Lola's House (Lola Series) (13 page)

‘Well that is one enormous diamond, he must be serious.’

‘Is it?’  I say, clearly puzzled, and put the tea down and dive into my bag to check it out.

‘Wh
at, you haven’t looked at it?’ she says.

‘No, it sort of freaked me out.’  I pull the box
out of my bag and gently prise open the lid.  ‘Oh my God.’  My mouth falls open.

‘That is a whopper.’  Muriel peer
s over my shoulder.

I slump down onto the chair, the ring box still in my hand.  A feeling of desperation washe
s over me.  ‘What am I going to do, Muriel?’

‘I can’t decide that one for you, petal.  He’s a good looking guy to be sure, but is it what you want?’

‘I don’t know.  Surely if I wanted it I’d be certain, but I’m just filled with doubts.  We’ve only been back together for five minutes.  He said he loved me but I don’t know how I feel.  We’ve been apart for twelve months and I haven’t just fallen straight back in love with him.  It’s all a bit rushed, but he looked so pleased with himself when he proposed, I just didn’t want to hurt his feelings.’

‘You can’t marry him just to spare his feelings.  You need to talk about it, tell him you’re not ready because you’re clearly not.’  She squeeze
s my hand for moral support.

I sigh to myself
.  I don’t relish having that conversation with James.  He is a nightmare once he has decided he wants something, and will keep going relentlessly until he gets it.  The rest of the weekend away he had been full of plans for our future together, after we had got married, and talking about moving into the house with me.  All of which I’m not ready to do.  I am enjoying life as it is at the moment - things are starting to fall into place, so I don’t want to do anything that will change that.  Not yet anyway.  I snap the ring box shut again. 

‘I’ll talk to him.’  James had gone back to London after we had got back on Sunday, I didn’t want to have that conversation over the phone, so I resolve to talk to him la
ter in the week when he returns.  I bite my lip at the thought of turning James down.  It might turn out to be a very short reconciliation after all.

By the time I get home that evening I feel physically and mentally exhausted.  I let myself in through the front door and kick off my shoes, resting my feet on the cool tiles feeling the chill seeping into me, it feels so good I don’t want to move.  I glance up at the wall and notice one of the holes in the wall now has a light switch in it and I smile to myself.

The house
is empty, so I go into the kitchen and dump my bags on the table.  I go straight over to the fridge and pull out a bottle of Pinot I have been saving, and pour myself a generous glassful.  I have consumed half a glass in one go and can feel the liquid cursing through my body relaxing me, and I sigh, pleased to be back in my sanctuary away from the madness of the day.

The sound of a roaring engine coming up the drive perk
s up my ears and snaps me back to reality.  Thinking it is Robert returning home, I get out another glass ready for him.  After a few minutes when he hasn’t come in through the front door, I go down the hallway to investigate.

I open
the front door expectantly and my shoulders slump back down as I am greeted by Alex, my brother, standing next to a brand new red Porsche, camera in hand, busily taking photographs of the house.

I stop
in my tracks.  ‘Alex, what are you doing here?’

At over six foot tall, he
stands with the ever present surety of one who is only ever going to do well for himself in life.  Wearing a Paul Smith suit, his floppy blonde hair pushed back on his head and his chiselled looks, he would give Rupert Penry-Jones a run for his money any day of the week.  No formal greeting can be expected from my brother.

‘Just getting some shots of the house while the sun is going down, it’ll look fantastic in this light.’ He sa
ys, snapping away.

‘You mean my house?’  I push
the camera down in his hands to stop him taking any more photos, and motion towards the gleaming Porsche.  ‘Mom mentioned you were having a hard time.’

Completely missing my sarcasm, he answer
s.  ‘Yeah, I couldn’t get the top of the range, had to downsize temporarily, you know until things pick up again.’  He looks up at the house again.  ‘So, it’s looking good, Sis, you’ve done a lot of work since I was here last.  There shouldn’t be any problem selling this baby.’

I
shake my head in despair.  ‘Is this why you’re here?’

‘Of course not, I was just passing the area and I thought I would drop in for a cup of tea with my favourite sister.’

‘You mean your only sister.’ I march off into the house and Alex follows me and starts taking photos of the hallway.  I am now losing my temper with him.  ‘Please stop taking photos, Alex.’

He put
s the camera back into his pocket and gives me his little boy smile.  I immediately feel like I did when we were children and bigger boys were picking on him at school, being mean to him.  ‘I’m sorry, Alex, I’ve had a really hard day.  Come on and I’ll pour you a glass of wine.’

‘I’ll stick to tea if you don’t mind, Sis, I have to drive to Manchester tonight.’  He
comes into the kitchen and sits himself down by the table while I put the kettle on. 

