“You can tell we’re home, the weather’s miserable and damp, unlike the cold crispiness we enjoyed in New York,” he said, placing her bags down onto the doorstep. “I’ll give you a call later,” he promised, getting back into the cab, and waving as it drove off. Bea couldn’t help noticing his mobile was already against his ear before the car even reached the turn of her driveway.
FOURTEEN
Bare Branches
Flea barked frantically at the front door and Paul, no doubt having been waiting for her return, pulled open the heavy door with a flourish. “Cupcake, how the devil are you?” he bellowed, dramatically holding her at arm’s length and scrutinising her up and down as Flea jumped up at her legs, crying and whimpering for her attention. “Mmmm,” he mused. “I don’t know if it’s all that sightseeing, or maybe a little sex was on the agenda?”
“Stop it.” She punched him in the shoulder and shook her head. “Why do you always have to bring everything down to sex?”
“Whatever it is, it’s given you that healthy glow. And you, Sweetie, are glowing.”
“I don’t know how,” she groaned. “I’m knackered. The jet lag hasn’t even hit me yet.”
“Bea,” said Luke from the top of the stairs.
“Hi.” Bea, cringed, narrowing her eyes at Paul for mentioning sex in front of Luke. “I'm just coming up to see the damage,” she said, bending down and making a fuss of Flea, hugging and kissing his soft grey head.
Paul grimaced. “We’ve kept our eyes open around here, but neither of us has come across anything that could be the Jersey Kiss your aunt left to you.”
“Never mind,” Bea said, trying to imagine for the hundredth time what it could possibly be. “It’s so frustrating not knowing. I wish she’d left me some sort of clue.”
“Me, too,” Paul said frowning. “I hate not knowing things. Right, you’d better go and see to your gorgeous builder, and I'll make us all a cup of tea,” he whispered, giving her a quick hug. “Just leave the case; I’ll sort it out later.”
Bea ran up the stairs, hoping her flushed face had calmed down a little by the time she entered the bathroom. “So? How's it going here then?”
Luke put down the wrench he'd been using to sort out a pipe and turned to her. “I hope you didn't panic when I called you?” he said.
Bea felt him studying her and could tell he'd not only heard what Paul had said about her and Tom having sex, but also that he believed it. Damn Paul and his big mouth. “Not too much,” she said, forcing a smile.
“Fibber,” he smiled. Bea couldn't help staring back at him, her stomach doing somersaults as his gaze penetrated somewhere deep inside her.
Bea tried not to laugh. “Yes, but don’t tell anyone,” she said.
“Do you take sugar?” shouted Paul from the bottom of the stairs. “I can never remember.”
Bea shook her head. “He's talking to you, by the way. He knows I'm sweet enough.”
Luke raised his eyebrows. “Yes, well, that's probably a matter of opinion,” he said. “Two, please,” he called to Paul, without taking his eyes off Bea. “As you can tell, I'm not very sweet.”
Bea giggled. “That's a matter of opinion, too.”
“Teas are on the table,” shouted Paul from the kitchen, causing the moment to pass.
Luke glanced up, but then went back to work on the pipes. “So, how was your holiday then?” he asked without looking at her.
Bea didn't like the sudden distance between them. “It wasn’t a holiday. We were there to meet with a couple of clients, but it went well, thanks,” she said. Luke didn't need to believe she was sleeping with Tom and it wasn't as if it was any of his business, or if he was even interested, she thought. Probably didn't give a damn whether she slept with Tom, or not.
“Coming down?” she asked, moving closer to the door.
Luke followed her through to the kitchen. Bea motioned for him to take a seat and went to lean against the familiar heat of the Aga, watching as Flea, content to have her back where she belonged, returned to his warm bed and watched her out of one open eye.
“So, can I ask what this Jersey Kiss is that I keep hearing you lot chatting about?”
Bea explained. “So, you see, Aunt Annabel left me the house and something else. It’s important enough for her to mention in her will, but no one seems to have a clue what it is exactly, even her lawyer. It could be in this room for all I know.” Bea shrugged, wishing again Aunt Annabel had left a clue of some sort.
