by Heidi Swain
‘She still looks a bit peaky to me,’ Lizzie chipped in from where she was setting out materials for one of her crafting classes which would be happening later in the day. ‘You’re working her too hard, Jemma. The poor girl’s supposed to be here for a break.’
‘I’m fine,’ I insisted. ‘My bug’s gone and this is the first time I’ve been behind the counter since I got here.’
Jemma eyed me intently.
‘Honestly, Jem,’ I assured her, ‘I’m fine and Angela will be here to help soon.’
She didn’t have time to contradict me as the bell above the door rang out and I slipped back to my station at the multi-slotted toaster, ready to fill the inevitable requests for granary and white.
An hour or so, and many loaves later, things had slowed up a little and I was just thinking I might risk a hot drink when the bell tinkled again and I heard Jemma gasp. I had hoped it was Angela, the third member of the café team, who had called to say she was running late, but given my sister-in-law’s reaction I guessed not.
‘Please don’t let it be a coach party,’ I muttered, preparing to clear the decks and forcing myself not to speculate on what I had heard the two latte girls talking about earlier.
At least being so busy was helping to keep my mind mostly occupied and at this rate the day was going to fly by.
‘Are you who I think you are?’ I heard Jemma ask in a voice which didn’t resemble her own at all.
She also sounded rather breathless and my ears pricked up to hear the response to her question.
‘I suppose that would very much depend on who you think I am, wouldn’t it?’
It couldn’t be, could it?
‘I think you might be Luke Lonsdale,’ she said, sounding all a-flutter.
‘Then in that case,’ he confirmed, ‘yes, I am who you think I am.’
‘Luke,’ I said, stepping out from the kitchen and wiping my hands down my apron. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
‘Looking for you,’ he said. ‘I need to talk to you, Kate.’
He looked dog-tired and nothing like the glossy, groomed icon draped across the aftershave advert in the Vogue magazine Jemma had back at the house, but I didn’t care. It was just so lovely to see him in the flesh, rather than staring out from the pages of a newspaper.
‘We both do,’ he added, bending down and standing back up with Jasmine in his arms. ‘Don’t we, poppet?’
The pretty little thing nodded then buried her face in his neck. She looked every bit as tired as he did, but then given everything that had been happening in her life during the last few weeks that was hardly surprising.
‘Hello, Jasmine,’ I smiled.
She turned to look at me for a second before going back into hiding. I wasn’t at all surprised that she wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
‘Take my keys and go home,’ Jemma insisted, as she fumbled about for them down the side of the till.
‘But . . .’ I stammered.
‘No buts,’ she insisted. ‘I can’t imagine that Luke Lonsdale, of all people, has travelled all this way to have a friendly chat with someone who purports to be just a neighbour.’
Luke and I looked at one another.
‘I haven’t said anything about us,’ I told him quickly. ‘Not to anyone.’
I didn’t want him to think I was no better than Candice, sharing with one and all the intimate details of our fireside encounter.
‘I thought you said there was no us,’ he smiled, hoisting Jasmine a little higher.
‘Just go home,’ Jemma said again, finally tearing her eyes away from Luke. ‘There’s no one there and you’ll be able to talk properly, in private.’
‘But you’ll be busy in here again in a minute,’ I told her as she spun me around, untied my apron and ushered me towards the door.
‘And Angela will be here to help,’ she said. ‘Seriously, just go before someone recognises you, Luke. We can manage here just fine.’
Back at the house Luke settled Jasmine on the sofa and snuggled her under a blanket while I made us both a drink. I was going to risk a weak shot of caffeine whatever the consequences.
‘Is she OK?’ I asked as he pulled out a chair and sat opposite me at the table.
‘Out like a light,’ he nodded, ‘and she slept all the way here. She’s exhausted.’
His car was now parked outside and I hoped no one would recognise it. Not that that was very likely.
‘And is she actually, you know, not yours?’
‘Of course she’s mine,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I’ve never thought any different.’
‘So why did you take the test? What made you go through all this?’ I frowned, pointing at the stack of newspapers which had grown beyond belief since my arrival.
I wanted to ask why he hadn’t confided in me. Didn’t he trust me? Probably not, given that I had dismissed even the possibility of there being an ‘us’ the second he had declared his feelings and suggested there could be.
‘Because I didn’t want Candice to get the jitters and disappear with her,’ he said. ‘I’ve known since she was born that Jas was my daughter, but it wasn’t until Dad died, and I got my act together, that I realised what it meant to be a father. Suddenly sending Candice money for her wasn’t enough. I was failing my little girl and I wanted that to change.’
‘I see.’
So he hadn’t been completely shirking his responsibilities as Candice had told David.
‘I searched everywhere for them, even when I went away before Easter to think about us, I was still looking.’
‘And then she turned up of her own accord anyway.’
‘Yes, it turns out Candice had got word of me buying Prosperous Place and thought she’d struck gold, but I’ve only ever been interested in Jasmine and as far as the papers were concerned,’ he went on, ‘I tolerated them because they gave her mother enough rope to prove that she isn’t fit to own a dog, let alone take care of a child.’
