by Fay Keenan
‘Glad to hear it.’ Jonathan looked wryly at her. ‘Any chance of a quickie? Drink, I mean!’ He meandered through to the kitchen, with Anna following in his wake.
‘Mummy get you one,’ Ellie said, stuffing the last bit of cake into her mouth.
‘What brings you to my door?’ Anna asked, determined not to broach the subject of Matthew unless he decided to.
‘I’ve come to ask you something,’ Jonathan replied, turning his best blue-eyed stare on her.
Anna raised an eyebrow. ‘Does it involve money? Because if so, it’s a definite no.’
‘What do you take me for?’ Jonathan replied in mock outrage. ‘I keep telling you, I’m a reformed character.’
On cue, his mobile phone chirruped, and Anna was a quick enough reader to see the name Vicky popping up on the screen before he switched it off and pocketed it again. She refrained from comment and passed him a wine glass.
‘Listen, darling, I know you’ve had a bit of a tough time lately, what with my big brother being a pain, so I wondered if you fancied coming to the Harvest Ball with me next Saturday.’ He grinned at her. ‘You know the kind of thing, posh frock, marquee, speeches, cheesy disco.’
Anna shook her head. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I don’t think so. Not sure I can face a night out just yet.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Jonathan wheedled. ‘You haven’t been out since my brother started behaving like an arse, and I know it’s not exactly a night on the tiles, but it’ll be a giggle.’
‘I don’t think I’d be much of a giggle at the moment,’ Anna replied.
‘Would it make any difference if I told you Meredith’s Model UN team was going to be there to accept an award from the Head of the Rotary Club and she’s got to give an acceptance speech?’
‘When she was in hospital she mentioned she was hoping to go, but she didn’t mention the award.’
‘She doesn’t want to ask you to come herself,’ Jonathan said. His voice was suddenly a lot more serious. ‘But she really wants you there.’
‘I don’t know,’ Anna said. ‘I’d like to, but I’m guessing Matthew’ll be there too. I don’t know if I can handle that.’
‘That’s exactly why I want you to come with me!’ Jonathan had a glint of devilment in his eyes. ‘He needs a bit of a shake-up, to make him realise what an idiot he’s being. How do you fancy being my date?’
Anna shook her head. ‘Supporting Meredith is one thing; going purely to wind Matthew up is quite another.’
‘Oh, come on, darling,’ Jonathan urged. ‘Isn’t there just a little tiny part of you that wants to stick two fingers up to my big brother?’
‘I’m not like that,’ Anna replied. ‘I’ve never been a game player.’
‘Well, it’s a good job that I can play enough games for the both of us, then!’ Jonathan couldn’t stop the mischievous smirk that twitched at the corners of his mouth. ‘If it makes you feel better, why don’t you pretend you’re only going along to support Merry, and let me be the smug bastard who will hang off your arm all night?’ He picked up one of Anna’s hands in his own, turned it upwards and tickled her palm playfully. ‘Go on, say yes. You know you want to.’
‘If I promise to think about it, will you stop going on?’ Anna, exasperated but strangely flattered, snatched her hand back.
‘No.’ Jonathan grinned. ‘You’ve got to give me an answer before I’ll leave.’
‘Oh, all right then!’ Anna replied. ‘If it’ll get you out of my house any quicker, I’ll go with you!’
‘Excellent! You won’t regret it, I promise you.’ Jumping up from the table, he dropped his now empty glass into the sink. ‘And I know Meredith will be chuffed you’re going to be there to support her.’
‘I’m not so sure Matthew will,’ Anna said darkly, wondering why the hell she’d allowed herself to be so easily convinced. Was there a part of her that wanted to see Matthew again so desperately she was prepared to face a confrontation?
‘Don’t worry about Matthew,’ Jonathan said breezily. ‘It’ll do him good to see you out and about without him; perhaps it’ll make him realise what he’s missing!’
‘That’s not my intention,’ Anna replied.
‘I should hope not, when you’re on a date with his far better-looking and much more fun younger brother.’
‘Oh, get out!’ Anna gave in and had to laugh. ‘What time does this thing start, anyway?’
