Natural Born Readers (The Book Lovers 3)

by Victoria Connelly

  ‘Stories, eh? All good I hope,’ Ben said.

  ‘Well, mostly!’ Polly confessed.

  The group migrated to the living room where Grandpa Joe was just getting up from an armchair to see what was going on.

  ‘You remember Grandpa Joe?’ Eleanor said.

  ‘Of course I do. How are you?’ Ben and Grandpa Joe hugged.

  ‘I bet you’ve had a few adventures, my young man!’

  ‘One or two.’

  ‘And I expect you to tell me each and every one of them, you hear?’

  ‘You’re on!’

  ‘Grandma Nell okay?’ Ben asked Joe.

  A tender look came into Joe’s eyes. ‘She’s slowing down a little. Needs a bit of extra care these days. She’ll join us for lunch. You’ll get a chance to catch up then.’

  Frank was next to come forward.

  ‘How are you, sir?’

  ‘None of this sir business,’ Frank said. ‘How are you, Ben?’

  ‘I’m good.’

  ‘You look well. I like the beard.’

  ‘You do?’ Ben said in surprise, stroking his face. ‘My sister hates it. Actually, most women I meet hate it.’

  ‘It makes you look –’ Frank paused, ‘like a real adventurer.’

  Ben laughed. ‘I’ll take that!’

  It was then that Sam stepped forward. Ben had already spoken to Sam on the phone, but it was great to see his old friend again and the two of them embraced.

  ‘Hey, I want you to meet my girl.’

  ‘I’ve been looking forward to it.’

  ‘Callie, this is Ben. Ben – Callie.’

  ‘It’s really good to meet you at last,’ Callie said.

  ‘Likewise. Sam’s told me a lot about you. You’re a writer?’

  ‘I am.’

  ‘I’d love to talk to you about that sometime,’ Ben said.

  ‘You’d like to write?’ Callie asked.

  ‘Not fiction – nothing that ambitious – but I’d love to gather all the real stories from my travels. A kind of journal so I can remember everything. I’m worried about forgetting it all.’

  ‘I’d be happy to help if I can,’ Callie said.

  ‘Thanks!’ Ben said. ‘That would be really great.’

  ‘I’m afraid our Lara isn’t here to say hello today. She had tickets for a concert last night,’ Frank said. ‘Some group all the students are crazy about and I’m guessing it was a late night.’

  ‘I remember those,’ Ben said.

  ‘Listen,’ Eleanor said, ‘this is all absolutely wonderful, but has anybody thought what Bryony is going to make of – well – Ben being here?’ She looked at him. ‘I’m sorry. I hate to say this because it’s so wonderful to see you and you are more than welcome to join us.’

  ‘I don’t want to cause any trouble,’ Ben stated.

  Eleanor nodded. ‘I’m not sure Bryony’s going to be too happy about –’

  ‘What am I not going to be happy about?’ Bryony asked. With all the noise in the crowded living room, nobody had heard the front door open and Bryony now stood looking at them from the doorway. ‘Mum?’

  ‘Bryony, come on in and see who’s here,’ her mother said. Ben watched as if in slow motion as the cheery smile which had been on Bryony’s face vanished as quickly as the sun being swallowed up by a storm cloud. He knew what would follow and he wasn’t a bit surprised when she bolted, the front door slamming behind her a second later.

  ‘Oh, dear,’ Eleanor said. ‘I’ll go after her.’

  Bryony couldn’t believe it. First her shop and now her family home. Was nowhere to be safe from Ben Stratton?

  She knew she couldn’t stay and that made her sad as well as angry. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had to miss a Sunday lunch with her family. They were a weekly touchstone for her and they’d got her through the rough times when Ben had first left. But now her family seemed to have taken his side, allowing him in when she’d made it perfectly clear over the years how she’d felt about him leaving.

  She’d just opened her car door when her mother’s voice called after her, as she’d known it would.

  ‘Bryony?’

  ‘I’m going home.’

  Her mother’s hand reached out and gently touched her shoulder.

  ‘Can we talk about this?’

  ‘There’s nothing to say, Mum.’

  ‘I beg to differ, darling.’

  ‘Ben’s here which means I can’t be.’

  ‘I know this is difficult for you.’

