Love Happens Here

by Clare Lydon

  “How are they?”

  “They’re all right. Shaken, bruised, a little broken in places but okay. Poor Maureen is the most shaken up of all three of them…”

  “I can imagine,” I said. Relief flooded every tiny corner of my body. “So how broken is broken?”

  “Kate’s got a broken arm and they’ve both got broken ribs as well as cuts and scratches but from what I can make out they were lucky. Cab got hit by a kid driving too fast and the driver took the brunt of it.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Still critical.”

  I breathed out hard. “Fuck.”

  “Yep.”

  “But they’re okay?” I said. I leant against the fridge, dislodging a children’s party invite.

  “Essentially, yeah. They’re going to keep them in overnight just as a precaution in case they’re concussed but I think they’ll be released tomorrow.”

  “Great news,” I said.

  “Listen, I better get off, I need to let other people know. Can you hang on there till I get home?”

  “Course – take your time.”

  “Thanks.”

  I pressed the red button and took a swig of my beer, picking up the party invite and putting it back in its place. They weren’t dead. Thank you Jesus, even though I believe you to be a mythical character.

  Lucy arrived true to her word about half an hour later. I opened the door and was thrown by her beauty again. She still looked date-ready in sleek grey trousers, a white shirt and waistcoat and I realised that I probably did too, having been en route when the drama began.

  “Hi,” I said. I shyly stepped aside, ushering her in. She echoed my feelings as she stepped uncertainly into the hallway, casting her eye around the house.

  “Have you heard anything yet?” she said.

  I shut the door and told her the good news which seemed to break the ice. We wouldn’t normally have hugged so soon but this occasion seemed to call for it, so we did.

  “What a relief – it’s the not knowing that’s the killer sometimes isn’t it,” she said, covering her mouth as she said it. “Not killer, but you know what I mean…”

  “I know what you mean,” I said. I took her hand and lead her through to the kitchen. “I’ve been going mad imagining all sorts of scenarios but luckily they’re alright.”

  “Both of them?”

  “Yep, sounds really lucky. Better than the driver –he’s still critical.”

  “Shit.”

  “I know.” I breathed out heavily. “Still, makes you realise what’s important doesn’t it?”

  She nodded solemnly.

  “Nice house, though,” Lucy said, changing the subject deftly. “Lovely big kitchen. Perhaps I should consider moving to the burbs.”

  “Tempting, until you remember you’d be living among suburbanites.”

  “True,” she said. “Still, you’d be living in an actual house with a garden which would be terribly novel.”

  There was a pause in conversation as we assessed how to handle this situation. Tonight was meant to have been a straightforward wooing mission replete with champagne and candlelight but now the game plan had dramatically altered.

  “Drink?” I indicated my bottle on the table.

  “I better not,” she said. She dangled her car keys from her right index finger.

  “Tea then?”

  “Tea would be good.”

  She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down as I filled the kettle, suddenly self-conscious being on show in such a brightly lit, sanitised space. There were no expensive drinks, low lighting and fancy food to hide behind in Jack and Vicky’s kitchen. I was exposed but it felt good to have Lucy there. I placed the kettle back in its base, flipped the switch and turned to her, holding the counter top with both palms outstretched behind me.

  “So tonight hasn’t gone exactly according to plan…”

  “No.” She paused. “Bit like us so far would you say?”

  “You could definitely say that,” I said. I was glad of the noise of the kettle to drown out my quickening heartbeat. “What did you do after I called?”

  “Called the restaurant and then I went down to the Tesco near me and bought a meal for one like a saddo. I also learnt there’s some terrible telly on Saturday night so driving here was light relief, believe me.”

  “I wouldn’t know, I was watching Bob The Builder.”

  “Probably better than the dross I sat through,” she said.

  I put her tea on the table, handed her a Twix and sat down opposite her.

  “So…” I said, smiling at the absurdity of the situation.

  “So…” she said.

  “You look great.”

  “I ditched the heels when I knew we weren’t going somewhere posh. So you didn’t get the full effect.”

  “You still look great.”

  “So do you,” she said.

  “Even in my stressed state?”

  “Even then.”

  “I’m glad you came.” I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. “And just so you know, I meant everything I said the other day – everything,” I said, emphasising the last word.

  She sighed. “I know.”

  “So can we start again?” Please say we can start again.

  “I hope so. I’d like to…”

  “But?” There was definitely a but.

  “But… I don’t know. It was such a good start, Jess, then it truly went pear-shaped. I’m scared what’s next.”

  “You and me getting to know each other better I hope.”

  She gave me a weak smile. I took both her hands in mine and fixed her with what I hoped was a sincere stare – because it truly was, that one look held everything I had.

  “Look, I get it… I totally do. But I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that you do trust me fully – because you can. You need to know that I’m all in. Have been from the moment I met you. Even though you did play hard to get by running off to Australia for a couple of months.”

  That raised a smile and I squeezed her hand tighter.

  “Whatever it takes Lucy, I’m willing to do. Even if it means sounding like I’m in some corny Hollywood rom-com. Even if it means taking you for dinner every week at Hexagon till I’m bankrupt,” I continued. “Even if it means learning a song and dance routine for your family.”

