by Jill Mansell
“Oh yes. Thirty-three years, two daughters, four grandkids. The wife’s not here today.” As he led the way into the bungalow Jeff said over his shoulder, “Thought it best to keep her out of the way while you’re around. Wouldn’t want you running off with her.”
Freddie saw that he was joking and relaxed. “Those days are long gone.”
“How about you then?” In the tidy, newly decorated green and white kitchen, Jeff set about making a proper, old-fashioned pot of tea. “Did you end up getting married too?”
“Yes.” Freddie nodded, then said drily, “But not to Giselle.”
“So you got your nose broken for nothing.”
“We just weren’t right for each other. Well, we were only kids. Twenty years old—everyone makes mistakes. Thanks.” Freddie took the cup of tea Jeff was offering him and reached for the sugar bowl.
“They do that right enough.” Nodding in agreement, Jeff lit a cigarette. “And now we’ve got our kids making mistakes of their own. Still, nothing we can do to stop them, is there? That’s what life’s all about.”
“We didn’t have children. It never happened.” Freddie found himself envying Jeff his family, wishing he could meet them. “But I married the most wonderful girl. We were so very happy.” A lump materialized in his throat and he willed himself to get a grip. “I was a lucky man. Almost forty years of marriage before she died. Couldn’t have asked for a better wife.”
“So we ended up with the right ones in the end,” said Jeff. “I’m sorry your wife died. How long ago?”
“Four years.”
“You’ve still got your own hair and teeth. Might meet someone else.”
“That won’t happen.” Freddie had no intention of telling Jeff about his illness; the last thing he was here for was sympathy. But talking about Mary had affected him more than he’d expected. Damn, he was getting soft in his old age.
Evidently having noticed that he was struggling to control his emotions, Jeff said, “How about a drop of brandy in that tea?”
Freddie nodded. “Sorry. Sometimes it catches you off guard. Ridiculous.” Breathing out slowly, he watched as Jeff fetched a bottle of cognac from one of the kitchen cupboards and sloshed a generous measure into his cup. “Aren’t you having one?”
Jeff returned the bottle to the cupboard and sat back down.
“Not for me. I gave up the drink.”
“Good grief.” Freddie was instantly diverted; this was something he could never imagine doing. “Really? When?”
“Two years after I last saw you. Mind you, I drank twenty years’ worth in that time.” Jeff spoke with characteristic bluntness. “Of course that was to get over the fact that Giselle had left me for you, and that she’d told me I drank too much. Ha, I thought, you reckon this is too much? I can drink plenty more than that.”
“In the army?”
“Bloody hell, especially in the army. Then I got myself another girlfriend, and she ended up leaving me too. Said I was a drunken waste of space. Funnily enough, so did the next one and the one after that.” Pausing to drink his tea and take another drag on his cigarette, Jeff said, “In the end, I suppose it just hit me one morning that they might be right. Then again, it may have helped that I’d woken up in a hedge in someone’s garden with their dog peeing on my best coat.”
“So you stopped? Just like that?”
“There and then. Just like that. So, ironically, I don’t even know what my last alcoholic drink was or where I drank it. But I realized I probably wouldn’t see forty if I carried on the way I’d been going. So I stuck at it and managed to get myself sorted out. I’m not saying it was easy, but I did it in the end. And life’s been good to me. I’m still here, and I’m happy. Can’t ask for more than that, can you?”
“And there was me, wondering if I’d ruined it.” For Freddie, the relief was tremendous.
“You weren’t my favorite person for a while. To put it mildly. But that’s all in the past now,” said Jeff.
“Good. You don’t know how glad I am to hear it.” Closure, Freddie realized. This was what he’d so badly needed. Feeling better than he had in weeks, he smiled across the table at the friend he hadn’t seen for so many years. “Now, I hope you’ll let me take you out to lunch.”
