The Broken Hearts Book Club

by Lynsey James

  I narrowed my eyes. This was not what I’d been expecting after our easy banter and I couldn’t help but feel hurt. ‘I was just trying to help!’ I whispered.

  ‘Well unless you’ve got a magic wand in your back pocket that’ll stop this place from shutting down, you can’t.’ And with that he stalked off to serve a customer at the far end of the bar, leaving me shocked.

  I found George and we went over to an available table. While he chatted away happily, I stared into my glass and brooded.

  ‘OK, what’s up?’ he asked. ‘Either I’m boring you rigid about the audition I went to last month or there’s something bothering you.’

  I sighed and took a long sip of my drink. ‘Me and Jake didn’t exactly hit it off just then. Well we did before he decided to bite my head off for trying to help.’

  George frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘This place isn’t doing as well as it could be, so I suggested some things he could do to get people through the door and he wasn’t exactly grateful.’ I looked over at him as he served the few remaining customers at the bar. ‘It’s a shame because look at this place. It’s gorgeous, it should be full to the rafters every night.’

  George threw me one of his million-watt smiles. ‘You’re right; a place like this should be doing roaring business. A few events in here and there’d be a real buzz about it. If he doesn’t want to listen to you, that’s up to him, but for what it’s worth I think you’re right.’

  The cogs in my brain began to whirr again as more ideas formed. The pub was pretty inside, if a little dated with its mahogany wood and fraying carpets. All Jake needed was some promotional activities that would drive people through the door. My brain buzzed with excitement as I considered the possibilities: cocktail nights, quizzes, open days where the whole community could get involved. Not that he deserved any of my help or experience, especially after being so rude to me. Then again, the place had so much potential…

  Just you hold on a minute, my brain said, some insane part of you might be telling you to stay here, but you’ll have a cottage to renovate and a book club to lead. You’ll be plenty busy without launching a campaign to save the local pub and help its very delectable owner, who doesn’t seem to want your help anyway. And you don’t even know if you’re going to stick around yet. There’s no use getting attached to anyone or anything.

  Yet I couldn’t deny that the old magic I’d once felt for Luna Bay was coming back. I was slowly remembering why I loved the place so much, and that was a very dangerous thing indeed.

  The evening wore on and soon it was time for George and me to leave. We’d spent what felt like a lifetime discussing the Broken Hearts Book Club, its members and whether or not I could and should take over as the leader. By the end of our chat, we were quite a few drinks down but no closer to a solution.

  ‘See ya Joni!’ Jake said as we left, smiling what looked like an apology. ‘Sorry, I mean Lucy!’

  I did what I hoped was a coy little wave: nothing special, just a waggle of the fingers followed by a smile. When I saw him return it, my heart did a hop, skip and a jump. His mood had obviously brightened up since he’d almost torn my head off.

  We stepped out onto the street – completely unaware of what was about to happen – and George and I began our slow, precarious descent down the hill towards my parents’ cottage.

  ‘Well, well, well, some things never change. Lucy Harper’s still leaving a pub at silly o’clock on a Friday night!’

  The voice behind me was so familiar yet shocking that I wasn’t sure whether to do a happy dance or take my chances and run. I hadn’t heard it in far too long for a very sad reason. When I spun round, I saw my old friend Elle standing in front of me. Everything about her remained unchanged: her long blonde hair, slim frame and creamy skin tied together with a mischievous smile.

  ‘Oh my god! Elle bloody Nicholls!’ I had to stop my jaw from dropping; she was the last person I’d expected to see in Luna Bay. The part of me that had been friends with her for almost twenty years wanted to run up and hug her, but I remembered how and why we’d drifted apart. So I settled for a cautious wave.

  I was glad to see she looked equally shell shocked to see me. ‘Tell me about it; last I heard you were down in London being a megastar! What’s brought you back to this neck of the woods?’

  ‘Nana Lily’s funeral; she died last week.’ Saying the words stung and I had to stop a fresh bank of tears from brewing at the back of my eyes. ‘How about you?’

