Cora swallowed a sudden lump in her throat.
‘It doesn’t have to be just the two of you, Alice. You have friends. We’ll help. You won’t have to do it all on your own.’
‘Friends?’ Alice’s voice was barely a whisper this time.
Cora nodded. ‘Friends,’ she said.
63
Three weeks later
‘I’m happy. I really do feel happy. And I feel lucky too – is that weird?’
‘Well, you’re always a bit weird Cora. But yes, you’re lucky. Lucky to be alive for one thing, after the murderer boyfriend thing and all.’
Nicole rolled her eyes, then smiled and clinked champagne glasses with Cora. Rosie, who had finally given birth two weeks ago after what seemed to all of them like the longest pregnancy in history, grinned up at them from the sofa, where she was contentedly breast-feeding little Amy. Alistair, his arm wrapped around his wife’s shoulders, looked up for a moment to smile at Cora too, then resumed his besotted gazing at his new daughter. Nicole’s Will, sitting next to him, raised his eyes heavenwards, and they all laughed.
It was a beautiful day, the warm May sunshine streaming in through the open doors to the roof terrace. Inside, Cora’s living room was all set up for a Sunday lunch party, table pushed back against the wall and groaning with food, white balloons tied to the backs of chairs, and plenty of champagne, white wine and beer cooling in the kitchen. She wasn’t sure exactly why she’d felt the need to throw a party, but it suddenly seemed that after a horrible few months, lots of her friends now had something to celebrate. Rosie’s gorgeous new baby, Alice’s pregnancy, Adam’s successful cracking of the murder case, and, for Cora herself, the news that she would be covering Alice’s maternity leave. Six months, maybe longer, in the studio in London. And, amazingly, all with Alice’s blessing. Their friendship had had a tentative start, but there was no doubt it was now a friendship.
There was a buzz at the door intercom and Cora whooped, put her glass down carefully on the mantelpiece and ran to answer it. It seemed everyone else had arrived at once, and within minutes the flat was full of chatter and laughter. Scott, Nathan and Rodney had come together, all with their partners, and all three wearing the silly T-shirts she’d picked up for them in an airport souvenir shop while she and Justin had been waiting for their flight home from Spain.
To her great delight, she’d found a white T-shirt with the slogan ‘Idiot Seeking Village’, now proudly sported by Rodney. Shaven-headed Scott’s said ‘Who Needs Hair With a Body Like This?’ and intolerant Nathan had been thrilled with ‘I See Dumb People’. She hugged them all happily. She’d miss them during her London stint, but Alice would be around for a few months yet so she and her crew would have the summer on the road together – the best time of year for morning TV reporters, with daylight from 4 a.m. and no need for thermals.
‘Right – where’s the food, Cora?’ demanded Scott, after he’d stopped whirling her around in a huge, dancing bear hug.
She laughed, a little out of breath, and pointed across the room. Scott’s eyes lit up.
‘Marvellous! I could eat a hearse!’
‘Horse, not hearse!’ chorused Cora, Nathan and Rodney, to delighted laughter from everyone else in the room. Cora shook her head. Scott really was the original Mr Malaprop.
Leaving the boys to descend on the buffet like starving creatures, Nathan play-wrestling a recently arrived Justin away from the chicken legs, she went to join Sam and Wendy who’d caught the morning train from London and were currently arguing over who should get first cuddle of Rosie’s baby.
‘Oi! Cuddle me instead!’ Cora demanded.
They both obliged.
‘You look good. Better than I’ve seen you look in ages, to be honest,’ Sam said, appraising her with a critical eye. ‘Wonder why that it is, eh, Wend?’
She nudged Wendy, who almost spilled her drink.
‘Sam! But yes, you do look rather gorgeous, Cora. And yes, I think we can guess why.’
Cora couldn’t help blushing. ‘Shut up,’ she said, smiling.
She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in the big mirror over the fireplace. She did look good. Her skin was glowing, eyes bright, even her hair seemed shinier. Across the room, she caught Adam’s eye. He was deep in conversation with Alice, but when he saw her looking at him he beamed. Alice glanced over her shoulder, grinned, and waved her glass of orange juice in the air to beckon Cora over.
