The Frenemies

by Cathy Bramley

  She never married again. She rarely smiled again either.

  ‘I feel so sorry for you all,’ said Molly, shaking her head. ‘I moan like hell about Steve, but at least I know where he is.’

  ‘And at least he hasn’t forgotten about Ellis, even if he doesn’t get to see him much. My heart broke in two when Dad left.’ I stared into the bottom of my glass, remembering his laugh, his jokes and the stories he used to make up at bedtime. ‘He was the chocolate sprinkles in my life. Dad made things special, made me feel special. When he vanished the fun seeped out from our home. Mum systematically rubbed out every trace of him. We even stopped seeing our gran, Dad’s mum …’ I paused, trying to recall the face of the old lady who had Dad’s kind eyes. Tricky when Mum had destroyed every photograph documenting her marriage.

  ‘Have you ever tried to find him?’ Molly slipped from her stool, scooped up crumbs, switched the kettle on and stacked our plates in the sink.

  I let out a breath. ‘Almost impossible. I know nothing about him. Mum shut me down every time I tried to bring up the subject and she passed away when I was nineteen, so it’s too late to ask now. I’ve googled Graeme Penhaligon a hundred times but nothing has ever come up. Our parents were older when they got together. He’d be in his seventies now, assuming he’s still alive. I would have tried harder to get in touch but Archie has always been so adamant that he wanted nothing to do with him.’

  ‘Your mum sounds like she took it hard,’ Molly said, spooning coffee into mugs.

  I smiled ruefully. ‘She certainly kept her maternal instincts on a tight leash. Looking back, I wonder if she only had children because it was something she felt she ought to do. She was nearly forty when she had Archie. We each had our own ways of getting her attention. For me it was putting on shows, acting and reciting silly poems. Archie wanted to help financially from day one. He did everything to help the family budget from snipping out discount coupons from the newspaper, to sweeping leaves, delivering newspapers, wheeling and dealing in the playground. And all of it went to Mum, he didn’t spend anything on himself. To this day he’s still looking out for me; he’s set me up a fund for my old age because I haven’t got round to it.’

  She set two mugs on the worktop, offered me milk and settled back on her stool. ‘Okay, you win; the man’s a saint.’

  ‘So you’ll give him a second chance?’

  Before she could answer the laptop screen lit up in front of us. An army of butterflies began to march in my stomach.

  Kate was on the line.

  Chapter 26

  Molly nudged me out of the way so fast that I almost flew off my stool.

  ‘Stand clear of the screen and I’ll announce your presence,’ she muttered without moving her lips, ‘as soon as it’s safe.’

  I nodded and scooted to the side where I could still see Kate on the screen.

  She looked pretty much the same as the last time I saw her on her wedding day, only with a better tan. She was bursting with wholesome goodness: glossy chestnut-brown hair tied back off her face, dark-rimmed glasses that magnified her eyes and her trademark bright lipstick. A few more crinkles around the eyes, a line or two across her forehead, but then five tough years had gone by since I’d last seen her.

  She was in an internet café by the look of it: other people were on laptops behind her, there was some sort of tinny trumpet music in the background, and she had a tall frothy iced drink in front of her.

  ‘Look at you, all tan-tastic!’ said Molly brightly. ‘How are you doing, love?’

  ‘Oh Mols, I asked Theo for a divorce!’ Kate’s face loomed close to the screen. ‘It was a knee-jerk reaction; exactly what my therapist said not to do. I’m supposed to pause, take a breath, think it through. And THEN speak.’

  ‘I’d have done the same,’ Molly admitted. ‘Steve has just bought Ellis twenty of the latest Disney DVDs because he’s Disney mad at the moment. I went crazy. Again. Said he should entertain Ellis himself, not park him in front of the telly.’

  Another peal of laughter reached the kitchen from the living room. I raised my eyebrows.

  ‘That’s the CBeebies bedtime story,’ she said haughtily. ‘Totally different.’

  ‘What?’ said Kate, looking confused. ‘Who are you talking to?’

  Molly froze. ‘Nina,’ she blurted out.

  ‘Molly Asher!’ Kate choked on her drink. ‘You … you Judas!’

