She sniffed. ‘Well it would be nice to add to my wide repertoire of delicious recipes.’
‘Of course.’ He moved round her kitchen, tidying and wiping the sides and she realised that he still felt guilty. ‘How about tomorrow night, we’ll cook together and then we can eat it.’
Joy blinked at the sudden offer. They had gone from a vague ‘sometime’ to an actual date. The thought of working companionably alongside him tugged at her heart.
‘As friends,’ he quickly said.
‘Of course as friends, I’m not your type.’ She tried to supress the smirk.
‘Definitely not.’ His mouth twitched as he turned away busying himself with some imaginary stain. ‘I prefer blondes.’
She felt the smile growing at the stupidity of it all. ‘Good, I don’t really like big men.’
He turned back. ‘You don’t?’
‘No, not at all, I prefer my men quite short.’
‘That’s er great, I’m glad we’ve set the parameters. So tomorrow night we’ll just be two friends who aren’t remotely attracted to each other, cooking together.’
She nodded and he bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.
He suddenly took her chin in his huge, strong hand which sent another wave of desire crashing through her.
‘You look exhausted, didn’t you sleep last night?’
She wrestled with whether to tell him but didn’t have the energy or the incentive to lie.
‘Someone threw a brick through my window last night, when I came running downstairs I found this.’
She passed him the note she’d found wrapped around the brick telling her to ‘fuk off’. She didn’t know which was worse, if it was a kid, influenced by his parents to hate her or that the residents of Bramble Hill were illiterate morons.
‘What the hell is this?’
‘The villagers hate me.’
‘Right, this is going to stop. I thought the dog shit was a childish prank, I didn’t realise it had escalated to this. I should have done something before.’
‘I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.’
‘Well that’s good, what are you going to do about it?’
She had nothing. A fair few practical jokes and tricks had entered her mind – from writing rude messages in bleach on their perfect lawns to stealing all their garden gnomes or posting an ant nest through their letterboxes – but although it might make her feel better, it wasn’t going to solve anything.
‘Right, do you have a copy of your lease or the contract for the house, naming Joe as your landlord and you as the client?’
She went to a drawer and sifted through a pile of envelopes. ‘I thought about doing this myself, but they won’t give me a chance to talk.’ She passed him the contract.
‘Let me take care of this.’
‘Finn…’
‘You don’t have to be so fiercely independent all the time. It’s ok to ask for help now and again. You’re my friend, let me help you.’
At this stage she was willing to try anything. She nodded and he strode out, a man with a purpose.
*
Joy was on her way back from walking Darcy when she saw Casey up ahead, obviously on his way round to Zach’s again. She called him and then caught him up as he waited for her. She smiled to herself when he greeted her with what seemed a habitual hug and kiss.
‘How goes the wedding plans?’
Casey rolled his eyes. ‘That woman changes her mind faster than I change my underwear.’
‘Once a week?’
Casey nudged her. ‘Currently it seems like five times a day.’
‘That’s a lot of underwear.’
Ignoring the jibe, Casey pressed on. ‘Last week we were having a cellist to welcome the guests, then it was a violinist, then I think it was a twelve piece choir. Why do the guests need to be welcomed at all? I’m going to be there with Finn to shake hands and ensure they all have drinks, isn’t that enough of a welcome? Why don’t we have a brass band or a dancing clown or a trapeze artist or how about a great banner saying “Welcome” in fifty foot high letters. I’ve been to loads of weddings in my time, some good, some bad, some indifferent, but I’ve never gone away thinking that I wasn’t made to feel welcome enough.’
She squeezed his hand as they walked. ‘Casey, do you really have to go through with all this? I never told you the other day, what with all the erm… Dark Shadow stuff, but I spoke with your mum. She just wants you to be happy, she even said that if you were gay she would be happy for you.’
‘I know, she’d be fine about it. But it’s gone too far now. If I tell her now she’ll know that I was only going through all this to keep her happy, she’ll be heartbroken that I couldn’t tell her the truth. And she’s so deliriously happy organising this wedding, I just can’t seem to find the courage to break her heart.’
‘Are you seriously going to commit to a long and unhappy marriage, bring children into a loveless relationship, deny who you are for the rest of your life… just to keep her happy?’
‘It won’t last, maybe a few months before Arielle leaves me or slips up enough for me to catch her in one of her many affairs. Then at least, once the divorce is over, I might be able to finally tell her the truth. But Mum needs this right now, the project, the excitement. I can’t take it all away from her, for all her efforts to turn to nothing.’
She sighed sadly for him. It must have been agonizing to see his mum reduced to a lifeless shell with no passion for anything anymore. If she had been in Casey’s shoes, she probably would have done the same thing just to make her mum happy again.
They heard a door slam and they watched Finn, from a distance, stride away from a house angrily and walk up the drive of the house next door. Was he visiting every house in the village to tell them who she really was? From the looks of it, he wasn’t getting a positive response.
As she and Casey neared the pond, they stopped to watch a small group of villagers hanging bunting from the trees
‘What are they doing?’ Joy said.