  ‘Difficult? You have no idea! Why is he even here? Did you invite him? Did Sam?’

  ‘Actually, he came with Josh.’

  ‘Josh?’

  Her mother nodded. ‘I had no idea Ben was coming today.’

  ‘But you’re thrilled that he’s here, aren’t you?’

  ‘Well, I can’t deny that it’s very good to see him.’

  Bryony could feel tears rising now and she did her best to blink them away. ‘I hope you all enjoy your Sunday lunch together!’

  ‘Don’t be like that, Bryony. We want you here.’

  ‘I can’t be here – with him.’

  ‘Won’t you at least try? I know this isn’t easy for you, but you’re going to run into him sooner or later. Castle Clare’s a pretty small town. You can’t avoid him forever. Wouldn’t you rather get it all over and done with now – here at your home with your family all around you?’

  ‘The family that’s betrayed me?’

  ‘Josh wasn’t betraying you. He probably thought you’d got over Ben a long time ago. And it has been a long time, hasn’t it, darling?’ She paused, giving her a gentle smile. ‘And you must remember that Ben was a friend to all of us, not just you. He practically grew up here – an honorory Nightingale, isn’t that what you used to say? We’ve all missed him and I very much want him to stay for lunch. So, you can go back home and open a tin of soup to eat with your crackers because I know you won’t have a fresh loaf of bread in, will you? Or, you could stay here and enjoy roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings and the rather wonderful treacle tart and home-made custard.’

  Bryony inwardly cursed her mother for knowing her and her bare cupboards at home so well. Why should she sacrifice a family lunch just because Ben was there? It wasn’t fair. If anyone should be running, it should be him. This was her family home, not his, and she was jolly well going to enjoy her Sunday as usual whether he was there or not.

  ‘Well? What you want to do, darling?’ her mother asked gently.

  Twenty minutes later, Bryony was sat at the table with her family. It was customary at Campion House to sit the guest next to the person who’d invited them so Ben was placed next to Josh which meant that he was also next Bryony. She tried not to physically flinch as she sat down next to him. At least, she thought, she wasn’t opposite him and so could avoid looking at him. She could do this. She just had to keep telling herself that she was an adult and that something like this wasn’t going to faze her at all.

  Grandma Nell didn’t recognise Ben at first, narrowing her eyes at him as she sat down at the table.

  ‘It’s Ben,’ Grandpa Joe told her.

  ‘Bryony’s Ben?’

  Bryony rolled her eyes. ‘He’s not Bryony’s Ben anymore,’ Grandpa Joe corrected.

  ‘Then whose Ben is he?’ Nell asked.

  ‘Nobody’s,’ Ben said. ‘Yet.’

  Bryony swallowed hard. It was almost too much to bear. Just what was her family thinking, forcing her to endure this torture?

  Luckily, the food was served without delay and the family and their guests got on with the business of eating.

  ‘I can’t remember the last time I had a Yorkshire pudding,’ Ben said. ‘These are delicious, Mrs – erm – Eleanor.’

  ‘Thank you, Ben. Do help yourself to more. There are plenty of them.’

  He leaned forward towards the blue and white china bowl heaped with golden puddings, inadvertently knocking Bryony’s elbow wh
ich sent her fork scratching across her plate.

  ‘Sorry!’ he blurted.

  ‘It’s okay,’ she said, her mouth tight, willing the time to pass so she could return to the sanctuary of her home.

  ‘What are your plans now, Ben?’ Frank asked as he plunged the serving spoon into a bowl heaped with glazed carrots.

  ‘I’ve just been offered a part-time teaching job in Ipswich.’

  ‘What are you teaching?’ Eleanor asked.

  ‘English to foreign students and a bit of Spanish and Italian. I’ve also got some translation work through an agency. It’s not much, but it’s a start.’

  ‘You should have said you were looking to teach,’ Polly piped up. ‘I could have asked around at my school in Bury.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Ben said with a nod.

  ‘Let me know if you want me to ask. The pay’s not astonishing, but the support team is really great and the students are lovely.’

  ‘So, tell us about your travels, Ben,’ Callie said from across the table. ‘What were the most exciting places?’

