‘Thank you. That’s fantastic. Come in, both of you.’ She pointed the way through to the lounge.
Just then, Belle came downstairs. She was dressed more appropriately, but she had a big overnight bag with her and Rory had a pretty good idea what one of the items of clothing inside was likely to be. She didn’t have the energy to start the argument again. Fiona’s mother was sensible: surely everything would be okay round there. Belle waved a hand at her as she walked past. ‘See you tomorrow.’
‘See you tomorrow.’ Stay calm. This was typical behaviour for a teenage girl. Try not to take it personally. Even when it hurts.
‘Everything okay?’ Susie asked Rory when she walked into the lounge.
‘Who knows? Where’s John?’
‘Gone to screw something, I think.’ Susie raised an eyebrow suggestively. ‘I think he’s a little bit scared of me.’
‘I’m not surprised.’
‘He doesn’t need to be; I’m taken.’ She beamed.
‘Really?’
‘Yes. After Penny’s announcement, I decided I should up my game. My local pub had a barbecue on yesterday. I went on my own.’
‘That was brave.’
‘Yes. And a little desperate, some may say. But that was the mood I was in.’
Rory smiled. ‘And?’
‘And… I got chatting to a very nice man called Jim. A very nice man.’
‘And?’
‘And I spent the rest of the day with him.’ She paused and raised an eyebrow. ‘And the rest of last night and this morning.’
‘Susie!’ Rory wasn’t a prude. Well, not much of one. But going to a pub alone, picking up a man and taking him home with you was a risky game to play.
‘Don’t panic. He was the perfect gentleman. He walked me home, came in for coffee and we sat and talked all night. We fell asleep on the sofa. Nothing happened. Well, not much happened.’
Rory felt slightly better, but it was still risky. ‘So, what did you talk about?’
‘Quite a lot about me, actually. He was really interested in my job and the kids we teach. That’s how we got talking originally. Someone at the bar asked me about St Anthony’s and it went from there.’ She sighed and put a hand to her throat. ‘It was so nice to talk to someone who was interested in me rather than talking about their car or their gym routine.’
Rory didn’t mention that this is what normal men were like – just not the ones that Susie usually went for. ‘He sounds nice.’
Susie smiled. ‘Thanks. So, as I say, your man John Prince in there doesn’t need to be scared of me. You, however…’
Rory held up a hand. She didn’t want Susie getting wind of any feelings she had for John. ‘Don’t even start on that. There is so much going on for me right now that I can’t even contemplate throwing a man into the equation. That is the very last thing I need. Plus, as I think I have mentioned several times now, he is my builder. There is nothing going on.’
‘That’s what you think.’ Susie sat back in her chair.
A finger of fear ran through Rory. ‘What have you said to him?’
Now it was Susie’s turn to hold her hands aloft. ‘Nothing! Nothing! I just have a feeling that he might think of you differently.’ She ran her eyes up and down Rory’s torso. ‘Although he may change his mind now he’s seen you in that ghastly hoodie. Red? What were you thinking?’
Rory groaned. She loved Susie, but subtlety and tact were not her forte. The worst thing about people in the process of falling in love is that they wanted everyone to join them in their bubble of happiness. ‘When are you going to understand? I am not interested in meeting a man.’ The drilling stopped in the other room and she lowered her voice. ‘You need to focus on your own love life. I mean it, Susie.’
‘All right, I’ll keep my nose out, I promise. But you need to start thinking about meeting someone. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but that little girl of yours is growing up fast. You can’t use her as an excuse any more.’
After the row Rory had had with Belle, that one hit hard. Susie cared; that’s why she’d said it. And maybe she was right. But what could Rory do about it?
‘Do you think we could leave the moderation tonight? I’m exhausted. You’re welcome to stay and have a drink, but I’m just not up to reading the same essay forty times over.’
Susie picked up her bag. ‘Okay, honey. I’ll shoot off. I’m pretty exhausted myself, but for very different reasons.’ She winked suggestively, then kissed Rory on the cheek. ‘Promise me you’ll think about what I said?’
‘I promise. Right after I’ve been to bed and slept for three weeks.’
