Renovation, Renovation, Renovation

by Nell Dixon

  “See, didn’t I tell you?” Nasreen wore such a smug smile I fought back the urge to smack her silly face.

  “I hope they’ll be happy together.” I kept my voice neutral, determined not to give Nas the satisfaction of seeing me upset.

  “Doesn’t it bother you? Her being so young and everything?” If Nas had been hoping I’d go storming over and have a cat fight in the knicker aisle she was going to be disappointed.

  “Why should it? She wasn’t the reason we broke up and Steve’s free to make his own choices. Besides I went out for a drink with a very nice man myself last night.” I didn’t bother to mention the fact that he was my tutor and that Lou had been with us.

  Nas had to trot to keep up with me as I walked off swiftly through the store.

  “You didn’t say you’d met someone new?” She puffed as we exited onto the pavement outside the store.

  “Well. It’s very early days.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, more of a bending of the truth, but at least it shut Little Miss Nosey up till we arrived back at work.

  “Do you think it might be serious then, this thing between Steve and that girl?” Nas asked as we hung our coats up in the staffroom. Her round dark eyes met mine. Lou had always said Nas fancied Steve for herself. Maybe she was right.

  “I’ve no idea. I don’t ask Steve who he’s seeing and he doesn’t ask me. Our relationship is purely business, nothing else.” I touched up my lip gloss and fluffed my hair in the mirror by the door ready to go back to my counter.

  “I think you’re being very brave about it.” Nas adjusted one of the jewelled clips in her long black hair.

  “It’s nothing to do with being brave. Steve’s love life is of no interest to me whatsoever.” I walked out, banging the door shut behind me before she could reply.

  As I re-entered the main foyer of the bank and slipped back behind my work station I wondered if maybe I’d protested my disinterest too much. Seeing Chloe had certainly hurt me much more than I’d expected. I switched my light on to call the first customer forward from the queue, a smile pinned to my face. Maybe Nas was right; I wasn’t quite as over Steve as I thought I was.

  Chapter Six

  I’d arranged to give Lou a lift to Mum’s on the Friday evening, since it seemed neither of us fancied going separately. Together we’d form a united sisterly front. Although Lou was still disgruntled that I hadn’t managed to learn more about Chuck during the hour and a half long ride from the airport.

  “Didn’t you ask anything? Honestly Kate, you are useless. I’d have asked tons of things.”

  “No you wouldn’t. You’d have been as stunned as I was. Anyway Mum was wittering on and on about Vegas and the Osmonds. And I had to focus on the motorway traffic.”

  “Humph, well I still think I’d have found out more than you.” Lou folded her arms and settled back in the passenger seat.

  She was in one of her moods, the kind where she could pick a fight with her own shadow if there was no one else around. Lately she had become harder and harder to predict. One minute she was as high as a kite and the next down in the depths of despair. I pulled to a halt outside Mum’s house.

  “Ready?” I looked at Lou.

  She sucked in a deep breath and placed her hand on the door handle. “No, but I guess we’d better go in anyway.”

  “Lou, is everything okay? With you I mean?”

  She paused for a fraction of a second. “I’ve got a few things going on. I’ll tell you about it later, okay?”

  “Promise?”

  She cracked open the car door.

  I followed her up the drive into Mum’s house not entirely satisfied.

  Mum was on the front step waiting for us with Chuck standing at her side all decked out in freshly pressed beige chinos and a welcoming smile. Lou presented her with the champagne and got the bear hug from Chuck. I handed over the gift card and had my hand pumped vigorously by my new stepfather before I too got swept into a hug. He smelled of expensive pine scented cologne and minty toothpaste. Lou pulled a face at me when he wasn’t looking.

  “Come on through girls, it’s such a lovely night we’re in the garden. Chuck’s going to barbecue for us. He’s an expert with the griddle.” Mum smiled happily at her new husband.

