One Last Shot

by Archer, Julie

  Chapter Forty

  Eva barely slept. The bed seemed way too big without Richey in it, and she tossed and turned fitfully throughout the night. She finally gave in just after 6am and went downstairs, trying to be as quiet as she could. She entered the kitchen and jumped as she saw Kim sitting at the breakfast bar nursing a mug of coffee.

  Kim’s eyes looked her up and down. “Exactly the sort of groupie that used to throw herself at him.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  Kim laughed. “Hit a nerve, did I?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I never saw Richey play until after he moved in to the house.” Eva touched the cafetiere on the bar to see if it was still warm. It was, so she helped herself to a mug. “What are you even doing here anyway?” she asked. Reluctantly, she took a seat beside Kim.

  Kim fixed Eva with an even stare, her face barely flickered with emotion. “I wanted to know where Richey was.”

  “But why now? Surely you could have tracked him down before? He’d been playing with another band prior to hooking up with Blood Stone Riot.”

  “Ah, but he wasn’t as successful then.”

  Eva immediately understood. For Kim, being with Richey was all about the fame and recognition. She remembered the pictures of Richey and Kim together and the comments about the previous band’s impending success. She didn’t doubt for a moment that the story of losing the baby was true, but surely if Kim had wanted Richey back because she loved him, she would have found him sooner?

  “Is that all he meant to you? Some kind of trophy boyfriend?”

  Kim laughed again. “Honey, I was always more successful than him. I had a six-figure salary as a headhunter. He could never have matched that even if his first band had made it big.”

  Eva frowned. “What do you mean, his first band?”

  “Hasn’t he told you about Deeds Of Eternity? NightDrive wasn’t his first band.”

  “It would appear there are a lot of things he hasn’t told me.”

  Kim raised her eyebrows and took a sip of coffee. “Seems so. Not quite who you thought he was after all.”

  Eva fell silent. She didn’t want to talk to Kim anymore, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to Richey either. She got up and headed back upstairs to the sanctuary of her room.

  * * *

  Richey woke feeling as if something had died inside his mouth. He stretched and reached for Eva, then remembered he was in his own bed, not hers. His memory returned with a vengeance as he realised the reason for that was Kim. The right thing to do would be to explain to Eva exactly what had happened with him and Kim and why. The wrong thing to do would be to find a way to contact Leo Kendrick and ask for a replacement for the cocaine he had done last night. But it was the latter that invaded his thoughts. He needed coffee and went downstairs to the kitchen where he could smell that there was already some on the go.

  What he saw made him want to head straight back out the door. Kim was sitting at the table, bouncing India on her knee while feeding her. Richey had a flashback to conversations they had shared over names, colour schemes for the nursery, whether they would prefer a boy or a girl. Just as he was about to leave, Kim caught his eye.

  “Morning,” she said.

  Poppy waved a mug at him. “You want some coffee?”

  He nodded and moved hesitantly towards the table. He pulled out a chair and settled down opposite Kim. Poppy placed his drink down in front of him, and he gratefully took a sip. He winced as the liquid scalded the roof of his mouth. As he drank, he watched how Kim was with India, how she carefully jiggled her, making sure to be gentle, and how natural it looked for her. A wave of guilt swept over him. He should have been there for her and supported her, helped her to look forward to the future. He shouldn’t have left her to fend for herself and deal with everything alone.

  Poppy chatted to Kim, telling her about India’s progress and how much of a good baby she was. Kim listened intently, although her gaze strayed to Richey every now and again.

  “What are your plans now, Kim?” asked Poppy.

  Kim shrugged. “Now I know Richey isn’t actually dead, I can probably head home.”

  “He’s not dead at the moment, but I haven’t finished with him yet.”

  None of them had heard Eva come into the kitchen. Richey jumped up and knocked his chair backwards onto the tiled floor. The noise made India bawl, and Kim handed the baby back to her mother. Poppy tried to calm the child down with little success and headed out of the room.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt the happy reunion.” Eva took some juice from the fridge and slammed the door.

  “I... we...”

  “Neither of us want...”

  Both Richey and Kim started talking at the same time but ground to a halt when they realised that the other one was still speaking.

  Richey went over to Eva and touched her arm. “Eva, we need to talk, let me explain what this is all about.”

  She yanked her arm away. “I think I know what it’s all about. Your beautiful ex comes back into your life and you want to make babies with her again.”

  Richey tried to reach for her, but she dodged out of his grasp. “It’s not like that.”

  “Really? Well, if you want to discuss anything I suggest you have a shower first. You stink.” She walked out.

  Richey looked at Kim. “She’s right, we should talk. Just give me chance to sort myself out.” He gestured to his pyjama bottoms and t-shirt and headed upstairs.

  A couple of hours later, Richey’s head was swimming following his final conversation with Kim. After dragging up everything that had happened between them, he was emotionally raw, battered and bruised. She had, at least, now had the opportunity to tell him exactly how she felt about him.

  He deserved every word of it.

  He was sitting in the kitchen, alone, when Poppy came in.

  “Where’s Kim?” she asked.

  “She’s gone.”

