Love for Auction

by Karen Klyne

Alan nodded, and Kim refilled his glass. “Grace will be expecting me.”

  “I’ll call her and ask her if she wants to join us.”

  He poo-pooed the idea and laughed. “She’ll never do that.”

  “Exactly.” All the same, Kim rang and told Grace that Alan was with her. She didn’t want Grace to worry where he was. She thanked her but, as expected, declined the offer of a meal.

  Kim plied him with drink in hopes that he’d get whatever it was off his chest.

  When he’d sunk three glasses, he looked up. “Do you remember Amanda?”

  Kim nodded. Oh, God, the vet’s wife. “Of course. Did you keep in touch?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve never heard anything from her, but her close friend kept me up to date. She divorced her husband some years ago and went to live in Bristol. Her friend contacted me a while back and gave me the awful news that Amanda has cancer.”

  Kim covered her mouth with her hand. “How awful.”

  “I wrote a letter to Amanda, and she wrote back. I rang her a few times, and we had long chats. Then nothing. Her friend rang the office and told me Amanda was in a hospice.”

  “Have you visited her?”

  Alan nodded. He looked so sad then gave a mirthful laugh. “Do you know, even though she was so ill, she was still the beautiful young woman I fell in love with all those years ago. I begged her forgiveness. You see, I was such a coward. I never actually faced her and told her I couldn’t leave Grace, even though I loved her. She said she’d forgiven me a long time ago.” Alan fixed his gaze on the opposite wall, looking lost in his memories.

  “You did the right thing.”

  He looked up. “I think I need some food. I can’t remember the last time I ate.”

  She heated up some leftover shepherd’s pie.

  When he’d finished, he leaned back in his chair. “Thanks, Kim. That was wonderful.”

  Kim settled herself on the sofa. “Do you want to continue?”

  Alan stared down at the floor. “Amanda died last night.” He covered his face with his hands.

  “Oh, God, Alan. I’m so sorry.” Should she go and comfort him? He was such a private man. She risked it, sat by his side, and held his hand.

  “Thanks, Kim. I don’t know what to do. I want to go to her funeral. I want to pay my last respects to a woman I loved and lost...and hurt.”

  “You have to tell Grace. I bet she’s noticed your strange behaviour.”

  He gasped. “You must be joking? The affair nearly wrecked our marriage. She’d leave me for certain this time.”

  “Do you still love Grace?”

  “Of course I do. It was a long time ago. Grace forgave me. I never loved Grace in the same way I loved Amanda, but we do care about each other, and I don’t want to lose her.”

  “Tell her. She’ll understand. And it’s far better than letting her think there’s something more worrying going on that she doesn’t know about. Believe me, it’s the not knowing that hurts most.”

  Her troubles seemed to pale into insignificance. Now there was Alan, Grace, Jan, and Dave too. If they all stuck together, perhaps they could help one another. The thought cheered her. If only Phil were by my side.

  Alan seemed to perk up. “You’re right. I’ll do it. Thank you, Kim. You’re a chip off the old block, you know. You listen, and you have the same understanding, just like your father did. Maybe that’s why I came here of all places.” He wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. “Anyway, why isn’t Philippa here?”

  “She’s in Leeds with her friend.”

  He nodded. “I thought on this occasion she’d be here?”

  Kim tutted. “I’ve only moved into a new house.”

  “I meant because it’s her birthday.”

  She had no idea. Why should she? Phil’s life and birthday were nothing to do with her. She was at a loss for words.

  Alan rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. “She never celebrates it here anyway. Can I ask you something now, Kim?”

  She guessed what was coming. “Sure.”

  “Have you and Philippa fallen out?”

  Kim sighed. “Yes.”

  Alan clenched his fists. “She hasn’t done anything…untoward?”

  Kim held a hand up. “No. I can assure you, it’s all my doing.”

  Alan raised his eyebrows. Enough. This was a conversation she didn’t wish to continue. “Come on. I’ll drive you home. You can collect your car tomorrow.”

  It was dark outside. She could have done with that long walk earlier, but Alan was more important. He’d been a good friend to her dad.

