by Claire Frost
‘Okay, fine, as long as you promise to wake me up in time so I can pop home first in the morning – I’m not very good at getting up early,’ she grinned.
Predictably, Bell didn’t end up sleeping in a separate room, but as she used the spare toothbrush Ben had helpfully found her, she did make a promise to herself to take things slowly.
‘You know, I haven’t even kissed anyone except Colin for over ten years,’ she whispered as she and Ben lay facing each other in his bed, both chastely wearing T-shirts. ‘Let alone anything else. I guess I’m a bit, well, scared.’
‘You don’t need to be scared, Bell. But also, let’s not rush this. Tonight has been pretty epic—’ He broke off to kiss her gently on the lips in case she still hadn’t worked out which part of the evening he was referring to. ‘But tomorrow is a huge day, for you especially, and we have all the time in the world.’
Relief hit Bell hard in her chest. ‘Thank you. For understanding and for being you,’ she replied, kissing him.
Ben reciprocated before reluctantly but gently pulling away. ‘Come on, we’d best get some sleep before that alarm goes off and I have to drag you kicking and screaming from the bed.’
Chapter Twenty-five
Millie
Despite Louis’ assertion he would be at the fair as promised, Millie knew she wouldn’t believe it until he was actually physically there, declaring the event officially open. Until then, she constantly felt like her chest was being weighed down by a thousand worries, and she wasn’t able to take a proper deep breath in and out.
She had breathlessly extolled the virtues of the local primary she and Bell had visited, to the point where she’d built the place up to be a paragon of early years learning, with teachers coming from across the land to teach there.
‘Louis, you should have seen the football field there, Wolf is going to love it. And Mrs Anderson said they’re a feeder school into all the local kids’ teams, and a couple of the boys and one of the girls in the top class are being considered by the Spurs Academy, no less. And I’m sure they’d love you to come down for an afternoon and talk to the kids about what it’s like to actually be a professional footballer, just think how that would help Wolf settle into his new class.’ Then as an extra prod in the right direction, she’d added, ‘Wolf was really excited when I showed him all the pictures. Although not as excited as he is about seeing you at the fair on Saturday. He is so proud that you’re going to be guest of honour, he keeps babbling on to everyone about it!’
‘That’s my boy!’ he had laughed. ‘It will be good for him to meet Zoe, too. He’ll love her, she’s such a sweetie.’
‘So Zoe’s definitely coming?’ Millie had asked. She couldn’t decide how she felt about the whole Zoe situation. There wasn’t even a tiny part of her that wanted to get back with Louis, but neither was she particularly looking forward to seeing a young, attractive woman on his arm, especially if she was going to be introduced to their son. Not that her feelings had even crossed Louis’ mind.
‘Yeah, she’s not filming that weekend so she should be free. And as she said, it’ll pull in more punters if she’s there, won’t it? She’s always thinking about other people is Zoe.’
‘Great,’ Millie replied, stifling an incredulous laugh. ‘Okay, well let me know what you think about the school when you’ve looked through the paperwork, and if there’s any problem on Saturday morning, call me as soon as possible, won’t you?’
‘Millie, I am a grown man and well able to do things for myself. I’ve said I’ll be there on Saturday, so I’ll be there.’
She bit back the reply on the tip of her tongue. The last thing she needed was a fight, but she knew from bitter experience that King Louis’ promises were not the same as other people’s promises.
*
She wasn’t able to join Bell and Ben to start setting up at the centre on Friday evening as Bridget was having some of her bridge ladies round to her house for a glass of sherry. Once she’d put Wolf to bed – which was easier said than done given his state of extreme excitement about the following day and the fact school had finished for the summer and there were six weeks of fun stretching ahead of him – Millie sat on the sofa glued to her phone.
She was still waiting for any kind of word from Louis on what he thought of Wolf’s potential school, and every time a notification from the committee WhatsApp group lit up her handset, she felt guilty for hoping it was in fact from Louis. While she knew (fingers crossed) she would see him the next day, she didn’t think the fundraising fair was the right time or place at which to discuss their son’s schooling, so she was desperate to hear back from him that evening, especially as they had to give the school an answer either way come Monday morning.
