by Jill Mansell
It was Benny Colette, clutching a couple of small packages of his own. Rosa beamed. ‘Much better, thanks. It was sore for a few days, but all mended now. Thank you for coming to the rescue when you did.’
‘Not that I did much, but glad to hear you’ve recovered. That’s a big old parcel you’ve got there. If it’s heavy, want me to carry it for you while we’re queuing?’
‘I’m fine, it doesn’t weigh much. I make dolls,’ Rosa explained, puffing a strand of hair away from her cheek. ‘This one’s off to its new home in America.’ The hair was still there, so she transferred the package to one arm and used the free hand to clear it. Sitting waiting for her a couple of metres away, Red was observing the exchange with amusement.
Benny said, ‘Well that’s a coincidence.’
‘What? Don’t tell me you make dolls too.’ She laughed. ‘Because I won’t believe it.’
‘I don’t. I just noticed your bracelet. Let’s have another look?’
Feeling her cheeks heat up, Rosa raised her arm again and Benny studied it more closely.
‘Mouse . . . parrot . . . Eiffel Tower . . . little dog . . . yes, all the same charms, isn’t that amazing? Last week our gardener found a bracelet exactly like this in our back garden.’
‘Oh.’ Her mouth was dry, she knew she was blushing, and her brain, caught off guard, couldn’t work out what to say without landing her in a world of trouble. ‘Well, this is . . . um, mine.’
‘Sorry, I’m an idiot, of course they’re the same.’ Benny shook his head. ‘I was thinking the charms had been chosen separately, but it must just be the way the bracelets are made and sold in the shop.’
The perfect solution. Relieved, she exclaimed, ‘Yes, that’s it, they all have the same charms!’
‘Well it looks very nice anyway.’
‘Thank you.’ Hooray, she could breathe again.
‘Time for the lass to set off on her big adventure,’ said Benny.
Rosa was so steeped in guilt that for a split second she thought he meant it was time for her to climb over the high stone wall into his garden. But Benny was pointing to the cashier waiting behind the glass.
‘He’s ready to take your parcel off you, send that doll on her way.’
‘Yes,’ she said faintly. ‘Thank you.’
Five minutes later, with the parcel dispatched, Rosa said goodbye to Benny and left the post office with Red. As soon as they were safely out of earshot, he said, ‘Well that was educational.’
Her heart sank. ‘Was it?’
‘You lied to him.’ Red tilted his head and gave her a side-on speculative look. ‘And you gave up the opportunity to get your two-hundred-pound bracelet back. I’m just wondering why you’d choose to do that.’
It was no good, she was going to have to confess. She took a deep breath. ‘OK, you really want to know? Joe’s ashes are scattered under his favourite tree in Benny’s back garden. If I’d known we were going to have to sell the house, I’d never have done it. But I didn’t know until afterwards and by then it was too late.’ She paused, fiddling with the strap of her bag over her shoulder. ‘I wrote to the new owners, Benny and Ingrid, asking if I could possibly be allowed to . . . you know, occasionally visit the tree, because I missed Joe so much and it was the only place I could feel properly close to him. But the solicitors wrote back and said it wasn’t possible. I mean, I suppose it sounded a bit pathetic. And I’m sure they’ve forgotten all about it by now. So anyway . . . Oh, don’t laugh at me.’
‘Hey, I’m on your side.’ His eyes were bright. ‘I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing with you. Go on, tell me the rest.’
He’d already worked it out for himself, of course. But he was enjoying it so much, Rosa carried on. ‘Every week or so, when I really feel the need, I change into dark clothes, sneak out at night and climb over the wall into their garden. I hug the tree, then I sit down and talk to Joe.’
‘And you’ve never been caught?’
‘Never.’ Obviously.
‘No security lights? No motion detectors?’
‘I think they have them closer to the house, but not in my section.’
‘They really should.’
‘Please don’t tell them that,’ said Rosa.
He was grinning now. ‘I won’t. But I must say I’m impressed by your trespassing prowess, after everything you told me about how law-abiding you are.’
‘I feel guilty every time.’
