And Now You're Back

by Jill Mansell

‘OK, it was your solicitors. I sent the letter to you, and they wrote back. And it wasn’t a polite no.’ Rosa sniffed and wiped her cheeks again. ‘It was a definite, scary, not-in-a-million-years kind of no.’ She glanced at him accusingly. ‘They must have sent you a copy of their reply.’

  Benny shook his head. ‘I haven’t seen it. I didn’t see your letter either. Who were the solicitors?’

  ‘Not the ones you used when you bought the house. This was Berry and Bayliss in London.’ She heard him exhale slowly. In the distance, an owl screeched.

  ‘Right. Well, now it’s my turn to apologise. Maybe I was away at the time, but Ingrid must have dealt with it. I’m afraid she’s quite into rules and regulations. She probably asked for legal advice and was told it wasn’t a good idea, because . . . well, we didn’t know anything about you. It could have turned into a tricky situation.’

  ‘Of course . . . I mean, it wouldn’t have, but you weren’t to know that. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Stop it. I’m the one who should be apologising. I feel terrible.’

  ‘You really didn’t know?’

  Benny shook his head. ‘I swear I didn’t. I’ll have a word with Ingrid about it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome here any time.’

  Rosa’s spirits lifted. ‘Really? But what if she says no?’

  ‘She can’t do that. Ingrid doesn’t own the house. It’s in my name.’

  Well, she hadn’t known that. ‘So . . . how was she able to get the letter sent?’

  His smile was wry. ‘Trust me, Ingrid has her methods. Anyway, don’t worry, I’ll sort it out with her. From now on, you’re an invited guest. Oh God, are you crying again?’

  ‘In a good way.’ She brushed away the tears of relief before they dropped off her chin. ‘You don’t know how much this means to me. It’s been three years since Joe died and I’ve kept going all this time without him, but it doesn’t seem to get any easier. Sometimes I wake up in the night and think, haven’t I suffered long enough? I just want him back now. And I’m not going mad, I know he can’t come back, but anything that makes me feel better is worth doing, I think, and being here, talking to Joe, is the best thing of all. It cheers me up.’

  ‘Any time you want,’ Benny told her. ‘How do you manage to get into the garden anyway?’

  ‘Well, it’s not by parachute.’ Rosa managed a smile. ‘Over the wall.’

  ‘With your dodgy knee? That’s asking for trouble.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘Did you once leave a jar of Gold Blend coffee on the lawn?’

  She nodded. ‘I did. Sorry, that was—’

  ‘Because Gold Blend was Joe’s favourite coffee?’

  Rosa spluttered with laughter. ‘He preferred tea. Leaving the jar behind was an accident. I was looking for the charm bracelet I’d lost the night before.’

  ‘Ah, the charm bracelet – that happened to have an Eiffel Tower charm on it.’ The lines deepened at the corners of his merry blue eyes. ‘I’m enjoying putting all these puzzle pieces together.’

  ‘Layla gave it to me on my birthday and by the next morning I’d managed to lose it. That’s why I was so desperate to get it back.’ He may as well hear the whole story. ‘When I fell off the bus, that was when I’d gone into Cheltenham to buy the replacement.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I’ve no idea what happened to the first one,’ said Benny. ‘Ingrid probably put it in the bag for the charity shop.’

  ‘It was my own fault for trespassing. I don’t make a habit of going around breaking the law.’

  ‘Just here.’

  Rosa nodded ruefully. ‘Yes. And how did you know I was skulking around in your garden tonight?’

  ‘I just happened to look out of the landing window on the top floor. You were pretty much hidden from view by the tree, but I saw your hand stroking the grass. Well, I saw a hand,’ Benny amended. ‘I didn’t have a clue what was going on. But now I do.’

  ‘I’m glad I don’t have to feel guilty any more.’ Rosa rose to her feet, anxious not to outstay her welcome. ‘Anyway, I should be going.’

  ‘There’s a ladder in the shed. Would that be a help, to get you over the wall?’

  ‘It’s OK, I’m used to it.’ She brushed bits of cut grass off her trousers. ‘There are really good footholds between the stones. But thanks.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ said Benny as she made her way across the lawn. ‘And I mean it,’ he added. ‘Any time.’