‘I’ll pick you up at seven. Can Pat babysit?’
‘I should think so,’ Anna replied. ‘Mum probably would have but I know she and Dad fly out to New Zealand on Wednesday until Christmas.’
‘That’s settled then.’ Jonathan walked towards the kitchen door. ‘Oh, and darling…’
‘Yes,’ Anna said warily.
‘Wear a nice dress.’
‘Out!’ Anna barely restrained herself from throwing Ellie’s now discarded lump of angel cake at Jonathan’s departing back.
45
‘Come on, darling, try to relax and enjoy yourself.’ Entering the marquee for the Harvest Ball, Jonathan smiled at Anna, took her hand and kissed it playfully. ‘Imagine how much it’s going to wind my big brother up to see you on my arm tonight.’
Anna shook her head. ‘You know that’s not why I agreed to come.’ She glanced over to where Meredith was standing. It was the first time Anna had seen her since she’d been discharged from hospital. Dressed in rose pink chiffon, she looked fragile and beautiful beside Flynn, whose nerves were palpable.
‘I know.’ Jonathan was suddenly all seriousness when he saw the direction of Anna’s gaze. ‘But she needs all the moral support she can get.’
‘And Matthew’s going to put in an appearance at some point?’ Anna asked, her voice shaking slightly.
‘He can’t get out of it,’ Jonathan replied. ‘He promised the Rotary Club he’d be here to present the special team award for Young Speaker of the Year, so he really had no choice.’
‘Anna!’ Meredith had spotted her. As she hugged her, Anna could feel how much weight Meredith had lost during her recuperation and a shard of concern worried at her heart. ‘Thanks for coming.’ Meredith had thrown off most of her jetlag, having only returned to the village a couple of days ago, and had spent most of the time on the plane back to the UK practising the speech she had to give tonight.
‘I wouldn’t miss it,’ Anna said quickly. ‘You look gorgeous.’
‘So do you,’ Meredith replied, but Anna could tell she was trying to cheer her up. Anna knew she didn’t look her best; she’d had too many sleepless nights for that, but she’d tried to paper over the cracks as best she could. The red dress was one of Charlotte’s, and wasn’t really Anna’s shade, but at a pinch it had had to do.
‘Are you ready to give your speech?’ Anna asked, noticing the cue cards in Meredith’s right hand.
‘No!’ Meredith grimaced. ‘But Flynn’s been helping me to practise, and I think I can pronounce all of the place names now.’
Anna smiled weakly. ‘You’ll be fine.’
‘So… Dad’ll be here later,’ Meredith said, searching Anna’s face hopefully for a positive response. ‘He’s skipping the dinner but he’ll be here to award the prizes during the coffee.’
‘I know,’ Anna said guardedly.
‘He’s not exactly happy about having to come face to face with Flynn again, but he’s going to have to suck it up tonight for the sake of the Rotary Club!’ Meredith gave a nervous smile. ‘Flynn’s bricking it.’
‘I’m sure it’ll be fine,’ Anna thought, feeling no such thing. Matthew’s volcanic rage when Meredith had been unconscious in hospital had stayed with her, and she knew from Meredith’s texts that a certain uneasy peace had been brokered between Matthew and Flynn, after the cause of the car accident had become clear, but there was still a long way to go before either would be truly comfortable in the other’s presence.
‘Do you think that maybe you might… you know… have a chat with Dad tonight?’ Mer
edith bit her lower lip.
Anna sighed. ‘I don’t know, Merry. I think it might be best if we kept our distance from each other. And anyway, this is your night.’
‘But he misses you so much!’ Meredith’s eyes were glistening in the soft lights of the marquee. ‘Please, just talk to him.’
‘Merry, my darling,’ glancing at Anna, who was temporarily incapable of speech, Jonathan stepped forward and put his arm around his niece, ‘let your dad and Anna work things out in their own time. They will when they’re ready, I’m sure.’ He placed a kiss on the top of her head. ‘Just enjoy tonight. After all, you should make the most of the fact that you’re here with Flynn.’
Meredith nodded, and, stepping forward to hug Anna again, she then wandered off, hand in hand with Flynn.
