by Sue Welfare
‘Yes,’ said Julie, with a broad smile that did nothing to hide her enormous curiosity. ‘I’ve been dying to hear all your news, Kate. It was such a shame that we didn’t get chance to talk yesterday.’
As Kate was about to make her excuses and a tactical withdrawal to the kitchen, the door bell rang. With a sigh of relief, Kate – in loco hostess – got to her feet and hurried into the hall to answer; it was Andrew. It appeared that fate wanted to up the ante.
She reddened and looked back towards the garden. Fortunately no one had followed her. Yet.
‘Hi,’ she said in a pleasant but generally noncommittal way. ‘I was planning to ring you. Sorry, I – I’ve been busy. Mum and everything – you know.’ Annoyingly her stomach did that excited to see him flipping, fluttery thing.
He nodded, shifting his weight nervously from foot to foot. ‘No, it’s fine. I just wondered if you’d got your car back yet?’
Kate, feeling hot and nervous, shook her head, ‘No, not yet, I was planning to get my sister to run me down there later on. My boys are arriving at lunchtime. Bit of a surprise. And my sister’s come over today to see Mum.’
Kate nodded towards the shadowy interior of the house, aware that Andrew was hankering for an invitation to come inside, although the idea of Liz and Julie interrogating him didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Right, not a good time then. I was in town, just passing,’ he said, gazing back towards the garden, waving a hand to encompass something and nothing. ‘Got half an hour spare. Thought I’d pop round. See if you were okay.’
‘Right.’
‘About yesterday –’
Kate blushed furiously. Hadn’t they already had this conversation?
‘Kate? Are you all right? Who is it?’ A familiar voice seared through the gloom. She looked around again and saw Liz heading through from the garden followed a step or two behind by Julie. The woman had no shame.
‘Er no one, I’m fine – I’ll be back in a minute –’ She could feel her panic rising, while in the doorway Andrew appeared to be rooted to the spot.
She shooed him away. Still he didn’t move. ‘Would you please – please –’ There was just no polite way to say this. ‘Leave,’ she hissed.
He looked uncertain. ‘Sorry?’
‘Leave – go – vamoose – now.’
Too late.
‘Andrew,’ said Julie, her tone heavy with recognition. ‘How lovely to see you again so soon.’
‘Julie.’ He reddened now, every molecule of his body looking guilty as if he couldn’t wait to own up to any one of her unspoken accusations. ‘How are you?’
‘Oh, I’m fine. And how about you?’
He smiled gamely at Kate as Julie turned to introduce him to Liz, ‘Liz, this is Andrew Taylor, our local vet.’ There was a heady little pause during which Kate wondered if she had time to run away and then Julie added, ‘Another house call, is it?’ looking first at Kate and then back at Andrew.
Good form ensured that Liz shook his hand and murmured a polite greeting but she couldn’t quite stifle her surprise. ‘I don’t understand, Mum hasn’t got any pets, has she, Kate?’
As Andrew looked across at Kate she could see the whites of his eyes. He needed rescuing. She needed rescuing. Kate took a deep breath and launched herself into the void. There was no point whatsoever waiting for divine intervention; if God had been on form he’d never have given Kate Liz for a sister, Joe for husband or let any of them run into Julie Hicks in the first place.
‘Shan’t be long,’ she said with bluff good humour, catching hold of Andrew’s elbow.
Everyone looked confused now.
‘Long?’ asked Andrew.
‘Long?’ repeated Julie and Liz, apparently sharing a single thought and the same breath.
Kate nodded and pencilled in a confident smile. ‘Andrew came round to run me down to pick up my car. So, won’t be long then.’
‘Your car? Where is your car? What’s the matter with your car?’ Liz pulled a face, her world-famous, little sister, what exactly is going on face, her if you don’t tell me I’ll tell Mum face, and opened her mouth to add something edgy and unpleasant but before she could load the words into the magazine, Kate, very careful not to say ‘we’, said, ‘I shouldn’t be more than half an hour, maybe, Liz, you’d like to put the new potatoes on while I’m gone? Everything else is done. There’s lots of salad in the fridge and cold meat. I popped down to Tesco’s this morning. Oh, and there’s strawberries and cream for pudding.’ And with barely a backward glance, Kate pushed Andrew out of the door, picked up her handbag from the hall stand and headed out across the gravel, head up, shoulders back, the very epitome of self-assuredness. Andrew followed a step or two behind. He looked considerably less confident.