‘So, you just went along with it all to show Candice up for what she really is.’
‘Yes.’
‘Right.’
This was a lot to take in.
‘And I couldn’t risk telling anyone,’ he said, looking back at Jasmine. ‘There was too much at stake.’
That answered my question about trust and rather than continuing to feel hurt, I felt touched that he was prepared to put Jasmine’s welfare above everything and everyone else; even himself.
‘I’m sure you’ve seen what’s been said about me in the papers,’ he went on when I didn’t say anything.
‘I’ve seen some of it,’ I told him, ‘but when I got the gist of the depths she was prepared to sink to I made a conscious effort to avoid as much as I could.’
‘I’m pleased,’ he said, turning red. ‘More than half of it wasn’t true anyway.’
That meant that almost half of it was. I didn’t like to speculate which half that might be.
‘So, what was her motive?’ I frowned. ‘What was Candice really hoping to get out of the situation?’
‘More money,’ he said without hesitating. ‘And when she realised I’d sunk most of what I had into the house she went to the papers to further her profile and give her media career a boost.’
‘Crikey. How . . . resourceful.’
I couldn’t believe anyone could be that calculating. I had soon worked out that Candice was manipulative, but this took her scheming to a whole new level.
‘I can’t believe you put up with it all for so long,’ I sighed, ‘she was set to ruin your reputation just to make a name for herself.’
Luke shrugged.
‘I don’t care about that,’ he said, looking embarrassed, ‘but I’m sorry for how she spoke to you.’
‘You don’t need to apologise for her,’ I told him.
‘I know I don’t,’ he said, ‘but she’d never think to do it herself and I couldn’t bear it if you thought I had accepted her for no good reason. I was just goin
g along with it all because I was trying to protect Jas. If I’d started picking Candice up on everything she’d have sussed me out in a heartbeat. If she knew I was on to her she would have vanished again, taking my little girl with her and that was the last thing I wanted to happen.’
‘So where is she now?’ I asked. ‘Candice, I mean.’
Luke reached across the table and grasped my hand.
‘I hope you’ll forgive Lisa for telling me,’ he shocked me by saying, ‘but having explained to me what a shit that ex of yours has been in the past it came as no surprise to me that—’
‘He and Candice have disappeared,’ I guessed.
Given what Lisa had said about the pair of them spending so much time together I wasn’t surprised.
‘Correct.’
‘You mean they’ve gone off together.’
‘Exactly.’
I squeezed his hand and then let go.
‘I’d rather Lisa hadn’t talked to you about my relationship with David,’ I sniffed.
I felt more perturbed about that than my ex’s behaviour. I wondered just how much she had said. Did Luke now know about the chlamydia crisis as well as the infidelity? My pregnancy announcement would come as even more of a shock if he did. Not that I was about to make it any time soon.
‘Please don’t blame Lisa for that,’ Luke said. ‘She didn’t want to talk to me at all.’
‘So why did she then?’
‘To stop me being angry,’ he said, raking a hand through his hair. ‘With you.’
‘With me?’ I laughed. ‘Why were you angry with me?’
‘Because I needed you,’ he said. ‘I wanted you by my side at Prosperous Place and you left. You told me there was no us, that the portrait was a fake and then buggered off.’
‘Well, I’m very sorry,’ I began, my annoyance growing before he had had a chance to finish.
‘But when Lisa explained about everything you’d been through with David I began to understand.’
‘That was considerate of you.’
‘I could see that you wouldn’t want to stick around to support a man who’d allegedly shirked his parental responsibilities,’ he went on in spite of my interruption, ‘and who in the past had supposedly had more women on the go than Hugh Heffner.’
I couldn’t help but smile.
‘Not as many as Heff,’ I said, ‘surely?’
‘I did say supposedly and I’m trying to be serious,’ he said. ‘I soon realised that you weren’t going to stick around to get hurt all over again and I vowed that as soon as this whole charade was over, I’d find you and explain.’
‘But you still haven’t told me why Jasmine is with you.’
‘OK,’ he said, dragging in a deep breath. ‘Well, Candice has left with David, and the portrait.’
‘And the portrait?’
This was getting more bizarre by the second.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Let’s just say I didn’t want it in my sight. You were right about it being a fake and when I discovered he’d gone out of his way to procure it to try and win you back I banished him, and it, from the house, grounds, everywhere I could think of.’
‘Right,’ I said, trying not to smile again. ‘I see.’
That was one sight I would have liked to have witnessed.
‘Anyway,’ he went on, ‘David and Candice left together.’
‘Without Jasmine?’ I gasped, the realisation only just dawning.
Her mother didn’t want her. Luke nodded.
‘Candice didn’t want her tagging along,’ he said, echoing my thoughts. ‘Jas is just an inconvenience now she’s got this whole new media-slash-reality-show-host career on the horizon. Obviously, she won’t be filming a show about Prosperous Place any longer, but there have been plenty of other offers.’
‘You aren’t telling me she’s really left her little girl behind?’ I gulped, my eyes filling with tears at the thought.
Luke nodded again.
