Searching for a Silver Lining

by Miranda Dickinson

  Shelving her doubts about Reenie, Mattie nodded. ‘We’ve lost time and we need to pick up the pace. If we hit any more problems –’ she was careful to avoid overemphasising the word in case Reenie felt targeted – ‘I want to make sure we have a little time in hand.’

  ‘I spoke to Colm, and everything is going well at the club. I think I might head back a little before you two, once we’ve spoken to Alys,’ Gil said. ‘I don’t want my brother to have to do it all.’

  For the slightest moment, Mattie felt her spirits drop at the thought of Gil leaving. She glared at her reflection in the stainless-steel cafetière. What was wrong with her today? Watching Gil and Reenie discussing plans over the breakfast table for transforming Kendrick’s back into the Palm Grove, Mattie was struck by a sudden desire to talk to Joanna. She felt certain her sister would have a rational take on it all – and right now she needed to hear a comforting voice. Too much was happening for her to make sense of everything. Joanna would know what to do next.

  ‘I’m just going to make a call,’ she said, but nobody was listening. Unnoticed, she slipped from the room and headed for the gardens at the front of the hotel, where a tiny courtyard with an Italianate fountain formed a centrepiece. She found a bench beside a gorgeous swathe of lavender spilling over onto the dark grey slate setts, and nearly dropped her phone when it rang. Could Joanna have had a moment of ESP and called her first?

  She didn’t recognise the number on the screen, but this was nothing new: her sister had a habit of changing phones regularly and hardly ever took her number with her.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Matilda?’ The voice was vaguely familiar, but Mattie had been thrown by the unexpected call and couldn’t place it.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘It’s Hugo Benecourt. June’s son.’

  If the water in the fountain had suddenly frozen at that moment, Mattie wouldn’t have been surprised. It was as if her world had tipped on its axis. ‘Oh. Hi.’

  ‘I think I’ve managed to persuade Mother to try again,’ Hugo rushed, and Mattie could picture nervous sweat beading across his cheeks as he spoke. ‘She may still refuse to accept Miss Silver’s apology, but she’s prepared at least to meet her again.’

  Mattie bit her lip to stop the squeal threatening to escape. ‘That’s – that’s wonderful! What time do you want us to visit?’

  ‘Not at my house. Not again. She has too much of an upper hand there. I suggest a neutral venue this time. Somewhere new to both of them.’

  It was a perfect solution. The situation would never be resolved while one party felt in control. Mattie still wasn’t sure Reenie would even agree to try again, but this was a lifeline she could never have anticipated during the long hours of last night.

  ‘Okay, great. Tell me where and when, and I’ll get Reenie there.’

  Ending the call, she saw Joanna’s number still waiting on the screen. I’ll call her this evening, she decided, hurrying back inside. Chances were she would have something else to tell her sister after the eleventh-hour meeting had happened.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘Let’s Try Again’ – Clyde McPhatter

  ‘I don’t know why you want to see Cambridge,’ Reenie scoffed as Mattie drove purposefully towards the city centre. ‘You said we were on a tight deadline. You said we had to get to Bath before nightfall. Where does sight-seeing come into that plan, hmm?’

  It was almost an hour since Hugo’s call – and Mattie was determined to get Reenie where she needed to be as soon as she could. Glancing to the back seat, where Gil wore a plastered-on grin like a startled ventriloquist’s dummy, Mattie did her best to remain calm. But inside her nerves were as jumpy as a duck’s feet thrashing under the surface of the water. Reenie wasn’t going to know they were on their way to meet June until they arrived and it was too late for her to refuse. It had been a split-second decision as she’d walked back into the hotel – and she was convinced it was the right one.

  ‘I was thinking, so far all we’ve done is to rush from one place to the next. A couple of hours wandering around aren’t going to scupper the whole trip.’

  ‘And you’ve nothing to say about it, Kendrick?’ Reenie twisted to stare at Gil.

  ‘Apparently not . . . Far be it from me to argue with our driver.’

  ‘You’re both nutters this mornin’.’