Eventually, she gave in, and sent him a bright, friendly message asking if he’d had a chance to read through the material she’d emailed him, then quickly clicked off her messages and opened her Instagram app to distract herself.
Over the last couple of weeks, she’d been posting fewer ‘life is perfect’ images and made them a bit more ‘real’. While she still didn’t entirely subscribe to Bell’s way of thinking, she could see that many of her followers had reacted positively. Yesterday’s picture of Wolf with paint in his hair, across his cheek and all over his hands, holding a decidedly splodgy piece of paper, had gained the most Likes she’d ever had. Her caption had read:
Apparently this is a picture of a dog playing in the park (no, me neither!). There’s more paint on the floor, on the walls and on him than on the paper. Can you use a jet-washer on a child? Asking for a friend, obvs. #artfail #paintmixing #mess #jetwash #parentingfail
Then an influential mummy blogger had reposted her image with a cry-laughing emoji face and suddenly Millie’s follower numbers had rocketed and she’d had thousands of comments. She still hadn’t escaped her trolls, but this time they’d been shot down by other users almost immediately and hadn’t posted again as yet. She was pretty sure they wouldn’t be deterred that easily, but Millie was able to smile as she scrolled through the comments for the first time in a long while. She especially loved all the replies from other parents sympathising with her and relaying stories about their own kids’ ‘creative’ activities.
Her scrolling was interrupted by her phone informing her she finally had a message from Louis. Her heart was racing as she opened the app to read it.
Didn’t I email you? Sorry, yeah, that school looks good I think. Let’s do it! L
Millie stared at her phone. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his off-hand reply. She quickly messaged him back saying she’d email the school right now and would see him and Zoe tomorrow. Obviously, he didn’t reply, and all Millie could do was hope that he would actually keep his word for once and turn up at the community centre as planned.
*
Millie was woken on Saturday morning by Wolf jumping heavily on top of her, yelling, ‘Mummy, the fair is starting, we need to get to the pool and bouncy castle now and watch Daddy score some goals!’
Her chest thumped, not just because she was struggling to breathe beneath the clutches of her five-year-old, but also because she was suddenly afraid they’d slept in and were actually already late. She prised her eyes open and stretched out her arm to press her phone: 6.02 AM.
‘Wolf, darling, the fair isn’t starting for hours yet, don’t worry. Now, why don’t you get into bed with me and we’ll have a little nap until we need to get up.’
‘But we need to get up now, Mummy! The sky is all blue and the sun is shining so it means it’s time to finish sleeping and have some breakfast. You said it’s the most important meal of the day.’
‘Yes, Wolfie, but it is quite early still. It’s going to be a long day and I don’t want you to get tired this afternoon.’
‘I like long days,’ he declared. ‘It means there’s more time for eating. Now, can I have chocolate cereal and toast pwease?’
Thanks to her wake-up call and Wolf’s insistence,
they arrived at the community centre not long after seven o’clock, but found Bell was already there, putting up trestle tables with Ben.
‘Did you two go home last night?’ she laughed as she gave them both a hug and Wolf hung on to Bell’s waist.
‘For a bit,’ Bell grinned, glancing at Ben, and Millie made a note to interrogate her friend later about what exactly she and Ben had got up to the night before.
‘Right, seeing as you’re both here nice and early, how do you feel about helping us out?’ Bell asked. ‘Wolfie, Ben has a very important job for you that I think you’re going to like.’
‘Woof!’ came the unmistakable sound of a dog straining on a lead and Wolf immediately started jumping up and down.
‘Is Graham here?’ he asked, his excitement threatening to explode before the fair had even begun.
‘Yes, he is indeed,’ Ben said, bending down so he was level with Wolf. ‘I was thinking that you could help me take him for a walk over to the football pitches and back and maybe throw his ball to him as you were so good at it last time.’
