Searching for Steven (Whitsborough Bay Trilogy Book 1)

by Jessica Redland

  My heart thumped faster. New information!

  ‘You’ve already met him,’ [said Madame Louisa.]

  ‘I have? When?’

  ‘A long time ago. Bye Sarah.’

  The tape hissed. I cocked my head to listen harder, just in case. There was another click then the hiss stopped as though there was more recorded information to come.

  ‘Sarah and Steven up a tree. K, I, S, S, I, N, G. First comes love, then comes marriage…’ I rolled my eyes as Clare’s voice on the tape cracked up in hysterics. ‘Sorry matey, couldn’t resist. I hope you find who you’re looking for, whatever his name is.’ The tape clicked and hissed again.

  Elise and I sat in silence for several minutes, listening to the hiss, just in case.

  ‘I think that’s definitely it,’ I said, finally pressing stop. ‘What do you make of that, then?’

  ‘You’ve met him already? Not that we needed any confirmation but that just proves that Andy wasn’t the real Steven. You hadn’t met him when the tape was made.’

  ‘True.’

  ‘Nick’s grandma lived next-door. Could you have met him when you were little?’

  I shrugged. ‘It’s possible. Nick says he spent loads of time there as a kid, but neither of us remember meeting each other. I’ll have to ask Auntie Kay about it when she gets home on Thursday.’ I glanced at my watch. ‘I hate to say it but do you mind if we get back to it? I reckon we could be done in two hours if we crack on. Are you okay for time?’

  ‘I’m yours as long as you need me. How about I continue in the dining room and you tackle your bedroom?’

  ‘Thanks for this.’ I gave her a hug. ‘This is twice in less than a year that you’ve helped me pack and move. If you and Gary ever move house, I promise to return the favour big time. In the meantime, can I shout you to pizza tonight?’

  ‘Don’t you and Nick want to enjoy your first evening as official roomies on your own?’

  ‘We’ll have plenty of other evenings for that. Tonight I want to say thanks to you. Pizza?’ Elise’s stomach grumbled loudly. ‘I’ll take that as a “yes” then,’ I said.

  Elise smiled. ‘I’ll just text Gary and let him know I’ll be late.’

  ‘You’re back! I’ve missed you.’ Nick gave me a gentle kiss. ‘Hi Elise. Looks like you could have a little side-line in removals if you ever pack in teaching.’

  ‘I’m not sure I have the biceps for it,’ she said. ‘But it’s always good to have a back-up plan. Sarah’s promised to return the favour if I ever move. And she’s invited me for pizza but I can leave if you’d rather be alone.’

  ‘Don’t be daft,’ Nick said. ‘You’re welcome here any time. If you’re still here at midnight, I may have to show you the door, but I think pizza is the least we can do to say thanks.’ He looked towards the two packed cars. ‘Is that everything?’

  ‘Yep. All my worldly goods are cluttering up your car ready to clutter up your house.’

  ‘It’s not my house or my car anymore,’ Nick said. ‘They’re ours. Can you face emptying the cars straightaway as I think it may rain soon? I can do it all if you two want to relax.’

  ‘We’ll help,’ Elise said. ‘Won’t take long with three of us.’ She handed Nick her car keys and turned round to mouth at me, ‘He’s so sweet.’

  ‘I know,’ I mouthed back, grinning.

  Half an hour later, the three of us had just sat down with hard-earned mugs of tea when the doorbell rang. I heard the door open. ‘Hello? Nicholas?’

  ‘Mum! We’re in here.’

  Nick’s mum, Sue, poked her head round the door. ‘Great. You’re both here.’ She hugged Nick then me. ‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘We bought some bubbly to celebrate.’ She handed Nick a bottle.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘You didn’t have to do that.’

  ‘Congratulations!’ Callie burst into the room and dished out hugs too. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said to Elise. ‘Who are you?’

  Elise laughed. ‘I’m Elise.’

  ‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘Quick intros. Elise and I have been best friends since our first day at primary school. Elise, this is Nick’s sister, Callie, and his mum, Sue.’

  ‘Champagne?’ Nick asked.

  ‘Why do you think we brought it?’ Callie said.

  Nick disappeared into the kitchen and came back with five wine glasses. ‘Sorry, not posh enough to have champagne flutes.’ He popped the cork like a professional and poured a small glass each.