  Elle clapped her perfectly manicured hands to her mouth. ‘Nana Lily’s dead? Oh god, I’m so sorry Luce. I remember eating her fairy cakes by the skip load when I was a kid.’

  The mention of her famous fairy cakes made a lump rise in my throat. Elle reached over and hugged me then dropped her arms as though something in the distance had distracted her. When I turned to see what it was, I realised it was George.

  ‘Who’s your friend?’ she asked, taking a few steps towards him. ‘I’m Elle Nicholls, Lucy and I are old friends.’

  ‘I’m George Molloy,’ he replied, extending a hand for her to shake. ‘I’m Lucy’s flatmate in London.’

  ‘Lucky Lucy.’ She flashed him her million-dollar smile and turned to me. ‘If you’re bringing friends like these up from the big, bad city, I’m even happier you’re back! That’s settled it, we have to go for a catch-up drink this week! What do you say?’

  I knew what a night out with the human tornado that was Elle Nicholls was like; it could be accurately described as the Yorkshire version of The Hangover. I also knew that she was feeling far more awkward about seeing me than she was letting on. How could she not be, given what had forced us apart?

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ I joked. ‘Nights out with you were…eventful, if I remember!’

  Elle snorted, put her arm around me then removed it after seeing how awkward physical contact made our odd little reunion. ‘I’m just back from dicking around Australia and I haven’t seen you in forever. Trust me, we’re having a drink tomorrow and I’m kidnapping you so I can force-feed you cake and talk about old times. We’ll meet in the Moonlight Café tomorrow lunchtime OK?’

  Before I could object, she announced that we’d also be meeting in The Purple Partridge sometime that week then scuttled off up the hill.

  ‘So that’s your old friend then?’ George stared after her. ‘She’s… she’s something else.’

  ‘Yup, she’s a one-off,’ I agreed.

  The next day I met Elle at the café for cake. We exchanged slightly awkward smiles and sat at a table in the middle of the room. Walking in after so long felt strange, but the smell of freshly baked bread and cakes brought back a whole host of memories. I smiled at Diane but she didn’t return it. I guessed we wouldn’t be exchanging Christmas cards any time soon…

  ‘So, long time no see!’ I said with a bright smile. ‘You said you’d been travelling? Where have you been?’

  ‘Here, there and everywhere,’ she said, folding her arms tightly across her chest. ‘After everything that happened… I had to get away, you know? I suppose you were the same.’

  I nodded ruefully. ‘First chance I got, packed my bags and headed to London. Haven’t been back since, not even for Christmas. Mum and Dad either came to me or just sent presents when they couldn’t. I came back for Nana Lily’s funeral and now it looks like I might be staying! I suppose you have to come home eventually, eh?’

  ‘Yeah. I got tired of the whole jet-set lifestyle and fancied a change of pace. Thought I’d give good old Luna Bay a second chance, see if I can’t make a life for myself here.’

  We looked at each other, both trying to avoid the elephant in the room: the Vicky thing. It was impossible; those events were like an invisible thread that bound us together yet forced us apart. We had to talk about it.

  Luckily for me, Elle went first. ‘You know, when I was in Australia, I couldn’t help thinking how much Vicky would’ve loved it. She’d have adored the sunshine a
nd the surfer boys, wouldn’t she?’

  I nodded and found myself smiling. I hadn’t done that when talking about my old best friend for a long time. It felt good.

  ‘She really would’ve! Remember when we took that school trip to Cornwall and she tried to convince this group of surfers she was eighteen so they’d buy her a round of drinks at the beach bar? Miss Rivers went ape shit when she found out!’

  Elle screwed her eyes shut and giggled. ‘Oh God yeah! She tried to have a go at surfing too and ended up falling flat on her face. That didn’t stop her though; she gave it another try and almost ended up being taken out by that huge wave. Remember that bloke with the curly blonde hair had to dive in and get her? She pretended to be unconscious so he’d give her mouth to mouth.’

  ‘I remember all the boys liked her,’ I said with a sad smile. ‘And you, come to that! I was always the shy one who never got a look in for my two gorgeous best mates.’

  ‘You had your fair share if I remember, Miss Harper! Once you accepted that it was possible for a bloke to like you.’