  When she got to Alan’s house, she propped him up against the wall, pressed the doorbell, and ran away. She couldn’t help but giggle. That’s what she and her friends did when they were kids. She imagined Phil would do that too. God, did everything have to revolve around Phil? She couldn’t seem to get her out of her mind, but she’d have to learn.

  It was a long night of dark, surreal dreams followed by images of sensuality and light, and the night turned into morning none too soon. There was a real November nip in the air, so she put on a warm jacket and scarf and headed towards the high street. It dawned on her that she’d have to pass by Farrell and Young’s office. What was she going to do? Dodge it for the rest of her life? Avoid the road or even take the street behind? No. She lived in this village now, and she wasn’t going to duck and dive at every instance. She shivered. Was it the cold or the thought of passing by the office? She increased her pace, and the shop came into sight. A figure appeared from the doorway. Phil. Her heart raced and fluttered. What should she do?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Phil stepped out from the doorway of the office. “Shit,” she mumbled. That was bad timing. If she’d waited and signed those letters, this would never have happened. Her heart thudded. Deep down she knew this needed to happen. She wanted to come face to face with Kim. She wanted to confront her. Leave her be. It was her decision. Still, she almost relished the idea of Kim squirming and having to face her. How many women had felt the same way about Phil’s reaction after the fact? The thought lodged in her stomach like an uncomfortable stone.

  As Kim drew closer, Phil stood straighter. Kim’s pace increased as she strutted forward. She could hear her boot heels hammering along the pavement. Or was that her heartbeat? Was Kim going to avoid her and cross the road? No, it was too late for that. Closer still. She stormed towards her, pulling up short when they were within reaching distance of one another. She stared straight into Kim’s eyes. Kim’s gaze didn’t waver. She’s got plenty of nerve.

  Phil spoke first. “Hello, Kim. You look well.”

  Kim answered curtly. “Thank you. How are you?”

  Couldn’t she see? Bags under my eyes, weight loss, and as pale as an avalanche. Phil’s body stiffened. “Fine. Under the circumstances.”

  Kim glared. “Yes, it’s amazing how easily one can forget. Out of sight, and all that bollocks.”

  Jeez. She was acting like she was the injured party. “Yes, obviously. Second thoughts, and all that crap.”

  Kim glowered. Phil could almost feel the pins shooting out of her eyes. Kim sidestepped and looked like she was going to make a dash for it. But then she stopped and faced Phil squarely, and her eyes narrowed with contempt.

  “God. You’re so up in the clouds, the view from your ego must be breath-taking.” She made a move and almost fell off the pavement trying to give Phil a wide berth.

  What? Not so fast, missy. Phil grabbed her arm and almost spun her around. “That’s a nice one coming from you. Do you know what really pisses me off?”

  Kim inhaled a sharp breath. “No, but I can sense you’re going to tell me.”

  “You hadn’t got the decency to let me know you weren’t interested. It wouldn’t have been so hard.” I’ve said it. There was nothing more to add. Now you can piss off.

  Kim’s mouth gaped. She seemed glued to the spot. She pulled away and put her hands o
n her hips. “To let you know?”

  Phil leaned closer. “Don’t play games, Kim.” Where was this conversation going? Several passers-by gave them strange looks and stepped onto the road to avoid them. She took Kim’s arm and directed her into an alleyway. “You made the decision. Not me.”

  Kim gave a small laugh. “Don’t try and push it on to me.”

  Phil frowned. “But it was you. You never answered my texts or voice messages.”

  Kim’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? There weren’t any.”

  Phil’s breath caught. Could it be so simple? “Kim, I sent you loads of texts. And I left messages on your voicemail.”

  Kim squeezed her eyes shut. “What? When?”

  Phil spoke quietly. “On Saturday. Then I thought maybe you were out cold, so I left another text on Sunday morning, followed by another voicemail. And a couple more texts. After that I gave up.”

  Kim rubbed her throat. Her suntan faded to white, and she slumped against the wall.

  “Kim? What’s going on?” Phil stared down at Kim’s trembling hands.

