Playing by the Rules

by Imelda Evans

  Clare, though, loved it. She seized Kate’s free hand with both of hers and squeezed it with stars in her eyes.

  ‘Oh, Kate, that’s so romantic!’ She turned to her husband. ‘Isn’t that a wonderful story, Andrew? It’s like a fairy tale!’ Andrew smiled indulgently at his wife. Kate thought she heard Jo mutter ‘More than you know . . .’ under her breath.

  ‘What was that, Jo?’ Crystal asked, with a crocodile smile.

  Jo cleared her throat and looked significantly at Kate. ‘I said “I need to go”. I think the champagne has caught up with me. I might pop off to the ladies for a minute before they start the formal bits. What do you say, Kate? Come with me?’

  She stood up. Kate swallowed. She suspected Jo was going to ask questions she didn’t have any idea how to answer. Oh well. She might as well get it over with. She stood up and released Josh’s hand, realising belatedly that she had been clinging to it like a drowning woman clinging to a rescuer. He held on for a moment longer. Just long enough to raise her hand to his lips, kiss it and say, ‘Don’t be long.’

  Crystal, fortunately, was engrossed in a whispered conversation with her date and missed it. Clare loved it. Jo raised an eyebrow. And Kate . . . Kate picked up her bag and turned to go, feeling as though she were wading into a purple sea.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  With a surprising show of patience, Jo waited not only until they had made it into the ladies, but also until the girl who was touching up her makeup had finished and left, before turning on Kate. But when she did, it was with her hands on her hips and a look that said she was going to get to the bottom of this or die trying.

  ‘Right, Kate. Spill. What in blazes is going on here?’

  Kate looked at her helplessly.

  ‘You tell me and we’ll both know!’

  ‘Oh, come on Kate! Are you trying to tell me you didn’t put him up to this?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t!’ Her conscience smote her, and she added, ‘Well, unless you call the stunt we pulled for Crystal earlier putting him up to it. But I swear, that was spur of the moment. I never intended for it to go this far!’ She hesitated. ‘In fact, I was wondering if you had put him up to it.’

  ‘Me?! As if! I told him to behave, remember? Shows how much he listens to me!’ She grimaced. ‘I’d forgotten you can never trust him with a captive audience.’

  Kate felt a cold spot in her gut. ‘You think it was all made up, then?’

  Jo frowned and considered. ‘Well it has to be, doesn’t it? Surely he couldn’t have had a crush like that on you without one of us knowing it? I mean, I knew you had one on him, but surely I would have known if it went both ways?’

  Kate’s stomach, which had felt like it was clawing its way up her oesophagus while she waited for Jo to respond, dropped like a stone to somewhere in the vicinity of the cold spot.

  ‘You knew?’

  ‘That you had a crush on him back in the day? Of course I did. I’m your best friend. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?’

  Kate’s cold spot became even more frigid.

  ‘Did he know as well?’

  Jo looked horrified. ‘No! Or at least, not from me. What do you take me for? I wouldn’t have told him that. I might have made you tell him, eventually. But he moved away not long after I worked it out, so it seemed like that was the end of it.’ She frowned again and tapped a finger thoughtfully against the bench she was perched on. ‘Unless it wasn’t . . .’

  Kate’s stomach performed an impressive leap back into her throat.

  ‘Wasn’t . . . what?’

  ‘Wasn’t the end of it. Look, I know it sounds crazy – I can’t believe I didn’t see it – but what if he’s telling the truth about falling in love with you? I mean, I know Josh could bullshit for Australia, but I don’t know . . . there was something about that story that rang true.’ She pushed off the bench and click-clacked back and forth across the school-issue concrete bathroom floor as she thought out loud. ‘And now that I think about it, he did hang around a lot when you came over. And that bit about Justin! I haven’t thought about him in years. I certainly haven’t talked about him. But Josh remembered his name. How many men do you know who would remember the name of their kid sister’s fifteen-year-old crush? None, that’s how many! But if he really was jealous . . .’

