Grace looked at the Under Offer sign across the road. The house was in poor repair and in need of extensive work by the look of it.
‘Yes, it was a sad ending though. She apparently died a few months back and no one knew for three days. I’ve been keeping an eye out for the new people but I haven’t seen anyone yet. Jackie next door doesn’t know who the purchaser is but she was very happy to report that it’s on the market for nearly four hundred grand!’
Lynette rolled her eyes. ‘Wow. That’s worth knowing if we ever want to sell this place. Go on, you push off and get Ellie. I’ll ring Leo.’
Grace glanced across at the other house as she closed her gate and was surprised to see one of the curtains move. So, someone was in there? Was it the purchasers getting on with some work before they moved in? It was nice to think things were beginning to happen and she’d soon have new neighbours.
On impulse she crossed the road, and walking up to the front door, rang the bell. She heard its ring echo through the house but after several moments it became clear no-one was going to answer it. She hesitated, wondering whether to give it another go. But they must have heard it, so clearly whoever was in there wasn’t of a mind to meet her. Feeling rather stupid, she turned and walked back up the path.
Ellie had pointed Will’s house out to her the previous day and as she made her way slowly up the winding drive, Grace couldn’t help but be impressed. Long and low lying, it was set back from the road in a garden much larger than her own, and which surrounded the house on all sides. A huge wisteria completely covered the front porch.
From somewhere in the distance she could hear shrieks of laughter which she reassuringly identified as her daughter’s, and following the sound she made her way tentatively round to the back of the house.
The scene that greeted her froze her into immobility.
‘Come on, Ellie … climb up on my dad’s shoulder like me and we can form a pyramid,’ Will was ordering. And Ellie was doing her best to comply, albeit with more enthusiasm than skill, so that finally all three tumbled with a noisy splash back into the water.
But it wasn’t what they were doing that caused her heart to jolt; it was the sight of Will’s father, laughing as he resurfaced, pushing the hair back from his face.
Nicholas Brandon.
Her eyes registered complete and utter dismay at the sight of him and she could tell by his rueful smile that she hadn't managed to hide her reaction.
‘Hey, Ellie …’ he called out, ‘look who’s here.’
‘Mum! Look what I can do …’ and she promptly tipped herself upside down in the water, managing a fairly credible attempt at a handstand.
‘Well done,’ Grace managed, when she resurfaced a few moments later. Was this for real? Why hadn't he told her?
‘Nick taught me,’ her daughter informed her happily. ‘I’ll be able to walk along the bottom soon like Will does.’
So it was Nick already was it? Her gaze shifted to his once more, her eyes cool. She didn’t need to work out how she felt about this – he’d deliberately withheld the information that he lived in the same village as them. Had he also deliberately sent Will round to get to know Ellie? Did Will know that they shared the same grandparents?
She watched as he hauled himself out of the pool, averting her eyes from his fit, tanned physique as he reached for the nearest towel.
He tied the towel carelessly round his waist, his eyes watchful as he approached her.
‘Drink?’ he offered, placatingly.
‘You could have told me what close neighbours we were going to be.’
‘Something told me you might not have moved in if I did. And by the time you told me, it was too late anyway.’
‘You’re damn right I wouldn’t have. The last thing I want is Ellie bumping into her grandmother on our own doorstep.’
‘You can’t put it off forever you know. The issue’s not going away.’
She looked over at where Ellie and Will were still messing around in the pool. ‘I don’t want to talk about it now. I’ve come to pick Ellie up.’
‘Fair enough,’ Nick said pleasantly, but he was already in the act of pouring a drink and handing it to her. ‘At least have a quick Pimm’s while she’s getting ready?’
‘Oh great,’ she heard Ellie say. ‘Mum’s having a drink – that means I can stay a bit longer.’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ Grace called out. ‘Lynette’s over at the house and wants to see you before she goes. Get your things together, can you?’
‘You’ve done a good job with her,’ Nick Brandon surprised her by saying. ‘It can’t have been easy bringing her up on your own.’