  She blinked and stared. “Phil…I never received any texts or voicemails. I figured you were being…you. The you that you told me you were, but I didn’t want to believe. But then…” She shrugged, looking shaken.

  Phil ran a hand through her hair. How could that be? She took Kim’s hand and smiled softly. “We need to talk.”

  Kim nodded. “Shall we go for coffee?”

  If she’d have asked her to grab a handful of shit, Phil would’ve said yes. She steered Kim to a seat at the back of the coffee shop and returned with two espressos. “You possibly don’t drink this stuff, but we need something strong.”

  Kim rubbed her forehead. “Thanks.” She sipped from the cup. “Yep, that’s strong. So, what happened?”

  Phil took her phone out and placed it on the table. “I don’t know, but we sure as hell need to find out.” She fiddled around with it. “I kept the texts, but I don’t have the voicemails. We can check that from your end.” Phil flicked down until she found them. She passed the phone to Kim.

  Kim’s eyes widened like a pair of cue balls. “So, you didn’t want to finish—”

  “Finish with you? Bloody hell, Kim, we hadn’t even started. All I could think of was seeing you again.” She pointed to the second text and then the third. “I wanted you to know how much it meant to me. How much you mean to me.”

  Kim wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed. Phil passed her a tissue, and she had a good old blow.

  Kim slapped her forehead. “Oh. My. God.”

  “What?”

  “I was helping Jan and Dave with that bloody seniors party, remember? After that, we had lunch together. I went back to my room and fell to sleep. I was out cold for at least four hours. I couldn’t find my phone and went downstairs to hunt for it. I thought I must have dropped it earlier or that maybe it’d fallen down the back of the seat. I searched for ages, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Jan had your number in her mobile. I called, and it went to voicemail, so I left a message explaining that I’d lost my phone.”

  Phil rubbed her eyes. “I never received any message from you, Kim. When did you find your phone?”

  “I didn’t. But on Sunday morning, Jan and Dave came to my room. Dave said he’d found it when he was cleaning. I checked for texts and messages, but there was nothing.”

  Phil sighed. “Somebody must have deleted them.” She folded her arms tightly. “You don’t think?”

  Kim grabbed Phil’s arm tightly, as though she needed to reassure herself this was happening.

  “Jan would never do that. But I’m not so sure about Dave. Couldn’t they have been deleted by accident or something?”

  Phil snorted. “Seems unlikely, especially the ones I sent the next day. And what about the message you left? What happened to that? We have to find out.”

  “If you’re right, why would he tamper with my phone?”

  Phil crushed the napkin in her hand. “No idea. What I do know is, if our paths hadn’t crossed today, and if we hadn’t spoken, we’d never have known.” She placed her hand on top of Kim’s. “Aren’t we lucky?”

  Kim smiled. “Bloody lucky.” She held her hand firmly. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been to hell and back. I convinced myself I’d done something wrong, or that you’d had second thoughts.”

  Phil nodded. “Tell me about it. How do you think I got these black eyes?”

  Kim chuckled. “I thought you’d been in the ring with a kangaroo or out gallivanting.”

  “Kangaroo, maybe. Gallivanting, no. Although I did have a run-in with Alan. To be honest, Kim, I considered moving back to London. He’s such a nasty tempered wanker at the moment.”

  Kim winced slightly and gave a little shrug. “He has his reasons. That’s another story, and I’ll fill you in later.”

  Phil closed her eyes. She could feel the tears welling up, so she swallowed and forced them away. “Thank God there is a later.” She breathed in deeply, trying to keep control. “In the meantime, we have to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Definitely, but how?”

  “Like this.” Phil sent a fresh message to Kim, but it didn’t ping on her phone. “Can I check your contacts?”

  Kim nodded. “Of course. I’ve only just switched to an android phone and haven’t quite got the hang of all the features.” She pushed the phone across the table.

  Phil flicked through Kim’s contacts to her own number. “The bastard.”

  Kim leaned forward and put her hand on Phil’s forearm gently. “What?”

  Phil put Kim’s phone on the table and pushed it back toward her. “See anything strange?”

  Kim appeared to study the screen then shook her head.

