Once in a Lifetime

by Chrissie Manby

  ‘I know you would,’ she said.

  ‘And I know you would have done the same for me. It’s called being a friend, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes. I’m glad you’re my friend.’

  ‘And me vice versa.’

  ‘Look, there’s one more thing,’ Dani said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘You know when I fell asleep in the car?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I wasn’t really asleep the whole time. I heard you talking to Flossie about her father. I’m really grateful for what you said.’

  ‘She deserved better. I don’t know how any man could walk away from his responsibilities like that. Why he wouldn’t have been excited to have a baby girl?’

  ‘I know,’ said Dani. ‘I picked a wrong ’un.’

  Should she say she’d heard the rest of the conversation or pretend she’d dropped off again?

  ‘I’ve got to go to bed,’ said Nat, while she was plucking up the courage. ‘I can’t be late for Lola in the morning.’

  Lola. Of course.

  ‘I’m sorry we hijacked your weekend.’

  ‘You and Flossie made my weekend.’

  ‘Good night,’ said Dani.

  ‘Good night.’ Nat put the phone down. Dani held on to her handset long after he’d gone, listening to the silence.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Dani had to wait until the following Saturday at boot camp to see Nat again.

  ‘Well, that was Princess’s last class,’ said Nat as they left the playing field.

  ‘You’re not coming next week?’

  ‘Er, we’ve got something else on.’ Nat grimaced.

  ‘Oh, of course. Yes.’ Dani blushed. ‘The wedding.’

  ‘I can’t believe it’s come round so quickly.’

  ‘Neither can I. I hope it goes well. I’ll do my best to make sure the cake’s suitably wonderful.’

  ‘I know you will.’

  ‘I probably won’t see you on the day, though,’ Dani said. ‘I’m not due to be working. My assistant will make sure everything’s up to scratch.’

  Nat nodded.

  ‘I’m looking forward to seeing the wedding photos,’ Dani continued brightly. ‘You in a penguin suit.’

  Nat tugged at his shirt collar as though he was already wearing tails.

  ‘You never told me what the colour scheme is.’

  ‘I don’t know myself. Lola is sorting out the cravats and buttonholes and sending them over, so I’ll find out on the day.’

  ‘Always good to have some surprises,’ Dani said.

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘Have you written your speech?’ Dani asked, forcing yet more brightness into her tone.

  Nat nodded. ‘I haven’t practised it, though.’

  ‘I hear you shouldn’t over-practise these things,’ said Dani. ‘Or you’ll squash all the emotion out of it. You’ve got to let some of the excitement of the day come through.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And don’t worry if that excitement takes over and you end up in tears. Everybody loves a sobbing groom.’

  Dani thought Nat might laugh at that but he didn’t.

  ‘And then you must be off on honeymoon?’

  ‘Two weeks on the Amalfi coast.’

  ‘That sounds great.’

  ‘I hope so. Then hopefully we should be able to move into the house. The builders should have been finished weeks ago. If they’re not done by the time we’re back from honeymoon, Lola won’t be happy.’

  ‘Of course not. It’s been taking a long time, that renovation.’

  ‘So,’ said Nat.

  ‘So,’ said Dani.

  ‘I’m not sure when we’ll see each other again.’

  ‘Newbay’s a small town,’ said Dani. ‘I’m sure we’ll bump into each other all the time.’

  But things would be different when they did, was the unspoken message between them.

  It was time to say goodbye. If not to each other, then at least to something like a dream.

  Chapter Sixty

  Two days later, Dani was in the kitchen, working on Nat and Lola’s wedding cake.

  ‘You’ve got a visitor,’ said Dave the chef. ‘It’s Frank’s fiancée.’

  ‘You mean Nat’s fiancée.’

  ‘Yeah, whatever. Maybe she’s coming to tell you that the wedding’s off. She’s realised she needs a real man in her life. Like me.’

  ‘In your dreams,’ said Dani. She washed her hands and went out into the restaurant.

  Lola was standing by the window. In almost exactly the same spot as Nat on the day he came to talk about Lola’s birthday party. The first time Dani had seen him in twenty-two years.

