Pastures New

by Julia Williams

  ‘Do you think it’s serious?’ Pete looked alarmed. He got on well with Elizabeth and knew Saffron thought the world of her.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Saffron, ‘but I am beginning to get a bit worried. And you know what she’s like – she doesn’t like me making a fuss. Anyway, until I know for sure she’s well I’m not going to ask her to babysit for us, so unless we can find someone reliable enough to look after a baby I think any celebrating will need to be done at home.’

  ‘Well, I’m sure we’ll manage.’ Pete had a twinkle in his eye. ‘Once the kids are in bed, we should be able to think of one or two things to do.’

  Saffron laughed. Despite still feeling more like Mrs Blobby than a lap-dancing lovely, Saffron had to admit her pole-dancing classes were having an effect on her libido. There was something about spending an hour hot and sweaty, writhing round a pole, that made her much keener to get into bed when she got home than she had felt, well, forever. It made her feel a bit like Jamie Lee Curtis. All she needed was Pete to quote Italian at her and she’d probably start ravishing him on the kitchen table. Shame he didn’t know any languages …

  ‘Oh, by the way,’ said Pete, ‘I’m afraid the first business trip is around the start of the Easter holidays – will you be able to manage on your own?’

  ‘I managed for a good few years before you pitched up,’ said Saffron, ‘so I expect I’ll survive. Now go and get changed while I work out a suitable menu for an impromptu celebration.’

  ‘So long as it includes oysters,’ said Pete.

  ‘Why oysters?’

  ‘Well-known for their aphrodisiacal qualities.’ Pete’s voice drifted down the stairs.

  ‘Well, gee, we’re all out of oysters,’ Saffron called back, ‘will fish fingers do?’

  Ben knocked on Harry’s door. He had tried to ring Harry from the surgery to say that the date for his angiogram had come through and to make sure that he was actually going to go and have it. He’d got no reply, so, trying to pretend that he wasn’t making an excuse just to catch a glimpse of Amy, he’d decided to go round instead.

  There was no reply at Harry’s, but he could hear music coming from Amy’s. He grinned to himself. Six p.m. Drivetime. All Request Friday – listeners rang Chris Evans all evening and asked for their favourite tracks. He could hear the faint strains of ‘Born to be Wild’. He wandered over to Amy’s side of the alley. Dare he knock on the door? On the window to the right of the front door, he could just make out the kitchen, where he could see Amy was dancing. She was even playing air guitar. Blimey. He hadn’t had her down for a rock chick.

  A spasm of longing and desire came over him. Suddenly he knew, with absolute clarity, that he couldn’t let this relationship die before it had even started. He knew for certain that Amy was the woman he wanted to be with. He’d been on his own long enough. Maybe, now several weeks had gone by, Josh would be prepared to forgive him, and he and Amy could start again. There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

  Amy was feeling happier than she had done for some time. The visit from Mary had been a success and she had promised to return the favour. Mary’s confession had made her think. Life was about living and taking risks. And doing so involved getting hurt. Maybe she should just go for it. The sun was shining, spring was here, perhaps it was time to lighten up.

  So, as Amy was cooking tea, she had cranked the radio right up, and got into the spirit of the tracks people were choosing. ‘Born to be Wild’ was followed by ‘Soak up the Sun’, which, given the mood she was in, seemed appropriate. Amy raucously joined in with Sheryl Crow’s desire to soak up the sun while she still had time, much to Josh’s disgust, who retired to the lounge with Matt, who had come to tea now they were friends again.

  ‘Mummy, look at this!’

  A small body slid across the hall on its knees. Josh and Matt had devised a new game to see who could slide the furthest on the wooden floorboards.

  ‘Boys, calm down!’ said Amy, pausing in her dancing as she had sudden visions of broken bones.

  ‘Look, Mummy, look!’ Josh slid even further than Matt.

  ‘Josh, stop!’

  ‘Oww!’ Amy watched as Josh, almost in slow motion, crashed his arm right against the door. She ran forward to where he was sitting huddled up, looking a bit dazed. He stared at her in some confusion and then burst into tears. Amy was just wondering what on earth to do now when the doorbell rang. She opened it, and there on the doorstep stood Ben.

  ‘Ben, am I glad to see you.’ Amy practically man-handled him into the house.

