eyes.’

  ‘I told you, you needed to talk to Harold,’ I reminded Luke. ‘And it’s even more important that you should now.’

  ‘And I will,’ he said. ‘I’ve been meaning to, but moving in here hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as I’d hoped, as you’ve all no doubt worked out from this disastrous attempt at a dinner party.’

  ‘It hasn’t been that bad,’ said Mark, moving to stand next to Neil. ‘Even if it did turn into a bit of a muddle before the big reveal.’

  ‘Is that your idea of an apology?’ Neil frowned.

  ‘It’s the best I can come up with,’ said Mark sincerely. ‘You know I’m not very good at admitting when I’m wrong.’

  ‘Crikey,’ said Neil, fanning himself and feigning shock. ‘That’s a revelation in itself.’

  Everyone laughed and Luke smiled at me again.

  ‘I still hadn’t quite made the connection between Doris and Abigail before you moved into the Square, Kate,’ he explained. ‘I was certain Prosperous Place had been my family’s home but I didn’t think I’d be lucky enough to buy it. When I looked into buying your place, that was simply as close as I thought I’d get. I didn’t realise the true significance of number four until quite recently.’

  ‘So, who is this Abigail you keep talking about?’ asked John. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her before.’

  ‘Oh, I think that’s a story for another day,’ Luke sighed. ‘Suffice to say, I’m the new owner of Prosperous Place, I’m a descendant of Charles Wentworth, and I’m sure Harold can explain to you about Abigail and my link to her far more succinctly than I can.’

  I wondered if he was reluctant to go through the details because of the sad circumstances surrounding his branch’s connection to the Wentworth family tree or if he still wasn’t actually in possession of all the facts. From the little he’d intimated, it sounded to me as if he had only recently become acquainted with certain details.

  ‘I just want to reassure you that I have no intention of dragging the house into the new millennium when it sits so comfortably in the one that went before,’ he concluded, ‘but I do intend to make it wonderful again and that folks, as they say, is that.’

  ‘Aside from the fact that you won’t let us use the green to grow our greens,’ Carole reminded him.

  ‘Yes,’ he nodded, ‘I’m sorry about that but as I said to Kate, that green, in its current guise, is what Charles Wentworth envisaged when he built the Square. He provided a space where his workers could come together at the end of the day and relax and I’m not going to begin my time as custodian here by altering that. However,’ he hastily continued before he was bombarded with objections and counter-arguments, ‘if you come back here at ten o’clock tomorrow morning, and by that, I mean all of you, kids, cats and babies included, I’ll explain the alternative that I have in mind.’

  ‘Why not tell us now?’ asked Glen.

  ‘Because,’ said Luke quietly, pointing to where Harold was dozing, ‘I think we’ve heard enough from me for one evening. Come back tomorrow and all will be revealed.’

  ‘Promises, promises,’ Lisa sighed dreamily.

  We all laughed and Harold woke up, flustered that the joke had been on him.

  ‘I don’t think anyone in the Square actually has a cat,’ I said to Luke, as we helped Harold into the back of his car so he could drive him home and see him safely indoors.

  ‘I’m surprised about that,’ Luke said quietly. ‘I was convinced there would be one cat person among you, but of course I already knew it wasn’t you, Kate.’

  He looked at me and smiled, and remembering the cosy evening we had spent together at my fireside I found myself smiling back.

  ‘I think you and I should go on a date,’ he whispered in my ear.

  ‘Go on a date?’ I spluttered.

  His warm breath on my neck was the softest caress and I jerked my head away.

  ‘That sounds like a fine idea to me,’ came Harold’s voice from the dark interior of the car.

  ‘I thought you were asleep.’

  ‘With you two yapping on,’ he tutted. ‘How could I possibly be asleep?’

  ‘Well, I’m delighted you seem so taken with the idea, Kate,’ Luke huffed. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been subjected to a reaction like that when I’ve asked a woman out before.’

