Sunshine and Sweet Peas in Nightingale Square

by Heidi Swain

  I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Something wasn’t right here. I couldn’t believe that Lisa, of all people, would have fallen for this. Heather maybe; she was more like me, softer round the edges and a romantic at heart, but Lisa, my ballsy best friend? No way.

  ‘Do you really, really mean that?’ I demanded.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Because personally, I think you’re totally off your rocker. I thought you of all people . . . hang on. What?’

  ‘No,’ she said, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze. ‘Of course I don’t believe that.’

  ‘What?’ gulped Heather. ‘I can’t keep track here.’

  ‘I just wanted you to acknowledge how ridiculous the idea was, Kate,’ Lisa smiled at me.

  The cunning wench.

  ‘I thought that if I offered you the jaded idyll, with the not so perfect Prince, then you would finally be able to see how absurd it was and admit that it’s not what you wanted at all. You’d see that what would have once been your happy ever after was actually more like a big bite from the poison apple.’

  I shook my head in disbelief.

  ‘And it worked, didn’t it? You aren’t going to go back to David because he’s supposedly offering you a family?’

  ‘Of course I’m not,’ I frowned, ‘but surely you realised that I wouldn’t do that after I came back from Wynbridge after Christmas. I told you both that I’d sent him packing then, didn’t I?’

  ‘You did,’ Lisa agreed, ‘but you hadn’t told us that he’d offered you a baby as a bargaining tool.’

  ‘What difference does that make?’

  ‘All the difference in the world,’ she insisted. ‘You can’t quell the call of motherhood once it’s taken root, even though you might try, and as Heather here was so taken with your ex, I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Heather, blushing profusely. ‘Have I failed the ex test?’

  ‘Spectacularly,’ said Lisa. ‘But we’ll let you off.’

  ‘Your hormones are all over the place,’ I told her. ‘We’ll blame the presence of the baby you have on board just this once.’

  It suddenly became obvious that the rest of the ward was holding its breath, waiting to see where the conversation headed next and Lisa, Heather and I looked at each other and laughed.

  ‘We’d better get going,’ said Lisa, standing up.

  ‘But what about that coffee?’ I reminded her.

  ‘No time,’ she said. ‘I need to get back.’

  We kissed Heather goodbye, made her promise to behave herself and told her we’d call in on her the next day, when she came home, to make sure all was OK.

  ‘Glen’s mum is going to stay for a few days to help out with Evie,’ she told us. ‘In fact, I can’t help wishing I hadn’t turned her down when she offered to help when Evie was born.’

  She was clearly looking forward to the imminent arrival of her mother-in-law and some extra in-house support.

  ‘But a visit would be good,’ she said. ‘You can keep me abreast of all the goss.’

  As we headed back through the labyrinth of corridors I linked arms with Lisa and she planted a kiss on my cheek.

  ‘That was a tricky game you played back there,’ I told her. ‘I was all set to walk out when I thought you were suggesting I should get back together with David.’

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But it was worth it. You wouldn’t be tempted to try again with him, would you? I mean, I know he’s a charmer and everything and now he’s on about wanting a baby.’

  I pulled her to the side of the corridor and plonked her on a plastic chair.

  ‘There’s something else you need to know,’ I said, as I dumped myself down next to her.

  ‘What?’

  I looked ahead for a moment and closed my eyes. There was no one in the world who knew about this final twist in the fling David had had. No one other than him and a few folk in the medical profession, that is.

  ‘When David had his one-night stand,’ I began, ‘I didn’t find out about it from him.’

  ‘How did you find out then?’

  ‘I—’ I stopped, then swallowed and took a deep breath. ‘I became unwell a little while after it had happened.’ I didn’t elaborate on the details.

  ‘Right.’

  ‘So, I went to see my doctor and he ran a few tests.’

  Lisa looked at me and shook her head, unable to join the dots.

  ‘I had chlamydia,’ I whispered, feeling thoroughly ashamed and realising that after what had happened with Luke I should book myself in for a check-up. ‘David had caught it from this young woman, this so-called model he’d been with, and without realising, had passed it on to me.’

