Lucy’s Book Club for the Lost and Found

by Emma Davies

  She thought back to their conversation in the pub, when Callum had shared his dreams for the future, and she wondered if that was what he would be thinking about now as he waited patiently for the gravy to be passed around the table. Would he be picturing his own life, sitting at the head of the table with the other four chairs occupied by his own children and their partners? It was what fascinated her about Callum; he was so terribly unsure of himself, and yet so driven and determined. She half hoped a little of that might rub off on her…

  ‘Right, come on everybody, no standing on ceremony or the food will get cold.’ Her mum smiled warmly at everyone around the table. ‘I hope you’re okay with chicken, Callum?’

  He only managed a nod, his mouth was so full of food, but after a moment of rapid chewing he was able to smile, swallow and say, ‘I can’t remember the last time I had roast chicken. It’s perfect, honestly. And very kind of you to let me come around at such short notice.’

  ‘Well that’s our pleasure. We’ve heard so much about you, after all. Lucy has been telling us how clever you are, haven’t you, love?’

  Lucy gave a nod in his direction, making him blush into his roast potatoes.

  ‘Oh,’ he stammered. ‘I’m not sure what to say to that.’

  ‘I said you’d be far too modest as well,’ Lucy added, ‘didn’t I, Mum? And I was right. It’s been brilliant having you helping out, and people are really beginning to feed back to us how wonderful you’ve been.’

  Callum stared at her. ‘Have they?’ he gulped.

  ‘Of course they have! And it’s made it so much easier for me, not having to worry about whether the PCs are going to crash every two minutes – let alone having to stop to find emails for people, or help them to print pictures and stuff. The library’s IT resources are great to have, but they can take a lot of time too.’

  ‘Most people are like me, I reckon,’ said Clive. ‘Totally clueless when it comes to computers. I never learned how to use them I guess, and now I don’t seem to have the time to figure it all out.’

  Callum paused, a forkful of green beans halfway to his mouth. ‘It’s a confidence thing, mainly. People are always afraid to push this button or that button and find out what it does. You never learn that way. I’ve pretty much taught myself over the years… but perhaps that’s just me – a bit of a nerd, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Nothing wrong with being nerdy,’ said Clive. ‘I’ve been there. When I was fourteen I started making cakes. You can guess how well that went down with my mates. They were talking about football and sneaking off for a crafty smoke behind the bike sheds at school and I was looking up recipes and talking about how to get the perfect rise on a Victoria sponge.’

  Hannah beamed at him. ‘But your mum thought you were an angel.’ She laughed. ‘Although it’s possible she was the only one. I’ll admit when we were at school I always thought you were weird. It wasn’t until you wooed me with your profiteroles and almond croissants that I began to see the advantages of having a boyfriend that was a bit handy with a rolling pin.’

  Callum returned her smile. ‘Perhaps I won’t give up just yet then, although I’m not sure that the lure of a perfectly formulated spreadsheet will have quite the same effect.’

  ‘Oh God… yeah, I see what you mean.’ She laughed.

  Lucy dug her sister in the ribs. ‘Oi, don’t be cruel. Callum’s been working on some brilliant ideas for his own business, actually. I thought you might be able to give him a few tips, Clive. You know, on how to get started and the like.’

  Clive took a sip of water, regarding Callum with interest. ‘You any good with websites?’ he asked.

  ‘Brilliant,’ Callum replied succinctly, with a sideways glance at Lucy.

  ‘Right, well, after this lot and a rather sumptuous tarte Tatin courtesy of moi, I reckon you and I should have a bit of a chat, don’t you?’

  Lucy beamed at Clive, glad that he had taken up her prompt.

  *

  The rest of the meal passed in a riot of conversation. It all seemed so easy, thought Callum, whose family gatherings were always fraught with snide comments, disagreements and coarse language. Tonight was proof that other families did seem to be able to enjoy one another’s company without viciously teasing and talking over one another. Lucy’s family teased one another, but it was affectionate and full of fun. To anyone else, her family might seem ordinary, but to Callum they were extraordinary indeed.