  She reached towards her laptop as if she was going to close it.

  ‘No wait,’ Molly yelped. She dragged me in front of the screen so Kate could see me. ‘Pause, remember, like the therapist said, and breathe!’

  Kate blew out a whistly breath, her eyes not leaving mine for a second. ‘I’m pausing,’ she said through gritted teeth.

  ‘Good girl,’ said Molly with relief. She nodded to me. ‘Over to you.’

  This was it. This was my chance. I almost cocked up their wedding day with my stupid crush on Theo, now was my opportunity to make amends and reunite two people who had simply lost their way through no fault of their own.

  I reminded myself of Kate’s ultimatum to Theo: get his life back on track and set up Brightside Holidays or else. There was no way ‘or else’ was going to happen, not while I had anything to do with it.

  ‘Kate,’ I began tentatively, ‘Theo says he misses you.’

  ‘Yeah right,’ she scoffed. ‘That’s why the profile picture on the Coastal Cottages website shows you two gazing at each other.’

  ‘That was taken out of context, but I can see why you think that,’ I said quickly.

  ‘And what was the context?’ Kate demanded. ‘Or shouldn’t I ask?’

  ‘When Nigel Rees arrived to do his inspection there were two naked artists in the garden using their body parts to paint.’

  Beside me, Molly snorted.

  ‘Yes, very funny,’ I said wryly, ‘except it was when we were trying to make a good impression for Coastal Cottages. We thought we’d blown our chances. Luckily, Nigel from the booking agency has a good sense of humour. Theo and I hugged with relief when he said the cottages had passed muster just as Nigel took the picture.’

  ‘And Theo has sent them a new one, Kate,’ Molly put in. ‘One of you and him when you first moved in. If you look at the website again, you’ll see.’

  Kate grunted and sipped her drink. ‘Still not exactly the picture of a tortured man missing his wife, is it?’

  I soldiered on. ‘He says he misses your warmth in the morning. You’re always toasty, apparently.’

  ‘Even warmer in Brazil,’ she said, fanning her face, trying hard not to look pleased. ‘What else does he say about me?’

  ‘He misses the smell of your skin; he says you smell of flowers and sunshine.’

  Beside me, Molly made a tiny ‘aww’ noise. I had Kate’s attention now.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘He misses the way you drip a teabag all the way to the bin.’

  Kate shook her head fondly, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. ‘He always used to tell me off about that.’

  ‘He misses your night-time routine.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘What did he say about that?’

  My heart thumped; from the expectant look on Kate’s face, I knew I had to get this right.

  ‘You check your alarm.’

  ‘Yes?’ She nodded.

  ‘You rub oil into every cuticle.’

  ‘Correct.’ Her face crumpled. ‘I do.’

  ‘And then you kiss Ivy’s photograph and say—’

  ‘Sweet dreams, angel.’ Kate pressed a hand to her mouth as tears sprang to her eyes.

  I felt my own voice catch. ‘And now he says that too, every night.’

  ‘Oh Kate,’ said Molly, swallowing hard. ‘You poor lambs.’

  From the other room, Ellis shouted for his mum and Molly squeezed my arm as she went through to see to him. I sat down on the stool and pulled the laptop closer.

  ‘Does he really say that?’ Kate whis
pered.

  I nodded. ‘Kate, he hasn’t done the things you think he has, but he has done the things you asked him to.’

  She rummaged around in her bag, found a tissue and blew her nose.

  ‘The cottages are gorgeous,’ I continued, ‘we’ve got some bookings and Theo has even started on the garden.’

  ‘Does he really miss me?’ she sobbed, wiping her eyes.

  ‘Yes. He misses both of you. And he loves you.’

  She smiled through her tears.

  ‘I thought he’d given up on me, on life, it was as if he was in a coma. The house was getting on top of us – we should never have moved there. We got in a mess with money and nothing I tried could bring him out of it. It had always been his dream to travel one day, so as a last resort I suggested we just take off. My parents thought it was a brilliant idea and offered to pay. But at the last minute he refused to leave Brightside Cove and he refused to speak to me about Ivy … I was at my wits’ end.’