  Mattie found a car park just around the corner from the hotel Hugo had suggested, grateful it wasn’t too busy. They climbed out, Gil offering his arm to Reenie, who simply looked up at him and laughed. They stepped out into the beautiful bright sunshine, between elegant buildings on the edges of the famous college grounds. Brave blue sky arced above them and gaggles of tourists milled around, a dozen umbrella-toting tour guides delivering the history of the city in different languages.

  Passing through the quintessentially English architecture was a sublime experience, so much so that Mattie almost forgot why they had come to the centre of Cambridge instead of embarking upon the next leg of their journey. But it was time she took charge. Reenie had called the shots thus far, almost threatening the entire road trip in the process. If she was serious about keeping her promise to Grandpa Joe, Mattie had to step up.

  As they neared the front of the Riverside Mews hotel, Mattie jogged over to Reenie, who was several paces ahead and scowling ferociously. ‘Why don’t we pop in here for coffee? I read on the internet last night that they have a beautiful roof terrace overlooking the river and several of the university colleges.’

  Reenie tutted. ‘Is there a bar too?’

  ‘It’s barely eleven a.m.,’ Gil interjected.

  ‘That’s near enough to midday for me. I fancy a double sherry.’ She jabbed a bony finger into Mattie’s stomach. ‘And you’re paying.’

  ‘Fine. Shall we?’ Mattie held her nerve as they entered the building, knowing that Reenie wouldn’t be making it as far as the hotel bar this morning – at least, not until a certain meeting had taken place.

  She saw Hugo before Reenie did, and discreetly raised a hand to him. He nodded and addressed a tall, wingback chair directly in front of him. Reenie, oblivious to all of this, was squinting at a board in the reception area. She looked up – just as Hugo and June began to walk towards them – and her hand dropped from Mattie’s arm. ‘You have got to be kidding me . . .’

  Fast on her feet, Mattie blocked Reenie’s path as the elderly lady made a bid for freedom. ‘No, wait. June wants to talk to you.’

  ‘I’ll bet she does. Move aside.’

  ‘Not until you’ve at least heard what she has to say.’

  ‘Absolutely not.’

  ‘Talk to her, Reenie! This is what we came here for . . .’

  ‘It might be what you came here for. I came for a drink.’

  ‘Then you’re going in the wrong direction. The bar’s this way,’ Mattie jabbed a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of Hugo and June.

  ‘I don’t like the clientele here. Now shift . . .’

  ‘No!’ Mattie could feel the eyes of startled guests in the elegant reception turning to her in shock. But she wasn’t about to let Reenie throw away the opportunity that even two hours ago had seemed impossible. ‘I’m sorry, but you’re not skipping out on this chance. You need to do this. Both of you do.’

  Furious now, Reenie stared her down – or rather up, due to the difference in their heights. ‘And have all and sundry watching us?’ she hissed. ‘I don’t bleedin’ think so.’

  ‘It doesn’t have to be in front of everybody. It can be just the three of us,’ Mattie answered, her mind one step ahead of her words as she tried to counter every obstacle Reenie threw in her path. Gil wouldn’t like it. His express wish had been to witness every one of Reenie’s apologies. Hugo wouldn’t be impressed either, she guessed. But it was the only solution she could offer. ‘We can go for a walk – by the river, maybe? That way nobody else has to know what’s happening. Say yes. Please?’

  ‘You make it sound like I
have a choice,’ Reenie grimaced, and Mattie felt her heart lift. Had she really won? ‘But this is the last time you pull a stunt like this on me, d’you understand?’

  Ten minutes later, Mattie, Reenie and June were walking along a narrow gravel path alongside the River Cam. The reception manager had directed them there, promising excellent views of the city from a secluded vantage point. He certainly hadn’t exaggerated its beauty. Lush green lawns stretched elegantly to the water’s edge and Cambridge’s historic college buildings rose up beyond, their gables and turrets reaching for the sky.

  Once she was satisfied neither woman was going to attempt to push the other into the river, Mattie let Reenie and June walk a few paces ahead. She wanted to keep an eye on them in case tempers flared again, but was keen to show Reenie she wasn’t interfering. The initial signs were promising, at least: ten minutes together with no repeat of yesterday’s hostilities was practically cause for celebration.