* * *
“It’s been a great day.” Tired but happy, Freddie hadn’t been able to resist calling into Piper’s Cottage on his way home that evening. Lottie, who had just finished putting Nat and Ruby to bed, gave him a hug and opened the bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Eyeing it with astonishment he said, “I say, look at this. Been shoplifting again, darling?”
Honestly, just because she’d once happened to walk out of Topshop with a purple and black zebra-print bra and panty set hooked to the back of her sweater. They hadn’t even been her size, but it hadn’t stopped Mario branding her the naughty panty stealer and gleefully warning everyone in Hestacombe to keep an eye on their credit cards.
“Shop-flirting, actually. I met this rather gorgeous chap in the supermarket. Then he came up to me in the parking lot afterward and I thought he was going to ask me out.” A frustrated Lottie said, “But he didn’t! He gave me this bottle instead and just—zoooom—drove off.”
“His loss, darling. Our gain. Anyway, let me tell you about Jeff.”
Far too enthralled by his own successful day to be remotely interested in her anonymous champagne-wielding admirer, Freddie launched into how he and Jeff had gone to lunch together, talked nonstop about everything under the sun, and caught up with each other’s lives. Lottie learned about Jeff’s alcoholism, about his beloved grandchildren, and—more than she needed to know, frankly—about his motorcycle repair business. All in all, the reunion had been a stupendous success, and the difference in Freddie was heartwarming.
When the champagne was finished, Lottie said, “So who are we going to look for next?”
Freddie’s eyes twinkled. “Do you even have to ask?”
“Giselle?”
He nodded. “Giselle.”
Consumed with curiosity—OK, downright nosiness—there was something else Lottie was desperate to know. “You were in love with her. But you broke up. Why?”
“Ah well. Something happened,” said Freddie.
Well, obviously it had.
“What happened?”
Freddie rose to his feet, collected his car keys, and bent to kiss Lottie’s cheek. “I’m afraid I was a bad boy. Again.”
“If you don’t tell me,” said Lottie, “I won’t find her for you.”
He smiled. “I broke Giselle’s heart. She thought I was about to propose, and I finished with her instead.”
“Why?”
Freddie turned in the doorway. “Because I’d fallen head over heels in love with someone else.”
Chapter 19
It was September first and Amber was off to St. Tropez with her friend Mandy. Mario, who had driven over to Tetbury straight from work, sat on the bed in her tiny apartment above the hairdressing salon and watched her pack.
“OK.” Ticking items off on her fingers, Amber said, “Bikinis. Sarongs. Silver flip-flops. Pink sandals. Hair stuff, suntan stuff, insect stuff, white trousers, books, hat.”
“Don’t forget the condoms,” said Mario.
“Already packed.”
“They’d better not be.” He reached for Amber’s wrist and pulled her onto his lap. “You girls behave yourselves, you hear? No falling for oily French millionaires with bloody big yachts.”
Amber wound her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Nor you.”
“It’s been a while since any bloody big yachts sailed into Hestacombe.”
“You know what I mean. The first time I met you, I knew what you were like.”
“I’ve changed.” Mario gave her a look of injured innocence. “I haven’t been unfaithful to you.”
“Ah, but I want you to carry on not being unfaithful to me. Even when I’m not here. Because if you ever were”—Amber met his gaze and held it—“that would be it for me. All over. I wouldn’t want to be with you anymore.”
“I’m not going to do anything,” Mario protested.
“Good.” Dropping a kiss on the tip of his nose, Amber clambered off him. “Lecture over. Now, do you think I’ve packed enough tops?”
Mario watched her count them, then add a couple more to the case. He trusted Amber implicitly, but he still wished she wasn’t going off to France without him. He would miss her. So would Nat and Ruby. Maybe when Amber was back, they should talk about her moving in with him.
He checked his watch. “It’s seven fifteen. What time are you leaving?”
“Nine. I said I’d pick up Mandy at quarter past.” Amber had declined his offer of a lift to Bristol Airport, explaining that it was easier to leave her own car in the long-term parking lot, then it would be there for them on their return. “Why, are you hungry? I could pop out and pick us up some takeout.”