  ‘He has spoken to me about her.’ I nibbled my lip, wishing I could reach out and hold her hand. She looked so alone and forlorn, God knows how many thousands of miles away. ‘What the two of you have been through would test any marriage.’

  ‘How did you do it?’ She gazed at me. ‘How did you succeed where I failed?’

  I shrugged. ‘I didn’t. It was just timing. He loves you, Kate, and when he realized he might lose you if he didn’t start living again he knew what he had to do.’

  Okay, so that wasn’t entirely honest. In my opinion Theo simply dealt with his grief differently to Kate. Whereas she wanted action, he wanted time. She needed to talk; he wanted to think. Nobody was in the wrong, it was just hopelessly sad.

  ‘So what do I do?’

  ‘Tell him you’re calling off the d-i-v-o-r-c-e for starters.’ Molly bounced back into the room with Ellis trailing behind her. He’d changed into his pyjamas and had a well-loved teddy tucked under his chin. ‘Because take it from one who knows, that’s no picnic.’

  She poured him some more milk and he wandered out of the room and up the stairs.

  ‘And that you definitely want to give it another shot?’ I suggested.

  Kate took a deep breath. ‘I don’t want Ivy forgotten, Nina. She was part of our lives. I was a mum. I want to be able to speak about her.’

  My heart ached for her.

  ‘You’ll always be Ivy’s mum,’ I promised. Just as I will always be a daughter, even though my parents have gone, I thought to myself. ‘You and Theo are her parents, her family.’

  ‘Family,’ Kate repeated softly.

  ‘Just a thought,’ I said cautiously, ‘but perhaps you and Theo could Skype each other like this? I think he’d love to speak to you regularly.’

  Kate frowned. ‘I had thought it was better to have a complete break from each other, but maybe you’re right.’

  ‘So do you finally accept that Nina’s defo not after your man, then?’ Molly grinned hopefully at her friend.

  Kate’s eyes softened. ‘Okay. And I can’t tell you how much having this chat has meant to me. I really wish I could give you both a hug.’

  ‘Me too.’ I held my fingers up to the screen. Thousands of miles away, Kate did the same.

  ‘I really must go,’ she said, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. ‘My internet time is about to run out and I need to email Mum. Bye-bye, both of you.’

  ‘Ooh, before you go,’ Molly said with a gasp, ‘guess who Nina’s got a crush on?’

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Molly clapped a hand over my mouth. ‘Jude Trevone!’

  Kate frowned. ‘Isn’t he the one you fancied—’

  ‘Bye-bye!’ Molly said in a shrill voice cutting her off. ‘Damn, I’d forgotten I’d told her that.’

  I stared at her, arms folded while she powered down her laptop.

  ‘If you’re keen on Jude, just say, because I’m not going to tread on anyone’s toes.’

  Molly met my eye and gave me a sheepish smile. ‘You can keep Jude on one condition.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘You give me Archie’s number.’

  ‘You’re giving him another chance!’ I flung my arms round her. ‘You won’t regret it.’

  ‘I hope not, for your sake,’ she joked.

  At least I hoped she was joking.

  It was dark when I swept back up the drive and parked outside the kitchen window of Driftwood Lodge. I had a huge smile on my face; Theo was going to be thrilled. All was not lost as far as he and Kate were concerned, they just needed to find their way back together again. He loved her, she loved him, and I was more sure than ever that love would bring them home. I darted inside, desperate to tell him all the things she’d said, but there was no Theo, only Mittens was there to greet me. I scooped up the kitten, pressing my lips to his soft fur and went outside. A lantern was lit up the end of the garden.

  ‘Theo?’ I walked towards the light. ‘Is that you?’

  ‘Yep,’ he replied, sounding out of breath. ‘How was Kate, what did she say?’

  ‘That she loves you,’ I beamed. ‘That unless we do something else monumentally stupid there’ll be no divorce.’

  ‘Yes!’ I caught the flash of his white teeth as he jumped up from his knees and prepared to hug me.

  ‘Watch the kitten!’ I laughed, leaping away. ‘There was one thing, though,’ I said, my voice more serious.

  ‘Okay.’ Theo shuffled his feet nervously. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘Kate wants to be able to talk to you about Ivy, she doesn’t want to forget about her.’

