by Rachel Dove
Tucker wiped the beer froth off his lip and shrugged. ‘I’d already made our plans, and besides, I don’t have a plan for Cass yet. I don’t know how to play it.’
James frowned, taking a sip of his own lager. They were in a pub in Harrogate, one that had missed the hip trend completely and stuck with the Yorkshire ‘old man’ feel. Slightly sticky carpets, quiet atmosphere, sports on the big screen, and the most important thing of all: a decent beer. Qualities both men valued, they had found out at Christmas. They had bonded over many things, including the troublesome women in their lives.
‘What plan do you need? I got the impression you were sort of seeing her already?’
Tucker shook his head. ‘Nope, we had sex once, after a night out. I came back to her house with Maria and another lad.’
James jolted at his words, but Tucker didn’t notice, one eye on the football match on the big screen.
‘A lad, for Maria? You never said.’
Tucker nodded, not looking his way.
‘Yeah, a one-night thing.’ He seemed to realise what he had said then, wincing as he looked at James.
‘Sorry, mate, I didn’t think. It was a one-night mistake. I remember Maria being cut up about it. It wasn’t long after the wedding thing, and she wasn’t herself.’
He looked down at his pint, slapping himself on the forehead. ‘For God’s sake, don’t let on I told you. It’s kind of a big deal.’
James shook his head. ‘It’s okay, mate, it’s not my business. She seen him since?’
Tucker snorted. ‘Nope. His name is not allowed to be mentioned at Cass’s. Women, mate, I tell you.’
James nodded, trying to ignore the feeling that someone had just kicked him in the stomach.
‘What was his name, out of interest?’ Tucker looked at him, his eyes narrowing. ‘She mentioned a bloke a bit ago. I just wondered if it was the same one. Darcy?’
Tucker shook his head. ‘Her ex? Nah, mate, not him. Mark something, I think. It was just that one time, that’s it. I never really met him. We were all smashed, and he was gone in the morning.’
James nodded, relieved. The thought of her spending time with Darcy after what he’d done made him feel like punching his face again. Hard. Maria wouldn’t have wanted him to know that anyway, he guessed. He remembered her comment the day they met, something about an awkward sexual encounter. It clicked into place, and he pushed it out of his mind. He wasn’t a virgin himself. Besides, it wasn’t like they were even friends now. He had no right to the jealousy he was feeling.
‘It’s all irrelevant anyway. She’s told me to stay away. I have to just give her some space.’
Tucker nodded. ‘She’s got a lot on. Cass helps her, but she’s busy with work a lot of the time. I’m still in shock that she texted me today.’
‘Mate, I saw her at Christmas. I think she likes you. Maria hasn’t mentioned anyone else, so go for it.’
‘I want to, believe me. Even with a car door, she’s pretty special.’
James laughed and Tucker held his ribs, as though reliving the memory. ‘Did you tell her you were meeting me?’
Tucker shook his head. ‘Nah, don’t worry.’
Both men looked glumly at their pints.
‘So, they’re out there, living their lives, and we’re comparing notes here, trying to figure out how to get close, yeah?’
Tucker put his head in his hands. ‘Oh God, we’re like lovesick teenagers, aren’t we?’
James patted his mate on the shoulder, heading to the bar.
‘Yep, that’s us, dude. I’ll get the shots in.’
Tucker got his phone out of his pocket, sending Cassie a text asking her if she fancied meeting up the next night. Plan or no plan, he was going in.
He had barely had chance to dissect his text with James when a reply pinged.
You’re on, was all it said, but it was enough to make Tucker whoop loud enough to pull a still-recovering rib.
Chapter 17
Cassie was pacing around and around the living room and Maria was starting to feel slightly sick. She was ensconced on the sofa, her sore and swollen ankles perched on top of a cushion on the coffee table, swaddled in PJs, dressing gown and a patchwork blanket her mother had made her. She was planning to sit in front of the TV and read her pregnancy books. Enjoy the peace of the empty house while Cassie was out on her date, but now she seemed to be witnessing a freak-out.