  Chapter 22

  Five days later, confident and pleased with himself, Benny nudged open the door to the master bedroom with his foot and carried the loaded tray through with a flourish. ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happ—’

  ‘Thank you.’ Ingrid raised a hand. ‘It’s OK, you don’t have to sing that song to me. I’m not six.’

  ‘I always sing it to you,’ Benny protested.

  ‘I know you do. I should have told you before.’ Ingrid gave him one of her forthright looks. ‘But I’m saying it now. The breakfast looks wonderful, though. Thank you.’

  ‘And there’s presents, too.’ He placed the tray on the bedside table, handed her the glass of iced orange juice and retrieved the parcels from his side of the fitted wardrobe.

  ‘Goodness, look at those.’ Ingrid was visibly impressed. ‘Who wrapped them up?’

  ‘Me, of course.’ Well, it was only a white lie.

  He sat on the side of the bed and passed her the first one. He loved making people happy, and watching them open presents was always a special pleasure. As Ingrid pulled off the ribbons and ripped open the turquoise and silver paper, he admired her ice-blonde hair, her slender shoulders and the lingering scent of the perfume she’d worn as long as he’d known her. The perfume had been something of an acquired taste in the first weeks of their relationship, but he was used to it by now.

  ‘My God, I don’t believe this. I love it.’ Having already opened the eyeshadow set and the face and body creams, Ingrid held up the silky-soft honey suede jacket. ‘You’ve never bought me anything like this before!’

  Then came the moonstone pendant. ‘Benny, it’s like you’ve turned into a mind-reader!’ she exclaimed. ‘This is so me.’

  Benny looked suitably modest. He was unused to such praise, more accustomed to being on the receiving end of Ingrid’s disappointment. He passed her the next parcel and saw her eyes widen as the paper came off.

  ‘It’s a new Ulrika Nilsson? Oh my goodness, you’re a genius. I can’t believe you found this.’ She threw her arms around him. ‘My most favourite artist. And such a beautiful painting.’ She laughed. ‘A bit better than that terrible sculpture you gave me last year, remember? And those hideous candlesticks!’

  He’d guessed she hadn’t liked the sculpture when it had promptly disappeared from the house. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen the carved marble candlesticks either. Passing her the envelope containing the final surprise, he watched as she tore it open.

  ‘Oh darling, you shouldn’t have,’ she said.

  Possibly inspired by the story behind the Eiffel Tower charm on Rosa’s bracelet, he’d arranged to whisk her off to Paris tomorrow to stay at the George V overnight and fly back on Monday morning.

  ‘Don’t be daft, you’re worth it. Happy birthday . . .’ Just in time, he remembered not to break into song once more.

  ‘I meant you really shouldn’t have,’ Ingrid told him. ‘Not without checking with me first.’ She indicated the e-tickets on the duvet in front of her. ‘I promised to meet up with Hedda. I can’t let her down.’

  Hedda was her Dutch friend, currently living in Oxford. ‘But . . . she wouldn’t mind, would she? For something special like this?’

  ‘Benny, that’s unkind. Hedda’s been feeling low recently and she’s looking forward to seeing me. I don’t dump my girlfriends when I get a better offer. That would be an awful thing to do.’

  Of course it would. Benny shook his head. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you’d made plans.’

  ‘That’s because yo
u didn’t ask.’

  ‘I wanted it to be a surprise.’

  ‘Well it was a nice idea, so thank you for that. And it’s my birthday today so we’re going to have a wonderful time. Tomorrow I’ll see Hedda and stay over at hers. Then on Tuesday I’m off to New York.’

  She was a hard worker, he couldn’t take that away from her. ‘Right, I’ll cancel the flights and the hotel.’

  ‘What time is our table at the Manoir booked for tonight?’

  ‘Seven thirty.’

  ‘I’ll wear this beautiful jacket.’ Ingrid lovingly stroked the butter-soft suede.

  Benny said, ‘I lied about wrapping the presents. It wasn’t me.’

  She looked amused. ‘Why am I not surprised to hear this?’

  ‘I didn’t choose them myself either. A friend helped me.’

  ‘Again, I thought there might have been someone else involved.’ Sitting back against the pillows, Ingrid began spooning up her favourite breakfast of granola and plain yoghurt. ‘Who was it? Someone very beautiful?’