  ‘To Nick and Sarah,’ Sue said.

  ‘Nick and Sarah.’

  ‘Did you bring the present in, Callie?’ Sue asked.

  Callie jumped up off the sofa. ‘It’s in the hall. Just a sec.’

  Moments later she reappeared with what looked like a picture wrapped up in brown paper and tied with a turquoise organza bow.

  ‘Happy housewarming.’ She handed me the package.

  ‘You shouldn’t have, but thank you.’ I pulled on the ribbon and opened the wrapping to reveal a large black and white framed photo. A young dark-haired boy stood side-on to the camera. He had his arms around a younger girl with dark curly hair and was kissing her on the cheek while she smiled shyly towards the camera.

  ‘Aw, that’s so cute,’ I said. ‘Look, Nick.’

  Nick moved across to the sofa arm to look at the photo. ‘Very cute. Thanks, Mum.’

  Callie giggled. ‘Look closer.’

  I looked at the photo again. ‘Hang on.’ My jaw dropped. ‘That’s me. Oh my God! Is it? Is that me?’ I put my hand across my mouth. ‘Is that Nick?’

  ‘She finally gets it!’ Callie exclaimed. ‘We thought it looked better in black and white.’

  My stomach did a flip. ‘You’ve already met him… a long time ago.’ Elise and I exchanged looks.

  ‘Here’s the rest of the set.’ Sue passed me a few colour photos. I gasped as I took in the images. The first photo showed a young Nick blowing out candles on a cake in the shape of a number six. The next showed him sat on a garden bench eating a piece of birthday cake with a four-year-old me next to him, cake smeared across my face. We were looking at each other, rather than the camera, and laughing. The next one was an inside scene of pass the parcel. There were several children on the photo spread out in a circle but young Nick and I were sat really close together. He was passing the parcel to me and our hands were touching, our eyes locked. The final picture was the same as the framed one.

  ‘I’ve got goose bumps,’ I whispered holding out my arm to show him. ‘I can’t believe we met… what… twenty-six years ago and we look like we’re together.’ I passed the photos to Elise.

  ‘Matching goose bumps,’ Nick said. ‘Crikey, Mum, where did you find these? I bet there aren’t many men who meet the girl of their dreams when they’re six then get reunited when they’re thirty-two!’

  ‘You were so right,’ Elise said. ‘He’s Steven.’

  I nodded. ‘It certainly looks that way.’

  ‘Steven?’ Callie said. ‘Who’s Steven?’

  ‘Long story.’

  ‘I’m in no rush.’

  I cringed, but I knew Callie well enough to know she wouldn’t let this go. ‘This is really embarrassing so I’m only going to give you the short version and hope you don’t judge me. When I was packing to move up here, I found a cassette tape of a session with a clairvoyant from when I was eighteen. I thought I’d lost it and I couldn’t remember a thing she’d said, but listening to it twelve years later, everything she’d predicted had happened. The only thing that hadn’t happened was meeting the man of my dreams. She said his name would be Steven. But I met Nick. I tried to resist him for ages because he wasn’t called Steven but I couldn’t keep away. I’m convinced Nick’s really The Steven and the clairvoyant just gave me the wrong name but it doesn’t really matter either way because, well… you know…’ I blu
shed. I’d nearly said I loved him in front of his mum and sister.

  ‘She got the name right,’ Sue said.

  ‘What do you mean, Mum?’ Nick took hold of my hand and squeezed it.

  Sue looked very pale. ‘When you were born, we named you Steven.’

  ‘Then how come we all call him Nick?’ It was Callie who actually said it but I’m sure it echoed what we were all thinking.

  ‘Because that’s the name on his birth certificate. Well, Nicholas is. Don’t you remember me telling you this?’ Sue looked at Nick but he just slowly shook his head. She continued. ‘When I went into hospital to have Nicholas, my best friend and neighbour, Jen, was seven months pregnant. Unbeknown to me, she was rushed to hospital the same day and had a premature boy. We were in different hospitals with no way of contacting each other. Coincidentally we both named our babies Steven. Jen and Keith weren’t sure if their Steven would live so they registered his birth quickly, completely unaware we’d named our baby Steven too. When we found out we hoped and prayed her Steven would survive and, assuming he did, John and I decided it would be too confusing being in the same class at school, having the same date of birth, living on the same road, and having the same name so we went for our second choice instead.’