  Lola was dressed all in pale camel. The luxurious kind of pale camel favoured by Italian women and sold in places like Max Mara. Though it wasn’t exactly cold outside, she had a thin fur collarette around her neck. It made her look a little bit like a toy dog in human form, Dani thought.

  Lola didn’t immediately notice that Dani was in the room with her. She stayed looking out of the window. She lifted a hand to her face and delicately touched the skin below her eye as though checking her make-up wasn’t running. It was a gesture that gave Lola a vulnerability Dani wouldn’t have expected.

  ‘Lola,’ she said warmly. ‘How are you? Just a few days to go. You must be getting excited.’

  ‘I’ve come to look at the cake,’ Lola said.

  ‘It’s going well,’ said Dani. ‘I think you’re going to like it.’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Follow me.’ Dani took Lola into the kitchen and showed her the three tiers with their perfectly flat white icing, waiting to be decorated with Dani’s magic touch.

  ‘It looks nice,’ said Lola.

  ‘The cake topper is done, of course. Would you like to see it? You know the sort of style we’re going for. It’ll be the same as your engagement cake. A continuation of the story, in a way. You, Nat and Princess, heading into the next stage of your life together.’

  ‘Great,’ said Lola.

  She didn’t sound particularly enthused. Lola chewed her lip and Dani felt a small jolt of adrenalin. She looked strangely shifty. Perhaps Dave the chef was right and Lola really had come in to tell Dani that there was no need to finish the cake after all. The wedding was actually off.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Dani asked Lola. ‘Would you like a glass of water?’

  Lola nodded. She perched on the stool where Dani sat to do her most complicated icing work. Dani placed a glass of water in front of her. Lola took a handkerchief out of her handbag and twisted it between her hands. She was clearly plucking up the courage to start speaking and Dani decided not to prompt.

  ‘Do you understand Nat?’ Lola asked suddenly. ‘I mean, I can’t get my head around him sometimes. He goes quiet. Like he’s thinking about something. When I ask him what’s going on he says nothing. But I know it’s not nothing. I can tell.’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Dani. ‘In my experience, men are quite often thinking about nothing in particular when they go all quiet like that. Or maybe they’re thinking about something totally mundane – like who played in the ’ninety-six FA cup final – and they’re embarrassed to admit it so they say “nothing” instead. It’s when we try to winkle an answer out of them that things get messy.’

  Lola nodded but she seemed unconvinced.

  ‘You’ve known Nat for a long time, haven’t you?’

  ‘I suppose. We met when we were teenagers. When we worked here.’

  ‘And you went out?’

  ‘For a short while.’

  So Nat had told her.

  ‘But it was serious, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I don’t think you can call it that in retrospect. We were only together for a month or so all told. He was eighteen and I was only sixteen. It was just full-on in that teenage way.’

  ‘He must have told you lots of stuff, though.’

  ‘Well, yes.’

  ‘So you know hi
m really well?’

  ‘At the time, perhaps you could have said. But there have been a lot of years since, when we weren’t in contact, Lola. So I’m not sure that I can say I really know him now.’

  ‘I certainly don’t feel like I do,’ said Lola.

  ‘He takes a while to open up,’ Dani suggested.

  ‘But we’re supposed to be getting married in less than a week. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say that you still know him much better than I do. Like that night at The Lonely Elephant. He talked to you all the time.’

  ‘If that was the case, it was only because you were talking to Will,’ Dani said.

  ‘Will’s one of my oldest friends,’ Lola protested. ‘And how about in the nightclub? I could never have made Nat dance.’

  You didn’t give him a chance, Dani said to herself.

  ‘He often has a coffee with you after Best Behaviour Boot Camp and he drove you all the way to Scotland to pick up your daughter.’

  ‘It was a very kind thing to do.’

  ‘Not over the top?’

  ‘No. Just a friendly gesture.’

  Dani didn’t like the direction in which this conversation was heading.

  ‘Just friendly?’ Lola asked.

  ‘Yes. Just friendly.’

  Lola narrowed her eyes.