I bus
y myself with the tea making while Alex taps away at his phone smiling to himself.  Then he stands up and motions towards the hallway.  ‘Do you mind if I pop to the bathroom?’

‘You know where it is, I haven’t moved it yet,’ I sa
y, as the kettle snaps off.

Five minutes later, I ha
ve put his tea on the table where he had been sitting.  I am still nursing my glass of wine wondering what is taking him so long.  I get up and go into the hallway where the door to Robert’s sitting room is wide open and Alex is standing in the middle of the room, snapping away on his camera. My eyes widen in horror.  ‘No, you can’t go in there.’

He
stands looking around the room and nodding his head with approval.  ‘Nice.’ 

He fire
s off a few more photos before I grab the camera from his hands and tug at his arm.  ‘You have to leave, Alex, these rooms are private.’

‘Oh yeah, mum said you had a guy shacked up here.’  A snarky smile spread
s across his face and he turns towards me.  ‘You gave him a short lease, right?’

I turn on him now, anger flooding through my veins.  ‘Look, Alex, if you have come over here just to wind me up then I think it’s best if you just turn
around and leave.’

‘You need to calm down a bit,
Lola, no one is forcing you into anything.  Just open your mind to the potential - you’re sitting on a goldmine.’  He looks around him and nods with approval.  ‘We could get four flats, no five if we convert the attic.  We call them luxury apartments and they’ll be worth a fortune especially once we’ve done some landscaping in the gardens.  Hey, you could even keep one of the apartments for yourself, so it’s a win, win situation.’

I
shake my head in exasperation.  I am getting sick and tired of hearing the same old thing from both Mum and Alex.   I briefly wonder whether I could take an injunction out on the pair of them and quickly dismiss it. 

‘Alex, you are really pushing me, you know how I feel about this.  Just drop it will you.’

‘Don’t be like that, Sis, I just want to help you out and take some of this stress away.’  He places a reassuring hand on my shoulder and then immediately snaps himself to attention.  ‘I have to leave anyway, I would have liked to stay over but maybe next time.’ 

He
smiles his winning smile, pecks me on the cheek and spins on his heel striding off out the front door.  I follow him out and he pauses just before he gets back into his car.  ‘Just think about what I have said, Sis, you know it makes sense to release some of the equity you’ve got here.’

I almost push him into his
car, biting down so hard on my lip I can taste blood.  I watch him speed off down the driveway spitting gravel, sunglasses on, cocksure expression on his face and I wonder whether we actually do come from the same gene pool.

Chapter Thirteen

It’s really busy in the shop for a Thursday and I have been on my own all morning.  Muriel is due to arrive within the next half an hour, so as the shop has now emptied I tidy up some of the rails before going to make a welcome cup of tea.  I’d had a text from James earlier saying he would be back this evening, I text him straight back and arrange for him to come over to mine for dinner, though God only knew what I was going to cook. 

I ha
ve also received a call from Katherine to let me know my first delivery would be with me by Monday morning, a thrill of excitement shoots through me at the thought of seeing the actual garments and getting them displayed in the shop.  Muriel and I have been busy planning the launch event to get the message out about the new line, and hopefully bring in more business.  She had also agreed to increase her hours as long as we get additional permanent Saturday staff in place, so I was considering this as the back door opened and Muriel popped her head in.

‘Good news, you’ll be pleased to know the website is ready to launch. My nephew will be calling in tomorrow to show us how it all works, so you’ll need to bring your laptop
,’ she says, dropping her bag onto the desk and hanging her coat on the back of the door.

‘Damn, I knew there was something I had to do.  I was going to buy a new laptop, just for the
shop.’  I pour the boiling water onto the tea bags and give each one a little squeeze with the back of the spoon.

‘No matter, you can pop o
ut this afternoon, can’t you?’ she says, pulling a packet of dark chocolate digestives from her handbag, at which my face lights up.

‘Yes, I have to call in at home anyway
,’ I say, dumping the tea bags in the bin and stirring milk into both mugs, a little in mine and a lot in Muriel’s.  ‘You wouldn’t believe how busy I have been so far today, I bet we’ve doubled the takings.’

‘That’s good news, and it will be even better once we get the new stock in and do the re-launch.’ 
She blows the surface of her tea to cool it down.

‘Speaking of which, I had a call from Katherine earlier and she’s bringing our first delivery on Monday.’
My face is beaming so hard I think it may crack.

‘That is exciting.  We could put some of the new stock on the website, when we work out how to use it of course
,’ she says, raising her eyebrows.

‘I know, I’m not very
techy so I hope your nephew has lots of patience,’ I say, frowning to myself. ‘I was thinking we should invite some journalists from the local papers and ply them with wine and food, and then hopefully they will give us a good write up.  What do you think?’