‘What the hell am I doing?’ She was walking from one side of the room to the other now, her heels wearing holes in the carpeted floor. ‘I asked him out! I mean, why?’
Maria put down her book. She had read the same paragraph about labour stages five times, and it looked like she was going to have to talk some sense into her mate.
‘You like him, you nursed him back to health, you’ve lived together, you’ve slept together, and been on dates. This is normal, Cass.’
Her horrified look made Maria want to laugh, but she managed to keep it in.
‘Look shocked all you want, but in all the years I’ve known you, a man’s never got under your skin like this. He makes you laugh, he puts up with your weird moods. He likes you!’
She looked around at the cosy living room, which was now all dust-free and welcoming. Waving her hands around the room, she made her point.
‘Plus, your house is actually habitable now, and you can’t tell me that’s not a good thing. He makes you want to be tidy, Cass – the man is a miracle worker. If I could fly, I might even have jetted off to Australia to see whether they clone people like him over there.’
Cassie tittered. ‘He does have a brother.’
Maria rolled her eyes. ‘I think I’m off men for life.’
Cassie frowned, but said nothing. ‘I’m supposed to meet him at the restaurant; he has to go through the menus with the staff. I asked him out for last night, did you know that? He stood me up to go for a drink with one of his mates! It’s ridiculous. Then he asks me out for tonight, and I have to go! What the hell am I doing!?’
She was waving her arms around, windmilling them in panic. Maria was starting to get mad. Why could people never sort their lives out?
‘Cassie! Will you just shut up and go tell him you like him!’
Cassie stopped walking around, almost falling over the coffee table in shock.
‘What?’
‘You know what!’ Maria clenched her fists, shaking them at her pigheaded friend. ‘Sometimes, for a big, independent woman, you are a massive dick! You brought the man home, then dated him, then ignored him, then hit him with your car! You’ve lived together for weeks, and anyone can see the man is mad about you, and now you actually want him, and you’re still moaning!’
Maria started to cry, cuddling her bump in her arms. ‘I have no one, and my baby has no father, and all I want is—’
‘James,’ Cassie said, looking past her.
‘Oh God, I can’t—’
‘No,’ Cassie said, stopping her. ‘James is here.’ She pointed to the doorway.
‘Hi,’ a deep voice said behind her. Turning to the door, she saw him standing there, carrier bags in one hand and a large, rolled-up sheet of paper in the other. He looked Maria up and down.
‘You weren’t expecting me, were you?’
Cassie leant over Maria, taking a tissue from the box on the coffee table and wiping her face.
‘I’m sorry, I might have forgotten to pass the message on.’ She didn’t look for one minute like she had meant to pass any message on, and Maria glared at her. ‘Thanks, mate, I have a man to go talk to.’
She hugged her, whispering ‘stop crying like a loony’ in her ear, and then, patting James on the shoulder, she was gone. James hadn’t moved from where he was standing awkwardly in the doorway and as Cassie’s car drove away the silence in the room grew deafening.
‘Sorry, I did leave a message. Annabel wanted to go through the seating charts for the wedding, and the rehearsal dinner? She sent me as a proxy. Cassie called me b
ack, told me to come tonight.’
He lowered the things in his arms, shoulders sagging. ‘I can see now that you had no idea, I’m sorry, I’ll go.’
He went to put the plans on the coffee table and Maria reached forward to touch his hand. Or tried to, anyway. She actually rocked forward awkwardly, reaching her hand out and just managing to stroke his arm.
‘Don’t go, I’m sorry. I didn’t know, but it’s fine. We should go through the plans, of course.’
‘You sure?’ he said, pushing her legs back onto the cushions when she tried to get up. ‘Stay there, I’ll get what you need.’
Maria pulled the blanket off herself and went to stand.
‘I need the bathroom, I’ll be a minute.’
James stood back a little, and she shuffled awkwardly past him.
‘Make yourself a drink, I won’t be long.’