  ‘Lola, what are you trying to say?’ Dani asked. ‘What do you really want to know? If you want to know whether anything is going on between me and Nat then I can tell you unequivocally that there isn’t. I’m sorry if you got a different impression. Nat can’t wait to get married, I’m sure.’ Dani forced the last words out.

  Lola took a sip of water.

  ‘OK. Thanks. I just …’ She glanced over towards the cake. ‘It’s going to be wonderful. Thank you.’

  Then she got up and left without even seeing the little models Dani had made for the top of the cake.

  Chapter Sixty-One

  The first Saturday of September marked the end of that term of Best Behaviour Boot Camp.

  In the run-up to the last class, Flossie, Jane and Dani had all been working hard to implement Nurse Van Niekerk’s training tips and there were moments when it seemed as though it had all sunk in.

  Well, there was no doubt that Jeremy knew what he was supposed to do. It was more a matter of whether or not he felt like doing it on the day.

  He did. As the puppies were put through their paces one last time, Jezza did the Parker family proud. He sat, stayed and dropped when he was told to. He walked to heel as though the only thing that existed in his world was Dani’s face. Nothing could distract him. He was truly on his best behaviour. Until …

  ‘And this term’s award for “Most Improved Puppy” goes to Jeremy Corbyn!’ Nurse Van Niekerk announced.

  At which point, Jezza immediately let himself down. Rushing to Nurse Van Niekerk and jumping up and down in an attempt to get at the bag of treats she was holding.

  ‘Now, that’s not the sort of behaviour I expect from you,’ Nurse Van Niekerk told him.

  Jezza duly sat down at her feet and looked up at her winningly.

  ‘Paw?’

  He offered his paw to be shaken.

  ‘Good boy.’

  He playfully bit Nurse Van Niekerk on the knee.

  After all the excitement of the prize-giving, Dani didn’t give her walk back home from Best Behaviour Boot Camp much thought. Had she considered it at all, she would have chosen a different route, because her usual one took her right by St Mark’s Church. The venue for Nat and Lola’s wedding.

  As though she had sleepwalked there, she suddenly found herself at the top of St Mark’s Street. Dani thought about turning round and going home the long way but it was as if something was drawing her closer. She glanced at her watch. It was almost eleven. A few wedding guests were still dashing in through the lychgate, keen to be inside before the arrival of the star of the show. The blushing bride.

  Dani walked a little nearer. Despite having won ‘most improved’ at BB Boot Camp, Jezza was pulling a little on his lead again, as though he’d caught a particularly interesting scent.

  ‘Heel,’ Dani reminded him. Jezza took no notice. He wanted to be closer to the church.

  ‘Heel.’

  Jezza yanked Dani forwards.

  There was a small crowd outside the church gates. People who weren’t invited to the wedding – perhaps didn’t even know the bride and groom – but who still wanted to see the moment when the bride and her father got out of the bridal car. As they stood and watched, the bridesmaids arrived in an enormous Bentley.

  A couple of ushers – young men Dani recognised from the engagement party – helped the bridesmaids out of the car. They were stuffed in like sardines in taffeta sauce. Five tumbled out altogether. Three adults and two heartbreakingly cute flower girls. The adult bridesmaids wore dresses with sequinned bodices and ballerina skirts in a pale lemon yellow, which was a lovely colour and flattering enough if you were covered in fake tan, as all three of the adult bridesmaids were. The flower girls were in cream with a yellow sash around the waist.

  The bride’s attendants arranged themselves in a little huddle so that the photographer could snap them. They pouted and posed – even the little ones – for a full five minutes while they waited for the bride to arrive, at which point the photographer turned his lens on the main event.

  Lola and her father were being driven to the wedding in a Roller. The silver car gleamed in the early autumn sunlight. Its bonnet was adorned with yellow and cream ribbons to match the bridesmaids’ colour scheme. After the car pulled up to the lychgate, a liveried driver sprang out to help Lola and her father from the back. The driver stood, holding the door open, while Lola posed for the traditional ‘getting out of the car’ photograph, which took another five minutes, as she insisted on seeing each shot on the camera’s digital screen so she could be sure that the photographer was getting the angle she wanted.