‘I’m no expert, but it seems like they’re hanging bunting from the trees.’
‘Excellent deductions, Holmes. CID must be so proud to have you on their team. I meant why?’
‘Oh for the Friendliest Village Competition. Last day of the month I think, there’ll be a fete type thing; cake sales, face painting, bouncy castle, free jam tasting.’
She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Kind of ironic that they win Friendliest Village award nine years in a row, when they seem hell bent on making my life a misery.’
‘Still no progress on that?’
She told him about the cakes that had been shoved through her letterbox, the daily offerings of dog poo shoved through her door or left on the doorstep, the eggs and what had happened the night before with the brick through her window.
‘Jeez, this is getting serious. Have you told the police?’
‘Yes I phoned the local station this morning, the one halfway between here and Ashton Woods. The policeman there told me, in no uncertain terms, that it would be better for everyone if I did leave.’
Casey rolled his eyes. ‘Mr Burton,’ He almost spat the name out. ‘He and Mrs Kemblewick were very good friends. I can take this higher if you want?’
She turned away from the pond and headed towards her house. ‘It’s a bit beyond CID’s remit isn’t it?’
‘Yes but I have contacts.’
‘No it’s fine, I’m not sure what they could do anyway. We don’t know who is doing it, whether it’s two or three people or a whole village of haters.’
Casey whistled for Darcy who was seemingly transfixed by the bunting. ‘How about some revenge of your own?’
‘Post Darcy’s poo through all the letterboxes, with a note saying “Screw you and Mrs Kemblewick”?’
‘Not quite what I had in mind. My mum is on the committee for this Friendliest Village award, she despairs that Bramble Hill wins it year after year.’
> ‘Yes, how is it that they’ve won so often? Friendliest village in Hertfordshire I could understand. Well, not really considering their attitude to me, but okay, it’s believable – but Friendliest Village in Britain?’
Casey dug in his pocket and offered her a Starburst, she chose a strawberry before he chose a lime green one for himself with relish.
‘Really?’ She gestured to the lime green sweet in shock.
‘They’re my favourites,’ he said, defensively. ‘It’s a nonsense award Joy, a self-proclaimed title. No one contests it, because no one in Britain even knows Bramble Hill exists, let alone their much exulted status. It started ten years ago when somebody in Bramble Hill decided there should be a competition between the local villages to see who could be classed as the friendliest village. A committee was raised, existing of the well-to-do ladies, one from each village, and some of the owners of the big manor houses in the area. No one really had a clue how they could prove their village was the friendliest, though it was deemed that the committee would visit each village in turn on a certain day to see what it had to offer. On the day that they visited here, Bramble Hill held their now annual fete. The committee were most impressed with the auction where the villagers auction off their time as prizes – mowing lawns, cutting hair, cleaning, all that sort of thing – with all the money going to charity. The committee said the auction showed real camaraderie and community spirit and as the other villages had done nothing, they declared Bramble Hill the winner. I think the second year a few of the other villages held fetes, but as Bramble Hill were offering free car washes to all who attended their fete they won again. After that, the other villages didn’t bother to try to win and Bramble Hill has won year after year.’
‘So bribery goes a long way?’ Joy gestured for Casey to follow her into her house, though he was already walking up her path as if he belonged there.
‘The point being, the committee are getting a bit fed up of Bramble Hill winning every year, they know it’s all a load of nonsense. But some of them, my mum included, would love to see Bramble Hill get its comeuppance. They know that their attitude to newcomers is less than desirable, that they’re rude to tourists. There was talk the other day of setting up a Most Miserable Village award. Something like this would be like adding fuel to the fire. They would love to hear about how they are treating you, that would end Bramble Hill’s gloried reign once and for all.’
Joy smiled as she boiled the kettle. It was tempting, very tempting for a bit of swift retribution of her own. But she shook her head. ‘I’d really like to make a go of living here. I’ve moved around so much over the last few years and I think it’s time to stop running and finally settle down. If I go to the committee with this, if I took away their treasured crown, there’s no way I could stay here then. My life would be made a living hell.’
‘More so than it is already?’
‘I’m sure a few bits of dog poo would be the least of my worries.’
*
Joy was staring out of her window at the village, when Finn came running from his house, leapt in his truck and tore off up the road. Something was clearly up.
She finished her cup of tea and was just about to wash it up when there was a knock on the door.
When she opened it, she was surprised to see Lily standing on her doorstep, with three helium balloons in her hand.
‘Hello ragamuffin, have you come round to see Finn? He’s just gone out,’ Joy looked around for Lily’s parents but she seemed to be completely alone.
‘What’s a ragamuffin?’
‘It means you’re a dirty little mud monster. Where’s your mum or dad?’
She saw the wobble of Lily’s lip. ‘I’ve run away from home.’
Crap.
‘Well I’m glad you came to me, in you come.’
Lily shuffled in, her shoulders slumped. ‘You won’t tell them I’m here? I’ll run away again if they find me.’
‘No of course not, it’ll be our secret. Do you want some ice cream, it’s coconut flavoured?’