  ‘Rosa Gallagher.’

  ‘Ha, really? The secret garden interloper who also fell off the bus? So I can relax and stop worrying that she might steal you away from me!’ Ingrid flipped back her hair. ‘Still, I’m grateful to her. I wouldn’t have thought she’d have such good taste. She found me some very nice gifts.’

  ‘And wrapped them up too.’

  ‘You mean she did all this for you in exchange for being allowed to sit in our garden at night and speak to her dead husband? This town is full of strange people.’

  ‘I don’t think it’s strange,’ said Benny.

  ‘And now you’re defending her.’ Ingrid’s tone was playful as she tapped his hand with the back of her spoon. ‘Maybe I should be jealous after all.’

  ‘The thing is,’ Aaron said over the phone a fortnight later, ‘it’s Jasper’s birthday and he’s making a weekend of it. Racing at Ascot on Saturday, big party in the evening, then a picnic in the park with competitive games on Sunday afternoon.’

  Didi’s heart had sunk at the mention of Jasper. It carried on plummeting as the details of the birthday celebrations were laid out. Jasper was one of Aaron’s bosses; he was loud and boorish and drank like a fish.

  ‘I don’t understand why he’s invited me along. I’ve only met him three times.’ And that had been plenty.

  ‘His wife told him he needed to invite couples this time. I think it’s her way of making sure they don’t end up in a strip club again, like last year. Oh come on, it’ll be fun.’

  It wouldn’t be. Jasper would leer at her boobs and make unfunny jokes about sex. ‘He’s an ape,’ Didi sighed.

  ‘I know, but he’s my boss. And there’ll be other women there to talk to.’

  ‘Is Tanya going?’ Tanya was the girlfriend of another of his colleagues.

  ‘She can’t make it.’

  Typical. Tanya was the only one Didi actually liked.

  After a couple of seconds, Aaron said, ‘You don’t want to come down, do you?’

  She felt mean, but it was true. It was one thing spending the weekend with Aaron, but his male co-workers were brash, overconfident and difficult to like, and their wives and girlfriends tended to spend most of the time discussing fillers and Botox, whilst scrolling through Instagram bitching about anyone who hadn’t succumbed to either.

  ‘Would you mind if I gave it a miss? It’s just that we’re rushed off our feet here. We’ve never been so busy, and I hate swanning off leaving everyone to cope without me.’ This was true. They were almost halfway through August and it was the height of the holiday season; Elliscombe was bursting at the seams with tourists, and both the hotel and its restaurant were fully booked for weeks ahead.

  ‘You work too hard,’ Aaron chided. ‘Everyone needs a break. But OK, I know you wouldn’t enjoy having to put up with Jasper all weekend. I’ll tell him you can’t get away, shall I?’

  The relief was huge. ‘Thanks. You’ll have more fun with your friends anyway, not having to worry about me being bored out of my mind.’

  ‘I’ll miss you, but I know what you mean. How are things going with Layla and her chap?’

  ‘All good, as far as I know. Haven’t met him yet, but she’s happy. Why?’

  ‘I just remember her saying the other week how she always goes over to his place and he never wants to spend any time at hers,’ Aaron said lightly. ‘Sounds kind of, I don’t know . . . familiar?’

  ‘Oh no, that’s not fair.’ Didi laughed. ‘You like getting away from London and spending time up here. And if it wasn’t Jasper’s birthday, I’d definitely be coming to see you. If you tell him you can’t go to the racing and the party and the picnic in the park, I’ll jump on a train and spend the weekend with you.’ As she said it, she wondered if he’d consider doing that.

  ‘And wouldn’t that be great? But I can’t. This is Jasper we’re talking about. He’s the boss and he doesn’t take no for an answer.’

  ‘We’ll see each other next weekend. And if you really want, I’ll come down to you,’ Didi promised, because it was only fair.

  ‘I may hold you to that. Right, I have to go now. Love you.’

  ‘Love you too.’

  ‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ said Aaron.

  ‘If I don’t call you first.’ This was a well-worn routine, the way their phone conversations always ended.

  ‘Bye, beautiful.’