  “Give it a moment…” Phil said.

  Kim looked again. “Unblock? Is that it? What does that mean?”

  “Watch.” Phil reached over and pressed the screen before resending the same text message. This time Kim’s phone received it immediately. “He blocked my number so you couldn’t receive any texts or calls from me.”

  Kim bit her lip. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Phil nodded. “Apparently Dave does. Let’s go and tackle them.”

  Kim pursed her lips. “This is awful. I feel sick. Why would either of them do this to me?”

  “I think it’s more to do with me. We’ll find out. Promise me, Kim, if anything like this ever happens again, we communicate face to face.”

  Kim nodded. “I promise.”

  Phil prayed nothing like that would ever happen again. And it might be time to start thinking about just why that was.

  ***

  The pub was virtually empty when they walked through the door close to closing time. Kim took her hand, and Phil looked down at their entwined fingers.

  “I don’t know how you feel, but after what’s happened, I’m not hiding,” Kim said.

  “I’m with you all the way. I don’t know how Alan will take it though?”

  “Sod Alan. I’ll tell him, and he can please himself.”

  Phil smiled. Hey, I’ve got myself a gutsy girl.

  A few customers sat at the bar chatting with Jan. She looked up and waved them over. “Help yourselves to a drink, girls.”

  “Thanks.” Kim got a couple of diet cokes and took them to a table.

  Jan locked up after the last customer had gone and stood by their table. “Can I join you?”

  Kim nodded. “Yes, we’d like you to, Jan.”

  She sat down and pulled her shoes off. “Hope you don’t mind. They’re killing me.”

  Phil’s body went rigid. If they don’t, I might.

  Jan looked from Kim to Phil and grimaced. “Are you two okay? You both look a bit peaky.”

  Peaky wasn’t quite the word Phil would have chosen. Kim’s face was red, as though she had a high fever, and her nostrils flared like a bull about to charge. She
took her phone from her back pocket and set it down on the table. She switched it on and brought up the text messages that Phil had sent. “Remember when I lost my phone in the pub on the night of the seniors’ party?”

  Jan bit her lip. “Yes. We handed it back to you the following morning. And?”

  “Minus the numerous text messages and voicemails from Phil.”

  Jan twisted the ring on her wedding finger. “You’ve lost me. Give me a moment to digest this.”

  “Take as long as you want.”

  Jan took a deep breath. “Let me get this straight. You were expecting to hear from Phil, but you didn’t. You say Phil had texted you and left messages on your voicemail. You didn’t receive them?”

  “Correct.” Kim turned the phone around and showed her the texts. “I haven’t been able to retrieve the messages, but I think these are enough. They were clearly deleted from my phone before it was returned to me, Jan.”

  Jan’s eyes filled with tears. “Do you think I’d ever do anything like that to you, Kim?”

  Kim shook her head. “No, but somebody did. Not only that, but when I lost the phone, I asked Dave if he had Phil’s number. He didn’t have it, but he’d got your mobile and said Phil’s number was there and––”

  Jan held up her hand. “I don’t have Phil’s number. Why would I have it?”

  “He said Alan gave it to you after his accident, just in case.”

  Jan looked from Kim to Phil. “I swear I’ve never had your number, Phil. There’s never been a reason to.”

  Kim set her palms flat on the table like she didn’t know what else to do with her hands. “Then whose bloody mobile did he call?”

  “I’ve no idea.” Jan grasped Kim’s arm and tears cascaded down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Kim. I’ve always loved you like a daughter, and I’d never, ever do anything to hurt you.” She pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away the tears. “I don’t know what’s been going on, but we sure as hell have to find out.” Jan hoisted herself up, slipped into her shoes, and headed for the stairs. She lurched upwards, taking them two at a time. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back down shortly.”

  Phil nudged Kim. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to witness this, even if it’s from a distance.” Kim took her hand, and they moved quietly up the stairs, waiting until Jan pushed her bedroom door open. Kim and Phil stood across the corridor opposite the room, staying in the shadows with a clear view. They could see Dave lying in bed as Jan pushed the door half shut.