Mario slid off the bed and drew her toward him, kissing her again. “You stay here and finish your girlie packing. I’ll go pick up the takeout. Then when we’ve eaten there’s just one more thing we have to do.”
“Oh yes?” Amber’s silver-and-turquoise earrings swung as she said playfully, “And what would that be? The vacuuming or the washing up?”
She was smart and sparky and he was going to miss her more than she knew. Sliding his hands over the strip of bare midriff between her skirt and orange cropped tank, Mario murmured, “We’re going to say good-bye to each other properly. In bed.”
* * *
It was Thursday morning and Lottie was in the office dealing with a mountain of mail when Tyler, back from New York, came through the door.
God, it was fantastic to see him again. In a white polo shirt and Levi’s he was looking tanned, handsome, and not remotely jet-lagged. There was no doubt about it: a boss who was this easy on the eyes was a definite bonus. Although maybe she wouldn’t mention this to Freddie. Lovely though he was, Freddie had never made her mouth go dry and her heart go twang.
“Hi there.” Tyler nodded at the pile of mail. “You look busy.”
“You’re my new employer,” said Lottie. “It’s my job to make you think I’m busy.”
He grinned. “You know what? I’ve missed you.”
Heavens, how was she supposed to respond to that? If he thought she was going to tell him she’d missed him too, he could think again.
“And now you’re back,” Lottie said brightly, wondering what was in the glossy dark blue shopping bag at his feet.
“Oh, right.” Following her gaze, Tyler reached down and began to delve into it. “Nearly forgot. Freddie warned me that you don’t speak to anyone these days until they’ve given you a bottle of champagne.”
Honestly, men. Hadn’t she already been humiliated enough? Did Freddie genuinely not realize that expecting to be asked out by a gorgeous stranger then not being asked out by him was something she’d prefer not to become common knowledge?
Then again, if Tyler was feeling the need to compete, it could only be a good sign. “Really,” Lottie began, “you didn’t have to—”
“Sadly he only told me this five minutes ago,” Tyler continued. “So I’m afraid I’ve had to improvise somewhat.” Straightening, he held up a can of Dr Pepper. “Bit warm, I’m afraid. Will this do instead?”
“Thank you.” Graciously Lottie accepted the can and put it on the desk. “Vintage, I presume.”
“Absolutely. It’s been in the glove compartment of my car for the last six days. Should have matured nicely by now.”
“Perfect. I’ll save it for a special occasion.”
“I also called into FAO Schwarz while I was over there. Picked up something for Nat, to make up for what happened last week.” Tyler pulled two lavishly gift-wrapped rectangular parcels from the bag. “Then I thought I couldn’t bring something for Nat and have Ruby feeling left out, so I got her something too.”
Deeply touched, Lottie said, “Oh, you didn’t have to do that. They’ll be thrilled.”
“Call it bribery.” He looked amused. “If this is what it takes to get back into their good books, that’s fine by me.”
Lottie didn’t know about back into their good books; he’d never been within a hundred miles of them in the first place. But maybe this would be the turning point they all needed.
“Well, it’s really nice of you to do it anyway.” Reaching out a hand for the bag, she said, “Shall I give them to them tonight?”
“Actually, I wondered if you were free this evening. Maybe we could go out for that dinner we missed last week. Then when I call around to pick you up, I could give Nat and Ruby their presents myself.”
Lottie thought for a nanosecond then nodded. “That’d be great.” In fact, it was doubly great, because if Mario was looking after the kids, he couldn’t be out getting up to mischief elsewhere, which could only be a good thing.
“We’ll do that then.” Tyler looked pleased. “Say, seven thirty?”
Experiencing a warm glow in her stomach, Lottie realized she was glad meeting Seb had turned out to be such a nonevent. When a man liked you, he asked you out to dinner and fixed a time and date. And it seemed that Tyler Klein really did like her, because he was wasting no time at all.
Which was excellent news, seeing as she really liked him too.