  Dutifully we traipsed through the lounge and out onto Mum’s handkerchief-sized patio. The lounge chairs had been set up around a small green plastic table, and four glasses, a chilled bottle of champagne and the gas barbecue awaited us.

  Chuck picked up the champagne and loosened the wire cage.

  “Glasses ready, girls!” Mum instructed.

  Lou and I picked up a glass each as Chuck popped the cork and poured us each a measure of champagne.

  “Now for a toast.” Mum slipped her arm around Chuck’s waist.

  Chuck beamed down at her, “Sure thing, honey. Here’s to my beautiful bride and my lovely new family.” He raised his glass upwards and we all took a sip from our drinks.

  Mum vanished back inside the house to bring out the food while Chuck busied himself with the barbecue.

  “Erm, so have you been married before, Chuck?” Lou, as expected, dived straight in with the questions.

  “When I was young, it didn’t work out so we divorced quite a few years ago.”

  He didn’t seem phased by her curiosity.

  “Have you any children?” Lou persisted.

  Chuck treated us to another flash of his gleaming white bridgework. “Not that I know of, honey.”

  Ugh, I felt a bit queasy. I wanted to like him for Mum’s sake but something kept niggling at me, filling me with doubts about his motives for marrying Mum. You saw it on TV and in magazines where people did things like this, married someone they had only just met. But this was my mum, the woman who thought ankle bracelets were the mark of a jezebel and who never used any food that had gone past its sell by date.

  “Are you from Las Vegas?” Lou battled on.

  Mum carried a big bowl of salad in from the kitchen and placed it on the table.

  She raised an eyebrow at me and disappeared back to the kitchen. I was pretty sure she’d been expecting us to give Chuck the third degree and had decided to stay out of the way while we did so.

  “I was in town to do a little business. I’m semi-retired now but I still have a few interests on the strip. I popped into the casino to while away an hour before my appointment; I saw your Mom and bam. It was love at first sight.”

  Mum returned as he finished speaking and set a plate of meat down next to the salad. He slipped his arm around her waist to give her a hug.

  “Chuck’s an old romantic at heart.” She smiled up at him.

  Lou and I both took a sip of our champagne.

  “Will you be settling here in England then, if you still have business interests in the States?" I chimed in. "I mean, do you have property over there?”

  Chuck let go of mum and busied himself placing burgers onto the grill. “Well, we figured we’d split our time about half and half. I’ve been renting a place for a spell but now me and your Mom are married we can go look for a place of our own over there to make our base.”

  “Somewhere with a pool” Mum added dreamily, barely audible over the sizzling of the barbecue.

  “I was tellin’ your Mom, it’s a great time to buy now, prices are the lowest they’ve been for a while and with nuthin’ to sell it’s a good investment. I understand you deal in property too, Katie?”

  I don’t think anyone has called me Katie since I was about six. Lou choked on her champagne and rapidly turned it into a cough. Mum glared at her.

  “My business partner and I buy properties, renovate them and sell them on. It is a buyer’s market at the moment if you’re prepared to wait for the recovery to see a return.” I emphasised the word business as I knew Mum had probably told him all about me and Steve. She, like Lou, still harboured hopes that Steve and I would get back together.

  “Do you have some money to invest in property then?” Lou a
sked.

  “Louise! What a question, where are your manners?” Mum protested, although Lou had only asked what I’d been thinking. It was all very well him suggesting investing in property but I hoped he didn’t think he was going to use Mum’s savings to do so.

  Chuck gave a low rumble of laughter. “It’s okay honey, it’s only natural your girls are concerned. I can assure both you ladies that I have more than enough money to fix me and your Mom up with a real nice place.”

  Mum clicked her tongue disapprovingly at Lou but she just gave a little hitch of her shoulders to show she didn’t care.

  “Kate and Steve are renovating a very interesting old property right now. It’s a real chocolate box cottage, hundreds of years old.” Mum started passing out plates and cutlery.