  ‘Are you sure you told me this?’ Nick said. ‘It doesn’t ring a bell at all.’

  Sue nodded. ‘You went through a phase of asking everyone to call you Steven when you were about six or seven. Then, after Callie was born, you decided you wanted to be a girl and asked everyone to call you Keeley Fawcett instead.’

  Callie gave a snort of laughter from across the room. ‘Sorry, everyone. Inappropriate moment as usual.’

  ‘Can I just check I’ve understood this,’ Elise said. Thank you, Elise! I was too shocked to speak myself. ‘Are you really saying that his birth certificate says “Nicholas” but he was actually born Steven?’

  ‘Yes. Frustratingly, Jen emigrated to South Africa when the boys were two and we lost touch so I could have stuck with Steven after all. Nicholas, are you sure you don’t remember me telling you this?’

  He shook his head. ‘No. Although, scarily, Keeley Fawcett rings a bell.’ He turned to me, frowning. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘A bit stunned. The tape was right all along.’

  ‘Looks like it.’

  ‘And I was right. You really are The Steven.’

  He smiled and looked at me so tenderly, I felt like I could melt.

  A slight cough from across the room interrupted the moment. ‘I think it’s time we made our exit, don’t you Mum?’ Callie stood up and reached for her bag. ‘I think these two could do with a bit of alone time after these revelations.’

  ‘Of course.’ Sue stood up too. ‘Congratulations to you both again. Nicholas, I’ll give you a call next week. Maybe I could have you both over for dinner when you’re settled?’

  ‘And I’ll give you a call, Sarah, because I need to know the full Steven story from start to end.’ Callie gave me a hug. ‘The more embarrassing the better. I think it’s important that I know everything about my future sister-in-law.’

  ‘Callie! They’re not engaged.’

  ‘Not yet, Mum, but just look at them. It won’t be long. I bet he’s already picked out the ring and been planning the perfect proposal, haven’t you, Nick?’

  I turned to look at Nick. His flushed cheeks made my heart race. Oh my God! He has!

  ‘What was that you were saying about leaving, Callie?’ Nick put his hands on her shoulders, and marched her towards the door. ‘I think you’d better do that right now before you say another word.’

  ‘Sorry, Nick. You know what I’m like.’

  Nick walked Callie and Sue to the car while Elise and I waved from the doorstep. She squeezed my arm gently. ‘He’s Steven,’ she whispered.

  ‘I know!’

  ‘Did you see his face when Callie mentioned the proposal?’

  ‘Yes,’ I whispered. ‘Guilty?’

  ‘Very guilty.’

  ‘I don’t know about you,’ Nick said once their car had pulled out of sight. ‘But my head is spinning after what Mum said. If I’d remembered about being born Steven… I don’t know what to say, Sarah.’

  ‘I know. My head’s a mess too.’

  ‘Mine three,’ Elise said. ‘And I think I’m going to leave you in peace so you can stare at that gorgeous picture and get your heads round everything that’s happened this afternoon.’

  ‘What about pizza?’ I said.

  ‘Maybe another time. I really think you should have some alone time.’

  ‘Seriously, Elise, you don’t have to go.’

  ‘Thanks, Nick, but I think I may buy a bottle of wine and have my own romantic night in with Gary instead. I can’t remember the last time we did that which must mean it’s way, way overdue.’

  We waved Elise off and made our way back to the lounge. I looked at the piles of crates and bags. ‘I’ve trashed the place. But I don’t know if I can face moving it all. I feel drained.’

  ‘The bags can wait,’ Nick said. ‘There’s something more important we have to do first.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘This.’ He put his arms round me and kissed me. ‘Welcome to your new home, Sarah Peterson.’

  ‘Thank you, Steven Derbyshire. Or should that be Keeley Fawcett?’

  He laughed. ‘I genuinely don’t remember the Steven thing. You know that I’d have told you if I’d remembered, don’t you?’