‘I think that’s an excellent idea, how about
a week on Thursday?’

‘It would be a bit of a tight schedule, but if we pull our fingers out on Monday we could do it I’m sure.’  I sigh to myself.  ‘I just wish I hadn’t got that damned hen weekend to go to tomorrow, I could do with concentrating on the shop.’

‘You could do with letting your hair down for a change too.  The shop will still be here when you get back.  Just go and enjoy yourself and we can get stuck in with the re-launch next week.’  She offers the packet of digestives to me.

‘Yes, I know you’re right.’  I dunk a biscuit into my tea quickly, not wanting it to break off and sink to the bottom. 
‘I’ve just had so much going on - I’ve been all over the place.  And what with James and his rather impromptu proposal I just haven’t been able to settle all week.’

‘That’s all the more reason for you to have a time out and get away from everything.’  Muriel dunk
s and narrowly misses losing half of her biscuit, before skilfully manoeuvring it to her mouth.  It comes from years of practice.  ‘Have you spoken to James yet?’

‘I’m seeing him later, but I’m really not sure how he will take it when I tell h
im I don’t want to get married,’ I say, biting the inside of my lip.

‘If he loves you, like he says he does, I’m sure he’ll wait.’ 
She gives me one of her earnest looks.

‘Well
, I will find out soon enough.  Better keep your fingers crossed for me.’

Having spent a surprisingly short amount of time purchasing a new laptop, I then do a quick dash round a few other shops before arriving home.  As I pull up on the drive, I am greeted by pandemonium.  Kev, Robert and Barry the electrician are standing round together in a circle, concentrating on something on the ground, whilst Ned is flapping around them like a chicken with its head cut off.  Harley is running round in circles, chasing his tail and yapping excitedly.

Bemused
, I get out of the car and walk over to them to hear Kev screaming, Robert is examining something on the ground. I look down and recoil in horror.  A six inch nail is protruding from the top of Kev’s boot and sticky dark red blood is oozing over the laces, and I notice he is standing on one of my oak floorboards.

‘What
on earth is going on?’  I ask anyone in particular.  Ned is beside himself and looks as if he might pass out any second and Barry ignores me, too busy with his phone, grinning to himself as he takes photos of the injured foot.

‘He had a lit
tle accident with the nail gun,’ Robert says, as he tries to survey the damage.

My hand fl
ies to my mouth.  ‘Oh my God, is that floorboard nailed to his boot?’

Robert nod
s.  ‘Yes, it’s gone all the way through.’

I grab hold of Ned and tr
y to calm him down.  ‘How did this happen, Ned?’

Ned wipe
s the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.  ‘We had finished the wiring in the spare bedroom, and Kev was nailing the floorboards back down.  He was listening to Kerrang radio on his headphones as he likes a bit of music while he works.’

‘Okay
,’ I say, nodding my head.

‘Well Black Sabbath came on, and he’s always loved them you see.  Me and Betty took him to see them in concert when he was little and he couldn’t get enough of them,
head banging away all the time, like a little nodding dog he was.’

I nod my head
in a similar fashion, impatiently waiting for him to get to the point.

‘Well he
was using the nail gun to play air guitar, really getting into the music, but it sort of went off in his hand,’ Ned gulps, another cry of despair coming from his mouth.  ‘And now look at him.’

I roll my eyes and sh
ake my head.  ‘Oh, Ned, that is so dangerous.’

‘I know
, missus, but he can’t help himself, he’s got music in his soul.’

‘Yes well, he also has a very large nail in his foot too.’ I look down at it feeling my stomach go queasy.

‘What am I going to do missus?’  Ned is rubbing the back of his neck as if the answer lies there.

‘You have to take him to accident and emergency, immediatel
y, so they can get the nail out,’ I say, trying to hold onto him to stop him taking off again in panic.

‘I’m not sure I can drive
, missus, I’m shaking so much.  Look at me hands.’  They tremble as he holds them out in front of him.

‘I’ll run you down there
, Ned,’ Robert pipes up, ‘just calm yourself down.’

‘I’ll have to leave the truck here
, missus.’ He jangles the keys nervously in his hands.

‘That’s fine
- you can sort it out later.  You need to get Kev seen to, and quickly.  I just hope his foot will be okay,’ I say, as I watch them pile into Robert’s car.  ‘Oh and don’t forget to bring my floorboard back.’

Before I know it, it’s six-thirty and James will be here any minute.  Robert had come back earlier and grabbed an overnight bag and gone off with Harley, where to I didn’t ask.  He said Kev and Ned were still at the hospital, so Barry had taken Ned’s truck to pick them up.

