Echoes of Love (9 page)

The Sovereign Harbour penthouse was very stylish and extremely spacious and, he was forced to admit, tastefully furnished; having agreed to leave the bulk of his own furniture at Hampton House
rather than pay for it to go into storage, he was relieved that he wasn’t going to be living, as he put it, ‘with a lot of Ikea self-assembly stuff’. What’s more, the
apartment block stood on the prestigious Martello Quay, which, he was pleased to read in
Sussex Life
, was
quite the most elegant and well-positioned part of the development, in which
several well-known theatrical personalities have second homes.

As for his objections to Anna’s decision to move in with Marina, they were non-existent; she had told him on the day they all went to view the new apartment, hoping that any ensuing
argument might be softened by his desire not to show himself up in front of the new neighbours. In the event, he simply expressed relief that she would be nearby should ‘darling
Mallory’ need her, and then expressed even more relief when Marina confirmed that she would take care of Anna’s upkeep for as long as she was at Magpie Cottage.

‘And,’ he had said with ill-concealed glee, ‘the room you would have had can be used as a guest room. I plan to entertain,’ he added grandly.

They all knew precisely who, in particular, he was planning to entertain – and she wouldn’t be using the guest room. Indeed, the fact that his agent, Araminta Clay, lived in Sussex
had made the move to the coast a lot smoother than it might have been. Araminta had been his agent ever since the launch of his first chat show, and she had stuck by him ever since. She adored
Walter and he adored being idolised. Neither Anna nor Mallory could stand the woman, but Gaby had always been cloyingly nice to her, because Araminta’s daughter, Honeysuckle, was a successful
model with one of the top London agencies and had promised to introduce Gaby to a couple of high-profile photographers.

When Araminta heard that Walter would actually be living just a half-hour drive away from her home in Lewes, she could hardly contain her excitement and had already promised him use of her
season ticket to the opera at Glyndebourne, her beach hut on the Hove esplanade, and a few other things not verbalised but brazenly hinted at. Added to that, there were murmurs of a slot on
Coast TV
and even an autobiography (‘Darling, it would sell like hot cakes, you’re such a gem’). By the time the removal van drew up outside Hampton House, Walter had
convinced himself that the whole idea of downsizing had been his own brilliant solution in the first place.

Anna was the last to leave the family home on the day of the move. Having spent the whole morning ferrying Mallory and a vast number of her possessions to Uppercross Farm, and stepping in every
time her father’s language to the removal men crossed the mark of polite behaviour, she hadn’t had time to engage with her own feelings. Now, as the van disappeared down the drive,
followed by Gaby in her bright-red MG, the realisation that this was it hit her in the middle of her chest like a bullet from a gun. She was due to set off for Marina’s, but since she was too
strung up to concentrate on driving, she decided to take one last look at the house and garden before she went.

As she was idly swinging on the old rope swing that still hung from one of the gnarled apple trees and thinking about her mum, she heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel followed by the
slamming of a car door. Assuming that her sister had forgotten something, she ran across the lawn and round the side of the house.

And stopped dead in her tracks.

It wasn’t Gaby.

It was Ruth Croft. She had a mobile phone clamped to her ear and, from the horrified expression on her face, it was clear that whatever she was hearing was not good news.

For a second, Anna considered disappearing into the bushes that flanked the garden but, before she could move more than a couple of paces, she heard something that made her blood run cold and
rooted her to the spot.

‘A booby trap? Oh my God!’

In that instant, Anna knew what it was to feel sick with fear. It was Felix – it had to be. He’d been killed.

‘He did what? How badly hurt?’ Ruth’s next words flooded Anna with relief for a brief instant, until an image of Felix lying mangled and bleeding at the roadside caused her to
gag. Clamping her hand to her mouth, she edged nearer the driveway.

‘He did? Speak up please, I can’t hear . . . when?’ Ruth had dropped her voice and Anna realised she was holding her breath as she strained to hear what she was saying.
‘Is it . . .? Oh thank God.’

The siren from a passing police car blotted out any chance of catching the rest of her words and, by the time Anna crossed the drive to where her car was parked, she had rung off.

‘Mrs Croft?’

Ruth spun round at the sound of Anna’s voice.

‘Oh my goodness, dear, you made me jump!’ she cried, clearly startled. ‘I’d thought you’d all left – your father said it would be OK.’