  Now that the floodgates had opened, loads of happy memories of Vicky came racing to the surface. It made me feel better to remember her as my fun-loving, carefree best friend who’d relished anything life had thrown at her.

  ‘She was always doing daft things,’ I said. ‘She was the wild child out of the three of us. One of a kind, our Vicky. Always coming up with some hare-brained scheme and trying to get us to go along with it… I miss her, you know. Every day, I think about her and wonder if she’s happy or not.’

  The air between us turned distinctly sombre and I felt like an idiot for ruining our trip down Memory Lane.

  ‘Me too,’ Elle admitted with a little sigh. ‘That night still preys on my mind sometimes too. If we could’ve stopped her –’

  I put my hands on top of hers. ‘It was my fault OK, not yours. You’ve got nothing to blame yourself for. It’s me who should feel guilty and I do. Every single day for the past eight years, I’ve beaten myself up about it. I should never have even brought the vodka that night and I should’ve tried harder to stop her. I-I should’ve got help, but I didn’t honestly think any harm was going to come to Vicky. That was all on me. You did nothing wrong.’

  She looked up at me with sad eyes. ‘If I could go back and undo it all, I would. That night should never have happened. And I-I didn’t mean to go weird on you afterwards, you know. It was just such a horrible situation that I shut myself off from everyone. Didn’t know how to deal with it, really.’

  I shook my head and smiled, squeezing her hands. It killed me to think Elle had been carrying around so much guilt for so many years, but I also felt a tiny bit relieved to know I hadn’t been alone. There had been someone else in the world who’d felt as awful as I had about what had happened to Vicky.

  ‘That doesn’t matter now. At the time, I thought you hated me for what I’d done, but you’re right. It was a bloody weird time and neither of us knew how to cope. But we’re back now and we’ve got a second chance at being friends. What do you say?’

  Elle’s face lit up with a smile. ‘You’re on, Harper!’

  Chapter Five

  Later that night, I found myself firmly ensconced in The Purple Partridge. Elle had been true to her word and dragged us down there, promising to buy shots and sing on karaoke. George had been all for it, of course.

  ‘Make it Sex on Fire and you’ve got a deal!’ he’d said with a cheeky wink in her direction.

  So there we were, nursing our drinks and waiting for the karaoke to start. Judging by the garish yellow poster we’d seen on the way in, the ‘extravaganza’ would kick off at seven. Elle was busy filling us in on her travels round the world, most recently Australia and New Zealand. George was looking at her like she was reciting the winning lottery numbers.

  ‘Bondi Beach was amazing, obviously,’ she said, signalling the start of another anecdote. ‘The surfer guys there were out of this world Luce; they were like those hunks on the Australian soaps we used to watch! Look at this.’

  She broke conversation to show me an aquamarine bracelet on her tanned wrist. ‘You like it? I made it myself! I’m thinking of starting my own jewellery business in the future. After Bondi, there was the Great Barrier Reef, where I went scuba diving. One day, I was learning to surf from this gorgeous American called Brett and the next, I was snorkelling and seeing all these incredible fish and marine life. Honestly Luce, you should go the first chance you get. I’ve been travelling for pretty much the past eight years; my gap year kind of turned into a gap life. It’s been amazing, but it’s nice to be back in good old Luna Bay too. Though I must admit, it’s strange going from an apartment in Melbourne with views across the entire city to my old bedroom at my mum’s house. I still have posters of Peter Andre on the wall!’

  I laughed as more memories began to resurface. Our earlier chat had reminded me of all the good times Elle and I had shared with Vicky. It made a change from the horrid ones that usually filled my head.

  ‘Remember the three of us singing along to Mysterious Girl and planning our weddings to him? Those were the days.’

  Elle paused and I noticed the bright smile on her face shrink almost imperceptibly ‘Seems like a lifetime ago doesn’t it?’ A brief pause, then she shook her head and dazzled us with another of her brilliant smiles. ‘Anyway, enough about the past; what about you? Tell me everything about your kick-ass career and the trail of broken hearts you’ve left all over London. We didn’t get to that earlier, so you’d better have some news for me, Harper!’