‘I thought you said your sister was going to take you to get your car,’ he hissed, as they reached to the gate. ‘Not that I mind.’
‘You’re right, I did.’ Kate, whose heart was thundering in her chest, didn’t slow her pace until they got to his jeep. ‘Although I hadn’t actually asked her.’ She paused while he fumbled for the keys. ‘What sort of animals do you work with, Andrew?’
He looked up in surprise while his hands were busy unlocking the door. ‘Small animals, cats, dogs, livestock, the usual country vet fare. Why do you want to know?’
‘Those two in there are predators, they’d rip you to bits, buttons, balls and all. Me, too, if they got half a chance.’
He glanced back over his shoulder looking amused. ‘What Julie Hicks? Not Julie, surely, she always seems such a pleasant woman.’
Kate sighed and caught hold of his arm. ‘Just get in the car and whatever you do, don’t look back or they’ll turn you to stone or maybe salt.’
‘It rather depends on whether you’re talking about Lot’s wife or Medusa,’ he said, with apparent seriousness.
Kate sighed. ‘You’ve got a lot to learn about women, Andrew. I’m talking spite and curiosity and divine retribution here, not mineralogy.’
‘Are you all right?’
Chrissie looked up in surprise as a voice cracked through her thoughts like a spoon through an eggshell.
‘Yes, thank you,’ she said hastily, recovering her poise. ‘May I help you?’
‘You don’t look well,’ said the woman. They were at the cash desk in the department store where Chrissie worked. Another seventeen minutes and thirty seconds and she’d be on her lunch break, she’d been surreptitiously counting down the minutes with the aid of the clock above the escalators.
‘No, I’m fine,’ said Chrissie, who realised with a start that she had been totally oblivious to everything except the clock, her rushing thoughts, and an almost terminal feeling of tiredness. ‘I was just drifting off, you know how it is sometimes.’
The woman peered at her name badge; it had, ‘Christine Calvert, Team Leader,’ printed on it in discreet gold lettering. Her apparent concern turned quickly to disapproval. ‘I’m surprised they don’t make you drift off in your own time, once you get to a senior level. What sort of example does it set, the girls in here are surly enough as it is. Or half sharp.’
Chrissie buckled her smile down in case it slid off. ‘I’m terribly sorry, madam, would you like to make a complaint? I’d be very happy to take you to see our customer services manager.’
The woman sucked her teeth as if considering and then said, ‘I don’t suppose it would do any good and besides I’m in a hurry. Have you got this in a size 16?’ She thrust a skimpy black and red cocktail frock towards Chrissie. It had a kind of gathered, ruched arrangement crawling up over one shoulder, curling around the low neckline like a deformed caterpillar, and held in place just above the collarbone by two faux silk roses. One black, one red. It was tasteless, shiny and very, very expensive.
‘Is it for you, madam?’ asked Chrissie, taking the dress from her, politeness straining at the seams.
The woman nodded and Chrissie wondered how she could tactfully point out that unl
ess the woman planned to have the dress liquidised and sprayed on she would need at least a size 20. Staring at the woman’s face – a study in superiority – Chrissie was very tempted not to bother with the tact. Maybe it was time to change careers as well as houses.
‘Well, have you?’ the woman demanded. ‘I’m here in my lunch hour.’
Chrissie nodded and, leading the way across the shop floor, encouraged the woman back towards the area where the red and black dress and several other overblown concoctions hung on padded hangers to emphasis their exclusivity.
‘Yes, I think we have,’ she said. ‘Let me see what else we’ve got.’ She pulled out a spiteful floor-length black sheath that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Morticia Addams, had it not been for the pod of dolphins picked out in blue and silver lurex swimming purposefully up over one breast.
‘There’s a matching ecru trimmed jacket with this,’ she said, handing it across to the woman. ‘With a contrasting silver lining.’ Payback would be such sweet revenge. This woman and her tasteless choice in frocks unknowingly would get it all, for her feelings of loss, and hurt and anger and Joe, for Chrissie’s frustration and all the other things that weren’t right with the world.