She headed straight up the stairs, walking into the main house bathroom and shutting the door quietly behind her. As soon as the door was shut, she grabbed her mobile phone from her dressing-gown pocket and dialled a number.
‘Hi,’ a sheepish voice answered.
‘Cass,’ she whispered in a murderously low voice. ‘I am going to kill you! How could you do this to me! What the hell am I going to do? I—’
‘I’m sorry, I know.’ Maria could hear the crackle from the car phone. ‘I’m just so sick of you moping, and Lynn said James is sad too. I just thought you needed to do the wedding stuff anyway, and you can’t do it with the happy couple, so James is the contact. He makes you happy!’
‘Oh God, I hate you so much!’ Maria bent to use the toilet. She really did need to pee. As in, every five minutes. ‘Why did you do this!’
‘You just lectured me about being a coward. Now what about you! You like him, Maria, and you know it. The man hasn’t left your side since the first day you met, and he’s never let you down. Talk to him, tonight. See what happens, and… oh dear God, are you peeing?’
Maria flushed the chain and jammed the handset back under her chin to wash her hands.
‘Yep, always peeing. Have we met? This little monkey thinks my bladder is a trampoline.’
‘Do me a favour, go put your big girl pants on and talk to the man. And never, ever, ring me from the toilet again.’
‘Maria? You okay?’ James called from downstairs.
‘Oh crap, I’ve got to go. Enjoy your date!’
‘You suck! Enjoy yours!’
Both women hung up cursing the other, even though deep down they knew the other was right.
‘I’m coming!’ she said, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked okay, beside the fact that she was dressed in her PJs and her blonde hair was tied into pigtails at the sides of her head. She looked healthier these days, now the shop was finding its feet. The clothing side had really taken off, and she knew, even if she didn’t get the wedding side back up to what it had been, they would be okay. She could keep Lynn on. This wedding would be cathartic, her way of repairing some of the damage she had inflicted on the Chance family. Damage they didn’t know about, and hopefully never would. It would be proof that she could do this too, that she could do all of this, without Darcy. Without anyone.
She headed down the stairs, and into the lounge, but it was empty. The plans were on the coffee table, still rolled up. He’d left. Oh God, had he heard?
‘Do you always take your phone to the bathroom?’
His voice behind her made her jolt. She could feel his closeness, and as she turned her tummy brushed against him.
‘Sorry, you scared me. I thought you’d gone.’
James shook his head. ‘I would never just leave, Maria. Do you have a grater?’
It seemed her baby was in food heaven. The little button hadn’t stopped kicking since Maria had picked up her fork. In the bags, James seemed to have the contents of half the local shops, and he had proceeded to whip up the best spaghetti bolognaise and garlic bread she had ever had. It was so nice, she wasn’t even bothered she was making a pig of herself. They were sitting in the lounge, watching a programme about people wanting to make a change in their lives by buying a house abroad.
‘I always fancied doing that, you know,’ James said, slurping a piece of spaghetti into his mouth. ‘Buy some shack in the South of France, do it up.’
Maria smiled at the idea. She could just see him doing that, working on some little chateau, the women in the town falling over themselves to butter his baguette.
‘Why didn’t you do it then?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I finished renovating my house, and then I guess I just wanted to keep filling it. It’s still not complete.’
Maria was stuffing a piece of garlic bread into her mouth, groaning with pleasure.
‘Filling it?’ she said through her food. ‘Sorry,’ she said, pointing to her mouth. ‘This… is… goood!’
She swallowed it down. He grinned at her, wolfing down a bite of his own.
‘Answer the question then.’
He looked at the television screen, at a couple sitting on a verandah, talking to the bubbly property expert.
‘What do they have in common, the people on these shows?’
Maria took a swig of her hot tea and thought for a moment.
‘Disposable income?’
James shook his head. ‘Money doesn’t mean much in life.’
‘Says someone who has it.’
He raised a brow at her.
‘I earn it, just like you do.’
She stuck her tongue out at him.