Lily nodded, her whole face lighting up.
Her parents would be worried sick by now, that’s probably why Finn had sped out of the village so quickly to join the search for her. She’d have to text Finn somehow without Lily knowing.
Joy grabbed the ice cream from the fridge and started dishing up two portions while Lily watched her astutely.
‘So what’s this about?’
‘I told Mum and Dad about the balloon thing we talked about, about sending notes to Granddad in heaven and Dad said there was no such thing as heaven.’
Good lord, why didn’t he tell her there was no Santa, Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy whilst he was at it?
‘He said the balloons would float in the air and eventually come down and get stuck in a tree and it was a silly idea.’
Joy and Lily had chatted a lot about her granddad the day before and Joy had mentioned what she had done when her parents had died with little messages tied to balloons. She hadn’t realised that Lily would grab onto this with both hands.
‘Is that true?’ Lily asked, the wobble back on her lip.
This was tricky ground. ‘What do you believe?’
‘I think that Granddad is still here sometimes, watching over us.’
‘So, it doesn’t matter whether he reads the note in heaven, or whether he is here when you write it.’
‘No…’ Lily seemed doubtful.
‘I guess what really matters is that you have a chance to say goodbye to him, to tell him how you feel, and I bet somehow, he’ll know.’
This wasn’t just chatting now, this was full on interfering, exactly what Finn had told her not to do the day before. But clearly Lily needed to say goodbye to her granddad and as she had been denied that chance at the funeral the day before, that was what was at the root of her running away. Joy sucked on her spoon. Really she should phone Finn, tell him where Lily was, that she was still upset over her granddad and they needed to do something to help her to come to terms with it. It wasn’t her place to do this.
‘I’ve bought three balloons from the shop, one for Granddad, one for Boris and one for you to write to your parents too.’
‘Oh.’ So there was no choice. If it wasn’t resolved today, if Joy let her down, then Lily might run away again and this time she might not come back to Joy, she might go off on her own and that was terrifying. Lily just needed some closure and if her parents and Finn were angry with Joy for doing this then so be it. But she still had to tell Finn where Lily was.
‘Where do you live?’
‘Chalk Rise,’ Lily said, playing with the string of one of the balloons that were bobbing around on the ceiling, desperate for their freedom.
That was a ten minute drive away, five minutes at the speed Finn was driving earlier. They would have to be quick before her parents came round and shouted at Lily for running away and at Joy for interfering.
‘I have some purple notepaper upstairs by my bed, go and grab it for me and we’ll write some messages together. Do you know what you want to say?’
Lily nodded and ran out the room.
Joy grabbed her phone and fired off a quick text to Finn. ‘Lily is here, she doesn’t want you to know, give us some time.’
Her phone burst into life immediately, with Finn’s name flashing on the screen. There really was nothing subtle about him. She heard Lily thundering down the stairs and she quickly dismissed the call and turned the phone off. Finn would be furious.
Lily sat down at the table and started writing. Joy sat next to her.
‘Will you read mine to see if it’s ok?’ Lily asked as she wrote.
‘I’m sure it will be, but yes if you want me to.’
‘And I’ll read yours too.’
‘Oh, ok.’
Joy stared at the piece of paper, wondering what she could say to her parents – something that would sum up twenty years of missing them in just a few lines. She couldn’t even remember what she had
written on the balloon twenty years before. Now, when she knew Lily’s dad was right about the message landing in a tree somewhere, she was finding it even harder. But Lily needed to know that this was something serious for Joy too. If she could see them again, one more time, just for a few seconds, what would she tell them?
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and started writing.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lily had finished her note to her granddad and had now, presumably, started on Boris’s note.
‘Finished,’ Lily declared, proudly.
‘Me too.’
Lily slid hers across the table for Joy to read.
‘To Granddad. I will miss you and think of you every day. You gave the best piggy backs and you made me laugh a lot. I love you. Don’t eat too many toffees in heaven, they will rot your teeth.’
Joy smiled and then she read the note to Boris and she nearly burst into tears.
‘Dear Boris. Please look after Granddad and go on lots of long walks with him. He missed you so much when you died so I’m happy that you are together again. He might miss us now too so if you play with him often and wag your tail and roll on your back and make him laugh then he might not miss us too much. I love you Boris.’
Lily was trying to read what Joy had written. ‘What does it say?’
Joy cleared her throat. ‘It says, “To Mum and Dad, there hasn’t been a single day that I haven’t thought of you or missed you. You should know that Alex has turned out to be someone you would have been very proud of. You did a brilliant job in raising him and because of you he did a brilliant job in raising me. I have so many happy memories of my life with you, but now for the first time, I’m looking to the future and not living in the past. I love you and I always will”.’
Lily stared at her, clearly not understanding half of what she had written, but she nodded her approval.
Joy helped her to tie the notes to the balloons and they went outside, just as she heard Finn’s truck pull up out the front.
‘You ready?’ Joy said, bracing herself for the assault that was bound to come. Lily took her hand and nodded. ‘After three?’
Beneath the Moon and the Stars Page 15