* * *
“Mum, I hate that man. Don’t go out with him,” begged Nat when he discovered who Lottie was seeing that evening.
“Sweetheart, I told you, he’s really very nice.” Lottie was juggling mascara, lipstick, powder, and scent in one hand as she concentrated on doing her face in the bathroom mirror.
“He isn’t nice; he’s cruel.”
“OK.” Lottie sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but Tyler’s bought you a present. Does that make you like him a bit more?”
Mercenary? Her son?
Nat’s whole face lit up. “What kind of present?”
“I don’t know; he’s bringing it over tonight. But if you hate him, maybe you shouldn’t—”
“So Nat’s getting a present from that man?” Ruby had been sitting on the edge of the bath experimenting with Lottie’s violet eye shadow without the benefit of a mirror. Outraged by the unfairness of this revelation she said indignantly, “But we’re the ones who’ve had to put up with Nat crying all the time like a baby.”
“And Tyler knows that.” Lottie deftly reclaimed her eye shadow while there was still some left in the pot. “Which is why he’s bought something for you too.”
Mercenary? Her daughter?
“Has he?” Overjoyed, Ruby almost toppled backward into the bath. “What’s he gotten me?”
“No idea. He just told me he’d been to this place in New York called Schwarz and—”
“Schwarz? FAO Schwarz?” Ruby leaped up, her eyes wide with delight.
She turned to look at Nat, who gasped, “FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue?”
Bemused, Lottie said, “How do you know that?”
“Mum! It’s like the best toy shop in the whole world ever,” Nat gabbled. “We saw a program about it on CBBC. It’s amazing.”
“Better than Disneyland,” Ruby chimed in, “and you can buy anything you want. It’s bigger than Buckingham Palace, and they sell everything…”
Stars were practically coming out of their eyes. Aware that they were envisaging Tyler pulling up outside the cottage in some kind of ribbon-strewn articulated truck loaded to the roof with extravagant gifts, Lottie said hastily, “Listen, you’re getting one present each. Although like I said before, if you think Tyler’s so horrible, I wonder if you deserve them.”
“If he’s brought them for us all the
way from New York, I think we should let him give them to us,” said Ruby. “Otherwise his feelings might be hurt.”
“And if he bought them at FAO Schwarz,” Nat added seriously, “they’ll be really brilliant presents that cost loads of money.”
Mercenary? Her children?
“So I’m allowed to go out to dinner with him?” said Lottie.
“I think you should.” Ruby nodded and Nat joined in.
“Well, hooray for that. And remember,” Lottie warned them, “manners. Whatever he’s bought you, make sure that you look really pleased and—”
Rolling their eyes, Nat and Ruby chorused, “Say thank you.”
Chapter 20
The mercenaries were hanging out of Nat’s bedroom window when Tyler pulled up outside the cottage. At the front door he murmured to Lottie, “I think we’ve turned the corner. Nat and Ruby just waved to me. Didn’t boo or throw stones or anything.”
Lottie’s stomach muscles were taut with longing; she so wanted her children to overcome their antipathy toward Tyler. They had gotten off to an unfortunate start, but with luck that was behind them now. That the three of them could get to know and like each other mattered a lot.
With luck the presents would do the trick.
“Hey, you two.” Tyler greeted them easily as Nat and Ruby, looking suitably angelic, appeared at the top of the staircase. “How are you doing?”
“OK.” Nat was wide-eyed, making a huge effort not to gaze at the gift-wrapped presents Tyler was holding.
“Very well, thank you.” Ruby was being ultra polite. “Did you have a nice time in America?”
Evidently relieved by the transformation, Tyler said, “I had a great time, but it’s even better to be back. And guess what? I brought you a little something.”
Lottie hid a smile as Nat and Ruby pretended to spot the shiny, extravagantly wrapped parcels for the first time.
“This one’s for you.” Tyler held the parcel in his right hand toward Ruby. “And this one’s for you.” He extended the other toward Nat.
