by Eve Devon
‘Oh, that reminds me! Watch the pan for a moment, will you,’ Juliet ordered Emma. ‘I’ve got something for you both.’
Emma could hear the kernels already popping inside the hot pan. ‘What do I do when it’s ready?’ she called out.
‘Dump the whole lot into the bowl with the sugar and stir until it’s all coated,’ Juliet said emerging from another part of the barn, laden with packages wrapped in bubble wrap. ‘I made you both something for The Clock House.’
With an excited squeal, Kate put down the cocktail shaker and moved over to the dining table, to tear open the bubble wrap. ‘Are they … oh, Jules, they are and they’re so gorgeous,’ Kate said as Emma quickly transferred the popcorn into the bowl and stirred. ‘Emma, look, they’re signs for the treatment rooms.’
Emma looked at the cute signs dangling from Kate’s fingers. Juliet had used large embroidery hoops and in the centre of each one stitched in beautifully flowing script: ‘Quiet Please, Treatment in Progress’ in Clock House coordinating tapestry threads. The round frame was covered in mini pinecones and mini baubles in antique gold, rose copper, glittery white and a frosted shade of light green.
‘Good job you both agreed my colour scheme for Christmas, huh?’ Juliet said cheekily. ‘These are to hang during the festive period. Afterwards, I’ll make some generic ones. Emma, I made you a sign too. It’s only a bit of fun, really …’
Emma walked over to the wooden frame covered in the same Christmas baubles, but inside, Juliet had stitched “How To Tell The Time At Cocktails & Chai” and designed a picture of a tea-cup next to the words a.m. and a wine glass next to the words p.m.
‘It’s like a Cocktails & Chai clock. Seriously, and again,’ Emma put the sign down and bent over waving her arms, ‘bowing down to you because it’s gorgeous and I don’t know where you find time to do all this.’
When she poked her head back up she caught Kate looking at Juliet with a worried frown on her face and Juliet must have sensed a question she didn’t want to answer coming because she walked over to grab the bowl of popcorn off the table, saying, ‘Speaking of time, one of you pour out the martinis, and we’ll get started.’
Kate poured the drinks and Emma swiped the basket full of nail varnishes they were going to test and then followed the two of them over to the huge squishy-cosy grey sofa in front of the TV.
‘So maybe this is where I should tell you I haven’t seen the first season of Poldark. Or even the second,’ Emma whispered as she sat down.
‘I’m not sure it matters,’ Kate said. ‘For the purposes of plot, all you need to know is tin mining is a thing.’
‘Don’t worry. It’s not the only thing,’ Juliet assured, when Emma looked like she wasn’t sure she could find anything interesting about tin mining.
‘She’s right,’ Kate said. ‘Mostly the other thing is all about simmering passion.’
‘On account of Ross Poldark,’ Juliet explained.
‘Okay,’ Emma accepted, grabbing a handful of popcorn. ‘Ross. Tin mining. Simmering passion. Got it.’
‘Obviously we only watch it for the intricate plot,’ Kate explained, with a grin, as she too dived into the bowl of popcorn.
‘Obviously,’ agreed Emma.
‘And the scything,’ Juliet commented, taking a sip of her drink.
‘Erm … scything?’ Okay, Emma was nonplussed again.
‘Let’s forget season three,’ Kate said, ‘and put it on from the beginning.’
‘Or just from the scything,’ Juliet decided, searching for it on iPlayer.
‘We are so nice,’ Kate confided, popping up to look over at Emma.
‘So nice,’ Emma nodded in agreement, even though she was really none the wiser about this Poldark thing. To cover her confusion she opted to take a sip of her very large cocktail and as the wonderful taste hit her lips, had an idea. ‘Hey, how about if we make honey martinis a special at the grand opening?’
‘Ooh, good idea,’ Kate said. ‘I love the thought of Cocktails & Chai having a signature drink. As long as we have other options too. Daniel and Oscar are complete wimps when it comes to these.’
‘So where is Oscar tonight?’ Emma asked. ‘At Daniel’s?’
Juliet shook her head. ‘He’s at Jake’s. With Daniel. Playing poker. It’s all very Den of Iniquity.’