Luke thought for a moment. “I can’t think what it could be, a painting maybe, or some jewellery?”
Paul sighed. “You’re as useless as we are at guessing then?”
Bea laughed. “Don’t be mean, Paul, you’re just irritated because you hate not knowing things.” She rubbed her face, careful not to smudge what was left of her makeup. “Talking of mysteries, where’s Shani?” she asked Paul, having noticed her friend’s absence for the first time. “I’m surprised she’s not here to hear all my gossip. She’s alright, isn’t she?”
“She’s very all right, actually.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “In fact, at this very moment she’s with Harry at the hospital having a scan.”
“What?” Bea gasped, unable to believe what he’d just said.
“Hey, don’t jump to conclusions. Harry’s the one having the scan, not her; bad back or something, an old rugby injury.” He handed her a drink, and making himself comfortable, taking a seat opposite Luke at the table. “When she didn’t hear from him, she went to the surgery to talk to him again.”
“And did he speak to her properly this time?” Bea asked. Paul nodded. “Good, I’m so relieved. I knew she’d been putting on a brave face about him not contacting her.”
“Maybe he had his reasons; he could have been caught up with other things. You don’t seem to have much confidence in men,” Luke said, his face serious.
“It depends on the man.” Bea raised an eyebrow, trying to make light of her comment. It didn’t seem to work.
“I have to agree with her,” Paul said. “Harry phoned as soon as he received a note she sent to him saying she wanted to discuss something and after a brief chat, agreed she could go with him to the hospital. Although that sounds an odd place to talk about things if you ask me, most people would go for a drink. I think she’s being cagey about him because she’s probably discovered he’s married, or something.”
“I hope not, she’ll be devastated if he has been lying to her.” Bea said, feeling Luke's gaze on her and wishing he wasn't in the room for this conversation. It wasn't as if he knew her friends, and she didn't want him making assumptions about them.
Paul leant his chin on his palm. “Damn right. She’s been so much happier since taking control of the situation, so maybe she’s beginning to see a way forward. I have to say, she’s loved it here with all the space. I think it makes her feel more secure, somehow.”
Bea was tempted to tell Paul about her offer to Shani, but stopped. It was Shani who would want to do that. “I can’t wait to see her. When do you expect her back?”
“Soon,” he grinned. “I just hope everything went well at the hospital. I don’t want her fretting about something else.”
“Me too.” Bea rubbed her hands together. “It’s even colder here than in New York,” she said. “I’m going to take a day or two to get used to it again.”
Shani walked in before Bea could say anything else. She noticed Luke first and smiled at him. Bea felt a frisson of envy course through her, as he responded in the same way. Why didn’t she feel like she could relax so completely with him? Why did she have to fall in love with him? There was far too much going on in her life to allow that to happen.
“How did it go?” Paul asked Shani as she dropped her heavy handbag onto the floor next to her.
“I think this is my cue to leave,” said Luke, finishing his drink and getting up. “Loads to be getting on with.” Bea watched his retreating back.
Paul pretend
ed to follow him out of the room.
“Stop it,” Bea whispered, glaring at him before smiling and pointing for him to sit back down.
“Well he’s so sexy.” Paul raised his eyes heavenward. He turned his attention to Shani once again. “You were saying, Shan?”
Shani folded her arms and shrugged. “Nothing to tell.”
Bea didn’t believe her for a second. She studied her friend and could see Shani avoiding catching her eye. Then it dawned on her. How could she have been so blind? “Shan, that’s not entirely true, is it?”
“What do you mean?” Paul nudged Shani, but she ignored him.
“Shani, I know you denied this before, but I can’t help wondering if you are pregnant?” whispered Bea, aware she had to be careful of her next words. “Please don’t feel you can’t speak to me about it if you are. I know I’ve had problems having a baby, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be excited for you.”
Shani looked across at her but didn’t react.
“Shit, Shani. You’re not, are you?”