  “Did you sort out whatever you needed to?” Poppy sat down opposite him. “Richey, I can’t believe you just left the poor girl. How could you leave her to deal with the loss of a baby on her own?”

  “Because I’m a total arsehole.” For a moment, he was about to tell her everything but then he saw the pity in her eyes and knew it was for Kim. “I was selfish and heartless,” he said instead.

  “I’m not going to disagree with you, but it was a shock when she turned up last night. She was waiting on the doorstep when Parker and I got back.”

  “You think it wasn’t a bit of a surprise to me too?”

  “Just think how Eva must have felt.”

  Richey balled his hands into fists, the nails digging into his palms. He’d had enough of being blamed for the situation. He knew what he had done was wrong; he didn’t need everyone else telling him that. “I’ll talk to her.” His voice was low.

  He stood up, grabbed his coat from the hallway, and slammed the door behind him. Out in the fresh air, he finally started to breathe again.

  The thought that had crept into his head shortly after waking up was back with a vengeance. He reached into his pocket for his phone and made a call.

  * * *

  Eva needed to get out of the house. She wasn’t scheduled to work, but she headed for The Indigo Lounge anyway. If the previous night’s gig was anything to go by there would still be clearing up to do that morning. If not, she’d rearrange the bottles or do a stock take, anything to take her mind off what was going on back at the house.

  Gavin was already in the bar when she went in, aimlessly pushing a vacuum cleaner around the floor. There were still piles of glasses on the bar waiting to be washed.

  “You’re not on shift,” he said.

  Eva dumped her bag on one of the stools. “Thought you could do with a hand.” She busied herself stacking the glasses into the dishwasher and slammed the door shut. Two minutes later they were done, and Eva repeated the actions until they were all clean. She methodically stacked
them on the shelves until one slipped out of her hand and smashed on the floor. Eva burst into tears. Gavin turned off the hoover and ran to the bar.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. He took her hands and carefully pulled her away from the mess. “Sorry, dumb question. You’re not the type of girl who cries when she breaks a glass.”

  Eva wiped her cheeks, taking a deep breath. “You’re right—on both points. But I’m sorry, I can’t tell you what’s going on.” She wished she could talk to someone, but she didn’t have any idea who. It was obvious that Poppy was on Kim’s side and right now, she didn’t have any idea what to say to Richey.

  A noise behind them made them both jump. Richey stood in the doorway.

  Gavin dropped Eva’s hands. “I, er, need to go and check something in the cellar.”

  “We need to talk,” said Richey. He stepped towards her.

  Eva turned her back and composed herself. She didn’t want Richey to see how much the arrival of Kim had affected her. “Let’s go up to the office, let Gavin finish off here.” She walked purposefully up the stairs, although she felt anything but.

  Neither Nic nor Amy were in the office yet, which gave them some time alone.

  “I had no idea Kim was going to turn up.”

  “It seems I have no idea about your past. You apparently didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”

  Richey stared up at the ceiling. “There’s a lot that you don’t know, and I do trust you.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “I can’t!”

  “Where do we go from here?” she asked. They stood facing each other. Eva glared at him. She wanted answers.

  Richey took a step closer to her. He reached out and caressed her cheek, tracing where the tears had fallen. His fingertip outlined her lips, his touch igniting something in her despite how she was feeling towards him. His hands entwined in her hair, gently controlling her as he pulled her towards him. Their lips met, and Richey kissed her deeply, his tongue searching her mouth as he held her against him. She couldn’t help but respond as her own hands reached around the back of his neck. After a few minutes, he drew back, his deep blue eyes penetrating hers.

  “Trust me when I say that there is nothing between Kim and I anymore. That was over a long, long time ago. I know I was wrong to do what I did to her, but I wasn’t in a position where I could settle down and start a family. What matters to me now is you and no-one else.” He paused. “I love you.”

  Eva gasped. That had been the last thing she had expected. She had thought that Richey would come to tell her he was getting back with Kim, that their relationship had been nothing more than a fling and he was sorry. While she couldn’t completely forgive what he’d done, she thought she was beginning to understand, particularly after her conversation with Kim that morning.

  “I love you too.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Poppy fluffed up the cushions on the sofa for about the fourth time that morning. She had already tidied up every room in the house, vacuumed and dusted to make sure everything looked perfect.

  “Anyone would think we were expecting royalty,” said Parker, as he came into the living room. He sank down on the sofa and put his coffee mug on the table.

  “Use a coaster!” Poppy’s tone was stern. “I’ve just polished that.”

  After all the drama surrounding Kim’s arrival, she had nearly forgotten Nate was coming around. Squabbling in a club wasn’t exactly how she had expected her marriage to turn out. Poppy hoped that the fact Parker was there would make sure things didn’t get too out of hand.

  The doorbell rang, and she went to answer it.

  “You could have used your key,” she said.

  “Wasn’t sure what I was going to find,” replied Nate. “You and Parker shagging on the stairs or something.”

  Poppy blushed. While they hadn’t quite done that, things were certainly more active than she’d been used to. Nate followed her into the living room.

  “Do you want a drink?” she asked.