‘Are you OK?’ Jonathan turned back to Anna.
Anna nodded. ‘She’s gutted about Matthew and me, isn’t she?’
‘You don’t need me to tell you that, darling. I think she’d feel better about it if she knew why the two of you had got so distant.’
‘I wish I knew that myself,’ Anna suddenly felt exhausted.
He snaked an arm around her waist. ‘He’ll come round in time, I’m sure. But for now we’d better grab our seats for this rocking gig.’
*
When dinner had been served and the gathered Rotarians and local dignitaries were satisfied and settled in their seats, it was time for Meredith to speak. As she stood up at the table, Anna saw her knees shaking underneath the hem of her dress, and her heart went out to her.
‘Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen,’ Meredith began. ‘Thank you for hosting this dinner tonight.’ She took a moment to look around the marquee at the assembled, mostly old, but kindly faces that looked benignly back at her. ‘I am here this evening to talk to you about the way that the Model United Nations can have a positive impact on not just young people, but on the world around us…’
And all of a sudden, Anna lost track of what Meredith was saying, as, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Matthew slipping in through the tied back door of the marquee. The sun was setting behind him and for a moment Anna couldn’t see the expression on his face. But the curve of his head, the set of his shoulders in his dinner jacket and the uncompromising nature of his presence still took her breath away.
Matthew took a seat against the wall of the marquee, just out of Anna’s field of vision. With an effort, she turned her attention back to Meredith. She was currently thanking the Rotary Club for their part-funding of the trip to Belfast. A round of applause greeted the rest of the team as Meredith introduced them, and then it fell to the head of the Rotary Club to speak.
‘It gives me great pleasure to introduce the man whose company has so generously funded this year’s award, and someone who has a very personal interest in the success of the team of young people you see in front of you. Rotarians, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Matthew Carter.’
There was a smattering of further applause as Matthew stood up and walked towards the front of the marquee. He paused for a moment to survey his audience; did Anna imagine it, or did his gaze linger a fraction longer in the area where she was sitting? Then, that rich, deep, heartbreaking voice with its seductive West Country burr began, and the sound was enough to make her face flush and her mouth go dry.
‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here tonight,’ Matthew began. He spoke without notes, the force of his personality holding everyone in the room captive. ‘As many of you here know, the past few months have been very difficult for at least one member of this very impressive debating team, and, although Meredith will make me pay for it later if I embarrass her too much during this speech, I tell you that to remind you of the odds that they have had to overcome to win this award.’ Matthew cast a quick glance at his daughter and her teammates. ‘On behalf of Carter’s Cider, I would like to present the award for Young Speaker of the Year to Flynn O’Connell, team captain of the St Jude’s Model United Nations delegation.’
As the audience applauded once more, Flynn, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else than accepting an award from his girlfriend’s father, walked up to Matthew. There was a brief hesitation from both, and, although it wouldn’t have been obvious to anyone else, Anna, whose knowledge of Matthew’s mannerisms and physicality was intimate by now, noticed his back stiffen and a split-second hesitation before he shook Flynn’s hand.
‘I’m pleased Matthew didn’t punch him!’ Jonathan whispered as the applause started again. ‘But then I suppose it wouldn’t have done much for his reputation.’
Anna shook her head, quite unable to speak.
As the team sat back down again and the head of the Rotary Club brought the formal part of the evening to a close, Jonathan caught Anna’s eye and gave her his trademark wicked grin. ‘That’s the boring bit over. Now we can misbehave!’ He gave her hand a brief squeeze, but Anna was too distracted by Matthew to notice. If she never saw him again in her lifetime, she’d still be able to recall exactly the curl of his hair over his collar, the arrangement of the crows’ feet around his eyes, and the fall of those long, lithe limbs. ‘He told Meredith he was going to skip off after the presentation,’ Jonathan murmured. ‘So you don’t need to worry about talking to him.’
‘I don’t think he’d make a beeline for me, anyway,’ Anna said. ‘He’s hardly gone out of his way to see me over the past few weeks.’
‘Well, in that case, there’s no need to worry then. Shall I get you another drink?’