  ‘It’s lovely to see you too –’ he started.

  ‘Can you look at Josh’s hand? I think he’s really hurt himself.’

  Josh was sitting in the corner, holding his hand and sobbing. He flinched when Ben came near him, but Ben just knelt down and said, ‘Woah, Tiger, what have you been up to then?’

  ‘I was sliding against the door, and hurt my hand,’ Josh said between sobs. He seemed to have forgotten he wasn’t speaking to Ben.

  ‘Ouch,’ said Ben. ‘Can I take a little look?’

  Josh held out his hand, and Ben gently prodded his arm.

  ‘Now, let’s see if you can wriggle your fingers,’ he said. ‘I bet you can’t count them at the same time.’

  ‘I can, too,’ said Josh in indignation. ‘One, two, three – ow!’

  ‘Is that where it hurts?’ Ben asked, as he pressed Josh’s index finger.

  ‘Yes, and there.’ Josh pointed to his wrist.

  ‘Right, let’s get a cold compress on that,’ said Ben, getting to his feet. ‘I’m sorry, Amy, I’ve got a strong suspicion that he’s got a greenstick fracture. You’re going to have to take him to casualty to get an x-ray. Do you want me to run you over there? I haven’t got anything else on.’

  ‘Would you?’ said Amy. ‘That’s really good of you. I’d better ring Saffron and drop Matt home. Damn. They haven’t had their tea yet.’

  ‘Don’t, whatever you do, feed him,’ said Ben. ‘It’s highly unlikely, but he may need an operation.’

  As Amy got Matt’s things together, Ben expertly put Josh’s arm in a sling, all the time keeping up a cheerful patter that took Josh’s mind off things. Josh was clearly in a lot of pain, so Amy dosed him up with Calpol, and then they were on their way.

  Luckily, Casualty wasn’t that busy and they were seen quickly. It didn’t take long for them to be told that yes, Josh did indeed have a greenstick fracture, and he would need to be plastered up.

  ‘No more footie for you for a while,’ said Ben.

  ‘Oh.’ Josh pulled a face, although Amy could see he was secretly beginning to enjoy the attention. He was particularly pleased by the fluorescent-orange plaster he came home with.

  ‘I can’t wait to show Matt,’ he said, ‘it’s so cool.’

  Ben dropped them back home, made his excuses and left. Amy was disappointed, but respected his discretion. Now that the crisis was over, Josh would no doubt remember before long that Ben was his sworn enemy.

  But when she tucked him in, propping his plastered arm on a pillow, Josh gave her a hug and said, ‘Mummy, you can marry Ben if you want.’

  Amy burst out laughing.

  ‘It should be my dad saying that, not my son,’ she said. ‘I thought you hated Ben. What’s made you change your mind?’

  Josh looked sheepish.

  ‘He helped me today and made me laugh. And he was pretty cool at the hospital.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Amy, giving Josh a kiss good night, and turning out the light. ‘He was, wasn’t he?’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  ‘How are you, old boy?’ Harry nodded at Ben, who was wheeling his barrow past Harry’s hut.

  Harry was sitting on a bench in the sunshine, drinking something from a flask. Unusually for him, he didn’t appear to be doing any work on his allotment.

  ‘Fine, thanks, Harry,’ said Ben. ‘I called in last night to let you know about the angiogra
m, and you weren’t there.’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Harry. ‘You don’t need to fuss. I shall be going to the hospital to have it.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘No doubt they’ll tell me I’m old and the ticker’s about to pack up,’ said Harry. ‘I could probably tell them that myself.’

  Ben came and sat down next to him. ‘And what are you doing about it?’

  ‘Why, nothing at all, old boy,’ said Harry. ‘I’m eighty-five years old. It’s remarkable I’ve lived this long, considering how much I’ve abused my body. I’ve already told you, the way I look at it, you only have so much time given you, and I’ve already had more than my three score years and ten, and I count myself very lucky. Which is why I plan to enjoy the time left. Look what a glorious day it is. I’m enjoying sitting in the sunshine and appreciating what I have.’