  ‘I’m on it.’ His face spread into a slow smile. ‘Because I want that too.’

  And then he picked up the lantern so that it illuminated the patch of garden he’d been working on.

  ‘Oh Theo,’ I said, swallowing the lump in my throat, when I saw what he’d created. ‘You’ve nailed it, my friend. You have totally nailed it.’

  I was flagging a bit after another long day, but I couldn’t go to bed without solving something that had bothered me all afternoon: the mysterious case of Maxine and Campion. I deposited Mittens back in the kitchen, pulled a cold bottle of wine from the fridge and set off for Penguin’s Pad.

  The light was on in the open-plan living room and through the window I spotted Maxine sitting hunched over the coffee table, a stack of papers in front of her. I knocked and held the bottle up as she opened the door.

  ‘Wine?’ I said, raising my eyebrows hopefully. ‘A peace offering.’

  ‘You can relax; I’ve calmed down now.’ Maxine rubbed her eyes and stepped aside to let me into her cosy cottage. The little wood stove was lit, as were Eliza’s scented candles and a vase of twisted willow and greenery added a homely touch. ‘But yes to the wine. I’ve been reading non-stop since I arrived, I haven’t even stepped out of the door yet.’

  ‘Oh, you must! If you fancy a guided tour while you’re here, just shout.’

  ‘Thanks, I’ll see how I get on.’

  I found glasses and the corkscrew while Maxine tipped some cashew nuts into a bowl and we arranged ourselves near the heat of the fire.

  I set my glass down on the coffee table and tried to see what she’d been reading.

  ‘A script,’ said Maxine, following my gaze. ‘Get them all the time, but someone thinks I’m going to find this one irresistible. It’s about a vicar locking horns with the greedy lord of the manor. Quite promising, actually, although I’m not sure about the planned location, which is supposed to be on a tiny island. I don’t think there’d be enough scope for the action, or all the different characters needed to make a decent series out of it.’

  ‘Is there a small part for me?’ I asked, only half joking. I tried to read the title of it, but Maxine grabbed the pile and shoved it under the table.

  ‘Hey, nosy.’ She slurped her wine. ‘And shouldn’t you be aiming higher than that?’

  I stretched my legs out, relishing the warmth of the fire.

  ‘I know my limits.
I’m not lead actress material. It’s fine,’ I added brightly, catching her baffled expression. ‘I’m just being realistic. There are plenty of great roles for me to go after. I’m not saying I’m not a good actress, just that the main parts go to the beautiful girls, the ones with swishy blonde hair, long legs and cheekbones sharp enough to slice cheese on.’

  ‘Is that so? Someone had better let Julie Walters, Emma Thompson and Meryl Streep know, then, because they obviously didn’t get the memo,’ she said crossly. ‘Honestly. Who fed you that rot? Sebastian?’

  ‘Amongst others.’ I stared into the flames, remembering my mum’s comment when I announced that I was going to be an actress. About being the chubby and cheerful best friend. It hadn’t stopped me, of course; if anything her lack of faith in me had made me more determined than ever. I wasn’t so chubby these days, either. ‘Sebastian told me more than once that I lacked a certain star quality, unlike Cecily Carmichael.’

  Maxine frowned and wagged a finger at me. ‘Your performance in Victory Road has got star quality by the bucket load. And after tonight’s episode, when you’re crushed inside that house in the bombing raid, you’ll be bombarded with messages from viewers, you wait.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I said meekly, making a mental note to log on to the WiFi and check everything tonight.

  ‘And as for Cecily,’ she said ominously, ‘watch this space.’

  Which was the perfect opening for me to probe into her earlier mood.

  ‘Talking of that particular family, I had no idea her father was coming, I promise.’ I topped up her glass. ‘Theo took the booking and got the name wrong. And I still haven’t got a clue why he’s here; do you think he knew you were coming?’

  ‘Not unless he’s a bloody good actor,’ she said, taking another big gulp of her wine. ‘He was as shocked as I was when we both got off the train and headed towards the taxi rank.’

  I shuddered. ‘In that case, he must be here because of me. When Cecily and I had that very public row, she said her father would be furious. Perhaps he’s here for revenge.’