Abi's Neighbour

by Jenny Kane

  ‘We were, but that was because Max wanted to have private time to ask Abi about him moving in with her. Now he’s moved in, shouldn’t we do something to mark the day?’

  ‘Beth, love, we are doing something.’

  ‘We are?’

  Jacob laughed. ‘I think all the disinfectant has gone to your head.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘The wedding.’

  ‘What about it?’ Beth clapped a hand to her mouth. ‘Oh my God, I’m such an idiot. I never made the connection. They’re on the same day aren’t they?’

  ‘They are. Plus Max is taking Abi away that night. She doesn’t know yet. It’s an anniversary present, so for goodness’ sake don’t tell her.’

  ‘I don’t think you have to worry about that. Recent evidence suggests I’ll have forgotten by lunchtime!’

  Cass put her weight behind her elbow, and gently pushed the sandpaper block across the top of the small bedside cabinet Jo had declared was an ideal piece of furniture to practise her fledgling restoring skills on.

  There was something wonderfully soothing about the rhythmical motion, and of seeing the results of your hard work appearing before your eyes, she thought. While she made sure she got each run of the sandpaper in exactly the right place, there was no room in her mind for anything else. Which was a welcome relief after last night…

  ‘You’re quiet, Cass, everything alright?’

  Cass picked up the mug of coffee Jo had placed in front of her. ‘Just concentrating. I love how fast you can see things happen.’

  ‘Wonderful, isn’t it?’ Jo leaned against the wall, rubbing her own dusty hands down her apron. ‘It’s like being paid to give yourself therapy all day.’

  ‘Your apprenticeships should be on the NHS! You’d save the mental health department a fortune.’

  ‘You may be onto something.’ Jo chuckled into her cup. ‘Does this mean you’ve decided to take me up on my offer of an apprenticeship stroke partnership?’

  Stretching out the ache in her arms that came from using muscles so unaccustomed to hard physical work, Cass sighed. ‘I want to say yes.’

  ‘But?’

  ‘Last night I learned what was behind the collapse of my business.’

  ‘Justin?’

  ‘Yes, but not in the way I’d assumed. My friend Dora has several contacts in London and has unearthed a situation which was based purely on jealousy and not on any sort of financial greed. At least, that’s how it started. I’m not convinced that Justin didn’t decide to make the whole theft financially viable once he’d realised what was going on. But I don’t really know about that – that’s more of a hunch.’

  ‘And until you know for sure you don’t want to make me any promises?’

  ‘I don’t want to find myself in a position where I let you down.’ Cass looked at the furniture around her with an expression of regret. ‘I’ll understand if you’d like to make the offer to someone else.’

  Jo threw a rag at Cass. ‘Don’t be silly. I’m happy to wait.’

  ‘You are?’

  ‘For a confident woman you don’t half lack self-confidence!’ Jo put down her cup as the ring of a bell indicated a customer had come into the shop. ‘I asked you because you’re good. You have a good eye.’

  As Jo left her speechless to go and deal with her customer, Cass stared at her dust-smudged hands. She knew her face would be streaked with dust as well. Suddenly she started to laugh. She couldn’t stop, as hysteria gripped her.

  Justin would hate this. He might not even recognise her: no salon haircut, faded nail varnish, and no make-up on. She felt oddly pleased that she’d left the house without even contemplating her appearance.

  With Jo’s words still warming her, and the memory of Dan telling her he had to go home because he’d never be able to sleep in her spare bedroom, Cass wrenched her shoulders back and, taking her mobile from her pocket, called Dora.

  ‘This has gone on quite long enough.’ Cass told the phone as she waited for her friend to pick up. ‘It’s getting boring, and holding up my whole bloody life! Enough already, it’s time I…Hello, Dora. I wanted to thank you for working so hard on my behalf. Dan has the documents you asked for. It’s time I invited Justin down here for a little chat. What do you think?’

  Abi had just finished highlighting the sparkle of a rainbow, when Max arrived at the gallery, armed with two rounds of sandwiches.

  ‘What’s this? Waiter service?’

  Passing Abi some lunch, Max pointed at the currently customer-free sofa. ‘Don’t you be getting used to it, lass. Come and join me.’