  “Yeah, Kate thinks it might be haunted. She keeps hearing spooky footsteps and feeling cold draughts. We’ve enrolled in an evening class to research the history of the house, and then we can find out if it’s got a gory past.” Lou helped herself to some salad and a bread roll.

  “Haunted?" Mum stared at me in surprise. "Kate, dear, that’s not like you to imagine things. What have you seen?”

  “I haven’t seen anything. It’s more a creepy feeling that comes over me when I’m in certain rooms and I’ve heard footsteps when there isn’t anyone there.

  Sometimes I find strange cold spots. It’s like being on the set of Most Haunted.” I shuddered and mentally cursed Lou’s big mouth. Ignorance might be bliss if the cottage did have a sinister secret.

  “Wow, we don’t have many old buildings in the States but there are supposed to be some haunted places in Nevada. The Flamingo Hotel is supposed to be haunted by Bugsy Segal, the gangster. Boy, he had quite some action.” Chuck flipped the burgers and added some sausages to the grill.

  “You don’t actually believe your cottage is haunted, do you?” Mum asked.

  “I don’t know. I thought if I found out more about the house then it might give me some explanations for the weirdness. And it might be more marketable if we know the history.”

  Chuck placed a burger on my plate. “Sounds interesting and lots of people like haunted houses. Maybe you and your business partner could give us some tips on buying property over here, seems like you know plenty about the market.”

  “You aren’t thinking of selling this house are you Mum?” Lou stopped shaking the tomato ketchup bottle and stared at Mum.

  We’d both grown up in this house. Up until last year the posters we’d culled from teen mags had still been on the pastel pink walls of the bedroom we had shared when we were younger.

  “No dear, but Chuck thinks it would be nice if we had a little holiday home here too. Somewhere by the sea, perhaps. You girls could use it as well whenever you fancied a break.”

  I helped myself to a baked potato and some butter. For a man who hadn’t been in my mother’s life for very long Chuck was certainly out to make some changes. Lou exchanged a glance with me. I could tell she wasn’t too sure about Chuck and his house buying ideas either.

  “You and Mum should call round this weekend and talk to Steve. You can have a look at the cottage.” I suggested to Chuck. If Steve had learned anything from his time in the music industry it was to sniff out a shark when he saw one. Maybe he’d get a better feel for what Chuck was all about.

  After we’d finished eating and helped Mum clear away, we moved inside for coffee.

  “Did you get any pictures of your wedding?” Lou asked as we settled in the lounge.

  “No.” Mum heaved a sigh. “We were so caught up in the moment that we forgot. We were supposed to get some from the chapel as part of the package but when Chuck went to collect them something had gone wrong with the camera and they hadn’t come out.”

  “It was a pity, but I have my best memory right here.” Chuck patted the back of her hand.

  “You could have a blessing service and a party for all your friends now that you’re home. Then we could take some nice pictures and make you up an album.”

  Lou suggested.

  “Good idea, everyone could meet Chuck and it would be nice. You could hire a function room at a pub. I bet Steve could sort the music out.” I wondered how many of Mum’s friends knew she’d remarried. Alice would have spread the news through the art class, but as for all her other friends, unless she’d rung around everyone, they would in all likelihood still be in the dark.

  “You should have an announcement put in the paper.” Lou sipped her coffee.

  Mum frowned. “I suppose you’re right. We hadn’t thought about how to let everyone know.”

  “What about you, Chuck? Do you have family and friends you need to tell?”

  He hadn’t mentioned any family, but there must be people in the US who he’d want to inform. His friends, business partners, old neighbours, somebody.

  “I told a few of my acquaintances before we left Vegas but I’ve no family left now. I was an only child and my parents passed quite a while ago.” Chuck rubbed his chin.

  I saw Mum blinking back tears at the sad expression on his face. “Well, I have lots of friends and I’m sure they’ll all adore you.”

  Lou rolled her eyes at me. It didn’t look as if she was about to become one of Chuck’s fan club any time soon.