The woman sniffed imperiously. ‘Fish?’
Chrissie, now smiling for England said, ‘They’re mammals actually, and ten per cent of the proceeds from this particular evening dress are being donated to the Oceanic Dolphin Research Fund. Why don’t you go and try it on – you’ve got the height to carry it off.’
The woman peered at the dress. ‘I was more thinking black and red.’
Chrissie wasn’t put off that easily. She nodded as if reflecting on her comments. ‘Fine, but why don’t you try it anyway while I see what else we have in your size. How do you feel about owls?’
‘So how did your move go, Julie?’ asked Maggie in a cheery, good hostess voice. ‘You seem to have settled in very quickly. It’s a lovely spot up there, and a very nice house – ideal for your girls. And so kind of you to bring a cake, I’m sure you’ve got lots of other things on your mind at the moment besides baking.’
Maggie winced; maybe that was a poor choice of words but she was rapidly running out of steam. It was obvious that Julie’s brain was working in overdrive. They were all back out on the terrace, Kate was off God knows where with the vet, and Maggie was sitting between Julie and Liz, sipping her fruit juice, struggling to keep the two of them at bay. It was an uphill struggle.
Liz had put the new potatoes on but it would be a few minutes yet before Maggie could call attention to them and suggest they might need checking or stirring or draining or something; she’d been thinking all sorts of possibilities. And how long she could reasonably hold out before having to invite Julie for lunch?
‘Isn’t it glorious today? Although we could do with some rain. For the garden.’
The two younger women both looked at her with an expression that suggested they were expecting an explanation or possibly blood, certainly not an impromptu weather report. Maggie smiled again. It was like casting rose petals before heavy artillery.
Taking a long pull on her drink gave Maggie a few seconds to regroup her thoughts. Did she, assuming natural politeness would dam the great tidal surge of curiosity, steer the conversation towards holidays or shopping, or the price of fish? Or would it be better to launch into some vague résumé of Kate’s current situation (despite her not fully understanding the vet connection), offering a scant explanation for Kate’s behaviour or just wait for this show of good manners to crumble and for Liz and Julie – like two rabid Jesuits from the Spanish Inquisition – to break out the nasty sharp probing questions.
‘Where did Kate say her car was?’ asked Liz, gazing unfocused at the house.
‘I’m thinking of remodelling this part of the garden,’ Maggie parried, aiming her remark squarely at Julie, well aware that besides sounding extremely evasive her unrelated reply also made her sound slightly demented, which played straight into Liz’s ideas about sheltered housing, meals on wheels and bird tables.
‘He was here yesterday as well,’ said Julie, sipping her coffee.
‘Who was?’ said Liz, sharp as a ragman’s whippet.
‘The vet. Andrew Taylor. The chap who came to take Kate down to her car.’
Liz’s eyebrow lifted. It was such a shame that she had inherited Maggie’s signature expression. ‘Really?’
‘Oh yes, he was here when Kate’s husband was here.’
‘Joe was here?’ said Liz, sounding genuinely surprised. The question was directed at Maggie but before she could answer, Julie jumped in, ‘Oh yes, it was terrible. They had the most awful row and then he hit him.’
Liz’s eyes widened. ‘What do you mean he hit him? Who hit who?’
‘Kate’s husband, Joe, hit the vet.’
‘I wouldn’t say hit, not really, not exactly,’ Maggie interjected hastily. ‘It was more of a gesture. And it was hardly a row and then Joe stumbled. It was more of a stumble.’
As she spoke, on the periphery of her hearing, Maggie registered the sound of the front door opening and shutting and sighed with relief; at last the cavalry were on their way. Kate must have driven like the clappers to have got home so quickly.
Maggie took another long pull on her fruit juice, wishing it were something much stronger. She looked round waiting for Kate to call out. Maybe she was hanging back in the kitchen to see if the bush fire had already burnt itself. Or maybe she was checking on the potatoes. Maggie sighed, wishing she would hurry up.