She shrugged, thinking how quickly he’d review his opinion if he saw Ellie having one of her paddies.
‘Yoo hoo …,’ the voice, high pitched and female, saved her from having to make any response. ‘Ah, there you are … I’ve bought some steak. I thought we could barbecue it tonight?’
Grace watched as the woman appeared from the side of the house. She was probably a year or two older than Grace and quite plain looking, with short, wavy brown hair and glasses. Her eyes, which were a piercingly pale blue, narrowed as she took in the scene around the pool.
‘You must be the new neighbour Nick was talking about,’ she said, offering Grace a limp hand. Grace took it and experienced a surprising stab of disappointment at Nick Brandon’s wife.
‘Grace Harper, Mrs Brandon. Thanks for having Ellie. It’s kind of you.’
‘Oh dear,’ the other woman’s returning smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. ‘Not Mrs Brandon I’m afraid. I live next door.’
‘Oh, sorry.’
‘Suzanne Graham – Grace Harper,’ Nick introduced smoothly.
‘I’m pleased to meet you at last, Grace. Nick’s told me about you of course. And I knew Rory quite well as it happens. Please accept my condolences.’
Grace felt instantly ill at ease, her desire to escape becoming a need. She was aware of being sized up by disconcertingly shrewd eyes and wondered exactly how much Rory had shared with this woman. ‘We weren’t close, so no need for condolences,’ she said stiffly. She glanced at her watch before replacing her glass carefully on the tray and turning back to Nick. ‘Thanks for the drink, but we need to get back now. Come on El.’
‘Oh Mum …’ But she was gathering her bits together and joined Grace with good-humoured resignation. ‘Can I go with Will to the playing fields tomorrow? He says he’ll introduce me to some of his friends and it’ll be much easier if I get to know people before I start school.’
Years of habit had Grace hesitating.
‘They’ll be fine,’ Nick said. ‘The fields are just on the outskirts of the village.’
‘I know where they are. I was brought up here, if you remember?’ She bit her lip, knowing she sounded abrupt. It was safe, she reminded herself. For goodness sake what was the matter with her?
‘Okay,’ she said, and was rewarded with a huge grin from Ellie.
‘Great. What time shall we meet, Will?’
Grace waited as they agreed a time and then finally she was able to make her escape.
‘Well …’ she heard Suzanne Graham’s voice behind her. ‘Not the most friendly of people, is she?’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
‘Ellie Harper, do you realise how lucky you are, living here?’
Lynette greeted her niece on the doorstep with a big hug. ‘It’s so much nicer than living in London. I’m jealous!’
Ellie hugged her back but her manner was begrudging. ‘Maybe, but I didn’t like leaving all my friends behind – and I’m not looking forward to starting school. I hate always being the new girl.’
The words were accompanied by a dark look thrown in Grace’s direction.
‘Oh, you’ll soon settle in,’ Lynette said. ‘And how many of your friends in Barnet had swimming pools in their garden?’
Ellie gave a reluctant grin. ‘It’s so cool – they’ve even got a springboard. Is E
mily here? I can show her my room.’
‘Afraid not, she and Michael both had sleepovers this weekend. But I’ll make sure to bring her next time.’
Ellie’s eyes suddenly shifted beyond her aunt to the open front door. ‘Oh look Mum, it’s Nick ...’
Swinging round, Grace saw Nick Brandon standing on the doorstep. In his hand was Ellie’s St Christopher necklace – a christening present from her great-grandmother.
‘Oh, I forgot, I put it on the table. Thanks,’ Ellie said, retrieving it from him.
‘No problem. I didn’t want you worrying about where it was.’
He was looking curiously at Lynette who was looking equally curiously back, and realising that neither of them were going anywhere without an introduction, Grace did the necessary.
‘Lynette, this is Nicholas Brandon our neighbour from down the road. Mr Brandon … my sister Lynette.’
‘Nick, please.’
‘I’ve heard Grace mention you,’ Lynette said, smiling, ‘but she didn’t mention you were going to be such close neighbours.’