  Abi laughed. ‘Fear not, I don’t picture you as a waiter somehow. Your big hands would snap the bone china!’

  ‘Cheek!’ Max unwrapped his cheese and ham roll. ‘And there I was being nice!’

  ‘Nothing to do with wanting a bit of company while you wait for the coat of paint you put on Cass’s living room wall to dry, then?’

  ‘That was but a bonus, honestly.’

  ‘Yeah, right!’ Abi came and sat down next to her partner, and gave him a quick kiss. ‘Thanks for lunch. You are very kind.’

  ‘True.’ Max stretched his legs out, enjoying not being cramped up after a morning of painting the skirting boards. ‘Have you seen Cass today? She was out of the house before I got there this morning.’

  Abi frowned. ‘But you were there before nine, weren’t you?’

  ‘I was, but there was no sign of life. Although there was a fresh bunch of roses in a bucket by the sink.’

  ‘Really?’ Abi chewed her lunch thoughtfully. ‘From that toad Justin, I suppose, trying to wangle his way back into her affections.’

  ‘I’m not so sure.’

  ‘You didn’t read the card did you?’

  ‘No way. A card would be private. It’s just that the roses were yellow.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘From what I’ve heard about Justin, he would send red roses.’

  ‘You’re right.’ Abi nodded. ‘I think our time with Dora has rubbed off on us!’

  ‘Yes, this is indeed spy thinking. I bet James Bond considers the colour of roses all the time.’

  ‘I’d bank on it.’

  Max rolled his eyes at Abi. ‘Dan didn’t leave until late last night. I heard the car drive off. Then the florist’s van was on the door at eight this morning. Cass left pretty much straight after that.’

  Abi laughed. ‘You really have been spending too much time with Dora!’

  ‘Our very own Mata Hari.’ Max smiled. ‘The truth is far less interesting. I couldn’t sleep, and was up and about sorting the van about eight.’

  ‘Why, you don’t have to drive to work for a bit longer, do you?’

  Max shifted slightly on the sofa. ‘I was making room for some of my furniture from the flat. There are a few bits I’m like to keep if that’s alright. Not much, just a few things I had from my parents. I’ll sell the rest.’

  ‘What are you talking about? You don’t have to sell anything. Bring it all, we’ll find room. Max…’ Abi felt a small stab of sadness; she’d thought he was feeling genuinely at home with her in Miners Row. ‘This is your home as well now. You don’t have to get my permission to bring in some furniture. I want you to have as much of your stuff as I have mine. I want it to be our stuff now.’

  Putting an arm around Abi, Max pulled her close. ‘Are you sure, lass? Abi’s House is well, Abi’s House. You fought so long to make it that way. I don’t want…’

  ‘Max! We’ve been through this. It’s our house now. Our future. You do like living with me, don’t you?’

  Abi felt sick. She’d been so happy, but now every doubt she’d ever had about Max’s ability to commit to another woman after Lucinda came racing back to the surface.

  ‘I love it! Of course I do.’

  ‘You were about to add a “but” to that sentence. What is it, Max, please tell me?’

  ‘I don’t know; I feel a bit like I’m just on holiday, or
a lodger maybe.’

  Abi felt as if she’d been doused by a bucket of cold water. ‘A lodger?’ Her words came out so quietly that Max barely heard them. ‘That’s why you should have your things, why we should get rid of some of my stuff and get things we have chosen ourselves.’

  ‘You don’t mind then? Me changing round things at your place?’

  ‘OUR PLACE!’

  Abi shouted so loud she shocked not just herself and Max, but the small group of tourists who instantly backed away from the threshold of the gallery.

  Chapter Thirty

  Beth was exhausted. Her cleaning was getting out of control. She’d only been home for the school holidays for one day. If she kept on like this she’d have no energy left for the whole summer.

  Jacob’s new studio was looking fantastic. As soon as they’d walked in together Beth had felt as if she was in a comfortable and familiar space. Although she’d miss the studio in Hayle, she knew she’d always have the memories of their time there together. A smile crossed her face as she remembered her first trip to Jacob’s studio. They’d gone to choose pottery to be displayed at her gallery, and had ended up having the best sex of her life on the studio floor.