  ‘Well it’s not been quite like that…’ I trailed off for a second. ‘Guy-wise, there’s been no one really special for ages. I’ve had a few short-term things, but they haven’t worked out. I guess I’m just not very good at letting people in. Always assume they’re going to leave at some point! As for my career… The less said about that the better at the moment. Anyway, tell us more about your travels.’

  I wanted to switch the focus away from me and shine the spotlight back on Elle. She belonged there, I didn’t.

  ‘More drinks anyone? We can do more travel stories in a sec!’

  Elle got up and practically sprinted over to the bar, her long legs taking huge strides across the worn, tatty carpet. Once she was firmly out of earshot, George leaned in to me.

  ‘OK, so she’s absolutely amazing. What do I have to do to get her to go out with me? Like seriously, I’d crawl through pig shit for a date with her.’

  ‘Oh charming!’ I said with a grin. I hit him playfully on the shoulder and he ruffled my hair, something he knew I hated. ‘She always liked bad boys when we were at school, but I don’t know about now. Haven’t seen her in so long, she’s changed loads since then.’

  As Elle waited at the bar, she turned round and grinned at me. There was something different about the way she looked at me. The sparkling confidence she had shown all evening had disappeared and I saw a woman who still carried a lot of guilt. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes and in a blink of an eye it was gone. Except, it was too late and I had seen it. My oldest friend in the world was still bearing the scars of the past and it was up to me to change that.

  Although the pub was pretty quiet, a large queue had formed thanks to a barrel needing to be changed. I went to join Elle, leaving George to choose a karaoke song for us – he’d also made me promise to talk him up to Elle. He’d probably pick some obscure song by a band we’d never heard of, but I’d exact my usual revenge of making him sing Destiny’s Child or Girls Aloud later.

  ‘God this place hasn’t changed!’ said Elle, looking around the room. She was right: the décor was the same, as was the faint smoky musk and rustic, rural charm. ‘It’s just like I remembered it.’ She craned her neck and a smile formed on her lips as she saw Jake buzzing around behind the bar. ‘Then again, they didn’t have people like him working here back then, did they?’

  ‘Who, Jake?’ I tried to sound casual, but totally failed on every
level. ‘Yeah he’s OK, I suppose.’

  She nudged me in that way all old friends do when they know you’re lying and hunkered down to my level, leaning her elbows on the slightly sticky bar.

  ‘Just OK? Luce, he’s totally your type from what I remember. Unless you’ve suddenly gone off tall, dark and handsome. I tell you who else would’ve liked him: Vicky.’

  My heart froze when her name hit the air, piercing the convivial atmosphere and destroying the uneasy peace I’d felt in Luna Bay over the past few days.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said with a sharp exhale, ‘she’d have gone mad for him.’

  ‘She’d have been making wedding plans by now.’ Elle shifted uncomfortably and pursed her lips. ‘It still feels weird talking about her, doesn’t it?’

  ‘I saw Maggie the other day; she didn’t exactly roll out the welcome wagon when she saw me.’ I laughed emptily: that was the understatement of the year. ‘Have you seen her since you got back, Elle?’

  The memory of her gaze casually sliding away from me, as though I was nothing, replayed in my head again. Even as a collection of thoughts, it was deeply unsettling.

  She shook her head, sending her blonde waves cascading around her shoulders. ‘I haven’t seen her since the… Well since the thing happened. Listen, could you keep my place in the queue? I’ll be back in a minute.’

  She strode off in the direction of the toilets and I was left alone at the bar. My eyes fell to Jake, who was pulling pints and interacting with locals. Every so often, his face would break out into the most wondrous smile I’d ever seen. Elle was right, he was my type. He caught my eye for the briefest second and it did funny, flippy things to my insides.

  Sneaking a look back at George, I saw his nose was still buried in the karaoke songbook. He had his ‘let’s find an obscure song’ face on and I made a mental note to choose something super-girly to sing later.

  ‘I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist a karaoke night.’ I almost jumped out of my skin to find Jake leaning on the bar next to me.