  But finally, finally, Lola climbed out of the car. The three adult bridesmaids immediately clustered around her like worker bees welcoming the queen back to the hive. They fluffed up her full skirt – the voluminous likes of which Newbay hadn’t seen since the nineteen eighties, and made sure the pavement was as clean as possible before they spread out her train. The chief bridesmaid helped Lola to arrange her veil. Lola gave her best ‘demure’ pose for the photographer through the clouds of lace. Dani couldn’t help finding it funny that Lola had chosen to cover her face though the dress itself was strapless, sleeveless and showcased her breasts like a pair of blancmanges.

  The church warden came out to see what was going on.

  ‘Are you ready yet?’ he asked. ‘We can’t wait for much longer.’

  It was twenty past eleven. It may have been traditional for the bride to be a little late, but St Mark’s was the prettiest church in Newbay and doubtless Nat and Lola’s wasn’t the only wedding it would be hosting that day.

  ‘I’m ready,’ said Lola, taking her father’s arm.

  The bridesmaids fell into formation behind her and the bridal party began its slow, stately progress towards the church door.

  At which point, Dani looked up at her fellow onlookers and saw that one of them was Will. He was holding Princess.

  ‘Will?’ Dani tried to attract his attention but Will was utterly focussed on the bride heading for her happy ever after. Poor Will’s eyes were red and bloodshot. He had never looked less like a former cover star of Men’s Health. It was clear he’d been crying. But what was he doing with Princess?

  ‘Will?’ As the crowd of onlookers dispersed, Dani drew closer to him. ‘Are you OK? How come you’ve got Princess?’

  ‘She asked me to look after Princess during the wedding and while they go on honeymoon. Princess is surplus to requirements. Just like me.’

  ‘Oh, Will.’

  Dani put her arm around Will’s shoulders. ‘Some things just aren’t meant to be.’

  Princess was wriggling in Will’s arms. As Will tu
rned to cry – quite literally – on Dani’s shoulder, Princess managed to free herself from his grasp.

  ‘Princess!’

  The little pup slipped to the floor and made a run for the church door and her mistress. With a dog’s devotion, Princess didn’t care that she wasn’t invited to the wedding. Jezza, with his devotion to Princess, was determined to follow her. He gave a tug on the lead that took Dani by surprise, jerking the chain from her hand. Before Will and Dani even knew what was happening, the two dogs had legged it down the church path and slipped through the door, which the church warden was closing in a particularly ponderous ceremonial sort of way.

  ‘Balls!’

  Dani abandoned Will to his crying and set off in hot pursuit.

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Lola was halfway down the aisle when the dogs got to her. The organist was still playing ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’. Badly. Soon the aisle was a flurry of taffeta and dogs. Bridesmaids were shrieking, guests were laughing, Dani was using every piece of kitchen language she knew. She chased Princess and Jezza up and down several pews. It was a great game to them. Even better when the humans were joining in.

  Though they were both nearly eight months old, Jezza and Princess were still small and fast enough to easily evade capture. Even with the whole church trying to get hold of them, they somehow managed to escape time and time again.

  Meanwhile, Lola and her father stood as though frozen halfway down the aisle. The organist continued to massacre the Handel. The vicar stood open-mouthed at the altar. Nat and his best man – his brother-in-law Damian – didn’t know where to put themselves.

  ‘Just grab them!’ Dani shouted.

  Eventually, Princess was captured by one of the ushers. Jezza continued his rampage alone. He shot up one of the side aisles so fast he looked like a flying wig.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ Dani muttered between swear words, as Jezza shot back down the side aisle again. ‘Someone just grab him, please. He won’t bite you. He’s really soft.’

  But Jezza was on fire. Perhaps it was a morning spent being on his best behaviour that had wound him up to such a state of excitement. His eyes were wide and delighted. His tongue hung out of the side of his mouth like a bright pink pennant. He was Jeremy the Wonderdog. The fastest Staffy-poodle in the world.