  “We’ll organise a party then?” I finished the last of my coffee.

  “You can wear a lovely new dress, Mum.” Lou wheedled.

  “Well, I suppose it would be rather lovely. I got married in my pale green dress, you know, the one I had for Beryl’s ruby wedding party.” Mum smiled and Chuck gave us an avuncular beam. Perhaps he was nervous about meeting Mum’s friends en masse? He didn’t look wildly enthusiastic about the general idea of meeting all Mum’s friends and family.

  We carried on chatting about the party for a while. Mum promised to draw up a guest list and Lou and I said we would book a room and sort out catering and music.

  “Well? What do you think?” Lou demanded as soon as we were back in my car and pulling away from the kerb. She turned to give Mum and Chuck a farewell wave and we set off down the quiet residential street.

  “I don’t know. He seems okay,” I ventured.

  Lou pounced on my hesitation. “That’s exactly it. He seems okay. I don’t know somehow.” She nibbled at the corner of her fingernail.

  “Maybe it’s because we still don’t really know him and I expect with him being American as well, it’s all, I don’t know… a bit alien, I guess.”

  I halted for a red light and glanced across at Lou. She looked pale in the dim light of the car.

  “What about you? Are you okay? You promised you’d tell me what was going on.”

  She rubbed her temple with a weary hand. “It’s nothing.”

  From her behaviour over the last few days I didn’t think whatever had been bothering her was nothing but I stayed quiet for a minute.

  “Lou?”

  “Oh, okay, fine. I’ll tell you. I’m pregnant!”

  My mouth fell open and a car behind me sounded its horn. The lights had changed to green and I hadn’t noticed. I pulled across the junction and halted as soon as I could at the side of the road. The car driver who’d beeped shook his fist as he sailed past.

  “Pregnant? How, who, when?” It took time to get the words out. A horrible sinking feeling swept through me. “Tell me it’s not Gary?”

  Chapter Seven

  Lou shrugged. “I have no idea who the father is.”

  Silence stretched out between us for what felt like an eternity while I tried to get my head around what she’d just said.

  “Look, Kate, please leave it for now. Take me home, please.”

  “Leave it? How the hell can I leave something like this?” Anger mixed with irritation started to build deep inside. I couldn’t believe she’d managed to get herself into such a mess. “How could you get pregnant and not know who it might be?”

  My sister might like to drink and flirt but she wasn’t a slapper who always
put out on the first date. Apart from Gary she hadn’t had that many boyfriends, had she?

  It looked as if there was a whole side of Lou’s character that I knew nothing about.

  We were sisters, we were close. At least I’d thought we were close.

  “It was a one-night-stand, or yes, it might be Gary’s. I’m not sure, not yet. I have to go for a dating scan.” She glared at me. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t plan this you know.”

  Her bottom lip rolled up like when we were little and I’d taken her favourite doll. For all her bravado tears were shining in her eyes and I knew she was scared stiff.

  “Oh, Lou, what are you going to do?”

  She stared straight ahead through the windscreen and I could see her blinking in the dim light from the street lamp. She licked her lips. “I dunno, it’s all a bit unreal right now.”

  “How pregnant are you?”

  Her head drooped and she studied the handbag which rested on her lap. “Eight weeks, twelve weeks. I’m not sure.”

  I struggled to hear her reply as her voice was muffled.

  Somehow I’d always thought I’d be the one to get pregnant first. I was seven years older than Lou, Steve and I had been together for years. It should have been me.

  God, it should have been me.

  “Take me home, please.”

  Quite how I managed to complete the drive to Lou’s flat I really don’t know.

  My mind buzzed with questions all the way there and it took me all my focus not to drive us under a bus. Did she want the baby? Would she tell the father? How would she manage?

  I stopped the car outside Lou’s flat.

  “I’d rather you didn’t come in tonight, Kate. I know there’s a lot to think about but I’m not up to discussing it at the moment.” Her lips quivered as she spoke.