John appeared at the door, and Rory shot Susie a warning look. ‘Sorry, is it my drilling scaring you away? I’m all finished now. Did you want to come and have a look at what I’ve done?’
Susie got up to go. ‘Not me, I’ve got to be somewhere. You go and look at your super-duper spotlights, Rory. I’ll see myself out.’
Rory followed John back out to the kitchen. He flicked the switch so that she could switch the lights back on again. He grinned. ‘Now you can see me!’
‘They’re bigger than I remember – they look great. Thanks so much for picking them up for me. The kitchen cupboards are being delivered in a month so it’ll be good to have everything else ready.’
‘Have you got fitters booked?’
Rory remembered the incredulous look that Call Me Adrian had given her. She braced herself. ‘No. I’m going to do it myself.’
John shrugged. ‘Sounds like a plan. Have you done a kitchen before?’
Rory squirmed a little. ‘Not exactly. I have put flat packs together plenty of times.’
John nodded. ‘You should be fine knocking the cupboards together, then. Sometimes setting them out can be a bit tricky, especially if the walls aren’t square. I’m pretty free next month; I can give you a hand if you like?’
Rory was tired, a little emotional and very weary. The idea of putting together the whole kitchen alone was not feeling like an attractive prospect. ‘If you could just pop in and give me a bit of guidance, that would be great.’
‘No problem at all.’ John started to throw tools back into his toolbox.
Rory hovered. ‘Look, I’m sorry about Susie. I know she can be a bit full on, but she’s only playing around.’
‘Don’t apologise. She seems a lot of fun. Have you two been friends a long time?’
‘Six years. Since she came to work at St Anthony’s. I’m still not used to her, though.’ It was true. Rory loved Susie but they were as different as chalk and whiteboard pen. ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’
‘No, I won’t stay; I’ve got an early start in the morning. Actually, I wanted to ask you if you were free Friday evening.’
Rory’s heart sank. Bloody Susie! She had put him up to this. What the hell had she said? Rory was completely out of practise with this kind of thing. Fifteen years out of practise. She panicked.
‘Look, John. I know that Susie has probably been talking to you. And I’m sorry, but I’m not… Erm… I’m just not dating right now. It’s nothing personal; I don’t go out with anyone. It’s just not something I do. I’m sorry.’
John nodded slowly. ‘That’s good to know. I’ll bear it in mind. Thanks. However, I was just wondering if you would be in to take delivery of a few tons of gravel that is being delivered for your drive.’
Chapter Twenty-One
It didn’t take long for the word to go around at school. Ten a.m. on Saturday morning there was a knock on Rory’s door and, when she realised who it was, she regretted going to the door in her pyjamas.
‘Good morning, Miss!’
Rory quickly hid herself behind the door and peeped out. It had been strange enough letting Charlie see her in her nightclothes; she definitely wasn’t about to parade her M&S dressing gown before the rest of the class. ‘Good morning, Harry. And your five friends. Much as it’s nice to see you at the weekend after seeing you every day at sc
hool this week, what is it that I can help you with?’
‘We’ve come to see Charlie, Miss. Is he coming out?’ Harry paused, and a crafty grin spread across his chubby face. ‘Or shall we come in and visit?’
‘Nice try. I’ll get him for you, just a sec.’ She closed the door behind her. She liked Harry, but she didn’t trust him not to come trooping through the hallway after her. ‘Charlie!’ she called.
‘I’m in the kitchen, Miss – I mean, Rory.’ It was taking Charlie a while to get used to the change in their relationship too.
He was sitting up at the counter in the kitchen, eating the biggest bowl of crunchy nut cornflakes that Rory had ever seen. She’d heard that teenage boys ate a lot, but she’d had no idea that they replaced their own body weight every day the way Charlie did. ‘Harry is here for you with the other five of your lot. Does your mum let you go out with them?’
Charlie nodded. ‘Yes. As long as I tell her where I’m going and what time I’ll be back. Is that okay?’
‘I guess so. Where are you going?’
‘Dunno. I’ll ask Harry. Probably the rec.’
