Pastures New

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Pastures New Page 25

by Julia Williams


  He walked through the door to the smell of curry. Candles were lit, the lights were on low, and the table was set for two. Presumably Caroline had found Dave and was preparing to make it up to him. Ben sighed; that meant either an early night curled up listening to Mark Radcliffe, or going over to Amy’s where he was uncertain of the reception he was going to get.

  ‘I’ll get out of your hair, shall I?’ Ben said, as Caroline came out of the kitchen door. He had to admit she looked ravishing. Her hair was piled up high on her head, and loose curls trickled down her neck. She was wearing a strappy yellow summer dress, and silver high-heeled sandals. She looked gorgeous. She was holding a glass of wine and proffered one.

  ‘Where are you going, silly?’ she said. ‘This is for you, by way of saying thank you. I know how you like your curry.’

  ‘Actually, Caroline,’ said Ben, pushing the glass away, ‘I’ve never liked curry. It was one of the many things that wasn’t right about our relationship, that you liked curry and I didn’t.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Caroline, pouting, ‘I thought it was your favourite.’

  ‘Well, you thought wrong,’ said Ben. ‘Look, it’s not that I’m ungrateful, but all of this – you shouldn’t have –’

  ‘Oh but I should,’ she positively purred at him.

  ‘What about Dave?’

  ‘What about him?’ Caroline looked slightly annoyed.

  ‘Well, considering I spent the best part of my lunchtime today driving you around to look for him, I was rather assuming this was all for his benefit. I don’t quite know what you’re playing at, but I don’t want to be part of it, all right?’

  Just then the doorbell rang. Ben went to answer it.

  Dave was standing on the doorstep, with a bunch of flowers.

  ‘Is Caz in?’

  ‘Yes, come in,’ said Ben with great relief.

  ‘Caroline,’ said Dave, ‘I don’t know what you’re up to with your silly games to try and make me jealous. But let’s get one thing straight here. I love you, despite all that crap, and I want to live with you for the rest of our lives. But if you don’t want me, then I am going back to California tomorrow, with or without you. I am not going to say it again. You have to choose between me and the love rat here. But after tomorrow there won’t be a choice. The flight’s at 12.30 p.m., from Terminal Three. That’s all I have to say.’

  He turned and left the house, leaving Caroline and Ben stunned.

  ‘So, Caroline,’ said Ben, ‘now what are you going to do?’

  ‘Are you all right, Amy?’ Harry looked concerned as he came through her front door, bearing elderberry wine.

  Amy smiled a pale smile. She knew she was looking wiped. After she and Saffron had demolished all the chocolate in her cupboard, and dissected every detail of Ben’s actions, they had realised they were late for the school pickup. Amy had then rushed off to get Josh to his swimming lesson, and not being able to face either cooking or coming home, she had taken him to McDonald’s. Josh seemed to sense her tension and had been so naughty she had opted to takeaway rather than eat in. Trying to keep up a cheerful outlook in front of a five-year-old who was playing up had been hard work, but luckily, she thought grimly to herself, she had had plenty of practice.

  It was only once Josh was settled into bed that she had given full vent to her frustrations. Ben was two-timing her with Caroline, that much seemed perfectly clear. She supposed it was inevitable that his old feelings for Caroline should have resurfaced, given how she still felt about Jamie. What if the tables were reversed and Jamie were to walk through that door now? Could she choose between them?

  Angrily she wiped away a tear. That was never going to happen, so the question was irrelevant. Ben hadn’t lost Caroline in the way she had lost Jamie, he had rejected her. But now it looked like he was welcoming her back. And there was precious little that Amy could do about it …

  ‘I’m not very good company tonight, Harry,’ Amy said, as she followed him into the lounge.

  ‘And why is that?’

  ‘Oh Harry,’ Amy burst out, ‘I’m so miserable,’ and she told him the whole story.

  ‘But you don’t actually know if they were staying in the motel, do you?’ Harry pointed out.

  ‘That’s what Saffron said,’ admitted Amy. ‘But why else would they be there?’

  ‘Who knows,’ said Harry, ‘but if they’d wanted to be at it, they’ve had plenty of opportunity. They’ve been living in the same house for weeks.’