I ha
ve spent so long messing around with the new laptop, getting it set up, and putting on the antivirus software, and then having a quick shower and getting dressed, I have completely lost track of time.  It’s surprising what can be achieved in ten minutes, considering the amount of time I have spent in the past getting ready for dates.

The readymade food I had bought from Marks and Spencer’s
is still sitting in the fridge, I haven’t even got round to popping it into the oven.  I had planned to pass it off as my own creation, but I haven’t got time for that now. 

I stop to check my appearance in the mirror
– I’m wearing a black wrap dress that ties at the waist and hugs my figure, the skirt pleasingly swirling around my knees in silky folds.  I have added some black suede peep toe stilettos which really set the outfit off, and diamond earrings and bracelet James had bought me when we were going out together the first time.  All in all I feel quite confident with my hair straightened and just the right amount of make-up.

Satisfied I
am looking presentable, I close the bedroom door behind me as I hear the doorbell ring out.  I take a deep breath to compose myself and make my way downstairs.  I will have to stay focused and make sure James doesn’t try and talk me round, I know from past experience he can have me agreeing to anything without even realising what I’m doing, he can be very charming and persuasive when he wants to be. So, I plan to sit him down over dinner and talk seriously without any distractions, and keep my resolve.  I bite my lip nervously – I’m not looking forward to this at all.

I open the door and James immediately breaks into a grin.  ‘Wow, you’re looking fantastic.’

He step
s over the threshold and wraps his arms around me, pressing me up against the doorframe.  I have a sudden flashback to the previous week when Robert had done a similar thing and I start to fidget nervously, already on the back foot.

‘God I’ve missed you.’  James sa
ys, as his lips come down on mine and his hands travel down my body.  He quickly slips both hands under the skirt of my dress and runs them up my bare thighs.  ‘I’ve been looking forward to this all week, imaging what I’m going to do with you.  What do you say we skip dinner and go straight to dessert?’

I fe
el a little caught off guard - this hadn’t been part of my immediate plan.  ‘But I was going to cook dinner.’  I don’t mention Marks and Spencer have done most of the hard work already.

‘
Bollocks to that, we can get a takeaway later,’ he says, kicking the front door shut and leading me up to the bedroom.  Admittedly, I don’t exactly have to be dragged upstairs.  My plan has fallen apart already.

So, that’s how I end
up, two hours later, lying naked in my brass bed.  My dress is lying in a crumpled silky puddle on the floor, and there is one stiletto shoe on the bed, and the other I will have to find later.  James is lying next to me, snoring softly.  I watch as his eyelashes flutter on his cheeks, his lips parting slightly as he exhales.  He looks as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, and I start to feel annoyed at myself for being such a pushover.

I’m sure on some level James knew I was going to turn down his proposal, so he plan
ned this whole seduction as a diversionary tactic to avoid the conversation.  He knows I’m weak and likely to chicken out given the first opportunity.  But now, I can feel it burning away inside of me still, and I mentally kick myself for feeling too horny to resist his advances, although I must admit it had been a pretty damn good diversion.

Instinctively
, I give him a little kick under the duvet and he springs awake with a start.  ‘What, what’s the matter?’

‘I need to talk to you, James,’ I sa
y, sitting myself upright.

He pull
s me back down beside him, and snuggles into my side.  ‘Let’s sleep now and talk later.’

I pull away from him again and s
it up.  ‘No, James, I have to say it now, I can’t leave it hanging.’

He exhale
s loudly and rolls onto his back staring at the ceiling.  ‘What’s so urgent it can’t wait until morning?’  A light comes on in his eyes, and then he turns and grins lasciviously, running his hand down my body and between my legs.  ‘Are you ready to go again?’

‘God no, James.’
  I pull his hand away.  ‘I need to talk to you, about us getting married.’

‘Oh yeah, Mrs McCormack.
  How do you like the sound of that?’  He grins to himself.

‘That’s the thing, James, I don’t.’

He looks confused for a moment.  ‘You don’t like my name?’

‘No, your name is fine.  What I mean is I’m not ready to get married.  It’s just too fast for me.’

He looks crestfallen for a second but then seems to quickly recover.  ‘I know, how about we get married later in the year, you know, a Christmas wedding.  How do you fancy that, Mrs McCormack?’

‘No, James, stop calling me that.  You’re not listening to me.  As it stands I don’t want to get married.  I’m happy as I am.  We’ve been back together for just a couple of weeks.  I was enjoying getting to know you again, but now I just feel pressurised.’  I grab hold of his hand on the duvet.  ‘I’m not saying I don’t want to be with you,
and I’m not saying I never want to marry you, I’m just saying it’s all too quick for me.  Let’s just see how it goes between us and maybe I’ll feel differently in a few years.’