Rory followed him down the hallway, grabbing a coat for herself to put over the top of her dressing gown. Charlie opened the front door and joined his friends outside.
‘All right.’ Harry nodded.
‘All right.’ Charlie nodded back.
There was a pause. Were they going to move on anywhere? Rory waited for Charlie to ask, but he didn’t seem about to. Over to her, then. ‘Where are you planning to go?’
‘Just over the rec.’ Harry stuck a handful of crisps in his mouth, then nodded at Charlie again. ‘Are you coming with?’
‘Yeah, all right. For a bit.’ Charlie turned to Rory. ‘I’ll be back by five, if that’s okay.’
The other boys sniggered behind their hands. Rory ignored them. ‘What about your lunch?’
For some reason, that question was hilarious.
Charlie looked embarrassed. Not for himself. For Rory. ‘I’ll be all right.’
‘Just wait there.’ Once she was inside the kitchen, she realised that she didn’t have anything to give him. She grabbed a bag of apples and a couple of pounds from the key dish. Outside again, she thrust the bag of apples at him. ‘Here, take these; you can share them with your friends.’ She glanced at Harry, who had finished his crisps and was now halfway through savaging a Mars Bar. ‘You would do better with a couple of these, Harry.’ Then she gave Charlie the two pounds. ‘You can get a drink or something at least.’
Charlie looked at the bag of apples as if she had given him a bag of crack cocaine.
Just then, a familiar white van pulled up at the end of the drive.
‘JP Building Services,’ Harry read aloud. If only he were so keen in class.
John did a double take at the sight of seven small males on Rory’s driveway. ‘Is it Bob a Job week?’
‘Charlie’s friends have come to see him.’ Rory was regretting merely putting a coat over her PJs. She should have got dressed. Was John coming in?
John put his head on one side and looked at Charlie. ‘And they’ve brought him a bag of apples?’
Rory let out an exasperated sigh. ‘They’re apples. I don’t know what is so strange about giving you all a bag of apples. They are very nice – look!’ She tore open the plastic bag and took an apple. On reflection, it probably wasn’t necessary to take such a large bite to make her point about their tastiness. ‘Mmmm, mmmm,’ she exaggerated. And then a piece got stuck.
She coughed and wheezed. It wasn’t coming back up.
‘What’s the matter?’ John put down his toolbox and searched her face.
Her cheeks were getting hot. She couldn’t breathe. Oh my god, she really couldn’t breathe!
‘She’s choking to death! Do something!’ Harry yelled.
John grabbed her from behind, just under her ribcage. He pulled her. Hard. And again. At last, a large piece of apple shot out of her mouth and narrowly missed one of the boys.
Rory leaned over with her hands on her thighs until she got her breath back. She’d had no idea the Heimlich manoeuvre was so rough. Or maybe John was punishing her for changing her mind about the kitchen tiles five times. When she stood up again, John was looking at her with concern, and all seven boys were looking at him with undisguised admiration.
‘That was amazing.’ Harry’s eyes were wide.
‘You saved her life,’ breathed Charlie.
‘All in a day’s work, lads.’ John winked and flexed his fingers before picking up his tool kit.
Harry leaned forward. ‘Can you show us how to do that?’
Before John could answer, Rory stepped in. With her experience of teaching teenage boys, she had visions of them sticking chunks of apple down their throats and then projectile coughing them at each other all afternoon. ‘Maybe we’ll leave the first aid class till another day. Go to the park and run off some of those Mars Bars.’
* * *
‘So, he’s actually moved in?’
She’d left John sitting on the sofa whilst she hurriedly got dressed. Today was wash day so she’d had to pull on the sweatshirt and jeans still thrown on the chair in her bedroom. She’d picked up her make-up bag and then put it down again; make-up would look like she was making too much effort. She’d scowled at herself in the mirror. Why was she overthinking this?