‘Yes! Can I, Mummy, can I?’
‘Of course, Wolf, but make sure you do whatever Ben tells you to, okay?’
She grinned as Wolf skipped off with Ben and the dog then turned to Bell. ‘What’s Ben doing about Graham long-term? Does his neighbour’s son not want to take him back up to Scotland with him?’
‘No, apparently his wife’s got an allergy, so he’s asked Ben if he’ll adopt him. He’s taking him to doggy daycare when he’s at work and then picking him up in the evenings at the moment, and it seems to be going okay.’
Before Millie could so much as mention Ben again, Bell said, ‘Do you want to dump your stuff inside, and then how do you fancy a bit of bunting hanging?’
When Millie came back out, she found Rita, Tony, Sheila and Sue had all arrived and a car bearing Di, Sarah and Laura was pulling up. The next few hours were spent putting together the stalls, making them look pretty and supervising the bouncy castle and hog roast being delivered and assembled.
‘It’s starting to look like a proper fair!’ Bell said as she and Millie grabbed a drink of water.
It was still only nine o’clock, but the uniform gang were now out in force making the retro games look both cool and fun, while Di and Sarah’s craft stalls were crammed with some amazing creations, as well as a few decidedly weird-looking pieces of knitting that Millie couldn’t identify. The cake stall was awaiting the arrival of the WI ladies and their wares, while the bouncy castle had already been well tested by Wolf and Daisy, Laura’s eight-year-old daughter, who had arrived with Laura’s mum half an hour before and had attached herself firmly to Wolf. He didn’t appear to be best pleased, but Millie could see he was trying to be polite and let Daisy fuss over him for now, at least.
‘It looks amazing,’ Millie agreed. ‘And the photography exhibition inside is brilliant. I can’t believe how professional everyone’s photos look.’
‘I’m not sure Sheila can either!’ Bell laughed.
A few minutes later, Suze arrived, armed with seemingly the whole of Style It Out’s stock room.
‘Bell, all that bossing people around you’ve been doing has really paid off, this looks epic!’ she cried when she’d managed to extricate herself from the piles of maxi-dresses and playsuits filling her car.
‘Ah, glad you approve,’ Bell grinned. ‘Although, Suze, did Marian definitely say we could have all these clothes? There can’t be anything left for the site to sell!’
‘Don’t worry, I went through the proper channels and didn’t just nick them.’ Suze rolled her eyes at her friend. ‘Anyway, aren’t you going to introduce me to everyone? I’ve heard so much about you all. Not all good I have to say.’ She grinned wickedly.
‘Suze! Don’t listen to her, anyone, especially if she starts telling you anything bad about me.’
‘Would I do that? Never! Now, I’m guessing you must be Millie, it’s lovely to meet you,’ she beamed.
‘And you,’ Millie smiled warmly. ‘That’s some wardrobe you’ve brought with you! I wouldn’t mind a rummage myself before everyone else gets here.’
‘Then give me a hand setting up the stall and your wish will be my command!’
It didn’t take long for Suze to introduce herself to the rest of the gang and enlist various others to help her hang dresses on rails and pile folded T-shirts on to the long trestle tables. Bell jogged over a little while later, waving at Millie.
‘What time is Louis getting here, do you know?’
Millie’s stomach lurched at the sound of his name. He better bloody come, she thought to herself fiercely, though she said brightly to her friend, ‘I said any time between ten and half past.’
‘Okay, brilliant. God, there’s Peter Hall from the council – I’d better go and say hello. Mills, could you check if the radio people need any help setting up their stage, please?’