  It was so very hard for Bryony not to look at Ben at this moment for she too wanted to ask him that question. So many questions, in fact, but her pride was stopping her.

  ‘I can honestly say that every single place was exciting because it was all new to me. I’d only ever known Castle Clare. We’d never been able to afford proper holidays growing up. We used to get a few days out to the coast if we were lucky, so it was even exciting just going to Gatwick.’

  Everybody laughed. Everybody but Bryony.

  ‘Seriously! Have you seen that place? It’s enormous. They’ve got shops. There’s even a Harrods there.’

  Bryony had to will herself not to laugh. How easy it would have been to join in with everybody else and enjoy Ben’s stories, and to reach out and place a hand on his arm and squeeze it gently.

  ‘But – seriously – I loved it all. I think the first place I fell in love with was Rome. The scale of it. The endless streets with architectural wonders around every corner. It’s like the world’s largest film set. But it’s so noisy. I think I had a permanent headache from the crowds and the traffic. Same in Sorrento and Naples – the motorbikes get everywhere.’

  ‘I don’t like motorbikes,’ Grandma Nell said.

  ‘Jago does,’ Archie stated with pride.

  ‘But I don’t terrorise tourists with mine,’ Jago said.

  ‘Although you did have that run in with Antonia Jessop last week,’ Polly reminded him.

  ‘Ah, yes. The indomitable Miss Jessop!’ Jago said with a chuckle.

  ‘What does that mean?’ Archie said, his nose wrinkling.

  ‘Erm, it means she doesn’t like motorbikes,’ Jago told him.

  ‘Or anything else much,’ Polly added and there were a few knowing nods from around the table.

  ‘Sorry, Ben, we interrupted you,’ Jago said.

  ‘It’s okay,’ he said.

  ‘Tell us about South America,’ Frank said. ‘I’d love to see the plants there.’

  Eleanor rolled her eyes. ‘You’d turn Campion House into a rainforest if you ever went over there.’

  ‘I am increasingly drawn to tropical plants,’ Frank admitted.

  ‘Whereas I like a traditional English garden,’ Eleanor said.

  ‘Well, I couldn’t name any of the plants I saw, but the colours of the flowers along the Inca Trail were pretty spectacular. But I have to say that the best thing about travelling was the people I met and the stories I heard. It’s very comforting to know that, in every corner of the world, there are good people willing to share their homes with you, their food and their experiences. I loved that.’

  ‘You’ll have to bring your photos over sometime,’ Eleanor said. ‘We’d love to see them.’

  ‘We could have a slide show!’ Grandma Nell said excitedly. ‘Where’s the projector?’

  ‘You don’t need a projector anymore, Mum,’ Frank told her.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It’s all digital now.’

  She frowned at him and shook her head. ‘Silly boy.’

  Grandpa Joe reached out and patted her hand as Bryony silently cursed her mother for giving Ben an excuse for a return visit.

  ‘I bet you had to eat some weird food along the way,’ Josh said.

  ‘I certainly did and you properly don’t want to hear about it the dining table,’ Ben warned them.

  ‘I do!’ Archie insisted.

  ‘Yes, go on, Ben,’ Sam encouraged.

  ‘Well, I think the most surprising was a place we were staying in Peru. We were up in the mountains, sleeping in this tiny home where all these guinea pigs were just running around the floor.’

  ‘Oh, I love guinea pigs!’ Polly said.

  ‘So do I,’ Ben said, ‘and I just assumed these were pets at first, but there were rather a lot of them and I suddenly realised that they were food. Rather like chickens wandering around.’

  ‘You didn’t eat a guinea pig?’ Polly cried.

  ‘It was that or go hungry,’ Ben told her.

  ‘Then you should have let your stomach rumble!’

  ‘It would have also been an insult to our host. Rather like refusing to eat these fine Yorkshire puddings here.’

  ‘Yes, but Yorkshire puddings aren’t alive. They haven’t been scampering around our front room,’ Polly pointed out.

  ‘True enough.’

  ‘It’s all part of the adventure of travelling, isn’t it?’ Frank said.

  Eleanor shook her head. ‘Not any travel we’ve ever done. Burnham Overy Staithe is about as exotic as we get these days.’

  ‘Everyone should travel,’ Ben said. ‘If you don’t see any of the world, how do you know how wonderful home is?’

