The Doris Day Vintage Film Club

by Fiona Harper

  And then lips met lips again. Claire let go, just sunk into it. It was only as she did so that she realised just how tired she’d become keeping a tight grip of control of everything in her life, of how nice it was to let it all fall in a heap at her feet and forget about it.

  She’d been feeling so raw since that meeting with her father, and this was the perfect salve, the perfect way to help her forget about scheming, manipulating men who only wanted to trick women, who only wanted to push them around for fun.

  He pulled back. ‘Claire? About the other thing—’

  She placed a finger over his lips. ‘No,’ she whispered, looking him right in the eye. ‘No bad news. Not tonight. Please? I’ve had enough to deal with this week already.’

  ‘But—’

  She shook her head and shut him up with another kiss. ‘Save it for another day.’

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  I Love the Way You Say Goodnight

  This time, when Dominic walked Claire home, it took a lot longer. Mainly because they stopped at every other street light to kiss. She kept smiling at him. A smile he hadn’t seen before. A smile that made him want to start dancing like that guy from Singing in the Rain, even though there wasn’t a cloud in the warm summer night sky. He frowned for a moment. Was Doris Day in Singing in the Rain? He wasn’t sure.

  They talked as they walked too. ‘Forget your father,’ he told her. ‘The man obviously has mental problems if he doesn’t want you in his life. If he doesn’t get down on his knees and beg you for forgiveness, he’s a goddam fool.’

  Claire responded to this by grabbing hold of his T-shirt and pulling him towards her and kissing him again. He grinned stupidly back at her. He liked seeing her happy, and it made his chest swell a little – and his head, maybe, but he wasn’t going to admit to that – to think that he’d helped lift her mood. It wasn’t often that he managed to say the right thing to a woman at the right time, but with Claire somehow it was getting easier and easier.

  Even with all the unplanned stops, they reached their shared front gate way sooner than he wanted to.

  He very much wanted to tell her everything, he realised. This pretence felt like a heavy winter coat he was stifling under, one that he couldn’t wait to shrug off.

  But not tonight. He was going to respect her wishes. She needed a breather, time to think and regroup. Tonight he would be the perfect gentleman. He walked her to the gate, kissed her thoroughly but didn’t push for an invitation inside, and this time, when she finally closed the door behind her, instead of sneaking in after her he kept on walking.

  Ten minutes later, he was back at Pete and Ellen’s. Pete answered. He was wearing his pyjamas. ‘Sorry, buddy!’ Dominic said, looking at his watch. Crikey! Was that the time?

  Pete yawned but motioned for him to come inside. ‘No problems,’ he muttered. ‘I hadn’t gone to bed yet. Ellie’s gone up, but I was watching Die Hard.’

  Through the backs of your eyelids, by the looks of it, thought Dominic, but he didn’t say so. Pete grabbed him a beer from the fridge and they sat down in the dark, only the flickering blue light from the TV screen to light them, and watched in silence while Bruce Willis took on a tower block full of terrorists single-handed. And barefoot.

  When the adverts came on Pete, still staring at the screen, said, ‘It didn’t go to well, huh?’

  Dominic swigged his beer bottle back. ‘What makes you think it went badly?’

  Pete turned to face him. ‘Mate … You’ve arrived unannounced at close to midnight and you’re being awkward as hell.’

  Dominic allowed himself a small smile. ‘Well, if by badly you mean kissing her, then I suppose it went terribly.’

  Pete slapped him on the back. ‘All right!’ Then the grin slid from his face as he took a long hard look at his best friend. ‘So why aren’t you doing a Tom Cruise and jumping up and down on my sofa?’

  ‘I am excited, it’s just … I still haven’t told her everything and I promised myself I would before I let anything happen between us.’

  ‘Hang on, rewind,’ Pete said, suddenly looking very serious. ‘You haven’t told her everything?’

  Dominic shook his head again. ‘I tried. I got as far as debunking the mythical girlfriend and then she kissed me, and then she asked me not to tell her any more. So we just kept on kissing.’