  In the neutral surroundings of the riverside walk, the two seemed softer, as if the gentle morning sun had warmed their skin and smoothed their edges. They kept a respectful distance from one another still, a protection mechanism designed to prevent harm. But the air between them had stilled.

  Mattie chose her words carefully as she walked behind them. ‘It’s good that we can be here now. Without the audience.’ She thought of Gil and Hugo waiting in the hotel’s rooftop bar. Both had protested at Mattie’s decision – the last she had seen of them was their backs as they stormed off to drown their sorrows. Well, let them, she thought. This isn’t about them, anyway. For once in their lives, June and Reenie required privacy.

  ‘Never thought we’d want a crowd to leave,’ June said, casting a glance towards Reenie. Though only a small comment, it felt like a significant invitation.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Reenie replied, looking out over the river, where tourists were being punted along in traditional boats. ‘That mob in Warrington back in ’52 could have done one as far as I was concerned.’

  June chuckled. ‘Oh yes. I’d forgotten that. What was the name of the club again?’

  ‘The Warrington Waldorf! That was a bleedin’ joke. No more than a working men’s club with a couple of plaster pillars stuck on the front.’

  ‘And the dressing room! It was a broom cupboard with a curtain across and a light that kept flickering.’

  ‘We had a few of them in our time, didn’t we? That pervy old letch manager who kept “popping in to fix the light bulb” didn’t help either, did he?’

  ‘Oh, now he was creepy. Didn’t Rico know him from somewhere?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be surprised. Rico had friends in very strange places.’

  June laughed and moved a step closer to Reenie. ‘But that audience – if you can call them that – they were something else. Do you remember that chap on the front row shouting, “Sing something we can join in with! Do ‘Danny Boy’!” all the way through our first three songs? You know, I’d never wanted to punch anybody before that night.’

  ‘As I recall, Tommy did the deed for you.’

  Hearing that, June stopped walking. ‘Did he?’

  ‘Oh yeah. Pretty near broke his hand, too. Rico went up like a rocket when he found out. Surely you remember? That’s why we never went back to Warrington.’

  ‘I never knew that. I thought Rico fell out with the promoter. He seemed to do that a lot in the early years.’

  ‘He did. Liked a fight, did our old Harry Slack.’

  ‘And to think all these years I thought Tommy was a pacifist.’

  They began to walk again, both women falling silent as their steps dropped heavily on the gravel path, their walking sticks punctuating the rhythm of their feet. Mattie was tempted to say nothing, hoping one of them would take the initiative. But when the silence remained after a few minutes, she knew she had to intervene.

  ‘It’s beautiful here.’

  No reply, although she saw June’s shoulders drop a little.

  ‘All the college backs look so elegant, don’t you think? Funny how the sun can make everything look different. Lighter.’

  ‘It’s what I’ve always loved about the city,’ June replied. ‘Cambridge comes alive in the sunshine.’

  Keen to keep the conversation going, Mattie pressed on. ‘How long have you lived here?’

  ‘Since Hugo’s final year of university. I loved it so much whenever I came up from Tunbridge Wells to visit him in his university digs. And then I met Barney and moved here to be with both my boys.’

  ‘Barney the Lord, eh?’ Reenie chuckled.

  ‘Life peer,’ June corrected, and Mattie imagined she had made this clarification many times before. ‘So no baronial home, no vast family fortune.’

  ‘Did all right for himself, though.’ Blushing, June looked away. ‘From what Tommy mentioned, you know, over the years.’

  ‘We were comfortable. And happy. That’s all that matters in the end, isn’t it?’

  Reenie sniffed. ‘Always pictured you marrying a duke.’

  ‘Did you?’

  ‘I did. I mean, you were the high-falutin’ one out of us all, weren’t you? Elocution lessons, ballet classes, deportment – you wouldn’t have got those where I grew up. Me and Chuck called you Lady June. I figured you’d do all right for yourself.’

  June gave a sad smile, and Mattie could see how much she missed her late husband. ‘I met Barney at the right time. I – didn’t choose well at first.’

  Fifty years after her first, very unhappy marriage, the pain of it appeared as fresh as ever.