  Beth rubbed her belly, unable to take in that she was almost four months pregnant already. ‘How things change.’ She couldn’t prevent the small stab of disquiet that was nudging her as she wondered if they’d ever do anything like that again.

  Walking through the village towards the gallery and her flat, Beth yawned; she was going to have to have an afternoon nap whether she wanted one or not.

  Waving to a family walking on the opposite side of the road that she recognised from school, Beth felt her fears calm. It doesn’t matter if we don’t have a wild sex life any more; we’re going to have something better: a family.

  An image of Jacob pushing a pram across the beach, while she held the hand of a toddler wearing a little swimming costume, warmed her from the inside. Suddenly Beth felt very lucky. If she hadn’t happened to have discovered Jacob’s ceramic website when she was first looking for artists to display at and Sole, then they’d never have met. With this thought keeping her smile firmly plastered to her face, Beth stepped inside the gallery to say hello to Abi before she went upstairs to her flat for a rest.

  Expecting to see the gallery’s manager either happily chatting to a visitor, or busy working away on her latest book, Beth was surprised to find her friend sat alone on the sofa, her knees tucked under her chin.

  ‘Abi?’ Walking around to the front of the sofa, Beth was confronted with an Abi who appeared completely defeated, as if she was trapped in dark thoughts. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Snapped out of her introspection by Beth’s arrival, Abi unhooked her legs. ‘Actually, nothing. It’s nothing.’

  Beth examined her friend more intently. ‘You were just admiring the watercolours then?’

  ‘Yes. That’s exactly what I was doing. Serena has a skill all of her own, don’t you think?’

  ‘She has.’ Beth sat down, ‘Abi, hun, I’m not convinced you were looking at anything at all.’

  ‘Perhaps I did drift into space for a while. The paintings have that effect, don’t you find?’ Abi’s voice was uncharacteristically harsh.

  ‘You sounded like Cass then.’

  ‘I suspect her city ways have awoken my own.’

  Now Beth was worried. This didn’t sound like Abi at all. She’d been in the room five minutes now, and not once had Abi asked how she was – not that she should have to, of course, but it was just what Abi did. ‘The self-confident part or the hard-nosed businesswoman part?’

  Abi continued to stare straight ahead for a while, and then stood up. ‘A bit of both, perhaps. Long overdue maybe. I feel as though I’ve been a doormat for far too many years. And do you know what,’ Abi turned to Beth now, her expression full of sadness, ‘I’ve had enough.

  ‘I know it took a lot of courage for Max to have another relationship after his divorce, and that it was a big step for him to move in. But it wasn’t exactly easy for me either after Luke. And now…’ Abi’s steady voice caught in her throat, but she quickly gathered herself ‘. . . now Max tells me he sees himself as some sort of lodger at Abi’s House. A lodger! Insulted isn’t even close to how I feel. I should never have let anyone close to me again, not after it took me such an age to get my self-confidence back, feeble though it is.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Beth was openly shocked now. ‘Max hasn’t said he feels like a lodger, has he?’

  ‘He has.’ Abi felt her fight already dissolving in the face of her friend’s shock. Sinking back down onto the sofa again, her tone softened. ‘I hate feeling like this, Beth. I don’t know who I am any more. I thought if I acted stronger; if I put my survival suit of armour back on, then maybe I wouldn’t feel anything.’

  ‘Like you used to when you lived with Luke?’

  ‘Yeah. I used to hide inside myself, safe in an invisible protection of my own making. It kept me sane, kept me going. But now…’

  ‘Now it doesn’t work because you love Max and anything that goes wrong hurts, whereas with Luke it worked. It was different because you stopped loving Luke long before he died. Right?’

  ‘Pretty much.’

  Still confused, Beth said, ‘Have you two ever argued before? Assuming you have actually had a proper row this time?’

  ‘No. No, I don’t suppose we have.’ Abi was taken aback by the thought. ‘And this was, well, I suppose it was an argument, but not a shouting row or anything. It was more a circular conversation with several dead ends, which ended in Max heading back to his flat.’

