me and Caitlyn. I had probably already given the sketch more thought than he had done at the
time. I couldn’t let my heart be stirred by this; one good gesture could never outweigh the bad.
I put everything back in the rucksack and returned it to the shelf, but I knew, without
having to think about it, that my decision had been made. It wouldn’t be another seventeen
years before I looked at these things again. Maybe not even seventeen weeks. I switched off
the garage light and returned to the house, to locate the details that Caitlyn had sent me about
digs taking place over the summer holidays. Paddy’s sketch wasn’t the most important thing I
had found tonight. I felt as if I had found myself.
105
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
CHAPTER 11
It was a perfect day for the sponsored walk up Winlow Hill: a light breeze propelled the
occasional white cloud across a pale blue sky, and the temperature was predicted to be pleasant
without being too hot for the climb. I rose early and gazed out of my bedroom window at the
hill, peaceful now as it glistened in the early morning sun, and hoped that in a few hours it
would be swarming with people. We had worked so hard on this event; it had to be a success.
There were several routes to the summit of the hill, some more of a challenge than
others, and we had chosen the easiest one for today’s event, to encourage as many families as
possible to join in. A public footpath led from Inglebridge town centre and across a farmer’s
field, which gave access through a kissing gate to a wide track that meandered up the hill. The
farmer had allowed us to use the field as the official starting point of the walk, and when I
arrived Winston was already there, chatting with the St John Ambulance crew we had asked to
attend, just in case, and supervising the positioning of tables around the field.
Our pleas for sponsorship had proved more successful than we could have imagined,
especially – and I hated to admit it – since word had got out that a certain celebrity would be
opening the event. The supermarket had provided bottles of water, and other local businesses
had given a donation in exchange for a stand advertising their services. Even before the
sponsorship money from the walkers was added, we had made a decent start towards our target.
By the time the walkers were beginning to arrive, the field had taken on the appearance
of a village show. Stalls had sprung up in a circle starting at the kissing gate, advertising
everything from insurance to range cookers to funeral plans – perhaps not in the best of taste,
considering we were raising funds for old folk, but they had offered a decent donation that we
couldn’t refuse. Cheryl had persuaded the Fairlie House Hotel to contribute, and would be
tempting walkers with samples of afternoon tea, and the local vet had a stall offering dog treats
for the canine participants. I circled slowly, taking it all in. It was fantastic – well beyond
106
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
anything I had imagined from the first moment of suggesting the sponsored walk – and I
couldn’t help feeling a flutter of pride that we had pulled this off, and that the Inglebridge
community had rallied round with such enthusiasm.
‘Hey, you didn’t mention it was a big event. I’d have dressed up if I’d known.’
I turned round. Paddy was right behind me, wearing jeans, a fleece and scuffed walking
boots, and a grin that was so distracting he could have been naked, and no one would have
noticed. Not that it distracted me, of course.
‘You’re just in time,’ I said. ‘The local newspaper is here and would like an interview.
Please mention The Chestnuts as many times as you can. They need a seventeen-seater
minibus. If you can get that in, we may find a garage who’ll do us a good deal for the publicity.’
He clicked his heels and gave a mock salute.
‘Yes, ma’am. Any clues as to where the reporter is?’
‘She’s over there, handing out balloons, under the gazebo that says North Lancashire
Express. And if that isn’t enough of a clue, she’s blonde and attractive. I’m sure your homing
instincts will guide you to her.’
Grinning even more broadly, he ambled off towards the stand I pointed at and I headed
off in the opposite direction, to find Winston and to make sure everything was in hand. It was
a relief to see a steady stream of walkers beginning to approach from the direction of the town
centre. We had timed the walk to officially start at 10.30 a.m. so that it would fit in with a
picnic lunch along the way, and although we couldn’t stop people setting off sooner or later
than that, it looked like a good number were aiming for the official time. I tried not to think
that it was the Paddy effect, but it was impossible not to notice that a small crowd was gathering
round the newspaper stall where he was now chatting to the reporter.
I turned away and waved as I spotted the much more welcome sight of Gran being
pushed across the field in a wheelchair by one of the carers from The Chestnuts. I hurried over.
107
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
‘This is cheating,’ I said, bending to kiss her cheek. ‘You can’t do a sponsored walk in
that.’
‘I don’t know why they insisted I needed it at all,’ Gran said, standing up and giving
the wheelchair a disgusted poke with her finger. ‘I told them I don’t need wheels while I have
two working feet, but would they listen? Would they heck. There was none of this health and
safety nonsense in my day. The world’s gone soft.’
Gran took a few steps forward and stumbled on the uneven ground. I grabbed her arm.