  Then she’d missed a great opportunity and apparently had a talent for bad timing with men. She ignored them when they did want her and wanted to marry them when they didn’t. Great. Another thing to add to her list of shortcomings.

  Jo stopped pacing in front of Kate.

  ‘You know, he often asks about you when he emails or calls. I used to think it was just to make conversation. But maybe not! Maybe he really has been carrying a torch for you all this time!’

  The two women looked at each other silently, frantically trying to fit this startling possibility into the landscape of their memories. Jo broke the silence first.

  ‘How cool would it be if it really is true?’

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘Well, if he likes you and you like him . . . you could end up together for real! That would be brilliant! What could be better than the two people I love best in the world being together?’ Jo looked quite luminous at the prospect.

  Kate rubbed her temples, which had started to throb. She’d come in here to clear things up, not to get more confused, but she wasn’t getting very far.

  ‘Slow down there, Cupid! Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? We aren’t even sure that he really likes me. And I never said anything about liking him.’

  Jo made a face at her.

  ‘Oh come on, Kate, I’m still your best friend. You like him.’

  Kate wanted to deny it, but the memory of the way her body responded to his nearness prevented her.

  ‘I’ll admit we do seem have some chemistry . . .’

  ‘Oh, you think?’ Jo responded dryly. ‘Since when do you let guys nuzzle your neck in public? And enjoy it so much?’

  ‘Well, you were the one who told me to have a fling! Don’t start giving me a hard time about it!’ Jo held up her hands in surrender. ‘Anyway, you can’t read anything into that,’ Kate continued. ‘What if I was so determined to have a fling that I would have responded that way to anyone who was nice to me?’

  Even as she spoke though, Kate knew that wasn’t true. Josh’s lips had ignited parts of her body that she hadn’t even known were flammable. His touch seemed to be able to make her forget her own name, not just where she was.

  ‘Okay,’ she admitted, as much to herself as to Jo. ‘It couldn’t have been “anyone”. The chemistry’s real. But that doesn’t mean anything else is. You said yourself he’s probably just playing to an audience and as for me . . .’

  She threw her hands into the air, sending her evening bag spinning around her wrist. ‘Two weeks ago I thought I was about to be engaged to Alain. I wanted to be engaged to him! Even if I do like Josh, I can’t just . . . switch, just like that. What kind of person would that make me?’

  ‘One who goes with the flow! One who’s open to adventure! One who takes what life throws at her and runs with it!’

  ‘In other words, someone who’s nothing like me!’ Kate smiled wryly and shook her head as her pulse rate returned to normal.

  The memory of Alain had restored the sanity that Jo and Josh between them seemed determined to unseat, no matter how unwittingly. Not because she wanted him back. In that moment, she knew both that he was never coming back and that she was resigned to that. If she hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have been grieving so badly.

  But he did represent her real life, her normal life, her ordered life. This thing, whatever it was, with Josh, had no place in her normal life. His cheerful spontaneity was fun, even exhilarating. And it had proven useful tonight – at least until he’d got carried away. But it bore about as much relation to her usual, measured progress through life as a peacock did to a pigeon. This crazy carry-on could only be a passing thing
, no matter what Jo might think or hope. Kate could have a stab at running with it – indeed, with those two dragging her along, she doubted she had much choice – as long as she remembered that it wasn’t going to last.

  Jo looked as if she were about to argue, but Kate held up her hand.

  ‘Look, I’ll admit there’s some chemistry and I admit that maybe we had mutual crushes on each other way back when, but that’s as far as I’ll go. Apart from claiming to be my fiancé – which I asked him to do, in a roundabout kind of way – he hasn’t said anything concrete about his feelings now. So I think we both need to chill out a bit and wait and see what happens before we get too excited.’

  ‘Or we could just ask him . . .’

  ‘Jo Marchant, don’t you dare! This evening has been quite embarrassing enough already.’

  Jo grinned. ‘Only kidding. I wouldn’t do that. Probably. Not tonight anyway.’