  I nodded. ‘You do know that I wasn’t lying when I said my search for Steven was over months ago, don’t you? And that I’d chosen you despite the tape, not because of it. Even if your mum hadn’t found the photos or told us about your name, I still knew you were The One. All that stuff today was just the icing on the cake; it’s all very nice but the cake is the best part and I already have the cake.’

  ‘Are you saying I’m a cake?’

  I laughed. ‘I think the analogy worked better in my head. You know what I mean, though, don’t you?’

  Nick kissed me again. ‘I do. There’s one more thing. Come and sit down a minute.’ He led me to the sofa. ‘You’ve met her enough times now to know that my sister has serious foot-in-mouth disease. She did another classic this afternoon. I know you’ll be thinking about what she said about us getting married…’

  ‘I wasn’t. I didn’t…’

  ‘Sarah. You know you’re a terrible fibber.’

  ‘Okay. I was thinking about it. But only cos you looked so guilty. Sorry, Nick.’

  ‘You’ve nothing to be sorry about. I know some people would call it early days but we both know it’s forever. I do want to marry you, Sarah, but I want to do it properly. I know how much this all means to you and I want to give you the proposal of your dreams. Doing that takes a bit of planning so it’s not going to happen just yet but it’ll happen soon. I promise. Are you okay with that?’

  A tear slipped down my cheek. ‘I’m more than okay with that.’

  As Nick wrapped his arms round me and kissed me again, I realised that the perfect proposal actually didn’t matter that much to me anymore; it was just packaging. The person who gave it was the important part. I loved him all the more for wanting to please me, though.

  There’d been a few dead ends in the journey thanks to Andy and Jason. There’d been plenty of frustrating detours during my search for Steven. But now I’d finally found him and, whatever twists and turns the road ahead held, I knew I’d found my soulmate to navigate them with; just like my parents and just like Auntie Kay and Charlie. Auntie Kay had been right; when true love comes along, you have to hang onto it with all your strength because it’s worth it. I nearly hadn’t had the strength to fight for Nick and now look at us.

  It had taken six years longer than I’d expected when I was ‘almost fourteen’ but my Life Plan was now finally be
ing fulfilled and it had definitely been worth the wait.

  And I knew that I’d never be alone.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  So many people have supported me on my journey from dreamer to author. The benefit of a trilogy is that I have another two books in which to thank some of them so, in ‘Searching for Steven’, I’d like to thank those who’ve had the greatest impact on bringing my debut to life.

  Firstly, I have to thank my former manager, Richard. He’d repeatedly tell me that my business reports read like a story and I should write a book. Great idea. Only I hadn’t a clue what to write about. This all changed when a friend, Fiona, gave me a gift voucher for a clairvoyant consultation. The clairvoyant told me I was going to meet the man of my dreams and he’d be called Steven. I searched and I didn’t find Steven … but I did find the idea for my book.

  My husband, Mark, encouraged me to learn more about writing which, in turn, led to me finding my voice. He never moans when I lock myself away for hours in my office, fingers glued to my keyboard. Thanks for being so understanding. When I made the decision to part company with my original publisher and release Steven through Little Bear Books instead, Mark was by my side all the way, resetting the book and designing this absolutely gorgeous front cover. Huge snuggles for creating something so stunning.

  A huge thank you to my original line-up of beta readers: Clare, Sue, Liz, Nicola, Debbie and Joyce (aka mummy-bear). Their enthusiasm, compliments, proof-reading skills and constructive feedback have made the Steven the man he is today! Some of them have even read him twice. Now that’s dedication!

  I can’t give enough thanks for the passion, advice, and support provided over the last two years from nine talented writers known collectively as The Write Romantics. We’ve celebrated successes and cried over challenges. Alys, Deirdre, Helen, Helen, Jackie, Jo, Lynne, Rachael and Sharon: you’re my writing family and I’ll always be grateful we found each other. Extra huge hugs go to Jo who has gone above and beyond by reading Steven at least three times and providing me with ideas, encouragement, and never-failing support. You’re my writing rock.

  Nearly there! Steven went through the Romantic Novelist Association’s New Writers Scheme (NWS) two years running. I’ve been fortunate enough to discover the identity of my readers. Their reports were invaluable in shaping (and slimming) Steven. Talli Roland and Rhoda Baxter, I’m forever appreciative of your constructive feedback.