‘The thing they have in common is that they’re in something together. Life’s scary, and exciting, but what’s the point of doing it all alone?’
He gazed at her, his blue-green eyes boring into her, daring her to answer. She rested the plate on her bump, sitting back on the sofa. He leant forward on the couch opposite, putting his plate on the coffee table.
‘I know you didn’t want me here tonight, but I can’t help but think we were meant to meet. Can’t you see it?’
‘I thought you had come to do the table plans, James. I told you, I need to concentrate on the baby.’
‘I’m not asking you to do anything else, I’m just trying to get you to see you don’t have to do it alone.’
Maria sat forward, pushing her plate away. ‘I think we should get on with the table plans. I’m pretty tired, to be honest. I was planning an early night. I don’t need anyone’s help. I can do this without a father.’
She didn’t look at him, she couldn’t bring herself to.
‘I’m not talking about Darcy, Mar.’
She wanted to ask him what he was talking about, what he meant when he said they’d been meant to meet. Did he just mean so that he could help her, or more? Was he offering to be part of her life? She wanted to ask him, but she was terrified of the answer. Would it be what she wanted to hear? If it was, she couldn’t do anything about it anyway.
She spread the plans out on the table, shuffling forward on the couch and reaching for her sticky coloured dots, the ones she used to plan the seating.
‘I just want to work, James, please? Shall we just get to work?’
He nodded, taking their plates and heading into the kitchen.
‘I am glad you’re here, though,’ she said softly. He didn’t reply.
Cassie pulled up in the restaurant car park and, turning her engine off, sat back in her seat and willed herself not to vomit in panic. She thought of Maria at home with James, and hoped she was having a better time. She had been watching them for months, and she just wanted Maria to have a good life. Why shouldn’t she get what she wanted? James was great, and the baby would be cared for so well by them both. She had met enough lowlifes in her job to know that, sometimes, secrets were better buried, to protect people, and let them have their own piece of happiness. If her own parents had been more honest, she might have had a different upbringing herself. Or never existed at all. Some people were never meant to be parents, and som
e babies were just meant to be born, no matter their origin story.
She locked up her car, grabbing her purse and checking her reflection in the car door before setting off. The new car door, as the other one had a Tucker-shaped dent in it. She smiled at the memory despite herself. Maybe her gung-ho attitude wasn’t the best, but at least she had got to spend time with him.
She walked into the restaurant, oblivious to the stares and looks that half the diners gave her as she walked to the check-in.
‘Hi,’ she said to the suited man on the front desk. ‘I’m here to see Jesse Tucker.’
The man’s face lit up in recognition and he scurried around the desk.
‘Right over here, Cassie. So glad to finally meet you!’
Cassie followed, wondering how much Jesse had said to the people he worked with. The man took her through to the kitchen area, straight past the stainless-steel worktops bustling with activity and inviting smells, and knocked on a side door marked ‘office’.
‘Jesse,’ he said cheerfully, ‘your date’s here.’
The door opened, and there he was. Cassie looked at the man and he winked at her, scurrying off.
‘Hey,’ Tucker said, his lopsided smile making her stomach flip. ‘Come in, I won’t be a minute.’
She walked into the neat office and immediately felt at home. It was Tucker all over, photos on the desk, everything neatly arranged, colour-coded files on his shelves. He motioned for her to sit down on the sofa at the back of the room, but she moved to the desk.
‘This is so you,’ she murmured, picking up a photo frame bearing a younger-looking gappy-toothed Tucker and two people who were obviously his parents.
‘Mum and Dad?’ she checked, running her finger along the faces.
‘Yeah,’ he said, and she could feel his breath on her cheek. ‘You’d love them.’
She resisted the urge to take a step back, to feel his chest against her. ‘I doubt that. Parents don’t really take to me. Apart from Mar’s, of course.’
He wrapped his arms around her, making her flinch, and took the photo frame from her hands.
‘That’s because you never met any that weren’t related to clients, and your own parents don’t count. Mine would love you to bits.’