‘But isn’t it a tiny bit exciting too? Doing something you aren’t allowed to do and getting away with it?’
‘Maybe.’ Rosa managed a faint smile. ‘Once I’m home safe.’
‘So falling off the bus last week can’t have helped.’
‘I haven’t been able to risk it since that happened.’ She flexed her knee, double-checking that the pain was negligible.
‘But you’re better now. When’s it going to happen next?’ He gave her a complicit nudge.
‘Your appointment at the health centre is for eleven fifteen.’ Rosa tapped her watch. ‘It’s already ten past.’
‘And you’re trying to change the subject.’
‘If you must know, I was thinking of paying a little visit tonight.’
Red laughed. ‘Good for you.’
‘It won’t be good if I get caught.’
‘Want me to act as your lookout?’
‘No thanks. I was going to wait until you’d gone to bed.’
‘Come on, how can you expect me to get a wink of sleep? I’ll be wide awake and worried sick waiting for you to come back.’
They’d reached the health centre. Rosa pointed him in the direction of the entrance. ‘Off you go. I’ll see you later. Give me a call if you want me to walk back with you.’
‘No need for that. My body might be decrepit,’ said Red, ‘but I still have all my brain cells. I know the way.’
It was midnight when they set out along Barley Lane. Having slept from six until ten, Red had insisted on accompanying her.
‘There’s only the landing light on,’ Rosa murmured when they reached Compton House. ‘That means they’re asleep.’
‘Over you go then. And look after that knee of yours. If you hear an owl hooting, that’ll be me warning you not to move. Well,’ Red amended, ‘unless it’s an owl.’
‘I feel like Bonnie and Clyde.’
His teeth gleamed white in the darkness. ‘You aren’t allowed to be both.’
Rosa located the familiar footholds and clambered over the high wall, dropping silently to the ground on the other side. Her knee took the strain without any trouble.
Oh, it was good to be back. Of course she could speak to Joe any time she wanted, but it was only here that she ever felt truly close to him. Reassured that no one could see her, she gave the trunk of his tree an overdue hug and stroked its bark, murmuring, ‘Hello, sweetheart, it’s OK, I’m here,’ into the warm night air. Then, sitting down on the ground and running her fingers over the neatly mown grass, she imagined Joe seating himself opposite her, his dear face wreathed in a smile of anticipation as he waited to hear her news.
And since there was rather more of it than usual, she wasted no time in regaling him with everything that had happened since her last visit. For a good fifteen minutes she chatted away in a low voice, knowing that Joe would be entertained by the various goings-on. Then, mindful of poor Red having to wait for her on the pavement, she whispered, ‘Right, I’d better go now. Love you so much, sweetheart. Now that my knee’s better, I’ll be back again soon.’
Thirty seconds later, just as she was in the process of hauling herself over the wall, a faint swish of bicycle tyres on dry tarmac reached her ears and something bat-like loomed out of the darkness. The bike’s rider jammed on the brakes and squealed to a halt in the middle of the road. Rosa, her heart crashing against her ribs, ducked out of sight and dropped back down into the garden with a thud.
‘May I ask what’s going on here?’ The stentorian tones of Beryl Thomsett rang o
ut and Rosa squeezed her eyes shut in dismay, because Beryl was bossy, nosy and afraid of no one.
‘Nothing at all. I—’
‘Oh good heavens, it’s you. I heard you were back in town, Red Mason. Well I suppose that answers my question,’ Beryl barked. ‘A leopard never changes its spots, does it? And don’t think I didn’t see your accomplice about to climb back over the wall either. Right, that’s it, I’m calling the police.’
‘Oh no, shh, no no, you don’t want to do that . . . It was jusht a shilly game, that’sh all, I was messing around . . . Honest, I don’t do bad stuff any more, I promise . . .’
Rosa cautiously opened her eyes and listened, because all of a sudden Red sounded completely plastered.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I know who you are, remember. You, on the other side of the wall.’ Beryl’s voice rose to address the intruder. ‘Get yourself over here this minute. I’m not scared of you, whoever you are, and I have a blue belt in karate.’