  Pete sighed. ‘You tell a woman you’ve been lying to her for weeks, inventing a fake life, and her first reaction is to kiss you? Mate, if I could bottle what you’ve got I’d be a rich man!’

  Dominic frowned. ‘You’re making it sound worse than it is. Anyway, do you think I’ve overstepped the mark?’

  ‘Nah,’ said Pete, who now had one eye on the TV screen, because the adverts had finished and Bruce had made a reappearance. ‘She kissed you first. Not your fault. End of.’

  Dominic nodded. There was that. Technically, he was in the clear.

  Then why did ‘technically’ make him feel a little bit slimy?

  ‘Wanna crash here the night?’ Pete asked.

  ‘Could I? It would be much easier than trying to creep around and not bump into Claire in the hallway.’

  ‘Sure. You can have the sofa.’ Pete turned to him and grinned. ‘But not yet, right? Cos Die Hard II is on straight after this.’

  Dominic grinned back and they clinked beer bottles.

  ‘Tell her tomorrow,’ Pete said matter-of-factly, more of his attention on Bruce Willis – who was tying up a bad guy, dressing him up as Santa and sending him down in the lift with a message to the baddies written across his chest – than on his best friend.

  ‘That’s what she said … just about. I want to, but I’m just not sure it’s the right thing.’

  ‘Really?’ Pete mumbled, not taking his eyes from the screen.

  Dominic nodded. ‘There’s this whole thing with her father.’ He glanced across at Pete and decided going into detail would be a lost cause. ‘It’s complicated. I don’t want to make things worse for her. I think she’s going to be upset when I come clean, and she’s got enough on her plate to deal with at the moment, you know?’

  Pete grunted his agreement.

  ‘But not telling her could be a huge mistake. What do you think I should do?’

  Pete didn’t answer for a moment.

  Dominic stopped watching the TV and looked at his best friend. ‘Pete? Are you listening?’

  Pete nodded. ‘Of course.’

  Dominic raised his eyebrows. ‘Then what did I just say?’

  ‘Don’t tell her and save her feelings or do tell her and make her upset,’ Pete reeled off.

  Dominic glared at him. He hated it when Pete did that. He knew it drove Ellen nuts as well. Pete had a point, though. His no-frills summary had clarified things very nicely. ‘So you don’t think I should tell her the rest, then? Not yet?’

  Pete shook his head and flinched as another bad guy took a bullet.

  Dominic nodded to himself. Okay, he felt better about it now. While he didn’t like lying to Claire, he was doing this for her, and that was what she’d been teaching him, hadn’t it? To think about what the woman in his life needed and act on it?

  ‘Got any leftovers of that bolognese?’ he asked Pete.

  Pete nodded. ‘Fridge,’ he all but grunted, and Dominic got up and headed towards the kitchen.

  Upstairs, Ellen lay sleeping, the sheet thrown off her, totally unaware of the advice her husband was dispensing in her absence. Had she been privy to it, though, she might well have rolled her eyes and said, ‘Oh, Pete … What on earth have you gone and done this time?’

  *

  Claire couldn’t sleep. She was sitting up in her bed, pretending she was reading a book, but actually she was just sitting there, grinning. She couldn’t keep this to herself any longer. She picked up her phone and fired off a quick text to Peggy. Thankfully, there was a good chance she’d get a reply. Peggy was a bit of a night owl. There was no point disturbing Candy, because she had probably fallen
into bed not long after her kids.

  You’ll never guess what! she typed, knowing Peggy would never be able to resist such a text, even if she was sleepy.

  What?!! came back, almost instantly.

  Claire grinned to herself. The lovely warm feeling inside kept on growing. I saw loverboy tonight.

  The next text was pure Peggy. !!??!!? While she was still chuckling about it, another one arrived: Is that good or bad?

  Good, Claire replied. Definitely good. And then she decided to put poor Peggy out of her misery. He hasn’t got a girlfriend.

  She could feel the stunned silence at Peggy’s end. She recovered a few seconds later, though. He chucked her?

  Claire inhaled. There was no easy way to explain the conversation she’d had with Nick this evening via text, so she decided to leave the explanations for later and just stick to the juicy details.