  He had offered to wash up as soon as the meal was over, but Val wouldn’t hear of it and he had been banished to the living room along with Hannah, who was a nurse and had been on her feet all day.

  Lucy’s dad had appeared too, towards the end of the meal, apologising for his lateness due to a parents’ evening that had overrun. The minute he sat down Val had placed a plate of warmed food in front of him with a kiss and a smile. Callum had never been happier; he was full to the brim, the cushions on the sofa were soft and inviting and the family cat had just come to settle on his lap, soft paws kneading his thighs. He would have dropped off to sleep had Hannah not started to talk.

  They had been chatting for a few minutes before Callum realised that they were alone and he was talking to a woman he’d just met like they’d been friends for years, all his usual awkwardness and shyness gone. Perhaps, he wondered, he had been talking to the wrong people all his life. Hannah seemed genuinely interested in his plans for his new venture into e-commerce, and Callum enjoyed sharing his ideas until her husband joined them twenty minutes or so later.

  It was the idea that was the thing, according to Clive; the absolute conviction that your idea was sound, and the commitment to put it into practice. Everything else was just organisation. He seemed impressed by what Callum had found out so far about the mechanics of starting up a business and was quite happy to share his own experiences of what had, and hadn’t, worked well for him. Not everything had gone according to plan, and at times things had been far from plain sailing, but Clive had never doubted that his business would be a success; it was simply a matter of time. Now his hard work was repaying him, not just financially, but in satisfaction.

  Satisfaction. Callum mulled the word over in his head. It sounded good. It sounded like something that he wanted in his life, and best of all, it sounded like something that could finally be within his reach.

  Before he knew it, it was nine o’clock, and he and Clive had been talking non-stop for a matter of hours. Clive seemed so interested in what he had to say that Callum had found himself opening up about his plans without really thinking; from his own ideas about start-ups and online shops, the conversation had naturally turned towards Earl Grey’s. Clive was quite keen on the idea of having his own website for the tearoom, but had absolutely no idea how to put it together. He had some vague thoughts about what it should look like, and the things he might like to include on it, but beyond that he was open to suggestions. Callum was more than happy to oblige.

  He really ought to have been going, but the relaxed atmosphere in the room was hard to leave and Callum didn’t want to think about returning home and pushing open his own front door. He knew from experience that his shouts of hello as he walked through into the hallway would go unanswered. It was time, though; he didn’t want to outstay his welcome. Reluctantly, he ushered the cat to one side and stood.

  Lucy was on her feet first, smiling at Callum and thanking him for coming over. Thanking him, when surely it should be the other way around? He would never be able to thank her enough. She and her family had opened his eyes to a way of living that he had hitherto only dreamed of and, if that wasn’t enough, they had also given him the courage to pursue his dreams. He thanked Clive profusely for his advice, promising to get in touch within a day or two with some designs for his website.

  Lucy’s mum looked up from the corner of the room and put down the paperback she had been reading.

  ‘Are you sure you won’t stay for a hot chocolate, love? We usually have one about this time.’

&n
bsp; Callum shook his head. It was tempting, but he had to go home some time; it was probably best not to delay it any longer. The disappointment would only feel greater if he did.

  ‘I won’t, thanks,’ he replied. ‘I’m honestly still full up. I don’t think I could manage anything else.’ He beamed a smile at her, wondering whether he ought to kiss her cheek goodbye. ‘It’s been lovely, though, meeting you all.’

  ‘And you, Callum. You’re a wonderful young man, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Now, if you’re going to be showing Clive some designs and things in a day or two, why don’t you come over for lunch again on Sunday? That way, you don’t have to rush.’

  Callum looked from Lucy to her mum and back again, but Lucy didn’t look at all dismayed by the idea and her mum was smiling broadly so he bit down his apprehension and said instead, ‘Would that be all right? I’d love to.’