In dire need of one, Anna nodded. Jonathan wandered off to the bar in the corner of the marquee in search of a couple of glasses of champagne.
‘What did you think? Was my speech OK?’ Meredith asked as she came back up to where Anna was sitting.
‘You were great,’ Anna replied, giving the happiest smile she could. ‘Your dad must be very proud of you.’
‘Difficult to tell, these days,’ Meredith snorted. ‘He’s not saying much. Well, even less than usual, I mean!’ She turned to Flynn, who was stood behind her. ‘At least he managed to shake your hand without ripping your arm off!’
Flynn gave a smile that was more of a grimace. ‘Can’t say I’d blame him if he had, really.’
‘So have you talked to him yet?’ Meredith demanded. ‘I mean, you might as well, seeing as you’re both in the same – er – room.’ She grinned as she looked around at the tented walls of the marquee.
Anna shook her head. ‘Not tonight, Merry. It’s not the time or the place.’
Merry rolled her eyes. ‘I wish I knew when the right time or place was.’
Anna was about to reply when she felt the hair on the back of her neck rise.
‘I was just saying, Dad, it’s about time you two talked.’ Meredith’s voice gave only the slightest waver as Matthew drew closer.
Anna didn’t dare to turn around, sensing Matthew was barely a foot from her.
‘I’m going to head off, Meredith,’ Matthew said gruffly. ‘You’ll be home by eleven?’
Meredith nodded. Something in Matthew’s tone brokered no disagreement.
‘See you later.’
With that, Matthew turned and walked out of the marquee. Anna felt relieved, but strangely deflated. So much for Jonathan’s big plan.
‘You two are going to have to talk,’ Meredith said softly.
‘We will,’ Anna replied. ‘Soon. I promise.’ But even as she said it, she wasn’t so sure. Matthew had, after all, just completely blanked her.
Before Meredith could respond further, Jonathan returned with two glasses of champagne. ‘Here,’ he said to Anna. ‘Get that down you, and then we’ll have a quick dance.’
‘I’m not sure I’m in the right frame of mind for dancing,’ Anna replied, taking a hefty slug of her champagne.
‘Drink faster then!’ Jonathan quipped. ‘Well done on your speech, darling.’ He leaned over and kissed Meredith’s cheek.
‘Thanks Uncle Jonno,’ Meredith replied. ‘I’ll see y
ou later – the rest of the team are outside getting some fresh air. Thought we’d join them.’
‘Fair enough,’ Jonathan gave Meredith a wry glance. ‘Just no nicking any champagne bottles on the way out!’ He turned back to Anna as Meredith and Flynn left. ‘Come on, finish that glass and let’s get on the dance floor.’
Anna smiled, in spite of herself. ‘Won’t that cramp your style a bit, dancing with the Merry Widow?’
‘I think the wives of the venerable Little Somerby Rotarians can do without me for one night.’
In the end, it was better to acquiesce than to argue, and Jonathan was fun to be with. Anna could certainly see his appeal; Jonathan was handsome, witty and charismatic, but at the end of the day, he just wasn’t Matthew.
‘Now doesn’t that make you feel better?’ Jonathan grinned several songs later as he flung her around the dance floor.
Anna nodded, too out of breath to comment. Then, without warning, Jonathan drew her in closer to him as a rather more sedate tune came over the system. Swaying together, Anna took the opportunity to recover, but after thirty seconds, she stiffened in Jonathan’s arms.
‘What is it, lovely?’ Jonathan turned slightly on the dance floor so he could see the direction of Anna’s gaze. There, on the other side of the marquee, distant and unapproachable, his hand closed around a glass of whisky, obviously having thought better of leaving the party early, was Matthew.
‘I can’t do this.’ Anna struggled in Jonathan’s arms.
‘Not so fast!’ Jonathan whispered. ‘You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. Just relax.’
Conceding reluctantly, Anna moved closer to Jonathan and continued to sway to the music. She was aware, all the time, of where Matthew was in relation to her; to whom he was speaking, his body language. Every so often she knew he was glancing over at her, and his awareness of her, in Jonathan’s arms, made her feel like she was standing naked on the dance floor.