  She was smiling now. Smiling was good, right?

  “I really like you, Lucy.”

  She didn’t take her eyes off me the whole time I was talking, so I took a chance, leaned over the table and kissed her lips gently. She raised her hand to my face and kissed me back. After a minute or so we eased apart and I touched her face, amazed that I was getting another go with this beautiful woman. Somewhere, somehow, it seemed that the love gods were on my side. I leaned in for another quick kiss before taking her hands again.

  “So that’s a yes?”

  She smiled again. “That’s a yes.”

  I squeezed her hands again.

  “But now we’re giving it another go, I have one more thing to ask you. Are you free on Saturday to come to Julia’s wedding with me?”

  “It’s not in Brighton, is it?”

  “No, they’re having it at Marylebone so they can pretend to be pop stars.”

  “And that woman isn’t coming?”

  Well, yes.

  “Ange? Nope, negative,” I lied.

  Lucy’s face relaxed and she smiled. “In that case, I’d love to.”

  “Great,” I said.

  I made a mental note to tell Julia not to invite Ange but pushed such negativity out of my mind. Tonight was a good night. Kate and Vicky were still alive and Lucy was my girlfriend.

  Jack arrived back just after 11.30pm, having dropped Maureen off. He looked exhausted but relieved and filled us in on the details of the crash, uncapping a cold beer on the bottle opener that was attached to the wall. Both Kate and Vicky were asleep by the time he left and he said the doctor
had advised super-strong painkillers for the next few weeks.

  “And no sex with broken ribs apparently.”

  “I’m sure that was top of Vicky’s worries,” I said.

  “She couldn’t hit me when I said it, it hurt too much to move her arm,” he said, laughing.

  “My sensitive brother.”

  Lucy just smiled. “So glad they’re both okay, though,” she said.

  “Yeah, me too.” He paused. “Anyhow, you’re both looking lovely tonight – were you going somewhere?”

  “Well we were meant to be going out to dinner…” I said.

  “Oh shit….” he said, putting his hand up to cover his mouth.

  “It’ll keep,” I said, fixing Lucy with a killer smile. “It’ll keep, right?”

  She nodded. “It’ll keep.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Jack said, holding up his beer bottle.

  “A toast. To the fabulous ladies in my life.”

  “To all of us,” I said.

  Chapter 28

  I called Julia the next day and told her about Kate and Vicky’s accident, which stopped her in her tracks. I could tell from her quickening breathing that she was revving up to tell me her next tale of wedding woe.

  “Shit that’s awful – is Kate home now?”

  “No, later – I have to ring Jack after midday to find out the latest. Lucy’s going to drive me up there and bring Kate back though, so that’s good.” I dropped it in casually, waiting for the response that duly arrived.

  “Lucy? Hang on a minute, rewind please. Lucy? Who hates you?”

  “She never hated me.”

  “I think she bloody might have.”

  “Well, anyway…”

  “…Oh my god, it was meant to be your date last night!” The penny had dropped.

  “It was, but we didn’t end up going. Instead I went to babysit the boys and Lucy came over and drove me home.”

  “So much to take in!” said Julia, thrilled that someone else’s life had more drama than hers. “It’s like a scene from some corny rom-com. While sister-in-law lies fighting for her life, the love of your life comes to help you with the kids and holds you in her arms while you sob into your beer.”

  “That’s exactly what happened, did you install cameras again?”

  “Ha ha,” she said. “So tell me then.”

  “Tell you?”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing. It was just… Nice.”

  “Jess.” Julia sighed impatiently. “How many times do I have to tell you that nice is not a word. Strike it from your vocabulary, it serves no purpose at all. What did she say? After your big speech in the opticians and everything – did she bring it up?”

  I shrugged, always effective in a phone call.

  “Not exactly but I think it’s smoothed over – it wasn’t really the time to go into detail but we did talk. It was just good having her there and being driven home. And before you ask, she went home because she had to work in the morning. We’re taking it slowly this time.”

  “You are like a corny rom-com,” she said. I could hear her smiling down the phone and I couldn’t help but smile too.

  “Well I don’t care if we are. I just want a quiet life now and for things to get back to normal.”

  “Not till after next weekend I hope.”

  “What’s happening next weekend?” I said.

  “I’m eloping and leaving Tom at the altar after he reveals to me that he’s allowed his mother to book a wedding singer whose speciality is Wind Beneath My Wings.”

  “I love that song.”

  “Don’t you start.”

  “Let’s not drag Bette into it.”

  “Or a wedding singer,” Julia said.

  “Anyway, while we’re on the subject…”

  “Of wedding singers? I’m only accepting Adam Sandler, just so you know. And he has to have his comedy nose on too.”

  “I’ll make sure that his agent knows. Nose, geddit?”

  “Ha ha.”

  “Anyway, about your wedding,” I said.

  “You’re not getting out of it now.” There was a firmness in her voice.