  ‘That is true, I suppose,’ said Amy. ‘I just can’t see why they were there. It looked odd. And he did hug her.’

  ‘Ben’s a chivalrous chap,’ said Harry. ‘Perhaps she was upset?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Amy. ‘It’s just that – oh, I don’t know, I feel such a fool. For so long I thought I couldn’t find anyone to replace Jamie, and then I met Ben, and felt maybe I could. But it doesn’t matter how much I want it to be right, it just feels like it’s all going wrong. I’ve been through so much, I can’t take any more.’

  She looked up at Harry, the tears in her eyes half-formed. ‘Does that make any kind of sense to you?’

  ‘Oh, yes, my dear, oh yes, it does,’ Harry said. ‘I could never have replaced Mavis because Mavis was my everything, and I’m too old to start again. But you, you’re young and you shouldn’t be alone. Ben won’t let you down, I’m sure of that.’ He patted her on the arm. ‘Why don’t you go and see him tomorrow? I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding, and you’ll clear it up in no time.’

  ‘You’re probably right,’ said Amy.

  ‘I usually am,’ Harry replied. ‘Now, are we going to have a drop of this wine or not?’

  Ben breathed a sigh of relief as he came down to find Caroline’s suitcases in the hall. Thank God for that. He had made it as clear as he possibly could that there was no future here with him. ‘But that’s no reason to go running after Dave if you don’t love him,’ he had also warned Caroline.

  ‘Actually,’ Caroline had the grace to look a little shamefaced, ‘I think I do love him. I just wasn’t sure he loved me. Everything’s so fickle when you’re travelling. And then he started to get serious and I got cold feet, so I bolted –’

  ‘And came back here?’ guessed Ben.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t know where else to come,’ said Caroline. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve stuffed up things for you and Amy.’

  ‘Well, I hope it’s salvageable,’ said Ben, ‘just so long as you get on that damned plane.’

  ‘Oh I will, I will,’ said Caroline. ‘It was hearing Dave say all that stuff last night about how he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. No one’s ever said that sort of thing to me before, not even you.’

  ‘Good, keep hold of him,’ said Ben. ‘I’ll run you to the station if you like.’

  ‘No, I think you’ve done enough,’ Caroline replied.

  So now she was finally off. Ben breathed a sigh of relief. He cast a look across the allotments towards Amy’s house. Would she still be waiting? He could only try and find out.

  The doorbell rang. That would be the taxi. He started to take Caroline’s bags outside. The sooner he helped her, the sooner she was gone …

  Amy made her way back from dropping Josh off at school, feeling very nervous. After a sleepless night, she had decided the only thing she could do was to confront Ben with what she had seen. Maybe Harry was right and there was some other explanation. At the very least, she owed it to Ben to find out.

  So, heart pounding away, and feeling sick as a parrot, she made her way to Ben’s house. She knew he’d be in as he didn’t have a surgery on Wednesday mornings.

  As Amy approached his house, she saw two things. A taxi was waiting, engine running, and two people were standing outside talking to one another. Ben and Caroline.

  Her heart leapt. Was Caroline leaving? She hurried down the road determined to find out more. She was about to call out gladly to Ben, who hadn’t seen her, when Caroline threw her arms around Ben and ki
ssed him full on the lips.

  ‘Thanks for everything, Ben,’ she gushed. ‘I love you.’

  She got in the cab and blew kisses at him as she drove away.

  Ben turned to see Amy standing behind him.

  Amy couldn’t believe the barefaced cheek of him.

  ‘It’s all right,’ she managed to say, ‘I’m not going to make a scene. I had given you the benefit of the doubt, but I saw everything, Ben. Dave was right, you are a love rat.’

  ‘You’ve got it all wrong –’ Ben began.

  ‘Don’t try to deny it,’ said Amy bitterly. ‘I’m not an idiot. Finally, I’ve got it right. I was wrong to trust you. And I was wrong to let myself fall in love with you. I should have stayed with my memories of Jamie, they can’t hurt me any more than you have.’

  ‘But Amy –’

  ‘I don’t want to hear it,’ she said. ‘In fact, I never want to see you, ever again.’