Kate snorted. ‘Oh, to the joy of Drunk Daniel at about 3am tonight. The front door to the cottage will open. Silently in Daniel’s head. In reality there’ll be enough clanging to wake the dead. Then there’ll be the inevitable repeat while he closes the door and thuds up the stairs until he’s standing in front of my bed. That’s when the serenading will start. For some reason when he’s drunk he likes to channel Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky, so everything comes out very “Adrienne” as he sings, Are you awake, Kate? You’re so beautiful, Kate. Kiss me Kate …’
‘You love it,’ Juliet accused with a huge grin on her face.
Kate screwed up her face. ‘Not when it ends with falling out of his jeans face down on the bed, I don’t. Maybe I’ll stay here tonight, with you.’
‘So you can laugh when Drunk Oscar gets in? I don’t think so,’ Juliet said. ‘That’s why I said Melody could stay over at Persephone’s. So she doesn’t have to wake up to witness the carnage from, “I think I’ll make a nice toasted sandwich using every kitchen utensil we own before I go to bed”.’
‘I wonder what Drunk Jake is like,’ Kate asked.
Emma concentrated on a mouthful of popcorn and when she couldn’t stand it any longer, asked, ‘Have none of you seen Jake drunk, then?’
‘Don’t think so,’ Kate answered.
‘I have,’ Juliet confirmed. ‘The night that—’
‘Well that was completely understandable, wasn’t it?’ Kate said hurriedly cutting her off.
‘Actually I saw him the other night,’ Emma said, not wanting to feel left out, and strangely unable to tear her eyes from Ross Poldark working the fields on the TV screen in front of her.
‘Drunk?’ Kate asked shocked.
Emma shook her head. ‘Stone cold sober.’
Kate leaned across Juliet to stare at Emma, curiosity filling her huge eyes. ‘What did you talk about?’
Emma waved her hand about nonchalantly. ‘The only thing two unattached adults talk about these days, of course.’
‘Brexit,’ Juliet surmised with a sage nod of her head.
‘Nakedness,’ Emma corrected.
Juliet immediately pressed the mute button on the TV and Kate put her glass down and turned to face Emma. ‘Girly night has officially started. Spill.’
‘Brexit would have been more interesting,’ Emma tried to insist.
Kate put her hand to her mouth and coughed out the word, ‘Rubbish’.
‘Really,’ Emma said. ‘I just commented on the fact that he’d shaved off his beard and that he must be – you know – feeling the cold without it.’
‘And he said…?’ Juliet asked, making a ‘continue immediately’ motion with her hand.
‘Something about how he hoped changing his look would help someone change their mind about him and then how it hadn’t so he might grow it back again,’ Emma said.
‘What the…? And men go on about how cryptic women are,’ Kate said.
‘Anyway,’ Emma insisted, ‘it was all very scything.’
‘Scything?’ Juliet asked.
‘Crap.’ Emma fanned her hot face. ‘I actually might have meant boring.’
Chapter 15
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Emma
Both Kate’s and Juliet’s heads turned towards the TV. ‘Oh my God,’ Juliet whispered, her eyes round when she turned back to Emma, ‘You’re totally thinking about how much Jake Knightley looks like Ross Poldark.’
Emma feigned indifference, while her eyes remained glued to the field in which much scything was now occurring. ‘There’s really no more than a passing resemblance.’
‘You’ve been thinking abou
t what Jake Knightley looks like without his clothes on,’ Kate accused.
‘Again,’ Juliet exclaimed.
‘Again?’ Emma asked, reaching for the safety of alcohol.
‘Yes again,’ Juliet nodded. ‘Earlier. Beard – absence of. You – talking nakedness with him.’
‘I—’
‘It’s probably because he works with his hands, isn’t it,’ Juliet commented matter-of-factly. ‘That’s one of the things I love about Oscar. It’s very primitive.’
‘Daniel, too,’ Kate sighed happily.
‘Daniel doesn’t work with his hands,’ Emma commented confused.
‘Right. He works with his head. It’s very … cerebral. Adds a whole other element.’
‘I can’t believe the three of us, talented and intelligent women, are reduced to fantasising about what men we know would or would not look like scything,’ Emma said, taking another huge gulp of honey martini.
‘While using their brains,’ Kate snuck in.