  ‘Bye.’ Didi ended the call and exhaled slowly. Mission accomplished. Jasper’s dreaded birthday celebrations had been avoided, she was staying here in Elliscombe, and better still, she was free to enjoy the sunny weekend stretching ahead.

  What a relief.

  Chapter 23

  On Friday evening, instead of catching the train to London, Didi ended up working until midnight because one of the waitresses was stuck in Menorca thanks to a cancelled flight home. On Saturday, she stayed around the hotel to help with a silver wedding anniversary celebration. OK, it was work, but it was still fifty times more enjoyable than having to spend hours in the company of Jasper and his cohorts.

  By five, though, she was hot, tired and ready for a change of scenery. After a quick shower, she changed into a khaki vest top and black shorts. As she dragged a brush through her hair, she glanced out of the window and saw Shay leaving the hotel via the gate at the far end of the terrace. He was carrying a Nike bag, which meant he must be heading over to the sports centre on the outskirts of Elliscombe.

  OK, she wasn’t going to go there then. What if he thought she was following him like a stalker? She checked her reflection in the dressing table mirror. Make-up or no make-up? No, not this evening. A memory from the distant past was swirling up and now that it had occurred to her, she knew what she wanted to do.

  Yes, yes. Perfect.

  Hestacombe was a twelve-mile drive away, through verdant Cotswold countryside. As Didi approached the village, situated in the dip of a bowl surrounded on all sides by big hills, she caught tantalising glimpses of Hestacombe Lake glittering in the sunlight between the trees.

  But as she reached the car park just up from the crescent of beach bordering the lake, her stomach gave a lurch of recognition at the sight of a car she definitely hadn’t expected to see here.

  Shit, shit.

  But at the same time, if she was being completely honest . . . Oh . . .

  The blue Audi was empty. Didi’s head swivelled in the direction of the lake, but she saw only a couple of families with children splashing around in the shallows. If she reversed out of here sharpish and continued back up the narrow winding lane, she could get away without being seen and he’d never even know she’d been here. That would be the sensible course of action.

  The next second, Shay’s head broke the surface of the water twenty metres away and she saw him register her presence. Oh God, what was she supposed to do now?

  Finally, after a long moment, a smile lit up his tanned face and Didi experienced a rush of relief. Of course sh
e wasn’t going to drive away; here it was again, their shared past drawing them together. She switched off the ignition and stepped out of the car, moving closer to the water’s edge.

  ‘Well.’ Shay’s blonde hair was slicked back from his face. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’

  She raised a hand, palm out. ‘OK, before you start thinking it, I didn’t follow you. I’ve been working all day, I wanted to relax and cool off.’ She shook her head. ‘I had no idea this was going to happen.’

  ‘I believe you.’ He grinned. ‘Still a coincidence, though.’

  ‘I saw you leaving, carrying a sports bag. I thought you were heading over to the sports centre.’ Was this completely true? Had she subliminally wondered if he might have shared her idea to come to the lake? She genuinely had no clue.

  ‘Hey, we both had a good idea at the same time. Are you getting in?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t.’

  ‘You’ve driven all this way. Seems a shame not to.’

  Didi hesitated, still torn. After a couple of seconds, Shay said easily, ‘I’ll leave you to have a think about it.’ Turning in the water so he was facing away, he began to swim towards the other side of the lake.

  Oh, just look at those broad, tanned shoulders, those powerful arms. She watched as he cut effortlessly through the water. Dragonflies with iridescent wings hovered and darted above the lake, whilst birds wheeled lazily overhead. The glitter of the sun’s reflection bouncing off the surface was almost blinding. Didi glanced over at the low wall to her left, her heart swelling as she spotted Shay’s keys tucked away in a crevice between two rocks. It was where they’d always left any valuables, back in the day. She added her own car keys, then removed her T-shirt and shorts and left them on the sand beside his Nike bag.

  He’d reached the centre of the lake now. She launched herself into the water and began swimming out to join him.

  ‘Just like old times,’ he said when only a few metres separated them.

  ‘Well, not quite.’ During that long, hot summer thirteen years ago, they’d cycled over from Elliscombe, bringing food and spending entire days at a time here whenever work allowed. There’d been music and dancing, swimming and splashing, all interspersed with laughter and kissing.