  Ben laughed. Harry was right. It was a wonderful day. And the allotments were fairly bursting into life. After the inertia of winter, the sunshine had brought out an assortment of allotmenteers, who were all busy digging, sowing and pruning. Daffodils, croci and tulips were popping up everywhere and the allotments were a riot of different colours. The birds, who had been fairly silent over the winter, had returned, and along with the almost constant sound of lawnmowers was the sound of birdsong. In the corner he could make out Scary Slug Man, who, as usual, seemed to be shouting at something in a bucket. It was rare for Ben to sit down and look at his surroundings like this, he was usually too busy.

  ‘Well, I guess we could all do that a bit more often,’ said Ben.

  ‘Privilege of age, old boy,’ said Harry. ‘One of the damned few, I can tell you – but having time to stop and stare is one of them. I gather you had a bit of an adventure with Amy and Josh last night.’

  ‘Oh, you heard,’ said Ben.

  ‘Josh was very proud of his pot this morning,’ said Harry. ‘I had to see it before he went to school.’

  ‘So he wasn’t too traumatised, then,’ said Ben.

  ‘Not a bit of it,’ said Harry. ‘And I should say your standing with young Josh has gone up considerably as a result.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ said Ben.

  ‘So now you have no reason whatsoever to put off your pursuit of the lovely Amy,’ continued Harry.

  ‘Do shut up, Harry,’ Ben told him. ‘Don’t you ever stop meddling?’

  ‘Nope,’ said Harry with a cheerful grin, ‘but that’s another privilege of old age. I can be as interfering as I like and I don’t give a damn. And I have no one else to meddle with but you two.’

  ‘Well, don’t meddle too much, or we might stop speaking to you,’ said Ben.

  ‘Am I at least allowed to point out that the lady in question has just emerged from her garden door?’

  Ben’s heart jumped. Maybe she had come to see him. He hoped so.

  ‘Oh, and by the way, old boy,’ said Harry, ‘I’d rather you didn’t mention this business with my ticker to Amy. She’s been through enough. I wouldn’t want to worry her.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ said Ben. ‘But as your mate, and a GP, I really wouldn’t recommend you drank whisky this early in the morning.’

  ‘How did you know?’ Harry looked crestfallen.

  ‘Lucky guess?’ said Ben, and, reclaiming his barrow, moved purposefully off to meet Amy.

  ‘I’m not sure I can carry on like this much longer,’ said Saffron to Amy as she backed down her driveway. They were off to Mrs Turner’s, who was notoriously fussy. Saffron had arranged a swap with another mum so she could provide Amy with some back-up.

  ‘Your mum no better then?’ Amy asked sympathetically.

  ‘She doesn’t seem to be,’ said Saffron. ‘The doctor thinks she picked up a bug in Morocco.’

  ‘I can cover you some more,’ said Amy, ‘if that would be any help?’

  ‘That wouldn’t be fair, would it?’ Saffron asked. ‘You’ve been shouldering the burden for weeks now. No, I think the best thing is if I stop relying on Mum and get a childminder. I can probably just about afford it now.’

  Saffron’s phone rang, so she pulled over to answer it.

  ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed to Amy, ‘it’s Gerry. We need to talk about Easter.’

  Within minutes it was clear the conversation was not going well.

  ‘No, Gerry, the children can’t come to you for the Easter weekend,’ Saffron said in exasperation, trying to restrain herself from slamming the phone down. ‘We’ve made other arrangements now. I can’t just go changing things around to suit you.’

  ‘Sorry about that,’ Saffron said when she got off the phone. ‘Bloody Gerry. He was supposed to have the kids the first week of the holidays, but blew me out. And now Pete’s going to be away on business, and with Mum having been ill it’s all a bit much …’

  ‘Is there anything I can do?’ Amy offered.

  ‘No,’ said Saffron. ‘It’s fine, really. You’ve done more than enough. By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, how’s Josh’s arm?’

  ‘Oh, fine,’ said Amy. ‘He moaned about the pain for the first couple of days, but now he’s proudly showing it off to all and sundry.’

  ‘And I take it he’s a little more pro Ben now?’ asked Saffron.

  ‘Sure is,’ said Amy. ‘Now he wants to go on the allotments all the time and follow Ben about. It’s such a relief, I can tell you.’

  ‘So you’re seeing more of Ben then?’

  ‘We’ve run into him a couple of times on the allotments, yes,’ said Amy.

  ‘And?’

  ‘And nothing.’

  ‘Nothing else?’ Saffron was disappointed.