  I wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not, but given the circles he moved in, and the plethora of beautiful models he no doubt had clamouring to grace his arm, I could well imagine my response was far from the usual.

  ‘It’s just that I’m not really in a position to go on dates,’ I said, trying to avoid his gaze again.

  As lovely as Luke seemed to be, he certainly wasn’t the man for me because, thanks to David, there was no man for me now.

  ‘I wasn’t suggesting a wine, dine and gentle seduction kind of date,’ Luke hastily countered. ‘Unless . . .’

  ‘Sounds fine to me,’ came Harold’s voice again and Luke grinned and broke off from whatever it was he was going to say.

  I couldn’t help noticing how the lines around his dark eyes crinkled when he smiled so mischievously.

  ‘What sort of date were you suggesting, then?’ I asked primly.

  ‘A trip to the local cat rescue place,’ he said. ‘See if we can’t find ourselves feline companions to sit by our respective firesides.’

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about being a lone female living with a cat. There was a certain stereotype attached to it that, even though I was single, I didn’t particularly want to conform to.

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ I told him. I wouldn’t, but I would have said anything to stop him looking at me like that and talking about dates. ‘But right now I just want to go to bed.’

  He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and I felt myself turning red. I half expected Harold to pipe up again, but he didn’t.

  ‘Well, we’d best get you home then,’ Luke whispered. ‘Hadn’t we, Kate?’

  Chapter 18

  I couldn’t vouch for anyone else in the Square, but I didn’t get an awful lot of sleep that night. I lay awake, my mind playing over the evening in minute detail. I was shocked that we now had a Wentworth descendant living in Prosperous Place, but I was determined that my agitated state was more to do with the fact that the house had been saved, rather than the fact that there was a handsome prince at the helm.

  The thrilling
turn of events really were fairy-tale-tastic but I had enough common sense, and still harboured enough heartache, to know that there was a possibility that the ending might not turn out quite as happily as we all hoped it would.

  ‘So,’ said Heather, the next morning as we all set back off to Prosperous Place to retrieve Harold’s scooter and discover what Luke had in mind for me and my neighbours, ‘this is all a bit of a turn up for the books, isn’t it?’

  ‘Just a bit,’ laughed Lisa, scooping little Molly up into her arms and falling into step, while John pushed Archie along in his buggy. ‘And it’s all down to you, Kate,’ she beamed.

  ‘And me,’ butted in Mark, who was obviously eavesdropping with abandon.

  ‘Yes,’ Lisa conceded, ‘and you, Mark. I’m sure it was your rugged good looks and wild ways with the sourdough that really convinced Luke that this was the place he needed to be.’

  ‘Are you being sarcastic by any chance?’ he asked.

  ‘As if,’ laughed Heather. ‘Lisa’s not the sarcastic kind and I’m sure you had just as much to do with capturing Luke’s imagination as Kate did, Mark.’

  ‘What are you all wittering on about?’ I frowned. ‘This is nothing to do with me. Luke is here to reclaim what’s left of the Wentworth legacy.’

  ‘His ancestors have called him home,’ added Neil.

  ‘Exactly,’ I earnestly agreed, before I realised he was in on the act and teasing me as well. ‘His being here has nothing to do with me,’ I hastily reiterated.

  ‘But we reckon he could be the one,’ said Heather, plucking at my sleeve just as Lisa had done the night before.

  ‘The one?’

  ‘The one to reawaken your heart, Kate,’ she said dreamily. ‘He might not be here because of you, but he’s here for you.’

  ‘He’s the one who can chop his way through to the tower you’ve imprisoned yourself in,’ added Lisa, ‘and, after much kissing and canoodling, free you from it.’

  ‘You’re mad,’ I told them both, striding ahead. ‘You’ve both lost the plot.’

  ‘No, we haven’t,’ Lisa called after me. ‘We’re just trying to get on board and see things from your perspective.’