‘But that’s what I wanted,’ he said. ‘This is the outcome I’ve been hoping for all along. I can give my daughter a far more settled home life than Candice ever could.’
‘But Jasmine hardly knows you.’
‘Don’t worry about Jas,’ Luke smiled. ‘She’s the most adaptable kid I know and don’t forget, I am her father. We’re both looking forward to getting stuck into the catching up we’ve got to do.’
Chapter 30
Dinner that evening was an interesting affair.
‘You should feel honoured, mate,’ Tom told Luke with a wink as he helped Jemma gather the post-meal dishes together. ‘She doesn’t bring out the Denby service and crystal glasses for just anyone, you know.’
Jemma flushed scarlet and whipped the back of Tom’s legs with the tea towel she had draped over her shoulder.
‘Feel free to ignore my brother,’ I told her, trying to save her blushes. ‘He’s just jealous because no one has ever paid him an extraordinary amount of money to lay half-naked across a speedboat in Venice.’
‘I’ll have you know,’ laughed Tom, ‘that we’re thinking of doing one of those naked calendar things at the council next year to raise funds for the new leisure centre.’
‘That’ll set the project back another few years then,’ I shot back, sticking my tongue out and ducking out of the way before his hand had time to cuff the back of my head.
‘Are they always like this?’ Luke asked Jemma as he handed her his empty wine glass.
‘Pretty much,’ she said, with a sigh. ‘They seem to regress after they’ve shared a bottle of red. Not that Kate has drunk any tonight,’ she caught my attention by saying.
‘Tom,’ I interrupted, ‘why don’t you take Luke for a drink down the pub? Introduce him to the delights of Wynbridge and a few of the locals.’
‘Because I’d never hear the last of it,’ Tom told me. ‘And besides, I’m sure Luke would prefer an evening where there wasn’t a chance of his face popping up in the papers the next day and that he’d rather stay here with Jasmine, isn’t that right, mate?’
‘I would, yes,’ Luke said, ‘but only as long as we’re not intruding.’
‘Of course you’re not,’ said Jemma. ‘Our sofa is at your disposal for as long as you want it.’
‘And Jasmine can sleep on the futon in my room,’ Ella kindly offered as she wandered in with the uncanny knack of one who could telepathically tell when the clearing up was done. ‘But only if she wants to.’
‘I’m sure she’d love that,’ said Luke, this time making my niece colour, ‘thank you, Ella and thank you for keeping her amused this evening.’
Once the children were finally settled for the night, Luke and I took a walk around the garden.
‘Jasmine certainly seems to be taking everything in her stride,’ I told him as I looked back towards the house.
Out of the three youngsters, she was the one who had gone to bed with the least amount of fuss.
‘Like I said earlier, she’s the most adaptable kid I know,’ he sighed. ‘But with a mother like she’s had to put up with, always dragging her from pillar to post and moving her to a new home every other week, she’s had to be.’
‘I hadn’t thought of it like that,’ I said, slipping my arm through his. ‘She’s very lucky to be with you, Luke.’
‘Do you really think so?’
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘She’ll be starting school soon and she needs some stability and security to make that transition.’
‘She needs to be around kids her own age rather than adults all the time,’ he said, nodding back to the house. ‘She needs this.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Family,’ he said. ‘She needs family and kids her own age to play and laugh with.’
Having watched her playing with Noah and giggling with Ella like I’d never heard her giggle before, I knew he was right.
‘I know from what Lisa told me that you have some very fixed ideas about how life and love should be, Kate,’ he sm
iled.
‘They’re not quite as fixed as they used to be,’ I gently corrected him.
‘Well, that’s good,’ he said. ‘Because life and love can get pretty messy sometimes.’
I inadvertently pressed my hand to my stomach, thinking he was telling me nothing I hadn’t now worked out for myself, but I didn’t say as much.
‘And I’m hoping that you’ll change your mind about there being no us, Kate, because I would love it if your family became my family. If you became my family, mine and Jas’s.’
‘Really?’ I asked, looking up at him.
‘Really,’ he said, staring deep into my eyes. ‘I want there to be an us, Kate. I’ve always wanted there to be an us, right from the moment I bumped into you in the street and then caught you sneaking around my garden.’
I laughed as I remembered how he had ended up carrying Carole after she twisted her ankle and how I had later assumed he was just some flashy sod with no depth and even less soul. It all felt like years rather than months ago. So much had happened in such a short amount of time.
‘I suppose,’ I told him, still locked into his gaze, ‘that if nothing else, the history between our two homes just goes to prove that there should be an us, doesn’t it?’
‘Exactly,’ he said, pulling me into his chest.
I didn’t resist and wrapped my arms around his back.
‘Come away with us tomorrow,’ he whispered, kissing the top of my head. ‘Let’s disappear, the three of us and learn how to become the family I want us to be.’
It wasn’t anything like how I had always imagined my 2.4 little unit would be, but it sounded good to me.
‘All right,’ I told him. ‘If that’s what you want, I will.’
‘It is,’ he sighed, ‘but is it what you want?’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘It is. I can’t think of anything better, as long as you’re really sure? I’d hate to make more of a muddle for Jasmine if things didn’t work out.’