‘Brains and brawn,’ Juliet sighed, reaching for her drink.
‘Exactly,’ Kate smiled chinking her glass against the side of Juliet’s. ‘Evolution complete.’
‘Surely it’ll only be complete when they remember to put the toilet seat down,’ Emma sighed.
Rising from the sofa, Kate downed the rest of her drink and made ‘drink-up’ gestures to Emma and Juliet. ‘Another round.’
‘Last one or I’ll start colouring outside the lines,’ Emma said, gesturing to the basket of nail varnishes.
‘We’ll sober you up with Christmas Pudding flavoured ice-cream, which isn’t as disgusting as it sounds, because Juliet made it.’
Emma held out her glass and Kate collected Juliet’s too. ‘So you’ve been thinking about Jake Knightley?’ she asked, turning around to waggle her eyebrows, before walking over to the breakfast bar.
‘Maybe we shouldn’t encourage her,’ Juliet spoke up, with a small frown.
‘None needed – what I mean is,’ Emma said, ‘I am absolutely, unequivocally, not in the market for anything complicated.’ And Jake Knightley with his impossibly brooding looks had complicated written all over him.
‘But it doesn’t have to be complicated,’ Kate said from the kitchen area. ‘It could just be recreational.’
‘I don’t have time for that either,’ Emma insisted, pushing down the rush of adrenaline.
‘Shame,’ Juliet murmured. ‘You can’t deny all the sparks between you two.’
‘Sparks?’ Emma said, with a quick sip of the fresh drink Kate handed her.
‘Impossible to deny,’ Kate replied with a grin.
Emma found her resolve wavering, because if it wasn’t just her imagination about the sparks, then … No. What was she thinking? She was supposed to be the match-maker, not them. Of course it would be easier if they weren’t already with their perfect partners. ‘Just because you two are all loved up,’ she muttered, taking another sip of her drink.
‘Exactly,’ Kate laughed. ‘That’s how we’re able to recognise someone falling…’
‘I am not falling,’ Emma insisted. ‘I couldn’t be more stationary. Besides,’ she added pushing her shoulders back into the sofa. ‘I’m not sure Jake is really the recreational sex kind of guy.’
Kate wrinkled her nose in thought. ‘Yeah. You’re right. He wears “noble” like his winter Barbour. Plus, he has that intense thing going for him.’
Emma tried not to think about how Hollywood was really the easiest place for a casual hookup but that in reality she’d only taken advantage occasionally. Something about Jake acting nobly was way more seductive, knocking ‘casual’ into a cocked hat.
‘And also, ever since—’ Kate stopped abruptly and gave a sad smile.
Emma’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Ever since … what?’
‘Maybe we should tell her,’ Juliet said, looking pointedly at Kate.
‘Yes,’ Emma insisted. ‘Maybe you should.’
Kate gave a large sigh and then announced dramatically, ‘It’s all the Grinch Who Stole Christmas’s fault!’
Emma blinked.
‘To be fair her name is actually Alice,’ Juliet explained.
‘Well, who the eff is Alice?’ Emma demanded.
Kate snorted into her drink. ‘Good one, but now I’m going to be singing that for ages. Alice Grinchfield is Jake’s “ever since”, isn’t she, Juliet?’
Juliet nodded. ‘Last Christmas he gave his heart to her.’
‘And in an awful turn of events, guess what happened the following day…’ Kate continued.
‘She only went and gave it away,’ Juliet confided.
‘So, this year, of course,’ Kate explained, ‘to save him from, you know what…’
‘He’s giving it to someone else?’ Emma half-sang, half asked.
But Kate was shaking her head sadly and saying, ‘He’s … going away.’
‘This is the reason he’s not going to be around for the grand opening?’ Emma asked.
‘Yep,’ Kate confirmed. ‘And why he’s all about stuff Christmas and the sleigh it rode in on.’
‘Wow,’ Emma’s mind jumped from one dramatic thought to the next, but while doing that her silly big heart was thinking of him getting dumped. This Alice must have really hurt him for him to need to get away from the memories.
‘She definitely ruined Christmas for him,’ Juliet said, turning off the TV. ‘But then, breaking their engagement right in front of his whole family, and most of Whispers Wood, would tend to do that, I would think.’