  ‘You didn’t deserve a brute like him.’ Reenie suddenly reached out to rest her hand on June’s arm. ‘You didn’t. Nobody should have to live like that. You deserved better.’

  ‘Reenie, I—’

  Right then, Mattie saw a flicker of something new in her friend. It was more than sincerity, more than sympathy: it was recognition.

  ‘I’d say we both did, love.’

  Startled, June turned to face Reenie. ‘Did you . . . ?’

  She nodded. ‘Second husband. Lasted two years that were two years too long.’

  June appeared on the verge of tears. ‘Oh Reenie, no.’ June clasped Reenie’s hand. ‘But we made it out alive, didn’t we?’

  ‘We did. Plenty of girls didn’t.’

  ‘I didn’t think I would.’

  ‘How long were you with the bastard?’

  June shook her head. ‘Ten years, give or take. I left when he turned on Hugo. Went running home to Mother, who hid us with an aunt in Anglesey for a year until the divorce had been granted.’

  Reenie’s face was pale as she observed her friend. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, love.’

  ‘It’s water under the bridge now.’

  And then, as Mattie watched, something amazing happened: Reenie Silver threw her arms around her former enemy and burst into tears. June froze, looking to Mattie for help, not knowing what to do. Eventually, she lifted a hand to Reenie’s head and gave it a tentative pat.

  ‘Whatever’s the matter?’

  ‘I’m just so sorry. I am. For what I did. For letting you down. I’ve been angry with you a long, long time, but we could have been friends when we both needed a friend.’

  June closed her eyes. Mattie saw a single tear betray her as it fell. ‘We could have. But . . .’

  Reenie pulled away, her hand still gripping June’s. ‘What you said about Rico – you were right. I was with him. And I shouldn’t have been. I left that night because he told me to. There were reasons I – I can’t tell you, love. But I do know I was wrong to trust him.’

  ‘Nonsense. He gave you your career.’

  ‘At the expense of my friends.’

  June let out a sigh. ‘Oh, let’s face it, dear, we were never friends. I hated you as much as you loathed me, and to have both of us in one group was the daftest idea Rico ever had. I was angry with you for deserting us all like you did. But I wasn’t surprised. You always were about your career before your frien
ds. I know that because I was the same. I hated your success after we finished. I bought five of your records and smashed them.’

  ‘Bleedin’ ’eck, girl! I’m impressed.’

  ‘Don’t be. It wasn’t my finest hour. I’m sorry, too. Not that I wasn’t justified in being upset. But I didn’t need to carry it around with me all these years.’

  Seeing a bench nearby, Reenie guided June there and the two women sat. Mattie stood a small distance away, not really knowing whether to believe what she was seeing. After their battle yesterday, she didn’t fully trust the peace between them. But something seemed to have changed, their body language beginning to mirror each other rather than block.

  ‘Come back to the Palm Grove next week?’ Reenie offered. ‘Do the gig with Tommy and me – and the others, if they’ll have us?’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s been such a long time . . .’

  ‘As I remember, you were the one who wanted to play at Jake Kendrick’s club. Almost a whole year you bent Rico’s ear about it. “Anyone who’s anyone plays that venue. We’ll be stars overnight if we appear at the Palm Grove . . .” He fought with you over it, didn’t he? Time and time again. Thought it wasn’t as happening as the Soho coffee bars were. But heaven knows you were right.’

  June sighed. ‘We’re not twenty years old anymore, though. Who’s going to take a load of rickety old pensioners seriously?’

  ‘It hasn’t stopped the Rolling Stones.’

  ‘Oh, Reenie . . .’

  ‘Or Lulu. Or Tom Jones. Or Tony bleedin’ Bennett! We aren’t just any old bunch of duffers, Junie! We’re The Silver Five. Don’t tell me there isn’t still a part of you hidden inside that glamorous-granny exterior that wants to get up on stage one last time.’

  A tiny smile made a brave appearance on June’s face. ‘It would be fun to perform again. I haven’t picked up a microphone since Barney died.’

  ‘Then what’s your excuse? Say yes.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ‘To Be Loved’ – Jackie Wilson