Now she was trying to act normally. ‘He brought his stuff over yesterday. Although there wasn’t much. Thank you for getting his room ready so quickly. I would never have managed it on my own.’ Despite Rory’s protestations that she would paint Charlie’s room herself, John had turned up on Wednesday and got on with it. He’d been ‘in the area’ and had found a ‘random tin of blue paint’ in his van. Everything seemed to happen so quickly with him around. ‘I know he really likes it. It’s funny for me, having a blue room. Everything with Belle was always pink. And covered in perfectly proportioned cartoon princesses.’ Rory pretended to stick her fingers down her throat.
John laughed. ‘You don’t strike me as the princess-loving type. Surprising you called your daughter Belle.’
‘I didn’t! She’s named Christabel, after Christabel Pankhurst, the suffragette. “Belle” was her own name for herself. Then she had my mother calling her it. Eventually, I had to give in to the inevitable. Do you want some tea?’
‘Yeah, great, if it’s not too much trouble. I’m only dropping off some more paint samples for you to look at for your bedroom. I know you’re going to paint it yourself, but they’ve got an offer on at the Builders’ Merchants so you might want to buy the paint soon.’
Rory was beginning to get a bit suspicious about the special offers John kept getting for her. She always paid him immediately for any materials, and he always told her that he’d got a discount or they were on special offer. He still hadn’t invoiced her for any of his time. Which visits was he charging her for?
‘Great. My mum is coming this morning, so she can help me to choose. She’s good with colour.’ Rory busied herself making the tea. She no longer needed to ask John how he took his tea: strong and sweet. ‘Have you got any plans for the rest of the day?’
‘A couple of small jobs that need the final touches before wrapping them up. Then I’ve got an appointment with a house around the corner to give them a quote for an extension.’
‘That sounds like a big job.’ Rory felt a flutter of nervousness. If he had a big project like that, he wouldn’t have much time to come and see her. She was only concerned about getting the last of her work done, obviously.
‘Yeah, it is. Should be a nice little earner. She seems like a nice lady, too. Knows what she wants.’
‘Really?’ Rory wondered what constituted a ‘nice lady’. Hopefully she was ninety years old.
John wasn’t to know that Rory was analysing every word out of his mouth. ‘Yeah, the rest of her house is quite modern, so she wants something a bit different. Should be an interesting job.’
&nb
sp; Modern? Maybe not ninety. Possibly happily married?
‘What does her husband think of that?’ Could she be more obvious? Idiot.
John took a large gulp of tea. ‘She’s on her own. Got a couple of kids. Well, I think they’re almost teenagers; that’s why she needs a bit more room.’
On her own? And it was likely to be a long job, he’d said. An interesting job. Rory’s heart was doing something strange. Was it indigestion? Heartburn? Was she jealous?
‘When do you think you’ll be starting work?’
John shrugged. ‘She needs to get her planning permission in place first. I don’t even know if she wants me to do the work yet. People usually get a few quotes in for a job like that.’
Rory looked at him over the top of her mug. His hair stuck out at the side from having a pencil pushed through it so often, and he needed a shave. But even in his mastic-covered jeans and an old T-shirt, he looked good. She would stake a Costa Coffee giftcard that he would get this woman’s business. And those feelings she was trying to push down so hard were definitely jealousy. It had been so long since she’d felt them that it had taken her a while to recognise. Try not to show it.
‘You mean they don’t just pick up random men in B&Q?’
John grinned. ‘No, I think that’s just you. Although I seem to remember I had to practically force myself on you.’
A blush started at the bottom of Rory’s face. John was only joking. Not flirting. She needed to get a grip. Her red face was going to give her away. Dammit!
‘Well, I mustn’t keep you chatting like this. I have my mum coming over soon and I need to get some work done. I’m sure you’re busy.’ She jumped up and practically snatched John’s mug from his hand.
He looked startled but took her lead. ‘Oh. Okay. I’ll be off then.’
‘Yes. Yes. I’ll see you… at some point. Can you see yourself out?’ Rory practically ran to the kitchen to avoid him seeing her red cheeks.
‘Yeah, I’ll, er… be in touch.’
Once she heard the door bang closed, Rory leaned against the kitchen cupboards and hid her warm face in her hands. Irrational jealousy, embarrassment, butterflies. What the heck was happening to her?
Happily Never After_A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy Page 13