  Which wasn’t exactly reassuring, but since Jo seemed to think the conversation was over, Kate decided discretion was the better part of keeping her in check. She’d forgotten how unpredictable life could be around Jo. And Josh was, if anything, worse. If one of them had committed to refrain from causing her trouble, at least for tonight, she would accept that and be satisfied. She still had the other one to manage.

  Kate and Jo made their way back to the table talking about nothing more inflammatory than the fabulousness or otherwise of the dresses they were passing.

  They arrived back to find that their first course had arrived and the conversation at the table had moved on. Matt was talking to Crystal’s date about football, Clare was leaning over talking to another friend at a nearby table and Josh was deep in conversation with Andrew about the merits of Andrew’s new smartphone. Crystal, mercifully, was nowhere to be seen.

  Jo slid happily enough into her chair beside Matt, but when she realised what he was talking about, she pointedly turned her back on him and joined Josh in poring over Andrew’s technological toy. Kate thought she could just about see the umpire this time, hovering over Matt’s head, yelling ‘Stee-rike . . . Three!’ She smothered a laugh, settled into her seat and proceeded to split her attention between listening to Clare’s horror story of a forty-hour labour and trying to ignore the pressure of Josh’s leg against hers.

  Fortunately for the latter effort, which, it had to be said, was not going that well, the need to address his food soon made Josh move in his chair, and, in doing so, release Kate’s leg from his. Kate breathed a sigh of what she hoped was relief, and looked at her plate.

  Once again, she found herself pleasantly surprised. The food, of which she had not expected much, looked likely to be as good as the champagne and the décor. Better still, the white wine, which was finding its way with reassuring regularity into her glass, courtesy of Josh, was positively delicious. She sipped it appreciatively and felt herself tentatively beginning to relax.

  She should have known it couldn’t last.

  Without the distraction of wine and with the hunger of pregnancy to spur her, Clare despatched her salmon with alacrity and was ready to chat again before Kate was halfway through her leek tart.

  ‘So, have you set a date yet?’

  The pastry of the tart was perfect, flaky and delicious, but at Clare’s question, Kate felt it turning to crunchy dust in her mouth.

  ‘Date?’ It was a stupid prevarication. As if she didn’t know what Clare was talking about.

  ‘For the wedding!’

  Kate felt the purple sea washing around her feet again, but this time there were sharks in it. Crystal-shaped sharks. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Crystal, head tilted their way, even as she pretended to pay attention to her date. Kate was sure it wasn’t just her imagination. Crystal was looking for some way of getting back at them. Whether Crystal suspected them of lying, she couldn’t tell, but she was certainly open to anything she could use.

  Kate took another gulp of wine before answering.

  ‘Oh, the wedding! Well, no, we haven’t set a date. You see, we’re not really officially engaged,’ she said, wondering how deep into half-truths she could go without drowning.

  ‘No,’ Josh added, leaping into the breach. ‘I haven’t had a chance to talk to Kate’s parents yet and of course we can’t make anything official until we do.’

  Clare, the die-hard romantic, saw the sense in this immediately, to Kate’s relief.

  ‘And besides,’ Josh went on, ‘it’s a bit premature to be talking about dates before I’ve even bought the ring!’

  Or proposed, for that matter, Kate thought. For a wild moment, she wondered what would happen if she just came out with it, and told Clare that it was all a front, a scam to put Crystal off and make her jealous. Clare didn’t like Crystal either. Surely she’d understand? But then she looked at her friend, holding her husband’s hand and beaming at the two of them as though she’d invented them. She was so happy about their pretend love story. Kate couldn’t do it to her. Besides, however childish and foolish it was, there was no way she was going to risk giving Crystal the satisfaction of knowing the truth. She’d have to tough it out. But she didn’t have to sit here and talk about it. With sudden resolution, she stood up.