‘That’s because she didn’t know,’ Nick said, flashing an amused look in Grace’s direction. ‘Its come as something of a shock, I think.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s nice to meet you but I’d better be off, I have a barbecue to get under way. See you around, Grace.’
As he sauntered off down the path Grace made a deliberate point of not catching her sister’s eye.
‘Well, you never told me what a hunk he was,’ Lynnette murmured. ‘I suppose he’s married?’
‘Stop it,’ Grace said, relieved to see that Ellie had disappeared off to deal with her wet belongings. ‘It doesn’t matter if he’s married or not, I’m not interested.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘Because finding a man isn’t high on my priority list at the moment.’
‘Well, maybe it’s about time it was … no, seriously.’ Lynette noted the stubborn tilt to her sister’s chin and forestalled her interruption. ‘I’m not saying you need to find a partner to settle down with, but what’s the harm in having a bit of fun? If I had a man like that on my doorstep I’d be putting feelers out like a shot, I can tell you.’
‘Sounds like I’ve arrived at just the right time,’ a voice drawled from the open doorway behind them.
Both girls turned, and Lynette grinned at the sight of her husband’s tall, lanky frame filling the doorway. ‘Trust you to turn up at precisely the wrong moment. I’m just trying to persuade Grace that it’s about time she caught up on a bit of her youth.’
‘And I’m quite sure she’s perfectly capable of running her own life,’ Leo returned equably, bending forward to give Grace a kiss. ‘Don’t listen to a word she says,’ he whispered. ‘The fact that she’s nearing forty is giving her strange notions.’ He looked about him. ‘You look like you’ve settled in well.’
‘It’s got a good feel to it.’
‘I’m glad. Have you sorted with Lynette when you’re having your girlie weekend?’
‘Next month,’ his wife said. ‘When you and George go fishing.’
A thump from upstairs had them all looking to the ceiling. ‘I’ll just go and say hi to Ellie before we go,’ Leo said, heading in the direction of the hall.
‘Up the stairs and first door on the left,’ Grace called after him.
Lynette gave her sister a hug. ‘Look after yourself. And think about what I said. You’re thirty-two. It’s no age. Spoil yourself – get a haircut, have a manicure. You’ve got a lot of catching up to do – and plenty of time to do it in now.’
She gave a big wink and Grace chuckled, thinking that even though she was six years younger, she sometimes felt like a complete granny next to her proactive sister.
‘Get out of here …’
But the seeds had been sown and after they’d gone, for the first time in years, Grace looked at herself critically in the mirror and decided she wasn’t too impressed with what she saw. It wasn’t that she was unattractive … she just hadn’t bothered about herself in a long time. She looked at the long fair hair and made an instant decision that that would be the first thing to go. She’d dyed it as part of her attempt to disguise herself from Rory but she’d never felt the blonde look suited her, and at the moment it spent most of its time scraped up into a ponytail because it was so thick.
The truth of the matter was that since Stuart – seven years ago now – there’d been no one else. Rory had seen to that. She’d toughened up, taken control of hers and Ellie’s lives, and that hadn’t left much room for bothering about what she looked like, or thinking about men. There’d been safety in solitude and she’d got used to it.
But did that mean she wanted to carry on living like that now? She gave it some thought. Her break up with Stuart and his consequent disappearance from their lives had unsettled Ellie badly and that had taught Grace a sharp lesson. There was no way she’d compromise her daughter’s security again.
But maybe she didn’t have to. If she could find someone discreet who might be up for a bit of a no-strings relationship – mightn’t that be quite fun? Ellie wouldn’t even need to know about it.
She sighed, turning away from the mirror and heading for the kitchen. Who was she kidding? Men like that didn’t grow on trees, and even if they did, she was so rusty in that department, she wouldn’t have a clue how to find one.
***
‘She seemed a bit touchy, that new neighbour of yours, didn’t she?’ Suzanne said to Nick later that evening when Will had disappeared off to watch television.