  ‘Some people just know,’ Bryony said, feeling that Ben’s barb was aimed at her.

  ‘But it’s healthy to get out and see other people, other places,’ Ben went on, turning to look at her now.

  ‘You can do that through books,’ Bryony said.

  ‘It’s not the same though.’

  ‘Some people prefer to stay at home,’ she said, her eyes resolutely looking at her plate.

  ‘Yes,’ Eleanor interrupted as if coming to her daughter’s rescue. ‘Travel doesn’t suit everyone. Now, let’s see about some pudding. Everyone want some?’

  There followed a chorus of approval at the suggestion and it wasn’t long before they were all enjoying the delicious treacle tart and custard. Archie ate his in record time even by his own exacting standards, and seconds were dutifully handed around.

  After all the plates, bowls and glasses had been cleared away, tea was served in the living room and the Nightingale family and their guests sprawled comfortably on the squashy sofas and armchairs heaped with pretty floral cushions.

  ‘I miss the fire,’ Polly said, nodding to the empty fireplace.

  ‘We’ve not lit it for a few weeks now, have we?’ Frank said to Eleanor.

  ‘I’ve been tempted on a couple of evenings, I have to say.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’ve had mine lit,’ Callie said. ‘Owl Cottage may be small, but it seems to be perpetually cold.’

  ‘They’re such cheerful things to have even if you don’t necessarily need them,’ Polly said.

  ‘Do you have a fireplace at Lilac Row?’ Callie asked.

  ‘We do, but we’ve not used it yet,’ Polly said.

  ‘We’re looking forward to it, though, come winter,’ Jago said.

  ‘Oh, who’s talking about winter when we’re just getting over the last one?’ Eleanor cried. ‘How I long for, warmer days.’

  ‘Not long now,’ Frank assured her. ‘The earth’s warming up nicely.’ He finished his tea and got up and walked across to the sash window which overlooked the front driveway, peering up into the sky. ‘Who’s up for a dog walk?’ he asked, clapping his hands together and startling Grandpa Joe who was dozing off behind the book review section of the Sunday paper.

  Sam,
Callie, Bryony, Polly, Jago and Archie were on their feet in an instant.

  ‘Ben – like to join us?’ Frank asked.

  ‘Sure,’ he said.

  Bryony seethed inside. Was even the Nightingale ritual of a Sunday afternoon walk to be violated by this man?

  There then followed a mad scramble for wellies, shoes and coats before everyone trooped out of the house and into the country lane, the two spaniels and the pointer on leads. The sky was a pearly blue and there were signs of spring everywhere with primroses and violets starring the banks along the lane and the sweet scent of bluebells filling the air as they entered a wood. But Bryony was much too focussed on Ben to take notice of the heavenly scene before her. He was walking with Sam and Callie and they seemed deep in conversation and so she took the opportunity to speak to Josh, sidling up next to him as he did his coat up.

  ‘Hey, I want a word with you!’

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ he said, his tone betraying nothing of the guilt she felt he should be harbouring.

  ‘You just don’t think, Josh!’ Bryony hissed.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘What am I talking about? Ben!’ she said. ‘What were you thinking of inviting him here?’

  ‘It seemed like a good idea,’ he told her. ‘I thought you’d get to talking and –’

  ‘And what? Miraculously work things out? That I’d forgive him for leaving me?’

  ‘Well, yes!’ Josh said.

  Bryony thumped him in the arm.

  ‘Ouch!’ he cried, causing several heads to turn around. ‘Anyway,’ Josh continued in a whisper, ‘don’t forget that you broke up with him too. He asked you to go with him, remember?’

  The pungent scent of wild garlic assailed them a moment later as Josh scooted ahead to avoid more aggravation, and Bryony tried to forget her woes and take pleasure in the beauty of the place. The three dogs gambolled through the woods and Archie did a surprisingly good impression of a cuckoo which must have given the one they could hear pause for thought.

  How, in a group of ten people, Bryony happened to find herself next to Ben at a stile, she didn’t know. It was the old rickety stile too which usually necessitated a helping hand.

  ‘Careful over the stile!’ Frank called as he always did. ‘It’s worse than ever. Slippery too.’