‘The others have gone,’ Anna assured her, alarmed to see a tear trickling down Ruth’s face. ‘I was just leaving.’ She gestured to where her Smart car, still bearing
the “P” plates from her newly passed driving test, was parked.

‘Oh, that’s all right then – Joseph’s on his way following the removal men. I came ahead to open up and then the phone rang and . . .’

Anna could bear it no longer. ‘Was it about Fe— your nephew?’ she asked, hardly daring to breathe. ‘I couldn’t help overhearing – is he OK?’

‘Thanks be to God, yes – it’s a miracle. He’s making light of it all but . . .’

‘You spoke to him?’ Anna couldn’t restrain the eagerness in her voice.

Ruth nodded. ‘Only for a moment or two, the connection was terrible. Let me tell you, when I took the call and a voice said it was Felix’s commanding officer – well, you can
imagine what I thought, and the relief when he put Felix on the line.’

Her voice cracked and Anna could see that her hands were shaking. ‘I don’t know all the details – apparently they were on patrol and a grenade went off. He hurled himself on to
it to save the others.’

‘Oh God.’ Anna felt sick just thinking about it.

‘And you know what?’ Ruth said with a faint smile. ‘His kitbag took most of the impact. He’s deaf in one ear – they say that’s temporary though; and
he’s got a torn ligament, lots of cuts and bruises, and a couple of broken fingers, but that’s it.’

Her voice broke again, and she looked away, clearly embarrassed at her show of emotion. ‘His guardian angel must have been working overtime,’ she said when she had composed herself.
‘According to the officer, the first thing he asked when the medics got to him was whether Zac was OK.’

‘Zac?’ The name stuck in Anna’s throat. ‘Zac Harville?’

‘Yes, that’s the one – they’ve been friends for years, really close they are. I met him once or twice when I was over in England. Lovely, gentle guy. Why, do you know
him?’

‘My sister went out with him for a bit,’ she murmured. ‘Is he OK?’

‘I guess he must be,’ said Ruth. ‘All the officer said was that thanks to Felix’s quick thinking, no one was seriously hurt.’

Despite dreading the fact that she would be recognised, Anna could see that Ruth was trembling and she felt compelled to help. ‘Can I get you a glass of water or a coffee or
something?’ she ventured. ‘We left a few supplies and there’s some milk in the fridge.’

‘That’s sweet of you,’ Ruth said. ‘But no – I’m all right. Joseph will be here in a bit and I must try to get in touch with Felix’s mother. She’s
on holiday – scuba-diving in Papua New Guinea, if you please – and they couldn’t reach her.’ She sighed. ‘Between you and me, I don’t get on with her. Frankly,
I’ll never know why my brother married her in the first place, and that’s not because I’m racist or against mixed marriages or anything like that. Oh listen to me, babbling on. I
do that when I’m upset, it drives Joseph mad.’ She smiled wanly at Anna. ‘She’s not the maternal type, and Felix was always a daddy’s boy as a kid. Then his father got
ill and that really cut him up. He’s always been a bit of a loner —’

‘Does he have a girlfriend?’ The words had spilled out before Anna had had a chance to stop herself. ‘I mean, I wonder if she knows what’s happened.’

‘Well, there was a girl he seemed keen on. He emailed me a photo once – funny-looking little thing with the strangest hair.’

Anna’s hand went instinctively towards her head, and just as hastily away again. ‘So what happened?’ Her voice was shaky.

‘It didn’t last. I never found out why. We were in Patagonia for over a year you see, and half the time miles from anywhere – just a satellite phone once in a while. I asked a
few questions, interfering auntie that I am, but he clammed up, wouldn’t speak about her. He said she wasn’t worth wasting his breath on.’

‘I’m sorry, Mrs Croft, but I must be getting on,’ Anna said, feeling the colour rushing to her face.

‘Of course you must, dear,’ Ruth nodded. ‘Forgive me rabbiting on like that. As if it was of any interest to you.’

Anna smiled wanly and headed for the car.

‘Now you just tell your father not to worry,’ Ruth called after her. ‘We’ll look after this place like it was our own. And you must come over and meet Felix –
lovely girl like you might be just what he needs to help him get over the shock of what’s happened.’