  Amy laughed. ‘No,’ she said. ‘Josh has been with us most of the time. And I know Ben is his current idol, but after everything we’ve been through over the last few weeks, I think it’s best if we just keep things as they are. I had another meeting with Miss Burrows this week and she says Josh has settled down again. I would hate to rock the boat.’

  ‘But don’t you want something to happen?’

  ‘To be honest, I really don’t know,’ said Amy. ‘Before Christmas, I thought I did. I like him. He’s good-looking. We get on. But … there’s Josh to consider, and I’m in no hurry. Anyway, isn’t that Mrs Turner’s house?’

  ‘Bugger, you’re right,’ said Saffron, performing an illegal U-turn and nearly smashing her four-wheel drive into a lamppost in the process. ‘Whoops!’ she said. ‘That would take some explaining to Pete.’

  She and Amy were still giggling when they got to Mrs Turner’s doorstep. They rang on the bell and waited. And waited. They rang again. Still no reply.

  ‘That’s odd,’ said Saffron. ‘Are you sure it was today?’

  ‘Positive,’ Amy replied. ‘I wrote it in the diary.’

  After several more attempts, they gave up.

  ‘We’ve still got Linda Lovelace’s to do,’ said Amy. ‘You remember, we promised we’d replant her borders.’

  ‘Oh, can you do that one?’ asked Saffron hurriedly. ‘I’ve got to do some paperwork.’

  She hadn’t had the nerve to tell Amy about her pole-dancing classes and had sworn Linda to secrecy. But there was something about having seen Linda gyrating about a pole scantily clad, and, more importantly, that Linda had seen Saffron doing the same, which made her cringe every time she went round. On Saffron’s previous visit, Linda had told her she could do with a bit more pouting sensuality, which wasn’t quite what Saffron was expecting to hear at nine thirty in the morning.

  Saffron dropped Amy off then headed home to sort out some paperwork. The answer-phone was beeping as she came in through the door. Saffron pressed it, and heard the rather whiny voice of Mrs Turner telling them that after due consideration she had decided their quote was rather high, and she had chosen another firm to do her garden.

  ‘Bloody cheek!’ said Saffron out loud.

  ‘She could have had the guts to be in when we called and tell us herself,’ Saffron grumbled to Amy when Amy returned an hour later.r />
  ‘Maybe she was,’ said Amy. ‘Perhaps she was hiding behind the settee.’

  The thought set them off giggling again, but after Amy had gone, Saffron played the message again. It didn’t make sense. She had talked to Mrs Turner two days ago. Why was she suddenly turning them down?

  ‘What are you up to on Sunday?’ Amy found Ben on the allotments as she carried out a tray of seedlings ready to plant. Edie and Ada waved at her from the far side of the allotments, and she could see Harry working on his. The surroundings were a hive of activity, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she felt that all was right with the world.

  ‘Hmm, I’d better consult my diary,’ said Ben. ‘Let me see: oh, I expect I’m already booked in at least three different places.’

  ‘Oh, are you? Damn.’ Amy looked stricken.

  ‘No, sorry. My stupid idea of a joke. Apart from going to the gym and reading the Sunday papers, nothing much. Why?’

  ‘I’m planning a Sunday lunch,’ said Amy. ‘And I wondered if you’d come. I’ve invited Pete and Saffron. And Harry said he’d come too. It might be a bit wild with lots of children, but it could be fun. I thought we could go for a stroll by the river afterwards if the weather’s nice.’

  ‘Sunday lunch sounds perfect,’ said Ben. ‘Can I bring anything?’

  ‘Only your sweet self,’ said Amy, and then blushed.

  ‘Amy …’ He paused and looked awkward.

  Amy felt her stomach contract. She wondered what he would say. This was the first time they had been properly on their own since Josh’s broken arm. There always seemed to be someone around.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I was just wondering … do you – could you – I don’t want to rush you or anything, but maybe sometime we could go out for a drink. No strings or anything,’ he blurted out. ‘It’s just, well, I’d like to get to know you better.’

  ‘I’d like that too,’ said Amy. ‘What happened before …’

  ‘… was too soon, and I rushed you,’ said Ben. ‘I know and I’m sorry. I know Josh could still be a sticking point. And I do understand about Jamie. You might never want to be with someone again, but surely that doesn’t preclude you from having fun?’