‘OK, OK, no need to shout,’ Red slurred. ‘All I did was try to throw the housh keysh over Rosa’s head for a joke . . . I didn’t mean for them to go into the garden, and then I couldn’t climb over and get them so she had to – hic – do it. Rosa? Rosa, come and tell Beryl not to arrest me . . . I’m shorry I threw the keys . . . Did you manage to find them?’
Hooray for quick-thinking ex-criminals. Rosa called out, ‘Yes, just found them now, thank goodness! Hang on . . .’ She clambered back up and over the wall like a black-clad ninja, dropped down onto the pavement and took her house keys out of her jeans pocket. ‘Here they are, phew, and you’re never going to do anything like that again.’
‘I’m shorry.’ Red staggered and swayed convincingly. ‘They weren’t shupposed to go over the wall. I thought you’d catch them.’
‘Hello, Beryl!’ With a bright smile, Rosa waved the keys at her. ‘We really weren’t trying to break into Compton House. Red just had a bit too much to drink and did a silly thing. Don’t worry, I’m taking him home now to sleep it off.’
‘Well.’ Beryl sounded disappointed; she’d evidently been looking forward to carrying out a double citizen’s arrest. ‘I hope you know what you’re doing, letting someone like him move into your house. If you want my opinion, it’s just asking for trouble.’
‘Shorry.’ Swaying again, Red said, ‘I’ll behave myself, I promish.’
With a humph of disgust, Beryl got back on her sturdy bicycle and pedalled off, her black Aquascutum mackintosh billowing out like bat’s wings behind her.
‘You make an excellent drunk,’ Rosa told him.
‘Thank you.’ No longer swaying, he bowed.
‘And thanks for getting me out of trouble, too. If she’d caught me there on my own, I wouldn’t have been able to think of an excuse fast enough.’
‘Rules for life. Always have an excuse at the ready. You never know when you’re going to need one.’
Rosa laughed. ‘You have your uses. I’m learning more and more.’
‘Oh, you’re lucky to have me. I’m practically indispensable,’ said Red.
Chapter 14
‘What are you thinking?’ said Harry, appearing in the bedroom doorway.
What was she thinking? Layla had no intention of answering that. Telling a brand-new boyfriend that you were imagining how you’d write your new name once you were married to him would be terrifying enough to send anyone running for the hills, if not crashing through the bedroom window.
Oh, but it sounded so perfect, though. Layla Gray! In her mind, she’d already been practising her new signature, especially loving the underlining flourish of the final y. Of course plenty of professional women preferred to keep their own surname when they married – and there was nothing wrong with Gallagher – but equally, wasn’t it nice sometimes to have a change?
‘I’m thinking it’s far too early to be getting up yet.’ Lying back against the pillows, she patted the empty side of the bed in a seductive manner. ‘I hope you weren’t thinking of leaving me alone in here.’
‘I wish we could stay in bed all day.’ He looked regretful. ‘But I have to work.’
‘What? It’s half seven on Saturday morning.’
‘And I have a client waiting for me to knock on her door at eight fifteen. Hang on, kettle’s just boiled.’ He disappeared into the kitchen and returned two minutes later with a red and white striped Arsenal mug. ‘Here you go, I’ve made you coffee.’
Layla preferred tea, but she said, ‘Thank you!’ and took a cautious sip, ducking her head so he wouldn’t see her mouth curl in a grimace because he’d made it with cheap granules and soya milk again.
‘Is it OK?’
‘Lovely!’ she beamed, because no one liked a finicky girlfriend. It wasn’t his fault he preferred soya milk to the normal kind.
Whilst Harry was in the shower, Layla thought back over the past nine days, which had passed in a haze of happiness. Having initially planned to make Harry wait for a fortnight, she’d rapidly amended that decision just in case he grew tired of waiting, and also because . . . well, why shouldn’t she change her mind if she wanted to? When the chemistry was there, fizzing like champagne bubbles, what was the point in saying no just because advice columnists told you it would pay dividends and make your partner keener on you in the long run? Sometimes these things did need to happen sooner than later. Which they had, and it hadn’t spoiled their relationship at all.