‘In front of everyone? But that’s just cruel,’ Emma said, her mind whirring. ‘She must have had a good reason, though, right? Why did she break it off?’
‘That’s just it,’ Juliet added. ‘No one knows why and Jake’s remained completely schtum about it.’
‘Did she,’ Emma licked her lips, ‘did she break his heart, then?’
‘I think she must have,’ Juliet said, ‘because she’d already postponed the wedding once before due to work commitments. I mean, I feel bad saying it but she wasn’t the easiest person to get to know. They weren’t around much. They lived in London for most of their relationship.’
Emma felt appalled on his behalf.
Getting engaged was a serious thing. Hardly anyone in Hollywood ever transitioned from Tinder to actual relationship followed by engagement.
‘Oh no,’ Emma looked down into her now empty glass, ‘Please don’t tell me the fourteenth of December was going to be his wedding day?’
‘Okay,’ Kate agreed gently.
‘We’re opening The Clock House on what would have been his wedding day? I feel a little sick,’ she confessed. And sober.
No wonder he didn’t want to be around Whispers Wood this Christmas.
Not only the memories, but being on your own at Christmas only ever highlighted the fact that everyone else wasn’t.
How was she going to be able to look at him and not let him know that she knew? Because she kind of thought that it would hurt him to know that she knew. Like, not just his pride but deeper. Now she thought she understood why he was so cautious with her. So suspicious. He’d been waiting for the gossip to reach her. Waiting for her to look at him differently.
Here she’d been thinking he’d been looking at her for entirely different reasons.
Embarrassment washed over her.
She should definitely leave thoughts of her and Jake well alone.
She had a job to do here.
And anyway he was going to take himself off to distant shores soon.
Not that she could blame him when she’d run away from her own embarrassing failure. No matter how raw, how stripped down, and how broken she’d felt not getting that part, it was hardly the same as a broken heart.
Into the silence, Juliet’s phone went off.
‘It’s probably Oscar telling me he’s won loads of money and asking me what we should do with it, to gloat in front of Jake and Daniel.’
Kate laug
hed as Juliet got up to answer it. ‘Den of Iniquity might have been overstating a bit,’ she said to Emma, ‘They don’t even play for real money. Mostly they do like a co-op system.’
‘It’s okay,’ Juliet said, padding back over to the couch. ‘It was Melody asking if I can charge her back-up Kindle.’
‘Melody likes to read,’ Kate explained and Emma grinned thinking she was a girl after her own heart.
‘So what’s the betting by the end of the evening Jake will have won back his stake and tomorrow a hung-over Daniel and Oscar will be helping him mend the roof?’ Juliet mused as she pulled the basket of nail varnish towards her and pulled out two bottles. One in a pretty pale pink called ‘The Nice List’ and the other, a dark red, which she passed to Kate, called ‘The Naughty List’.
Emma grabbed a bottle of dark glittery green called ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ because it looked nice, she told herself. Not because she secretly wanted a certain impossible whistler on her hands. ‘So is Gloria Pavey Persephone’s mother?’ she asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from Jake.
Kate paused with the nail varnish brush in her hands. ‘Now why did you have to go and mention her when we were having such a lovely evening?’
‘She is her mother, yes,’ Juliet said, resting her hand on her knee and swiping pale pink varnish over her nails.
Emma carefully painted her left thumb nail. ‘I’ve seen her around a few times and she came into The Clock House with Crispin the other day.’
‘Dreadful woman,’ Kate muttered.
‘Dreadful, nosy woman,’ Juliet said. ‘She’s why I’ve put up paper behind the glass doors in the salon. We’ve got to leave some surprises for when we open.’
‘I thought she seemed a little sad,’ Emma mentioned.
‘No, no, no,’ Kate whined. ‘Don’t get me all conflicted about her again. What she did to Juliet was awful.’
‘Except, her name-calling last year kind of did get me out of a rut and force me to make some changes,’ Juliet commented.
Kate frowned. ‘Well, that aside, what she did to Daniel in the summer was unforgiveable. We’ve all been trying to be extra nice to her, but it’s like she couldn’t find her way out of being a bitch if someone implanted her with a satnav. Someone should tell her she can’t use the ending of her marriage to be a bitch forever.’