‘Yes, but he was taking a swing at the vet at the time,’ Julie snapped right back. ‘If it had hit him it would have broken Andrew’s jaw. I thought to myself there’s more going on here than meets the eye.’ Julie didn’t quite tap her nose or heft her bosom up with a well-placed elbow but she might as well have done. ‘I had no idea about Andrew and Kate,’ continued Julie. ‘No idea at all. Took me totally by surprise. He’s widowed, you know. Bit stand offish. I didn’t even know that he and Kate knew one another.’
Liz’s face was a picture as Julie went on. ‘I thought Kate might have said something – although obviously she was trying to keep it quiet – though we do go back a long way, Kate and me. I thought she would have told me, of all people.’ She sounded quite affronted.
Liz’s colour was rising rapidly.
Julie spotted it at once. ‘Oh, and you obviously, you being family.’
Liz swung round to face her mother. ‘What on earth is going on and how come nobody told me about any of it? Did you know that Kate was having an affair with the vet?’
‘No, of course I didn’t,’ said Maggie, defensively, not sure whether she ought to add that actually it was Joe who was having the affair, realising too late that by denying it she had made it sound as if Kate was having an affair. Anxious to claw her way back from the crumbling edge, Maggie said, ‘No, that isn’t what I mean at all
‘Hello. Surprise!’
Everyone turned at the sound. It was one of those moments that in the films they would have recorded in slow motion. Maggie looked up to see Guy standing there, framed by the French windows. He was smiling. He looked gorgeous.
‘What on earth are you doing here? I didn’t think you’d be back until tomorrow,’ Maggie said, keeping neither the surprise nor shock out of her voice.
He grinned, running his fingers back through his fringe. ‘I was worried about you, darling. I’ve missed you so much and I felt a total bastard going away when you needed me. I managed to wrap the deal up last night, although I didn’t want to say anything in case I couldn’t get back and disappointed you.’
Liz’s jaw dropped, Julie’s eyes widened.
Oblivious to Liz and Julie, he strode across the terrace and kissed Maggie. Hard. Twice. Maggie was so pleased to see him she could have wept.
On the far side of her, Julie Hicks inhaled her fruit juice.
Kate and Andrew drove in silence down to the Boatman’s Arms. Her car was parked u
p under the trees where she had left it. Andrew pulled up alongside, as if taking her as far as he possibly could before letting her out.
‘Thank you,’ she said, clambering down out of the jeep.
‘Kate –’ he undid the window as she slipped the key into the lock of her Golf. ‘I don’t understand what’s going on,’ he said.
‘Me neither. Don’t worry about it. Thanks for the lift, I owe you one.’
He frowned. ‘I thought yesterday in the kitchen, that – well, that you were attracted to me. Just a bit –’ He reddened. ‘Was I wrong? Have I made a complete arse of myself?’
She shook her head; if only he had. Moving closer, Kate very gently cupped his face in her palm. ‘No, you didn’t, Andrew. You read it right. You’re a really lovely man, and maybe if I was in a different place, an ideal kind of man, but I’m not in a different place, Andrew, I’m here.
‘At the moment I can’t work out whether you’re a bit thick-skinned or just downright dense, but in case you’ve not noticed I’m not available. I’m standing right in the eye of the hurricane. Chasing me while I’m in this state would be like pulling the wings off flies; I can’t pursue this or be pursued. In fact, I can’t quite believe we’re having this conversation again. I’m emotional mincemeat. It’s bad enough that Joe is having an affair without this and and then last night, Bill rang and he said that –’
Andrew leant closer and kissed her. ‘Shhhh, don’t get so upset.’
Just as her body melted into it, Kate groaned and hastily pushed herself away. ‘I’ve told you about that,’ she snapped. ‘Don’t do it again.’
He grinned. ‘Even though you like it?’
Kate moved closer with half a mind to slap his face.
‘Particularly because I like it.’ It was the kind of thing she had always wanted to do but instead found herself kissing him back.
‘I need saving from myself at the moment,’ she said, pulling herself away from him. ‘Anything I do or say is fuelled by craziness; the idea of having someone on my side is incredibly tempting, someone to cuddle me and tell me it’s going to be all right and make it all better, but it isn’t all right at all. I’ve got to sort this out on my own.’