  He hardly remembered any of the journey home, feeling rather surprised when he turned into his cracked concrete driveway. All the way back he had replayed his conversations with Lucy’s family over and over again in his head, and even though he tried to convince himself that he had got it all wrong, he fairly floated up the stairs to his room. The television had been blaring from the front room, the table in the kitchen littered with metal bottle tops from the beers that had been consumed during the evening, but he didn’t even bother shouting hello. In his room, he pulled his laptop out from under the bed. He had a future to build.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Hattie pursed her lips together, trying to hold onto the hem of the dress that kept slipping through her fingers as well as a mouthful of pins. If Jules’s bridesmaid didn’t quit wriggling around, Hattie thought she might just go ahead and stick a pin in her leg anyway, just for the hell of it. She knew it was simply excitement, but it didn’t help. She’d been at her mum’s house for two hours and, apart from anything else, Poppy was getting bored and her noise level was rising. It was putting Hattie more and more on edge.

  Her mum hadn’t been unwelcoming, but this was the first time they had seen one another since their recent trip to London, and Hattie still felt as if she were treading on eggshells to some extent. The remainder of their trip that day had ended amicably enough –Jules had been lovely to Hattie about the change in design to her dress and, if she was disappointed at all, she hadn’t let it show. Her mum, too, had gone back to being on her best behaviour – but it still left Hattie with questions about the outburst and the reason behind it unanswered.

  She tried to focus on the task in hand; to her delight the dresses had not only fitted perfectly but looked utterly gorgeous, even if she did say so herself. Jules’s two bridesmaids shrieked with glee at their reflections in the mirror, but somehow Hattie couldn’t help feeling that her mum’s comments had more to do with how beautiful the girls were themselves, rather than with Hattie’s dresses. ‘Don’t you look ravishing?’ she had said, not Doesn’t the dress look ravishing? And, ‘Your waist looks so tiny!’, not How clever you are to cut the dress to emphasise her best feature? Hattie knew she was being petulant, but she’d give anything to hear an unreserved compliment, just once. Jules had done her best to bolster and support her, but they were in her mum’s house, on her territory, and Hattie could see that even Jules was a little jumpy.

  A loud squawk from Poppy broke into her thoughts as her mum’s raised voice could be heard through the open living-room door. Moments later her tearful daughter came rushing to Hattie’s side. Hattie released the material she was holding and gathered Poppy to her, swiftly removing the pins from her mouth at the same time.

  ‘For goodness’ sake, Hattie – I told her not to play with the buttons and now they’ve spilled all over the floor!’ her mother cried.

  Hattie clamped her jaw together. ‘Well then, Poppy and I will pick them up again in a minute – won’t we, Pops? She just likes playing with them, Mum. I used to when I was little, don’t you remember? It’s not as if there’s any real harm done, is there?’

  She could feel her mother’s displeasure prickling the back of her neck, but she refused to turn around and engage with her.

  ‘Come on Poppy, just sit here for Mummy for a minute, and then I promise we’ll be done. There might be time to stop off in the park for a play on the swings before we go home. And, if you’re really good, we could even have an ice-cream.’

  ‘You know, perhaps spoiling her the way you do might be the reason she misbehaves so much.’

  Hattie whirled around to face her mum, her patience finally snapping. ‘Or, it might have something to do with the fact that we’ve both been stuck here for two hours on a Sunday afternoon, when we could have been out having a fun time together, which is what we’d usually do.’

  She yanked on the hem of the bridesmaid’s dress she was holding. ‘Now jolly well stand still and let me get this hem straight and then you can take it off.’

  There was an awkward giggle, which only served to infuriate Hattie even more, but she said nothing, deftly pinning the fabric as quickly as she could. She had hoped that she might be able to try on her own dress today, but there was no way she was going to stay a minute longer than was necessary. She blinked hard, trying not to let the tears that were threatening succeed. Her mum never used to be so hard on her, so critical and short-tempered. She had wracked her brains searching for a reason to explain it, but always drew a blank. Since her mum refused to discuss it, there was little she could do but try and try again. She was exhausted. She had spent too many hours working long into the night to finish the dresses in time, and she really didn’t think she could cope with a showdown now.