  She turned and fled, leaving Ben open-mouthed behind her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ‘Amy, my dear, how would you and Josh fancy a little holiday?’

  Amy sat at the kitchen table, phone in one hand, fiddling awkwardly with her hair as she stared out of the window. Mary sounded horribly cheerful. It was a glorious summer day, but she had never felt less sunny in her life. She hadn’t seen Ben for weeks, and it felt like all the light had gone out of her heart.

  ‘That would be lovely,’ Amy said, with more enthusiasm than she felt. She couldn’t care less about a holiday, not now. But Josh could do with getting away. And he would be happy to see Mary again. Besides, he kept complaining that they hadn’t seen Ben for ages, and she was finding it difficult to come up with any more excuses. Telling him they were going on holiday with Granny would be a welcome distraction.

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Mary. ‘Menorca is meant to be good for young families, how does that sound?’

  Thinking that anywhere would be better than staying in Nevermorewell for the summer, Amy said, ‘Menorca sounds great. I’ll look forward to it.’

  ‘When does Josh break up from school?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Amy, ‘I’ll just check.’

  She stood up and walked to her noticeboard, flicking through bits of paper about swimming, football, Beavers. Crikey! How did one child generate so much paperwork? As she did so, a leaflet dropped to the floor. It was for Framlingham Castle. Ben had given it to her weeks ago; knowing she liked visiting castles, he had promised to take her and Josh for the day. Amy’s heart contracted a little. That would never happen now. Damn Ben for making her feel like this. And Caroline for ruining everything. She picked up the leaflet and stared hard at it before turning back to searching for Josh’s holiday dates. Aah, there they were.

  ‘He finishes on the twenty-third of July,’ said Amy. ‘I wouldn’t want to go the minute school ends, but any time from the following week will be fine.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ said Mary, ‘I’ll book something and ring you back with the dates.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Amy told her. She put the phone down and sighed. Then she picked up the leaflet for the castle again, scrumpled it up and put it in the bin.

  ‘I think our intruder’s back,’ said Saffron.

  ‘Why?’ Pete looked up distracted from his laptop as Saffron came marching in from the garden. She was grimy, soaking wet, and covered in mud – a result of a sudden and unexpected summer shower.

  ‘Just the usual – there were chip papers in the shed again, and it looks as though somebody has been making a bed out of our potato sacks.’

  ‘Well, whoever it is, they haven’t done us any harm, have they?’

  ‘No, I suppose not,’ said Saffron. ‘It just makes me feel uneasy, that’s all.’

  They hadn’t seen hide nor hair of their intruder for weeks, and Saffron had convinced herself that it had been a tramp who’d gone on to pastures new, but now she wasn’t so sure. She had also discounted Scary Slug Man in the end, as he had apparently been spotted in his local with a new woman whom he had shacked up with. It had seemed unlikely at first, but several people had told her it was true, so she had reluctantly crossed him off her list of suspects.

  ‘I wish you weren’t going away next week,’ she moaned.

  ‘Me too,’ said Pete, ‘but we both knew it would be like this with my promotion. And you have to admit, the extra money is nice.’

  Saffron wandered off upstairs to clean herself up. She hoped Pete was right about their intruder. As she pulled the curtains in their bedroom, she looked out across the allotments. Usually they felt like a haven to her, and the thought of anyone doing anything to harm her was almost laughable. But since their mysterious visitor had been on the scene, she hadn’t felt quite so sanguine.

  She wished that at least they had uncovered the identity of their unwelcome guest by now. Maybe she should get Amy to come and crash out while Pete wasn’t there. Amy was still moping about after Ben, maybe she could use the break from her usual routine.

  ‘What are you, woman or mouse?’ she chided herself, drawing the curtains firmly together. The intruder on the allotments was probably nobody, and certainly shouldn’t be causing her sleepless nights. Pete was right, whoever it was hadn’t hurt them so far, so why should that change now?