  ‘What?’ Beth was stunned. ‘Max has moved out. He’s gone?’

  Her indignation totally gone now, Abi felt the wave of hopelessness she had been absolutely determined not to allow enfold its way around her. ‘I think so.’

  All thoughts of how tired she was disappeared. ‘Bloody idiot!’

  ‘But I thought, if I could use some of Cass’s survival techniques, I might…’ Abi’s voice wavered.

  ‘No, hun, you’re not the idiot, Max is! Just when I thought he knew what a good thing he had. I’d lay money on him having a delayed attack of cold feet.’

  Hope sparked inside Abi. ‘You think so?’

  ‘Sounds like it, although I think you’d better tell me exactly what happened in case I’m leaping to conclusions here.’

  Abi asked Beth, almost mumbling, ‘You don’t think he’s left me then?’

  ‘Not for a minute. Come on, what happened?’

  With a sigh, Abi explained how she and Max had gone from happily chatting to talking about what to do with his flat and furniture, to Max announcing that didn’t feel he could make Abi’s House their home after she’d fought so hard for it to be hers. Eventually, having got into a stalemate, Max had groaned, ran a hand through his hair, and without another word, left the gallery, got into his van and driven off.

  Keeping to herself her thought that it sounded like a misunderstanding between two people who weren’t cut out for arguing, Beth asked, ‘Is Max working at Cass’s today?’

  ‘He should be, but the van wasn’t there when I came in this morning.’

  ‘What happened when you tried to phone him?’

  ‘I didn’t. I don’t know what to say.’ Abi raked a hand through her own blonde locks, echoing Max’s gesture from the day before. ‘I don’t want to be the one who does all the running. Max would hate that anyway. He’s so old-fashioned.’

  ‘I’m not so sure that’s true any more, but you could be right.’ Not convinced, Beth said, ‘Do you want to go home, Abi? I can keep an eye here, or we can close early.’

  ‘I’m OK. I’ll stay here thanks.’ Abi smiled at Beth, as if seeing her friend properly for the first time since she walked into the gallery. ‘You should go upstairs and put your feet up. We can’t have you too tired for the wedding next week.’

  ‘Are you sure? You don’t want to go and talk to Ma
x or anything?’

  ‘No. If he isn’t happy at Abi’s House I’ll sell it so we can get a place we both like. But I don’t really want to. Is that selfish of me?’

  Beth was horrified. ‘Not at all. It’s not like it’s any old house. It’s your childhood dream home! And Stan would be so upset. Can you imagine his face?’

  ‘I know. Telling Stan would be worse than moving out. He was so thrilled when he thought Max and I would start a family in his old home one day. He’d be crushed if we left before even the possibility of the patter of tiny feet. But if Max won’t live there with me…That’s what I was trying to work out when you came in. How to tell Stan I’m going to be selling the house he moved out of so I could live there. He’d hate me.’

  ‘You love Max that much? You’d leave your dream home for him?’

  ‘I do. I don’t want to lose him.’ Abi groaned as she strolled over to look at the mess she’d made of the picture on her desk, ‘And if Max had stayed last night, I’d have told him so.’

  Chapter Thirty-one

  ‘Any wedding nerves yet, Dora?’ Cass sat at the now familiar kitchen table in Dora and Stan’s flat. She was trying not to feel disappointed that she hadn’t bumped into Dan on the way in, despite the fact she’d lingered in the car park and walked up the stairs and past his office door deliberately slowly.

  ‘Nope. I doubt very much if I’ll get any.’

  ‘None at all?’

  ‘Not one.’ Dora chuckled. ‘Only be nervous about things worth being nervous about, Cass. Life is short, as Stan and I know only too well.’

  Cass’s eyes fell on the papers on the table before her. ‘Thanks for doing this for me, Dora. I don’t know why you’re helping me like this, but I am more grateful than you’ll ever know.’

  Dora patted Cass’s hand affectionately. ‘I should thank you actually.’

  ‘Really?’ Cass was openly surprised. ‘But I’ve given you all this stuff to do when you should be getting ready to get married.’

  ‘I am sorry that you’ve had all this happen to you, and I wish you hadn’t, but it has been wonderful to feel useful again.’