‘Happen I should have chosen some better shoes,’ she conceded. ‘I’ve borrowed an
outfit from Mrs Pike again and her feet aren’t as dainty as mine. Perhaps I’d better not get them
muddy.’ She summoned the wheelchair with a wave of her hand and sank back down into it.
The carer gave me a wink and I tried not to laugh.
‘You are looking dolled up,’ I said. She was wearing a lilac dress and matching floral
jacket, which was certainly more understated than the neon pink outfit she’d chosen to wear to
the Fairlie. ‘You didn’t need to make so much effort.’
‘At my age, you make the most of every occasion you can. Who knows if there’ll be
another? Besides, I want to look my best for the photos.’
‘What photos?’ I asked, as we started heading towards the stalls. ‘We haven’t hired a
photographer.’
‘But the press are here, aren’t they? It stands to reason that they’ll want to meet me.
I’ve been chosen to represent The Chestnuts.’
Chosen? I would have liked to have seen how that vote went: Gran putting herself
forward and no one daring to disagree, at a guess.
‘Is Paddy here yet?’ Gran tried to see, but the increasing crowd was getting in her way.
‘How am I meant to see anything from down here? I need a periscope. Don’t they know who I
am? This thing should come with a horn to shift people out of the way.’
108
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
I was still laughing when we reached the newspaper stand, and Paddy caught my smile
and returned it at full strength.
/>
‘Never mind me,’ he said to the journalist, who seemed to be hanging off his every
word – practically drooling. It hadn’t taken him long to reel her in with his fake charm. ‘Here’s
the real star of today, our VIP visitor from The Chestnuts. Come on, Phyllis, I’m sure you’ll
have a thing or two to say.’
He bent down to kiss Gran’s cheeks and, in one smooth move, took her hands and lifted
her to her feet. I stepped forward, anxious in case she stumbled again, but there was no need;
Paddy clamped his arm round her back and they posed for photographs like a pair of
newlyweds, with Gran giving a running commentary between each smile as to exactly why
The Chestnuts needed a minibus. She laid it on so thick, there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the
county if the newspaper reported her accurately.
‘And let’s have a couple in the chair,’ she said, directing the photo shoot as she did
everything else. ‘If I try to look like a frail invalid, we might get a bit of sympathy cash.’
Paddy obligingly crouched at her side for more photos until the photographer and
journalist pronounced themselves satisfied. Just in time: a quick glance at my watch showed
me that it was almost 10.30 a.m., and a substantial crowd had gathered in the field, a greater
number of participants than I could ever have hoped would turn up. There must have been
several hundred people waiting to do the walk, some faces I recognised from school and around
town, but many more who were total strangers, and I looked from Gran to Paddy, wondering
whether charity or celebrity had been the greater draw.
‘Speech time?’ Paddy asked, and I simply nodded, too thankful that the day had turned
out well to bother coming up with the sarcastic or bitter retort that I might otherwise have done.
He made his way to the kissing gate where Winston was waiting, and proceeded to give what
I had to concede was the perfect speech: short, warm, witty and with a charming reference to
109
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
Gran as a representative of The Chestnuts. She rose from her chair to acknowledge the
applause, and then Paddy strode through the kissing gate and started the walk.
‘You missed a trick there,’ Gran said, settling back down. ‘Never mind sponsorship.
You should have made him stand at the gate and charge for a kiss as folk went through. We
could have made enough for a Mercedes minibus.’
‘He’s not that good,’ I said, and could have bitten my tongue out when Gran gave me
a saucy look. ‘Not that I really remember …’ I added.
‘It’s no wonder you’re living on your own, if a man like that’s not good enough for
you. I’m never going to be grandmother-of-the-bride if you’re so fussy.’
‘It’s not fussy to want someone reliable. Someone who’ll stick around. Besides,’ I
continued, although the point was coming too late, and I was conveniently ignoring Rich’s
existence. ‘I don’t need a man. I’m fine on my own.’
‘If you say so.’
Gran stayed to watch the first tranche of walkers set off along the track to the hill, then
returned to The Chestnuts to report back and no doubt to regale the other residents with tales
of her impending newspaper fame. Winston was leading the way and I had planned to bring up
the rear, although I’d definitely drawn the short straw, as it would be frustrating to amble along
at such a slow pace behind the toddlers. I had assumed that Paddy would have doubled back
and gone by now, only pretending to start the walk but not actually going through with it, so it
was annoying as the crowd thinned to see a familiar mop of curly dark hair and to realise that
not only was he still here, but he was coming towards me as well.
‘I thought you’d gone,’ I said, sounding very much like Gran with my grumbling tone.
‘And duck out of the walk? Phyllis has sponsored me 50p if I can haul myself up and
down the hill. I’ve been training specially. Look at the mud on these boots. That’s real
Yorkshire dirt, you know.’