  Ben pushed his barrow, replete with plastic cans full of water, onto the allotments, sweating profusely. It was only ten o’clock but already it was baking hot, heralding more sun to come. With a hosepipe ban already in force, the allotmenteers were having to become more and more resourceful about how they collected their rainwater. Ben had several waterbutts on his allotment, and a couple in the garden. He was thinking of copying Harry’s intricate system, which involved pitching several waterbutts at different levels, flowing on one from the other. Ben laughed at himself. If this water shortage went on any longer he was going to become completely obsessed. As it was, he had a couple of empty plastic petrol cans, which held several litres, and had taken to filling them up and staggering out onto the allotments with them. But it was hard work. He stopped and wiped his head for a minute.

  Though the recent rain had filled the waterbutts up again, the ground was so damned dry that as soon as some sunshine got on it all the water evaporated. But he couldn’t risk leaving his precious water there without using it, because people were becoming very sneaky, and it had been known for the less scrupulous allotmenteers to do water raids. The situation was getting ridiculous. Added to which, according to Harry, who was there most days, there were people who were defying the ban, and coming along in the middle of the day to use their sprinklers. Harry had nearly come to blows with Scary Slug Man, who kept filling water-butts up with his hose in order to drown a family of slugs who had attacked his cabbages.

  Harry. Ben frowned. The last couple of times Ben had seen him, Harry had seemed a little forgetful, and he was certainly getting shorter of breath of late. And Ben was certain he was getting TIAs. But Harry refused point blank to get himself checked out again, and short of dragging him into the surgery Ben didn’t know quite what else to do. Besides, as Harry had put it to him frequently, ‘What are you going to tell me that I don’t already know?’ Which, Ben had to admit, was probably true.

  He half-hoped that Harry wasn’t out on the allotments. It would give Ben the excuse of checking he was all right, and maybe, just maybe, he would run into Amy. There was no sign of her here, although the stuff they had planted together was looking well-tended, so she must be coming out at times she knew he wouldn’t be there.

  Ben hadn’t spoken to Amy in weeks. He had tried at the beginning, but Amy had rebuffed him at every turn. So he had given up in despair. There was no point persisting in knocking at a door that was permanently shut. Damn, bloody Caroline. If she hadn’t come back when she had, he and Amy might have been together by now.

  ‘Penny for them?’ Harry wandered over from his allotment with a bag of produce. ‘I seem to have had a run on courgettes, do you fancy some?’<
br />
  ‘I’ll swap you them for my lettuce. It’s about to go to seed at any minute. Seems a shame to waste it.’

  ‘Fancy a drink?’

  ‘A bit early, isn’t it, Harry? Even for you?’ Ben laughed.

  ‘I meant a brew,’ said Harry. ‘It’s a bit hot for me out here today, so I got here early and was about to pack up.’

  ‘Oh, go on then,’ said Ben, grateful to have an opportunity to rest for moment.

  Harry had flung the doors of his hut open, and his two easy chairs were sitting outside it. He made the tea and brought it out to Ben.

  ‘This is the life,’ said Ben. ‘I shouldn’t have sat down. I probably won’t be able to get up again.’

  ‘What, at your age? You should be raring to go,’ Harry told him. ‘Leave it to us old boys to sit in the sun.’

  ‘You’re not so old,’ said Ben.

  ‘You know I am,’ Harry replied. ‘And, to be honest, I’m getting pretty tired of all this.’

  Ben shifted uneasily in his seat. He sometimes had these kinds of conversations with his patients, but it didn’t feel right having it with Harry.

  ‘Don’t be daft,’ he said. ‘You’ve got years left on the clock.’

  ‘Ben, you and I both know that’s not true. As Terry Wogan likes to put it, I’ve only got so many beats left in this old ticker, and I can’t go on forever. But the thing is – well, to put it bluntly, old boy, I haven’t got anyone much to leave what little worldly wealth I have. But I’d really like you to take over my allotment, if they’ll let you. I know you’d look after it. Keep it nice in memory of me and Mavis.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘But nothing.’

  ‘Harry, I wasn’t expecting –’

  ‘I know you weren’t. But can you promise me something?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Ben, ‘anything.’

  ‘You will look after her, won’t you?’ Harry nodded towards Amy’s house. ‘She needs you more than she realises. And she shouldn’t be alone.’

 

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