‘Bye, Mrs Croft.’ Anna yanked open the car door and gave a half-hearted wave in Ruth’s direction. Firing the engine, she shot off down the drive, spraying gravel in all
directions. What a fool she had been to imagine that she could somehow put things straight, and even make Felix fall in love with her all over again. That was never going to happen. Once Felix knew
that his aunt was living in Anna’s old home, he would probably avoid the place like the plague; and even if he didn’t, as soon as Ruth discovered the truth, she would make sure that
Anna didn’t come within ten miles of him, never mind get an invitation to Hampton House.

He said she wasn’t worth wasting his breath on.
Ruth’s words echoed in Anna’s head as she stamped her foot on the accelerator and sped down the road towards
Marina’s village. But every turn in the road reminded her of things they had done and places they had walked. The tears that blinded her made her incapable of driving; she pulled off the
road, lay her head on the steering wheel and sobbed until she made herself feel physically sick.

‘Hi Shannon, how are you?’

‘Better than you, obviously,’ Shannon replied. ‘You’ve been crying.’

‘No, no – it’s just hay fever.’

‘Stop the bullshit,’ Shannon replied amicably. ‘So what’s up?’

Knowing that there was no way that she could pull the wool over her friend’s eyes for long, she gave her a shortened version of the morning’s events.

‘And so, that’s that,’ she concluded. ‘As soon as Ruth finds out from Felix that I’m the girl that blew him out, and . . .’

‘Hang on, hang on,’ Shannon butted in. ‘What’s it got to do with her? Like she’s Felix’s nanny or something?’

‘No but . . .’

‘Anna, you’ve got to stop letting other people run your life for you,’ Shannon declared. ‘There were only two people in the relationship – you and Felix. And OK,
you don’t know how he’s going to feel – but now he’s had a brush with death, maybe he’ll be wanting to see you more than anything on earth.’

Anna gave a short laugh. ‘You always were a romantic,’ she said.

‘Better that than a pessimist,’ her friend replied. ‘Now I’ve had the best idea.’

‘Not another one of your schemes,’ said Anna.

‘It just came to me and it’s the best yet,’ replied Shannon, totally unfazed. ‘Felix is coming back and he’s bound to stay with his aunt, right? So how about we
work it so Wild Chicks get a slot to play at the Kellynch Festival? The cream teas are always in your – well, theirs now I guess – garden and he’d be bound to spot you.’

‘Oh no, the Festival!’ Anna gasped. ‘I’d forgotten all about that.’

The two-day Kellynch Festival and Fayre was an ancient tradition dating back centuries and people came from miles around to share in it. There was something for everyone: charity polo matches
and horse show and gymkhana in the grounds of the nearby agricultural college attracted the county set; the Barn Theatre provided the music and art venues, and the neighbourhood gardens, Hampton
House among them, hosted cream teas, craft stalls, Punch and Judy and face painting for children. The whole weekend culminated in a comic chariot race and fun run in aid of charity.

‘But your dad will have sorted it with the Crofts, right?’

‘I doubt it,’ Anna replied ruefully. ‘He’s had rather a lot on his mind. I bet you the Crofts know nothing about it.’

‘So tell them,’ Shannon said. ‘I’ve already phoned Mia and Lauren and they’re up for it.’

Anna’s mind was racing. ‘Look, Marina’s bound to know what’s going on – she’s the one who sorted all the details out with the tenants. I’ll check it out
with her, OK?’

‘Brilliant,’ Shannon said. ‘Because if this plan doesn’t work, I’ll come up with something else. One way or another, Felix Wentworth is going to fall in love with
you all over again before the summer’s out.’

Anna staggered through the front door, which had been wedged open with a wrought-iron doorstop in the shape of a horse’s head, and dumped the last of her bags on the stone floor.
Delightful and Delicious, Marina’s two blue Burmese cats, stalked out of the kitchen towards her, mewing demandingly and eyeing her with the contempt that only that breed can muster.

‘Marina?’

Anna pushed the door open and stepped into the low-ceilinged sitting room with its ancient beams and inglenook fireplace.

On the opposite wall was Marina’s new plasma TV, in front of which her godmother stood rooted to the spot, gazing at the footage on the screen: armoured vehicles throwing up clouds of
dust, Marines in desert fatigues carrying weapons over their shoulders, and then the words of the unseen newsreader.