‘Thanks so much for inviting me,’ she said. ‘I’ll stop hogging him now, there’s a baby I need to go and bounce on my knee – get some practice in!’
‘Yes, you’ll need plenty, young Alice. Better get used to baby sick on your cashmere too.’
Alice groaned and headed across to where the girls were all still cooing over the angelic Amy. Cora watched as they all greeted Alice with warm smiles. Phew. She knew how they all felt about Alice, but they’d agreed to make an effort for Cora’s sake, and she was relieved they were keeping their word. That was another thing she had to be thankful for. Her friends truly were wonderful.
‘So – nice party,’ Adam said, dragging her attention back to him.
‘Delighted you could make it,’ she said.
And even more delighted that you’ve asked me out, and that we’re having dinner next week, she thought. They fell into easy conversation, wandering out onto the roof terrace where Harry was crouched in the sunshine, playing some sort of intense game involving toy cars and Lego, and chatting animatedly to Rosie’s Ava and Alexander and Nicole’s serious-faced little Elliot.
‘Children, at one of my parties. I must be getting old,’ Cora mused.
‘They’re not so bad. Honest.’
‘I know. Well, some of them anyway. These four are pretty special, I think.’
They rested their glasses on the balcony ledge, a light breeze ruffling their hair and bringing the scent of roses across from the adjoining terrace where Oliver had appeared some time earlier and was now stretched out in the sunshine like a small, discarded fur coat. The cat reminded Cora of the night when Benjamin had finally been caught. She shuddered slightly and looked away. He was on remand now, awaiting sentencing. She’d been bombarded by requests from newspapers over the past few weeks, trying to sign her up for ‘My Boyfriend was a Killer’ exclusives once the court case was over, but she’d turned them all down. She wanted to move on now, not dwell on what had happened. She didn’t know how things would work out with Adam – she still had no desire for full-time children in her life, but her attraction to him was so strong she’d been powerless to turn him down when he’d nervously asked her out. And she genuinely liked Harry. She drained her glass and smiled up at the policeman.
‘Come on, let’s go and eat, I’m starving.’
‘Sure. Er – you didn’t make the food though, did you? I’d quite like to be alive to see Boland permanently behind bars …’
‘Cheek! How do you know I can’t cook anyway?’
‘I may have been chatting to your friends, possibly …’
Cora rolled her eyes. ‘Some friends. They’re right though. So, no, I didn’t cook, it’s catered, you’re quite safe.’
They were still laughing as they reached the buffet table. Cora was just popping a goat’s cheese canapé into her mouth when her mobile rang. She fished it out of her pocket. Work. Great.
‘Hi, Alan,’ she mumbled, mouth full of cheese.
‘Cora. Sorry to interrupt your lunch – nothing urgent, I know you’ve booked today off, just a quick heads up for tomorrow’s lives. Need you in Weston-super-Mare. Talking donkey on the beach. I’ll email you the details later, OK?’
She swallowed, shaking her head. ‘Talking donkey. Yep, fine. Talk to you in the morning.’
She ended the call. Adam was staring at her in amazement.
‘A talking donkey? Your job is insane, Cora. Quite insane.’
‘Oh, good, does that mean a trip to Weston? Ice-cream for breakfast then!’ Nathan appeared at Adam
’s side, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
‘Indeed.’ Cora grinned and pulled her cameraman towards her for a hug. He picked her up and swung her around, her legs narrowly missing a small table laden with glasses.
‘The A-Team, back on the road for a summer of fun!’ he trilled, then plonked her down again. Adam watched them, grinning.
Cora took a deep breath and gazed around the room, at her friends and colleagues, all happy and healthy and here. Today was a good day. And tomorrow there’d be a talking donkey. She raised her glass, and laughed out loud.
THE END
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Published by Accent Press Ltd 2015
ISBN 9781783759309
Copyright © Jackie Kabler 2015
The right of Jackie Kabler to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The story contained within this book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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