Shani took a deep breath and shook her head. “I don’t know where you two get these ideas from, but I’m not pregnant, so shut the hell up and stop going on at me.”
Bea wasn’t sure if she believed her or not, but it was hard to tell just by looking at her. Her boobs didn’t seem much bigger, if at all, and there was no sign of any baby bump that she could see. She glanced at Paul who shrugged. Shani was wearing baggier clothes, but then she often wore loose-fitting outfits. “As long as you’re sure you’re okay,” Bea said eventually. “I’d hate to think you couldn’t confide in me about something like this, or anything at all for that matter.”
Shani shook her head. “Bea, I’m fine, now stop agonising over me. You’ve got enough on your plate without imagining problems.”
“She’s right,” Paul agreed. “You do have enough going on, and,” he looked Shani up and down, “she looks the same as ever to me.” He thought for a moment. “Something is wrong, though. Is he married? Is that it?”
Shani raised her hands in the air. “Yes,” she shouted. “He is married; happy now?”
“Of course, we’re not happy.” Bea scowled at Shani for being so nasty. “We’re only trying to find out what the hell you’re hiding, because it was obvious that something was wrong.”
“Well, now you know everything.” Shani looked up at Bea and shrugged. “I know, it’s disgusting, but I promise you I honestly believed him when he told me he was divorced.”
Paul scowled. “The bastard. Will you tell his wife?”
“Of course not. What do you take me for?”
Paul shook his head. “I can’t believe you never said anything, to me at least. I mean, we live together, and you still never said anything.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure how to tell you,” she said. Then turning to face Bea, she asked. “Not after what Simon did. Do you hate me, Bea?”
“Don't be ridiculous, of course I don’t,” she replied. “At least you’re not pregnant, now that would be lousy. For you, I mean.”
Shani sighed. “I’m not, so there’s no need to worry about that.”
“When did you find out he was married?” Paul asked, sitting down next to Shani.
“I only found out from his business partner yesterday, when I phoned Harry to arrange a time to meet for his scan. His partner and he had rowed. He told me Harry and his wife had only briefly been separated. To make matters even worse, he then told me Harry has done this sort of thing before and one of them had even been careless enough to fall pregnant.”
“What a creep.” Paul scowled as well as he could with his Botox injected forehead. “Thank God that hasn’t happened to you. I’d have to track him down and kill him.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” Bea said. “You know exactly where to find him if you wanted to do that.” She turned to Shani. “Don't beat yourself up about it; we'll be here for you.”
Paul hugged her. Shani began to cry. “I'm such an idiot.”
“Rubbish,” Bea said, stunned to see her usually bolshie friend so upset. Shani never cried. “He's a worthless piece of scum; how were you to know?”
“You’re gorgeous, and don’t you ever forget it.” Bea leant across the worn pine table and handed Shani a tissue before taking her friend’s hands in hers, giving them a reassuring squeeze.
Shani pulled her hands away and straightened her top. Bea could tell she was embarrassed and that it was time to change the subject. Shani obviously wasn’t in the mood to say anything more about the subject.
“Now, why has no one told me how Guy happens to be, or in fact where he is?”
“He's still hot.” Paul kissed his fingers. “In fact, I believe I've met the only other truly perfect man in the entire universe.”
“Who’s the other one?” Shani teased, a little colour seeping back into her face.
“Me, of course. Guy's perfect though. He's kind and generous, and happy to take our relationship as slowly or as quickly as I like.”
“You told him about your ex, David, then?” Bea asked. Paul nodded. “Good, I'm pleased. At least he knows you're wary of being hurt again.”
“He says he's happy to be with me and get to know me properly.” He winked at them. “We’re having so much fun together.”
“I think I’m going to cry again,” Shani sniffed, pulling the used tissue out of her sleeve and blowing her nose.
“For heaven’s sake, what the hell is wrong with you?” Paul asked. “Are you sure you’re not having a baby? My mum always goes on about how emotional she was when she was expecting me.”
“What?” Shani frowned. “I told you I’m not pregnant, so stop going on about it, will you?”