  “Yeah, coffee would be good. We stayed out after the gig last night and then started jamming on some new material.” Nate gave Parker a pointed look.

  Poppy wondered whether the other woman had been there too, but chose not to ask.

  Parker got up. “Why don’t I go and sort the drinks out,” he suggested. “Give you two a chance to talk.”

  Nate’s eyes followed Parker as he walked out of the room. He turned back to Poppy. “How long’s it been going on? You seemed to have moved on pretty quickly,” he said as he sat down on the sofa.

  I moved on quickly? thought Poppy. That’s a bit rich.

  She sat down in the armchair and picked at a thread on the cushion she clutched to her stomach. “Not long really. Since the awards ceremony. We’ve been out a few times since.”

  “Who’s been looking after India while you’ve been such a social butterfly?”

  “Either Eva or Daria, or me for that matter. I don’t like the way you seem to think that I’d abandon our daughter like you effectively did to the two of us for all that time when you were on the road.”

  “Who do you think arranged it for me to be away all that time?” Nate gestured towards the kitchen. “Lover boy there. Seems funny, don’t you think?”

  Poppy hadn’t even thought of it like that. She didn’t, for one minute, think that Parker would be that devious to have sent Nate away just so he could make a move on her. “I’m sure there wasn’t anything in it.”

  “Wasn’t anything in what?” Parker returned carrying two mugs. He handed one to Nate, sloshing some of the liquid over the guitarist’s hand, then passed the other to Poppy before he sat on the arm of her chair.

  “Just your master plan that involved getting Nate away from me so you could move in.” Poppy took a huge gulp of her coffee, wincing at the sweetness.

  Parker laughed. “Nate, I’m not fifteen! The thing with Poppy just happened. Yes, things have moved on quite quickly, but I think it’s what we both want, right?” Parker reached out and took Poppy’s hand. He gently stroked her knuckles in support.

  Poppy felt tears well up in her eyes. She hadn’t expected this from Parker so soon. It was important for her to have a stable environment to bring India up in, but she had to sort things out with Nate first. She turned to Parker.

  “Would you be able to leave us alone for a bit?” she asked. “Just so we can talk things through properly?”

  “Without interruption.” Nate leaned back in the chair.

  “Sure, if that’s what you want.” Parker kissed her forehead. “I’ll be in the study.” He got up and left the room.

  “I didn’t realise that it would be difficult with him being here,” she admitted.

  “Is it serious between the two of you?” Nate asked.

  Poppy thought about how the majority of Parker’s stuff was already in the house and how he spent most nights there. They had also started to make plans for day trips and future holidays. She realised that the other mums would also be more accepting of someone like Parker, even though he was still involved in the music business, although the key word there was business. They would understand that. She compared that to the long days and nights when she had been on her own, waiting for Nate to finish playing in order to grab a quick conversation with him before she went to sleep. Or having to arrange times for them to talk so he could speak to India. It hadn’t been much of a life, and despite the fact she loved Nate, she knew for sure that she wasn’t in love with him anymore and probably hadn’t been for a while.

  Eventually she nodded. “Yes. It is.”

  “Right.”

  With that one word, Poppy knew that everything she had been used to was about to change. Now she had admitted it out loud, they could start to put in place the things that needed to happen. Nate agreed that he would move all his stuff out. Alik had already agreed that he could rent his flat once the current tenancy had finished in a couple of weeks. Until then, Nate would stay with Alik at Car
o’s while she was still in Mallorca. He admitted he would be sad to lose the garage studio and hoped that Richey would look after it. Poppy was surprised that he seemed to have things in place already. It wasn’t Nate’s usual default to be so organised.

  They talked about India and agreed that Nate would come around whenever he wanted and spend time with her or take her out; he wasn’t to become a stranger to her. The house was a slight bone of contention; Poppy wasn’t prepared to move out. She had created a settled life for India there and she didn’t want any more upset. Nate suggested that she buy him out, but that wasn’t currently an option as she didn’t have the money for that. Neither of them broached the subject of Parker doing it, even though they were both probably thinking it. They agreed that they should see a solicitor to sort out any other legalities, but ultimately they were parting on good terms. They talked about how to tell the family and friends that didn’t already know about the situation, and who would tell who. They talked for the first time in a very long time, but it was too late to change anything.

  By the time Nate left a couple of hours later, Poppy was exhausted. She flopped down on the sofa and closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for the tears to start: relief, sadness, trepidation about the future, a myriad of emotions that she hadn’t expected.

  “Is it safe to come in?” Parker’s voice floated across the room. “I heard Nate leave.”

  Poppy sat up and wiped her face. “Yes, he’s gone.” Her voice cracked on the last word. “I didn’t expect to get this emotional,” she said.

  Parker gathered her into his arms. “Don’t be silly, I totally understand.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Parker hadn’t been able to secure the band a slot at Newcomen Farm but had managed to find a cancellation at Lighthouse Studios on the outskirts of Stratfield, near North Ridge. The purpose-built studio was modern and airy, a very different environment to the cosy feel of the South West option. Similarly, it had accommodation, but the rooms were very basic, more in line with a budget hotel or student halls. But the booking had come cheap and at the right time.