  Long story …

  But he kissed me.

  Peggy sent back a string of characters that Claire couldn’t understand. She twisted her phone ninety degrees to see if that helped, but eventually she gave in and just sent a message back saying, Huh?

  I was trying to do an emoticon version of me fainting, Peggy replied, but it obvs lost something in translation.

  But OMG!!!

  Claire just grinned at her phone. Indeed. She waited, knowing the full inquisition would soon start.

  Was it good?

  Is he still gorgeous?

  Did you ask him inside?

  And there it was. Yes, yes and no, she replied, and then they spent the next ten minutes messaging back and forth until Claire was yawning hard and going cross-eyed trying to focus on her phone screen.

  She said her goodbyes to Peggy, turned off the light and snuggled down into her pillows, still smiling, but after a few seconds she sat bolt upright again, her eyes wide.

  Oh my goodness!

  She’d been so caught up in walking home with Nick and all that delicious kissing that she’d totally forgotten she’d left her car parked down the road from The Glass Bottom Boat!

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The Thrill of It All

  The following Tuesday, Claire, Peggy and Candy met early before the film club meeting. They ordered drinks and then took them to the upper room, where they could talk undisturbed for a while. Claire filled them in on all the details of her evening with Nick.

  Peggy frowned when Claire told them about the whole ‘fake girlfriend’ business. ‘Hmm,’ she said. ‘I still think that all sounds a bit fishy.’

  ‘Aw, no,’ Candy replied. ‘I think it’s sweet. He can’t think straight when he’s around her.’

  Claire looked from one to the other. ‘I know.’

  ‘Who are you agreeing with?’ Peggy asked. ‘Me, or her?’

  ‘Both of you.’

  Candy and Peggy looked at her funny.

  ‘What I mean is that I feel a bit the same way. It was very sweet, but it also … I dunno … rang some of my alarm bells. That’s why I wanted to ask your advice about something.’

  ‘Fire away,’ Peggy said.

  ‘Of course,’ Candy replied.

  Claire folded her hands on the table in front of her as the other two leaned in. ‘I want to know if you think I should invite him to the Doris Day Film Club. Next week. Or do you think that’ll scare him off?’

  Peggy and Candy looked at each other and then back at Claire.

  ‘Erm … Is it really his kind of thing?’ Candy asked. ‘He sounds a bit more of an action man than a sit indoors and watch films kind of guy.’

  Claire shifted in her seat. ‘I really don’t know, but I have to admit, I have an ulterior motive for asking.’

  Peggy grinned. ‘Ooh, do tell!’

  ‘Well, everything inside me is telling me this is the real deal, that I should go for it …’

  ‘But?’ Candy said.

  Claire looked at her. ‘But I keep thinking about how my “man radar” is broken, that I really can’t trust my own instincts. That’s why I need you – both of you and the rest of the Doris Day Film Club – to help me. I might not be able to tell fact from fiction where a good-looking man is concerned, but I trust you lot to do it for me.’

  Candy sipped her wine. ‘In that case, I think you should definitely bring him.’

  ‘Me too,’ Peggy said, ‘and it has nothing at all to do with the fact I’m dying of curiosity to see who this god of a man is!’

  ‘So … It’s kind of like a test,’ Candy said slowly.

  Claire nodded. ‘Exactly. If he passes, then I know I can take things to the next level without getting all paranoid and suspicious.’ Then she’d really be able to let her whole self go where her heart wanted to drag her.

  It wasn’t long before the rest of the film club members started arriving and Claire got this week’s selection out: The Thrill of It All. She was definitely ready to see a light, frothy – in more ways than one – romantic comedy. The way she’d been feeling since Saturday night had almost erased the memory of that visit with her father. Almost.

  Claire was pleased to that Abby had returned to the scene of Saturday night’s crime and had come along to watch the film. The pain of her mother’s outburst must still be pretty fresh because, as far as Claire could gather, Abby hadn’t been home since and was still staying with Kitty and Grace.