  “I’m not trying to. It’s just… well, now Lucy and I are back together, I’d like to bring her…”

  “…Which I told you was fine ages ago. I never scrubbed her off the list, I always had faith. Love will conquer all.”

  “Now you’re sounding like a wedding singer.”

  “Whatever.”

  “The thing is, now Lucy’s coming, I really don’t want Ange to. It might be a bit… awkward.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yes, ah. So I was wondering. Is there any way you can un-invite Ange?”

  I paused, letting my request sink in. I knew in the friend stakes I would win this one but I also knew I was putting Julia in a very awkward situation.

  “Is that a yes then?” I said.

  She sighed. “I’ll add it to my ever-growing list of things to do. Un-invite work colleague because best mate shagged her and is bringing new girlfriend.”

  “You’re a star.”

  “I know.”

  “And before you say it, I know it’s an imposition and I’m sorry.”

  I heard someone saying something to her in the background at the other end of the line and knew our time was up.

  “You have to go?”

  “Hang on,” she said, covering the phone so that the voices were muffled. I studied my nails, noting they weren’t quite as horrendously bitten as normal and silently congratulated myself.

  “Yes, turns out I do,” Julia said, coming back on the line.

  “No worries. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

  “Just the cake – and give my love to Kate and Vicky.”

  Kate didn’t look like she’d been in a car accident. Rather, it looked like she’d been in a fight that she’d lost badly, her face showing cuts and bruises. Her right arm was also in a cast and she was clearly in a world of pain with her ribs. When she sneezed she creased her face up so much I thought she might stay etched like that. She told me she was on pain-relieving tablets but that she’d had to ask for a significantly higher dose as they hadn’t even touched the sides.

  “So I ended up getting ones that are five times the dosage of the over-the-counter ones,” she said. “Now when I move, I can still feel my cracked ribs wriggling about inside me but at least they’re not stabbing me with every breath. The nurse warned me about taking too many of them but I spoke to my mate Bruce who’s a doctor and he told me to take as many as necessary – they just say that to scare you. Who knew?”

  Kate was clearly triumphant she’d got one over the medical profession. She was stoic about the accident though, just glad Vicky was okay and they were both still alive.

  “Never did get my promised steak and red wine. The things Vicky will do to get out of paying,” she said.

  I drank my tea while Kate told me her mum had promised to cook up all her childhood favourites over the coming week. She also confessed she must be feeling a little woozy as she was still quite enjoying being taken care of and being at home.

  “I’d normally be climbing the walls by now,” she said.

  “Clearly what being in a near-death experience does to you,” I said. “Give it a week though and you’ll be pining for me.”

  I could see she was in good hands and so left her watching CSI after a while, kissing Maureen goodbye and going to visit her other daughter.

  Vicky was in bed asleep when I got there so I sat with my brother in the garden while the boys chased each other around in a tiny toy car and a mini fire engine. I was transfixed and Jack saw me watching.

  “Don’t you wish we’d had those in our childhood?”

  “You read my mind,” I said. “Is it terrible to be a jealous aunty?”

  “Natural I think.” He got up from his chair. “I’ll go and put some coffee on shall I?” He didn’t wait for an answer.

  “L
ook at me, Aunty Jess!” shouted Luke. He drove by on his emergency vehicle.

  “That’s a fab truck you’ve got!” I said.

  “Mummy and Daddy bought it for me.”

  “Aren’t you a lucky boy.”

  He pedalled by, not listening but making a siren noise as he rushed to his next emergency. I wondered if he would actually become a firefighter in his future – if he did, he’d have no end of boys and girls chasing him.

  My phone beeped in my bag, so I fished it out – it was a text from Lucy asking when I’d be back as she’d finished work. I told her to come by my place at 6pm and we’d work stuff out from there. It was 2pm now so I figured another hour here and my familial duties were done. Jack appeared with coffee just as I’d finished texting.

  “Lucy?” he said, putting the drinks on the table. I nodded.

  “It was good of her to come and get you last night.”

  “Yeah it was. Did you get hold of Mum and Dad by the way?”

  He nodded. “Eventually, they’d been out at a hoe-down or something.”

  “A what-down?”

  “This is what people do in their dotage it seems,” he said. “They were round this morning to see Vicky and they’re coming to take the boys to the circus in a bit.”

  “Do they know that Dad’ll be more excited than them?”

  “They will do in an hour,” he said. “So at least we get a little time if Vicky’s awake. And if she’s not, I get a couple of hours of peace. It’s a win-win.”

  I got home around 3.30pm and nearly called out Kate’s name until I realised she wasn’t home. I got to work tidying the place up, straightening piles of magazines, plumping cushions, hoovering, dusting, changing bed sheets. Then I flung myself in the shower and buffed myself to a shine. By the time 6pm rolled around I felt like a new woman – lucky, as she was turning up any second now.

  Lucy appeared ten minutes later on my doorstep looking just as polished and positively edible. Her short dark hair was slicked back and she wore jeans, a green T-shirt and black leather jacket. She was a soft butch at times and it made me swoon – I’d always had a penchant for them but had never even kissed one until now.