They were sitting out on the patio, enjoying a final glass of wine. Nick shrugged. ‘I don’t think she’s had the easiest of lives. She seems very independent.’
‘Rory was a handful, I’ll grant you that. Some of the things he told me he got up to … he wouldn’t have been an easy addition to anyone’s life.’
Her tone was confidential, inviting him to probe further, but he resisted the temptation.
She tried again. ‘I couldn’t take to her somehow. She lacks warmth, doesn’t she?’
Her eyes were sharp, assessing his reactions.
‘As I say, my impression is she’s had a tough time – I guess that can make you a bit insular. She’ll probably thaw once she gets to know people.’
‘Maybe.’ Suzanne’s look as she eyed him over the rim of her glass became suggestive. ‘Pity I have to take myself off …’
‘A pity indeed …’
‘You know, Nick, we get on pretty well, don’t we? I mean we understand each other and have a lot in common? I may not be as attractive as Grace Harper …’
So that was what this was all about.
‘… but I feel you and I have a special bond, don’t we? You know I’m here if you need me?’
‘Of course I do, and I’m grateful for it.’
‘Grateful?’ A flash of anger showed in her eyes. ‘I’d have thought that after what happened at Easter we might have progressed a bit further than gratitude by now.’
Nick’s manner became guarded. He knew that had been a mistake and could kick himself for letting it happen. But it had been over three months ago when they’d both had a bit too much to drink. He’d hoped she’d realised it was just a one-off.
It was a strange relationship they shared. Suzanne seemed to have taken him and Will under her wing after her divorce, but he was beginning to find her proprietorial air claustrophobic.
‘Suzanne–’
‘Look, I know what you’re going to say – you’re not looking for another wife. I know that, but we could be good together if you’d give it a try. Why don’t I stay over tonight?’
‘You know how I feel about that.’
‘Yes, I do, and it’s ridiculous. Will’s nearly fifteen – old enough to know the facts of life. And you and he would benefit from having someone in your life looking after you. I can see that, even if you can’t.’
An edge crept into Nick’s tone. ‘We’ve managed fine on our own up to now, and
you’ve always known the situation. I can’t compromise on it I’m afraid.’
‘Can’t or won’t?’
He shrugged. It had come in as a very effective barrier over the years, keeping his personal and social life tucked away in separate compartments – he had no intention of changing anything.
‘A bit of both probably,’ he conceded, his eyes watchful.
‘Well …’ She stood up to go, her manner cool. ‘I’m not sure we can go on like this – you’d miss me you know if I wasn’t around. Just think about that.’
‘I will.’ Nick said, also rising. He refrained from mentioning that ultimatums usually signalled the end of his relationships.
CHAPTER TWENTY
‘Smells good,’ Ellie commented, bouncing into the kitchen and sniffing the air.
‘Fry-up,’ Grace said, transferring the ingredients from the pan onto a plate. ‘I thought if you were going to be out for most of the day you’d want something decent inside you.’
‘I haven’t got much time before Will gets here.’
‘You’ve got twenty minutes. Plenty of time to get that lot down you.’
‘He’s nice, don’t you think?’ Ellie said tucking into her food. ‘And his dad’s really cool …’ Her voice trailed off and Grace wondered if she was thinking of her own father who’d been so very different.
‘What’s his mother like?’ she asked swiftly, to distract her. ‘Did you get to meet her yesterday?’
‘She died. When Will was only eight. Isn’t that sad?’
‘Yes, it is.’ Grace was shocked. She hadn’t imagined for one minute that Nick would be a widower.
‘Will says his dad loved his mum so much he’s never found anyone else to replace her. That’s so romantic.’
‘I think it’s sad.’
‘Maybe.’ Ellie gave it some thought. ‘Will says he reckons that lady we met yesterday is after his dad and his dad doesn’t even realise it – but over his dead body he says!’
‘Whose? Will’s or his father’s?’ Grace’s tone was amused.
‘Will’s, of course. He doesn’t like her. He’s worried his dad will be taken in by her.’
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