  Twenty minutes later, Hattie began to gather her and Poppy’s things together, the dresses now packed carefully away for their final alterations. She knew she couldn’t go on like this, that she needed to have a heart-to-heart with her mum at some point in the near future, but not today; it was time to focus on Poppy. She hugged Jules goodbye and, with a promise to give her sister a call soon, took her daughter’s hand and left.

  *

  The day had grown somewhat overcast by the time they reached the park, but the wind had dropped and it was still a mild day. So far, October had been kind to them, and Hattie prayed that it would continue; there was nothing worse than not being able to get out of the house when you had a small child, and the thought of the looming winter was not a pleasant one.

  As usual, Poppy made a beeline for the swings. Now that she had the hang of doing it by herself, the challenge was to go higher and higher. It set Hattie’s teeth on edge from time to time, but she knew that she must let her daughter test her own capabilities. Today there was a spare swing beside Poppy and Hattie squeezed her bottom onto the seat, trying to pick up the same pace as her daughter. For a few seconds they swung in time with one another, laughing as they whooshed through the air in sync, but Hattie’s weight advantage was no match for the laws of physics and her swing soon dropped out of rhythm. She waved at Poppy each time they passed each other, her legs working furiously to keep up with her daughter’s effortless swing. Before too long they were both in fits of giggles.

  ‘Someone’s having fun.’

  Hattie turned her head at the sound of Lia’s voice from beside her. She caught sight of her just for a second before she flew past her once more, long enough to see that she wasn’t alone.

  ‘Hello,’ she called. ‘Hang on! Now I’ve got this thing going I’m not sure how I’m going to stop it.’ She straightened her legs out in front of her, hoping the drag might slow her down. Eventually, it slowed enough for Hattie to catch her feet on the ground and bring herself to a complete halt. She was still laughing, more so when she tried to extricate herself from the seat, which seemed to have glued itself to her bottom.

  ‘I am so not the right size for this now,’ she said, rubbing at the side of her thighs.

  ‘Brave, though,’ replied Lia, smiling. ‘It looks terrifying from where I’m standing.’

  Hattie moved forward to
greet her friend.

  ‘This is my mum, Rose,’ added Lia. ‘Say hello, Mum. This is a friend of mine, Hattie, and that’s her daughter, Poppy.’

  The old lady beamed at them both. ‘Have you seen any daisies?’ she asked.

  Lia gave Hattie a pointed look. ‘We’ve been trying to find some to make daisy chains with,’ she explained. ‘But it’s not really the right time of year.’

  Hattie smiled. ‘Oh, that’s a shame. How about conker-collecting? The kids have had most of them, but there’s still some about over by the path to the river. Chestnuts too, I think.’

  ‘How about that, Mum? That sounds like a good idea. You love the colour of conkers, don’t you?’ She smiled at Hattie gratefully. ‘We’ve been having a lovely walk this afternoon, but I think Mum’s beginning to get a bit tired now.’

  ‘I know the feeling. My legs are worn out from all that swinging. Would you like to come and sit down on the bench, Rose? We can watch Poppy swinging, if you like.’

  As if to emphasise the point her daughter put on a turn of speed and went even higher. Hattie tried not to let her anxiety show.

  Lia pointed. ‘Do you remember how we used to come here after school, Mum? I think I was still in the junior school then. There was a massive slide too, much bigger than the one there is now.’ She held her mum’s hand. ‘I went down so fast one day I shot off the bottom, do you remember?’

  Her mum turned to her, bright blue eyes searching her face. ‘I do!’ she said. ‘You screamed the place down.’

  Lia laughed. ‘I’m not surprised. Come on Mum, let’s go and sit, shall we?’

  Hattie watched her friend closely but she seemed quite relaxed. Perhaps today was a good day; she hoped so. She wasn’t sure how long they would be able to stay on the bench but Rose seemed quite content at the moment just to sit and watch the world go by. It must be odd, she thought, for Lia to bring her mum here, back to the park she used to play in as a child, their roles reversed. Too much of today had made Hattie feel like a child again; seeking affection, fighting for her mother’s approval.