110
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
‘You could have bought them yesterday and stepped straight into a muddy puddle,’ I
said. But I couldn’t resist a smile – his boots looked new but well enough broken in to suggest
that they had seen some recent use. ‘Don’t let me hold you back if you’re raring to go.’
‘You’re okay. I can’t have you providing the rearguard on your own.’
‘I’m not on my own. I’m waiting for someone.’
‘Don’t tell me Phyllis has just popped back to put on her Wonder Woman outfit before
she launches an assault on this hill? Nothing would surprise me where she’s concerned.’
The affection in his voice was obvious, and his smile was warm – dangerously warm.
It was a relief to see Rich shuffling through the tail end of the crowd, and I waved at him with
a degree of enthusiasm I’d probably rarely shown before.
‘Here’s Rich! You see, I’m not on my own. You can get off now.’
Paddy didn’t budge. Rich shambled up to us, and as he bent down to kiss me, I struggled
not to recoil at the stench of stale alcohol.
‘Do you want some water before we start?’ I asked. I didn’t rate his chances of making
it up the hill in this state. We’d be lucky to keep up with the toddlers. ‘There are some bottles
on the table over there.’
‘Keep it down, Eve. My head’s thumping.’
‘Bad night?’
‘Great night.’ Rich grinned. ‘The boys were on top form.’
Judging from the smell, the grey skin, the rasping voice and the fact he was wearing
sunglasses, I guessed he used ‘boys’ to mean his friends rather than his children.
‘Oh! Well, a blast of fresh air is exactly what you need to make you feel better. Shall
we go?’
‘Nah, I’m not going up there. I’m not up to it today. I shouldn’t be out by rights, but I
thought I ought to come along and give you some moral support.’
111
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
‘Thanks. That was thoughtful.’ I tried to turn my back on Paddy, who was still
shamelessly hanging around, listening to this conversation. ‘Are you going to be all right on
your own?’
‘Yeah, there’s a match on at twelve so I’ll put my feet up for a bit while that’s on.’ He
was already drifting away. ‘Come round later if you fancy it.’ His cheek moved as he winked
behind his sunglasses, and then he was gone.
After a few moments spent reining in my humiliation, I spun back to Paddy.
‘Stop it,’ I said.
‘Stop what?’
‘Disapproving. It’s none of your business.’
‘You’re right, it’s not.’ I nodded and took a step away towards the kissing gate. ‘Except
…’
I stopped. ‘Except what?’
‘Well now, he’s a bit boorish for you, isn’t he?’
‘Boorish?’ The word was so apt that it momentarily silenced me. Even after a few
seconds to consider, my response was weak. ‘He wasn’t at his best today.’
‘You’re telling me. Seriously – you’re in a relationship with him? What do you talk
about? Does he live with you and Caitlyn?’
‘No. And that is even less of your business, don’t you think?’
&nbs
p; I strode off across the field, hoping to put some distance between us, but it was no good.
His strides were longer than mine and he soon caught up.
‘Are you in love with him?’
‘None of your business.’ I wished I hadn’t repeated that. It was tantamount to a ‘no’,
wasn’t it? Why couldn’t I have said yes? It would have been the simple answer. It would have
stopped this inquisition. But it wouldn’t have been the truth. I knew what love was like, and it
112
Kate Field
Eve and Paddy
wasn’t what I felt for Rich; I knew what it was like, because of the man now striding along at
my side. He was the only man I had ever loved, until I had decided that I was better off without
love; that love was too closely entwined with loss for me to want it again. I had chosen Rich
precisely because while we had fun together, there was no chance of me falling in love with
him.
‘I didn’t realise you had a significant other,’ Paddy said.
‘Thanks. Is it so unlikely?’
We had reached the kissing gate and Paddy waited, letting me go first. I turned round,
holding the gate shut between us.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Not at all.’ He gestured to my left hand, resting on the top of the gate.
‘But you don’t wear a ring.’
‘Don’t be so conventional. Marriage isn’t everything. You should know that. You
disposed of yours easily enough, didn’t you?’
He was better at this game than I was. He didn’t spit out a hasty, ill-thought-out answer
as I would have done. He didn’t give an answer at all, or not a verbal one. But his face … I
couldn’t miss the pain that flashed across it, or doubt that it was real. I pulled the gate towards
me, and let him through.
It was wonderful to see so many people walking up the hill and enjoying the fresh air
and exercise. The walkers covered the whole spectrum from serious hikers with their Gore-Tex
boots and hiking poles, to enthusiastic but unfit young families in their trainers and wellies,
who were puffing at the first hint of an incline. Children and dogs ran loose, enjoying their
A Dozen Second Chances (ARC) Page 13