  ‘Oh, Kate,’ Lisa gasped.

  ‘He was OK,’ I said, ‘but . . .’

  ‘But, what?’

  ‘But I wasn’t. I was quite poorly and it took a while for me to recover.’

  ‘But you’re OK now?’

  ‘In some respects,’ I wept, ‘but this baby he keeps promising, apparently there’s a very good chance that I wouldn’t be able to have one now anyway.’

  I couldn’t be sure from Lisa’s expression exactly what she was thinking, but had David walked in at that moment, I was fairly certain she would have been able to conjure a frying pan and a fire from somewhere.

  Chapter 26

  As awkward as I felt about returning after my self-imposed exile, it was a pleasure to gaze upon the garden. The fruit, vegetables and cut flowers were looking healthy and lush thanks to the recent rains and the hens looked in fine fettle with their glossy feathers and fire-engine-red combs. Even Violet and Dash were out and about now they had both been neutered and were turning into beautiful sleek cats and, much to Graham’s delight, proficient mousers.

  ‘We would have lost the entire lot of peas if it wasn’t for this pair,’ he told me as he scooped them up, ‘but there’s been barely a nibble since Luke started to let them out and I haven’t heard even the briefest of scrabbles in the bothy.’

  I hoped they weren’t as capable when it came to catching birds. We were all rather fond of the rotund robin and his bolshie ways.

  ‘Well, that’s good,’ I said. ‘I’m pleased it’s all going so well.’

  ‘And how are you?’ Carole asked, handing me a mug of tea.

  ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Your cold,’ she said. ‘Has it finally gone?’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ I said, adding an obligatory sniff. ‘I’m much better now, thanks, Carole.’

  ‘Nothing worse than a head cold in warm weather,’ she sympathised.

  I nodded in agreement and tried not to notice that Luke had just wandered in to the garden carrying Jasmine and wearing a T-shirt that did nothing to disguise his physique, and low-slung cargo shorts that barely concealed the taut and defined abs I remembered sliding my fingers over, across and down.

  ‘Are you sure you’re all right, Kate?’ quizzed Carole. ‘You still look a bit flushed to me.’

  ‘I’m fine,’ I smiled, turning my back on Luke who had now put Jasmine down. I hoped he wouldn’t notice me. ‘My tea’s a bit hot, that’s all. I should have let it cool.’

  ‘But you haven’t had any yet,’ Graham unhelpfully butted in.

  Thankfully Violet chose that moment to dig her claws in and I was saved further embarrassment as he attempted to disentangle himself from her clutches.

  ‘You’re Kate, aren’t you?’ asked Jasmine as she came skipping up.

  ‘That’s right.’ I swallowed, wishing she didn’t look quite so adorable in her flowery little sundress.

  ‘Mummy said you weren’t coming back to the garden.’

  ‘Did she?’

  I wondered what else mummy had been saying.

  ‘She said she wished no one would come back to the garden,’ she added in a low whisper.

  I felt rather sorry for Jasmine. I could well imagine she had been privy to far too many grown-up conversations in her s
hort lifetime and I wasn’t at all surprised that Candice wasn’t as in love with the community garden as the rest of us.

  ‘Daddy said I can have a little garden of my own,’ the girl went on, looking longingly at the flowers, ‘but he hasn’t sorted it out yet.’

  She sounded very mature and matter of fact. Another indicator that she spent too much time in adult company.

  ‘How about in the meantime you start with this then?’ I suggested, filling a seed tray with compost from the bag in the bothy doorway and handing her the tiny plastic fork and spade Lisa had bought for Archie.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Jasmine squealed. ‘Thank you, Kate.’

  She arranged it all on the floor and began digging and poking and I slipped inside the bothy to busy myself tidying the trays and alphabetically organising the seed packets for absolutely no reason at all.

  ‘Kate . . .’

  I sucked in a lungful of air, determined to make the best of an awkward situation or at least not a complete fool of myself.

  ‘Hello, Luke,’ I said lightly, while staring intently at the instructions and reading all about how best to sow and thin rows of carrots to avoid the dreaded fly.