Anyway, a perfect weekend now lay ahead of them. Throwing back the duvet, she raced through to the kitchen, tipped the contents of the Arsenal mug down the sink and jumped back into bed with the empty mug just as the shower was switched off.
When Harry emerged from the bathroom wearing only a sky-blue towel around his hips, Layla said, ‘I’ve been thinking, rather than meet up later, why don’t I wait here while you visit your client? Wouldn’t that be easier?’
‘It would be easier.’ He threw her an apologetic smile. ‘But I’ve got another client booked in at midday and I’ll be stuck with her for three hours at least.’ Reaching over to retrieve the mug, he added, ‘And she’s keen to introduce me to her friend who might hire me too, so who knows when I’ll be able to get away? Oh baby, don’t be sad. I’d much rather be with you than them, but building a client list is kind of important right now.’
‘I’m not sad,’ said Layla, which was a lie, but she didn’t want to sound needy. ‘Actually, it’s for the best. I have a ton of work to catch up on.’
‘Well you do that and I’ll get on with my schmoozing, and we’ll see each other this evening.’
Leaving her with an entire empty day. Bum. Aloud she said, ‘Perfect,’ whilst wondering if he would be missing her as much as she was going to miss him.
‘You’re amazing. Come here.’ Breaking into a slow smile, he put the mug down on the bedside cabinet and bent over to plant a kiss on her mouth. Which just made it worse, because she didn’t want the kiss to end.
‘I’m going to ask you a question now,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘And I want an honest answer.’
‘OK.’ Heavens, what was he about to ask?
‘Did you throw away the coffee I made you?’
Oh. Crestfallen, Layla said, ‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘I can’t stand soya milk.’ She might as well be honest. ‘It’s rank.’
He started to laugh. ‘Oh babe.’
‘How did you know I’d thrown it away?’ Please don’t let there be hidden cameras.
‘You don’t taste of coffee.’
Well that was a relief at least. Layla nodded. ‘Excellent detective skills.’
‘And excellent abs.’ He flexed proudly. ‘Don’t forget the abs.’
‘I don’t think anyone could forget your abs.’
‘Right, we need to get out of here.’ Dressing at the speed of light, Harry scooped up the clothes she’d left in an untidy pile on the chair in the corner of his bedroom. As he handed them to her, he leaned forward and kissed her again. ‘Yo
u’re gorgeous, do you know that?’
She ran the flat of her hand over the front of his white T-shirt, her fingertips bumping over the impressive six-pack. She didn’t usually have this much confidence, but he was making her feel like a goddess. Kissing him back, she said playfully, ‘Of course I do.’
When they’d left the flat and Harry had headed off on his bicycle, Layla sat down on one of the riverside benches and took out her phone. Telling herself she fancied a change, she called Alan’s Taxis instead, but Alan was taking a family to Gatwick and his brother was sleeping off a late night and probably wouldn’t be awake before midday.
The third and worst taxi company in Elliscombe wasn’t even answering its phone.
She heaved a sigh, texted a request to Will and received a prompt reply:
I’ll be there in ten minutes.
She sat back on the bench to wait. He hadn’t made any more barbed comments since that initial evening, but she sensed he was still thinking them. Well, if he came out with some sarcastic remark, he’d get an earful in return.
On the pavement behind her, she heard the clip-clop of two pairs of high heels and a girl said with a snigger, ‘See that one over on the bench? Looks like a Christmas tree.’
Which was fair enough really, considering the way the multicoloured sequins were glittering on her emerald taffeta jacket.
‘Imagine having to go home dressed like that, so everyone knows you pulled last night.’ The other girl spoke with more than a touch of Schadenfreude. ‘Embarrassing, innit?’
Layla imagined having the kind of confidence to turn and say to them, ‘Actually, I’m not embarrassed at all. It was great.’
When Will’s taxi pulled up, he didn’t utter a word as she climbed into the passenger seat. Not until they were a couple of miles down the road did he say easily, ‘It’s going to be a nice day.’
‘It is. Except I’ll be busy working in my office.’
Several seconds passed before Will continued, ‘Looks like it’s all going well, then. With the new guy.’
Here it came. Layla braced herself. ‘Very well, thanks.’