There was a blur of activity as everyone frantically tried to finish their allotted tasks. So many last-minute deliveries of delicious-looking home-made cakes arrived that an extra table had to be quickly found from the dusty store cupboard to accommodate all the Victoria sponges. The WI ladies also took charge of the Pimm’s table as Sheila and Sue were needed elsewhere, and quickly set a team of people to work slicing cucumber and fruit for the huge jugs in front of them. Laura was chatting to the whisky distillery owner, who it seemed was originally from Scotland and had learned everything he knew about single malts up there – and, for once, it looked like Laura wasn’t quite as interested in the alcohol as she was in the person talking. Ben was keeping an eye on the uniform brigade as well as the football arrangements, and the whole place was drenched in the mouthwatering scents of roast pork and candyfloss. Millie had already had to remove Wolf several times from the spun-sugar cart, where Bridget and her bridge friends were manning the fort and treating him to swathes of the pink stuff.
‘Wolf, why don’t we go and have a bit of quiet time inside before the fair starts as you’ve been running around a lot outside this morning.’
‘But, Mummy . . .’ Wolf whined, before seeing Millie looking at him with her ‘that wasn’t a question, please do what I say right now’ stare. She led him inside, grabbed a book from her bag and took Wolf into a corner of the café area that was set up to serve hot drinks and provide some chairs and tables for people who wanted to get away from the crowds for a bit. Thankfully, it was almost empty and Millie was able to spend ten minutes calming Wolf down with the Gruffalo.
They’d just reached the end and Wolf was snuggling woozily into her chest when Bell rushed in.
‘There you are, Millie! You haven’t seen Louis, have you? It’s half past ten and he’s not arrived yet.’
‘Daddy’s here?’ Wolf said, raising his head and scrabbling to get off Millie’s lap.
‘Not yet, I don’t think, darling, but why don’t we both go outside to look for him. Let me just give Bell something and then we can go.’
She nipped into the small room where they’d put all their belongings and grabbed the coat-hanger she’d hung on the back of the door. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Louis is delivered into your hands before the opening,’ she said to her friend with a hundred times more confidence than she actually felt. ‘Now, what were you thinking of wearing for your big moment?’
‘You mean the opening? Well, just this, really.’ Bell pointed to her denim shorts and light blue vest top embellished with glitter round the neck which, while it had looked pretty first thing this morning, was now covered in dust, dirt and god knows what else.
‘Not sure that’s going to cut it.’ Millie shook her head. ‘But this will, so you’d better get changed.’ She handed Bell the coat-hanger on which was a cornflower-blue dress with a ruffled V-neck, cap sleeves and a short-but-not-too-short flirty skirt.
Bell’s eyes widened with shock. ‘It’s gorgeous, but—’
‘No buts, I’m afraid. It will look perfect on you, I know it wil
l,’ she smiled. ‘Right, Wolf, let’s go and find Daddy.’
As she headed outside with her son clutching her hand, she silently prayed that Louis would be waiting somewhere among the melee outside. He wasn’t. There was already a large crowd of people queuing outside the car park and spilling down the pavement. She could even see Ben chatting to a group of three people, holding a camera and microphone, who looked very much like they might work for the local BBC news team, as well as a couple of photographers chatting close by, who she thought were probably from the local newspapers. However, there was no sign of Louis.
‘Mummy, look!’ shouted Wolf, causing everyone around them to follow his outstretched arm. ‘It’s Daddy!’ The little boy pointed towards the car that had just pulled up on to the pavement opposite the queue and Millie realised she’d never been so pleased to see Louis in all her life. Even if he also had a girl she presumed to be Zoe, from her plumped lips and tiny waist, tottering along beside him.
Millie instantly felt like Cinderella in her cotton playsuit and flip-flops, and wished she’d thought to bring an outfit for herself to change into as well as the one she’d brought for Bell. Then she reminded herself that the day was not about her, or even Louis’ new girlfriend, but about raising money to keep the centre open for the community, so it really didn’t matter what she was wearing.
She managed to move Louis and Zoe away from the photographers and reporters, who suddenly seemed to have multiplied, and took him inside the centre where news had reached Bell that he’d finally arrived. Her friend appeared, looking just as pretty as Millie had known she would in the blue dress that matched her eyes, with her blonde hair swept back into a messy bun. She’d just had time to add a coat of mascara and a swipe of lipgloss, Millie noted as she grinned at her.