  ‘Long time no see.’

  I could hear he’d moved closer and purposefully took another step away.

  ‘Mark said you hadn’t been well.’

  ‘Just a bit of a cold,’ I shrugged dismissively.

  ‘Well, anyway,’ he said. ‘I haven’t come in here to check you were stocked up on tissues.’

  ‘OK.’

  I still hadn’t looked at him, even though I knew he was looking at me . . . especially as I knew he was looking at me.

  ‘I came in because I wanted to explain,’ he started.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Us, Candice, David and the painting, of course.’ He was beginning to sound frustrated, as well he might with such an unwilling conversationalist to spar with.

  ‘There’s no need,’ I said lightly.

  ‘Well, I think there is.’

  ‘But what’s there to say?’ I laughed, risking one fleeting glance from him to Jasmine before plunging my hands back into the organised assortment of packets.

  ‘Plenty.’

  ‘Look,’ I interrupted, ‘we’ve barely known each other long enough for there to even be an us, David is helping you find the portrait and your ex and your daughter have moved in with you. It couldn’t be clearer.’

  ‘What do you mean about that bit about us?’ he demanded.

  I didn’t need to look at him to know he was scowling.

  ‘Luke,’ I sighed, ‘I know you said you’ve fallen for me but you haven’t, not really. You love the fact that I love this place and you’ve twisted those feelings into something else.’

  I carried ruthlessly on, ignoring his poleaxed expression.

  ‘It was just a bit of fun.’

  ‘Not for me,’ he began to say, but I cut him off again.

  ‘Consenting adults,’ I told him quietly, hoping his daughter couldn’t hear, ‘enjoying each other’s company for a couple of uncomplicated, no-strings hours of fun.’

  ‘You can’t mean that.’

  He sounded absolutely floored and I wasn’t sure if that made me feel any better or not.

  ‘I can,’ I swallowed, ‘I do.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Really,’ I smiled, forcing myself to finally look at him properly, ‘and even if I didn’t, what would be the point in saying anything else?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  I glanced out of the window at Candice who was striding in our direction.

  ‘This whole situation,’ I said, brushing by and trying not to breathe in the warm, heady scent of him, ‘is what I mean.’

  ‘Luke!’ Candice shouted, from the bothy doorway. ‘What’s all this?’

  She pointed to where Jasmine was happily playing.

  ‘It’s my garden, Mummy,’ Jasmine beamed.

  ‘She’s filthy and her new dress is ruined!’ Candice bellowed, ignoring the obvious delight in her daughter’s voice.

  Both Jasmine and her dress looked perfectly clean to me.

  ‘It’s my fault, Candice,’ I piped up. ‘Jasmine just wanted a little garden of her own, so I thought . . .’

  Candice looked me in the eye and walked right over to where I was standing.

  ‘You stay away from my daughter,’ she hissed into my face. ‘You stay away from all of us.’

  ‘Candice!’ Luke shouted. ‘Don’t talk to Kate like that.’

  Candice turned her attention back to Luke and I managed to slip out of the bothy before their argument really kicked off.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I said to Jasmine as I walked away.

  ‘It’s OK,’ shrugged the little girl, distressingly sounding nowhere as upset as I expected she should.

  It took a few more days for the portrait to arrive, along with my unwanted ex, and in that time a sickness bug swept through the Square knocking a fair few of us off our feet, but fortunately it passed in time for us to head back to Prosperous Place to watch the hanging. Of the portrait I mean, not my ex, although that perhaps would have been a preferable spectacle.

  I was still reeling from Candice’s behaviour, and, thanks to the bug, still feeling below par and dog-tired. I didn’t think it would do me any harm to get away for a few days and so set about arranging a timely trip back to Wynbridge.

  ‘Mum will be so chuffed you’re coming back,’ said Tom, when I called and asked if I could borrow his and Jemma’s spare room for the duration of my stay.

  I still felt guilty that I had put Mum and Dad off at Easter, but not so guilty that I was heading back to my childhood bedroom to keep my mum sweet.