  However, living with the two girls was obviously having a positive effect on her – at least in the fashion department. Today, she looked comfortable in skinny jeans and a T-shirt that didn’t totally swamp her athletic frame. Grace had been right. Abby really did have great legs, and was that a bit of mascara Claire could detect on her eyelashes?

  They were just about to get going when there was a knock on the door. All of the film club members looked at each other. They were all here. Who on earth could that be?

  Claire got up and opened the door. She found one of Abby’s ‘lads’ standing there, the tall one. She cleared her throat and stepped aside. ‘Abby? I think there’s someone here to see you.’

  Abby looked up from where she was sitting and her mouth dropped open. ‘Ricky! What are you doing here?’

  ‘I came to see you.’

  She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Here? Now?’

  ‘Well, you haven’t been answering your messages and when I called at yours, your mum slammed the door in my face. Apparently, I’m in trouble for something.’

  Abby grunted. ‘That makes two of us!’

  He grinned at her and she smiled grudgingly back at him. Claire could clearly see the strong friendship between them, along with a little flash of something more, but then Abby seemed to remember that she was upset with him and her smile faded. ‘It’s not the right time,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I can’t deal with all of the stuff with my mum and you right now.’

  Ricky, too, stopped smiling. ‘Please?’ he said.

  Abby’s eyes were large, but her mouth was a thin line and she shook her head.

  Ricky stepped forward. ‘I came to your mum’s party, you know, but by the time I’d got there, everyone said you’d left and I couldn’t find you. I looked for ages.’

  Abby’s eyes grew even wider. ‘You did?’

  ‘Oh, go on,’ Maggs said, giving Abby a nudge. ‘Give the poor lad a chance!’

  Kitty, Grace and even Peggy shuffled a little further forward on their chairs. Claire narrowed her eyes at them. ‘Why don’t you two do this in private,’ she suggested and quickly shooed them out the door.

  ‘Spoilsport,’ Peggy said.

  Claire gave her a look that she’d inherited from her grandmother. ‘You should know better.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Kitty squeaked excitedly. ‘He’s taken her outside and they’re standing right under the windows. Look!’

  ‘Kitty!’ Claire began to say, but she was drowned out by the stampede as the rest of the film club members – including Candy, even though she hung back a little – fought for position at one of the two sash windows. Claire sighed
and shook her head. It seemed, when it all boiled down to it, they were all joined by their love of a good romance. She sidled a little closer. Just to make sure everyone was behaving themselves, of course.

  ‘He’s saying he’s sorry,’ Kitty yelled over her shoulder, ‘and that she looked very pretty in that dress the other week.’

  There was a murmur of agreement from the film club, but they hushed again quickly so Kitty could give them the next instalment.

  ‘And he’s saying he’s sorry for being such an idiot … That he was scared when he thought their friendship might change …’

  ‘Aw,’ Candy said, turning to look at Claire. ‘That’s so sweet! I hope my boys are like that when they’re old enough to have girlfriends.’

  ‘Shhh!’ Maggs said, giving her friendly elbow.

  Kitty held up a hand. ‘She’s speaking now … She’s saying that she just needed to show him she was a girl … Awww.’

  ‘What?’ said Grace sharply, who was squeezed in behind Kitty and couldn’t hear as well. ‘Don’t just go “awww”! Tell us what he blooming said!’

  ‘All right, Grace. Don’t get your frilly vintage knickers in a twist! He just said he always knew she was a girl – Ooh! Look! Now they’re kissing!’

  Everyone pressed forward again and there was a round of applause. Claire was worried someone was going to tumble out of the window and onto the pavement below, and she was worried that someone was probably going to be Kitty, because everything upwards from her hips was leaning out the window and, with those boobs, she was a little top-heavy.

  She moved a little closer and hooked a finger under Kitty’s wide red belt, just to make sure, and, as she did so, she took the opportunity to rise onto her tiptoes and take a peek herself.

  Yep. Abby and Ricky were definitely kissing.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  The Man Who Knew Too Much

  ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Claire looked steadily at Nick, trying to detect a flicker of fear, any hint that he was lying to her, but she saw nothing.