  ‘Clare,’ she said, ‘I’m sorry to break off the conversation like this, but I have just seen my old French teacher. I would really like to catch up with her. Would you mind horribly if we snuck off for a few minutes?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Clare replied. ‘I need to go and catch up with some other people too.’ She pushed back her chair and levered herself to her feet with her husband’s assistance. He helped her with such care and unconscious ease that Kate’s heart ached. Would she ever find that level of comfort in a relationship? She turned away hastily to hide the mist in her eyes and found Josh already on his feet, looking as though he could think of nothing better than to follow her wherever she wanted to go. She blinked the tears away, and took his hand, marvelling at how natural it was already starting to feel to do so. Together, they moved off towards the other side of the room, where she fervently hoped the sharks would not follow.

  CHAPTER NINE

  When they were far enough away from the table not to be heard, Josh said softly, ‘Okay, so who are we going to see?’

  Kate was embarrassed. ‘Oh, sorry, Josh. That was a bit abrupt, wasn’t it? I hope I wasn’t rude to Clare.’ She looked back guiltily. ‘But I didn’t think I could take any more talk about our “wedding”.’ She had responded in the same low tones, but she still looked around in case anyone was listening.

  ‘Why not?’ Josh replied.

  ‘Oh Josh!’ Kate felt a surge of exasperation and clung to it, as it was about the least complicated thing she had felt towards Josh all evening. ‘How can you be so calm about it?’

  ‘What’s not to be calm about?’ He affected a look of surprise. ‘You love me, I love you, and we are going to get married. Everything’s perfect!’

  ‘Josh! How can you joke about it?’

  They had been steering a course about the edge of the room, but now Josh stopped short and turned towards her.

  ‘Who’s joking? We are in leeerv! Everybody says so. Ask Clare! It’s a fairytale! It’s happily ever after. It’s a beautiful thing.’ He struck a pose; hand on heart, gazing off soulfully into the middle distance.

  ‘You . . . you . . . you sod. You’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?’

  Josh pulled on the hand he was still holding until she was close enough for him to wrap his arms around her and murmur in her ear.

  ‘You bet I am. Most fun I’ve had in ages. Yesterday, I was footloose and fancy-free and tonight look at me: engaged to a beautiful woman and the hero of a romantic fantasy. I never knew being engaged could be so entertaining. If this is being engaged, I can’t wait to find out what being married’s like. I think we’ll really have to do it. What are you doing next Wednesday?’

  Kate could feel her blood pressure rising from his nearness and the effortless effect he
had on her annoyed her even more than his flippancy. She knew she should pull out of his embrace, but somehow she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. So she stamped her foot instead.

  ‘Oh, you are infuriating! You’re not going to take this seriously, are you?’

  ‘Kate, do you really want me to be serious?’ Josh suddenly sounded quite different, and when Kate looked, startled, into his eyes, she saw that there was no laughter in them now. In the dim light they looked truly black: impenetrable, intense and ever so slightly scary. Suddenly Kate wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to get serious with this man – not in a room full of people, anyway.

  As if he had read her mind, he said, ‘I suspect there are quite a lot of serious things that we should talk about, but I’m not sure this is the time or the place.’

  Kate nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again. She agreed with him, but with his arms around her and his breath on her face, whether she should say yes or no to express her agreement was quite beyond her to work out.

  Fortunately, he seemed to get the message. As abruptly as he had become serious, he returned to his more familiar lightness. ‘So,’ he said, releasing her and pulling her arm through his, ‘how about you tell me who we are going to see?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Kate said, feeling that she had had a narrow escape, without being quite sure from what. ‘Yes . . . right . . . okay!’ She paused, to gather her thoughts. ‘Well, Madame Le Map —’

  ‘Le Map? Sorry to interrupt, but did I hear that right? Is that her real name?’

  ‘Yes! I know it sounds a bit odd, but yes, that is her real name. Don’t ask me where it came from. I’m not sure she knows herself. If you ask her, she says “I am from Brittany,” as though that explains everything – which perhaps it does. Anyway, she was my first French teacher. You could say she’s responsible for my whole career. I was keen on studying French even before I met her, but after one class with her, I was more than keen, I was hooked.’