  ‘And I know she’d go nuts if she knew I wasn’t encouraging you to go and stay with her and Dad, but with the kids already acting as if they’re in summer holiday mode, I know Jemma would appreciate an extra pair of hands, especially in the mornings before she has to head to the café.’

  I hadn’t factored my feisty niece and truculent nephew into the equation any more than I’d planned on getting out of bed in the mornings. I hoped my getaway wasn’t going to see me working as an unpaid au pair. If that was what my brother had in mind then I might as well move in with Lisa and John and save myself the journey to Wynbridge.

  ‘I’ll see you in a day or so, then,’ I told him.

  ‘Excellent,’ he said.

  ‘I’ll text through the train times when I’ve booked my ticket,’ I added and quickly hung up, denying him the opportunity to apologise for assuming that I’d be happy to help out.

  Planning the trip before heading to Prosperous Place for the portrait unveiling was supposed to have worked as a pick-me-up, something to look forward to after I had endured the sight of Luke and Candice playing happy families, not that the behaviour I had witnessed had suggested they were all that happy of course.

  ‘What’s all this?’ I asked Lisa when I forced myself across the road to join everyone else and found the drive blocked by a couple of vans.

  ‘Press,’ she said, her unusually kohl-rimmed eyes shining with excitement and all traces of her post-bug pallor banished.

  ‘And that one’s local TV,’ added Heather, who hadn’t had the bug but had been allowed out of bed especially for the occasion, and was also sporting full make-up.

  Clearly, they had both been made aware that this was going to be more of an occasion than I had.

  ‘But what are they doing here?’ I frowned.

  Surely the arrival of one painting, no matter how much the family had missed it and paid for its eventual return, didn’t warrant this amount of media attention. If it did turn out to be a fake, as I feared, then it wouldn’t justify any at all.

  ‘Didn’t you get the note from Candice?’ asked Glen.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘What note?’

  He handed me a photocopied piece of paper which explained that now the media had been informed who owned Prosperous Place, a
nd what the plans for it were, there was much interest in potentially filming the restoration and, although we were still welcome to watch the portrait hanging, we would only be allowed in if we were wearing something smarter than our ratty old gardening gear.

  ‘What a cheek,’ I tutted, shaking my head.

  Given our last interaction I wasn’t at all surprised that she hadn’t made me aware of the situation.

  ‘But forewarned is forearmed,’ said Lisa, spritzing herself with perfume. ‘I wouldn’t have wanted to be on the telly or in the papers in my tracksuit bottoms and holey sweatshirt, even if it is only going to make the local news.’

  She had more or less described what I was wearing to a T.

  ‘And you never know,’ beamed Heather. ‘The story might get picked up by the nationals. I don’t think you’ve ever really grasped just how famous Luke is, Kate.’

  I was saved from having to answer by a familiar voice at my side.

  ‘How thrilling is all this?’ it said. ‘This is going to be great for business.’

  Lisa turned her back and walked away.

  ‘Oh dear,’ David continued, sounding crestfallen. He wasn’t used to women turning their backs on him. ‘Was it something I said?’

  ‘I think it was more something you did,’ I told him, as if he needed reminding. ‘I’m guessing you were in on this charade then, were you?’

  ‘Candice set it all up actually,’ he said fondly. ‘She’s a very clever young woman,’ he droned on, but was cut off from extolling her virtues when he caught sight of my face. ‘Good grief. Are you all right, Kate? You look positively peaky and we won’t want you in shot wearing that, will we? Why don’t you ask Candice if she has a pretty dress and some heels you can borrow?’

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I had a whole wardrobe full of pretty dresses just across the road, but then I remembered he still hadn’t managed to work out where I lived and bit it back.

  ‘It’ll be fine,’ I said instead. ‘You needn’t worry, I have absolutely no intention of being anywhere near a camera or a journalist. In fact, I think I might just slip off . . .’

  I took a step away from David who was already engrossed in straightening his tie and turned straight into Luke’s firm chest.

  ‘Kate,’ he said, putting his hands on my upper arms to steady me, ‘you aren’t thinking of going, are you?’