“I only meant…never mind.” Paul shrugged.
Bea had had enough of the bickering. “I’ve got tons of washing to catch up on,” she said, thinking about Luke and wondering what he was doing up in her bathroom. “And knowing you, as I do,” she pointed to Paul, “you’ll need an in-depth chat with Shani about her revelations on the Harry front.”
“Yes, and I think you should speak to Luke. We’ve been asking him about Leilani and he insists she’s nothing more than a friend. Maybe you were wrong about her,” Shani said, standing up and grabbing her bag. “You’re obviously attracted to the bloke.”
Bea nodded. “I am, but I’ve got to sort out this business with the house before I can concentrate on anything, or anyone, else,” she said. The last thing she wanted was to end up getting into the same situation as Shani and having to deal with a man who was already in a relationship. “I’m just not going there.”
“I haven't told you about Luke interrogating me the other day, have I?” Shani said, raising her thin, dark eyebrows and taking a roll of mints out of her bag. “It was when I phoned him in a panic about the water seeping out of the bathroom,” she said. Bea listened silently, wondering what she was going to say next. “He asked how you were, and when I said you were on holiday in New York he seemed rather surprised. Although, to be honest, I did have a sneaking suspicion he already knew you were away.”
“Did he ask who I was with?” Bea couldn’t help asking, a familiar knot forming in her stomach.
“’Fraid so.”
“And by the disappointment in his tone, he wasn't impressed.” Shani popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth. Bea felt better by his annoyance at her trip with Tom. It was short-lived. “Then the next day, I passed that new coffee shop, you know the one on the corner of New Street and King Street, and he was having a coffee with that Amazon woman.”
“Leilani,” Bea murmured, her mood flattened. Serves me right, she thought, for thinking he might be interested in me. “Never mind that, it’s Christmas soon and I want to know what we’re doing.”
“I have to spend the day with my parents, as usual,” Shani groaned. “I’ve no idea why, they don’t seem to enjoy themselves and always end up having a row.”
“Ah, yes.” Paul pursed
his lips together. “I know we were planning on sharing a turkey a deux here, but Guy has asked if I’ll meet him at his flat after he’s catered for the hundreds at the restaurant. He insisted you must come too, so no arguments.”
Bea shook her head. “No, I’m not doing to interrupt your first Christmas together. I’ll be fine here.”
Paul scowled and shook his head. “No chance. It’ll be your first Christmas alone and without Annabel, I’m not having you feeling sorry for yourself here.”
“I’ll be fine. Anyway, Dad’s asked me to join them this year.”
Shani swung round from the doorway and nearly tripped over, grabbing the door handle at the last minute before she completely lost her footing. “And you said yes?”
“I did,” Bea lied, laughing at the disbelief on both her friend’s faces. “The wedding’s coming up and I thought I should try my best to build whatever bridges I could before then.”
“Rather you than me having to put up with Joyce for an entire day.” Shani laughed. “She hates you.”
Bea shook her head. “I know which makes it more fun that Dad invited me, don’t you think?” Seeing she’d convinced them, Bea watched them leave, heads together as they whispered no doubt about her plans for the twenty-fifth. By the time they discovered the truth, she’d have spent a quiet, but peaceful day alone with Flea, a bottle of champagne left over from her birthday and no one to interrupt her watching the stack of DVDs she’d been keeping especially for that day.
After they’d gone, Bea walked up the stairs to speak to Luke. He didn't seem to notice her arrival and Bea made the most of being able to watch him work. He bent down over the pipes and she could see the top of his bottom where his jeans had slipped a little. Now that really was the sort of builder's bum she could get used to looking at, she thought. Such a shame he was with someone else.
Luke turned and caught her appreciative glance at him. “What's so amusing?” he asked. “And why are you smiling at me like that?” He put his hands back and pulled his jeans up a bit. “Were you laughing at my backside?”
“Hardly laughing,” she said, aching to cross the room and kiss him. “I was wondering how long you were going to be, or if you wanted a drink?”
The Jersey Scene series box set Page 16
