Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (13 page)
Laurie reluctantly agreed to help her mum out at the salon, applying fake nails, making appointments and getting to grips with rollers. In the evenings she worked on her portfolio of fashion designs for the course she was signed up to at Central St Martins in London. That summer Laurie had managed to get together some cash to take to college, but she certainly hadn’t found herself.
But now here she was in Yorkshire. She took in the lively babble of voices around her. What was it you were supposed to experience on your gap year?
Unintelligible dialect – she had that here.
Challenges – she thought of Diana’s hostility the other night. Tick.
Culinary differences – she glanced over at the pie shop. Oh yes.
There was one more thing, wasn’t there?
She glanced at the people who surrounded her: the bobbly scarves and checked trousers, gaudy flower-prints and overstyled hair. Yes – the potential to
help people
.
She thought back to the ad she’d glanced at in the paper – ‘Interested in Fashion? Volunteers Wanted’.
She had a week and a half left in Skipley before she and Rachel swapped back: a gap week. She wouldn’t be coming back with beach-tied braids or flip-flops, but maybe she could do something character-building. Laurie had always done things quickly – surely that could apply to finding herself too?
CHAPTER
12
Monday 4th December
Rachel was standing at the kitchen table, dismantling the sculpture Zak had made over breakfast out of tins, cereal packets and a plantain. It wasn’t just the breadfruit, Rachel thought. Various things had started appearing in the flat. There was the plantain, too – and the plectrums she’d found on the coffee table, the new copy of
Guitar Weekly
.
‘Minor disaster,’ Aiden said, putting his head around the kitchen doorway. ‘Sorry, Rach, the shower’s broken. It just came off the wall, the attachment thing. There’s water flooding out.’
Aiden was acting as if this week were just like any other but his face betrayed him – it was pale with stress, and his frown lines had deepened. The news about Bea’s biopsy would be coming in the next couple of days, and they both knew it could change everything. In the middle of the night Rachel had woken up to find an empty space where Aiden normally lay, and heard the low hum of the TV in the front room. She’d touched the sheets next to her, still warm. He must be having trouble sleeping too. Dr Patel’s words had been going round and round in Rachel’s head all night.
‘Flooding?’ she said.
‘A bit, yes. I’m really sorry, Rach, I’m going to have to run.’ Aiden was hurriedly scrubbing his hair dry with a towel. ‘I’ve got to get to this meeting,’ Aiden explained. ‘It’s with a furniture design company – I’m hoping they might be able to knock us up a few things for Westley.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Rachel said. ‘Honestly, go, get ready.’
Aiden ducked out of the kitchen and Rachel peeked into Laurie’s pristine bathroom. ‘Thanks. I’ll make it up to you,’ he shouted from the bedroom.
Rachel took in the scene – water was gushing from a hole in the wall into the freestanding bath and trickling down the wall onto a stack of clean white towels. Zak dashed in off the sofa and stood watching, transfixed. ‘It’s like a waterfall,’ he said, as Rachel draped an arm around his shoulder. ‘Isn’t it, Mum?’
Rachel rolled up the sleeves of her checked shirt and leaned in to take a closer look. Her plumbing skills were pretty rudimentary, but if she could fix it herself, she would. But as she tried to stem the flow with a towel held in one hand, and lifted the towels off the floor with the other to inspect the damage, she saw that they’d hardly soaked up any of the enormous puddle underneath.
‘Oh no, Aiden,’ she called out, ‘do you think it’ll go through into the downstairs flat?’
‘Er, I guess it might,’ Aiden replied. He was standing in the bathroom doorway, pulling suit trousers on over his white Calvin Kleins and biting his lip. ‘It’s not good, is it?’ He took another look in at the water cascading out. ‘Seriously, Rach, all I did was hold it, I promise.’
She dialled Laurie’s mobile. ‘Look, it’s OK,’ said Rachel, with the phone still at her ear. ‘You get on your way. We’ll get it sorted. See you back here later?’ The call was going through to Laurie’s answerphone.
Aiden grabbed his briefcase and gave her a kiss. ‘Yes. I’m going to go and see Mum before coming home,’ he said, squeezing her hand. ‘And thank you. I
will
make it up to you, I promise.’
He leaned down to give Zak a hug before heading out of the front door and closing it behind him with a slam.
A moment later, Milly emerged from her bedroom and peered into the room, mascara smears under her eyes. She seemed to be sleeping in later each day. ‘What’s going on?’
‘It’s a minor disaster,’ Zak parroted.
‘That’s about right,’ Rachel said. She was standing next to the wall, pressing a towel against the tiles to stop the flow. It was then that Milly stepped forward into the doorway, in her purple pyjamas, to reveal that she was holding a white-pawed tabby cat in her arms. She stroked its ears gently.
‘Oh, right. Well, look what I found in my room,’ she said, swivelling her body around slightly so that the cat in her arms was facing Rachel. It mewed gently.
‘A cat!’ Zak called out, stepping nearer and reaching out to stroke its back.
‘A cat,’ Rachel sighed, and smiled. ‘Right, just what we need. Listen, guys, I’ve got to pop downstairs and let them know they might have Niagara coming through their ceiling in a minute. Can you keep an eye on things, Mills?’
Milly nodded yes, and then swiftly batted Zak’s hand away from the cat. ‘Gently, Zak. And not backwards, he doesn’t like it.’
‘Don’t worry, Mum, we will all watch the waterfall while you’re gone,’ Zak said.
From:
[email protected]
Hi Milly,
Great to hear from you – and wow, this sounds like exciting news. I think you must be the first person ever to come to ME for romantic advice, I’m not sure I’m the expert there, but I’ll do my best! I’d say carry on getting to know each other, and go with your gut feeling. He sounds really nice – and very into you (who can blame him). I’m sure whatever you decide, your parents will come around to the idea, it might be weird for them at first, but they love you and will want you to be happy. Plus, they’re pretty reasonable, as parents go.
Good luck and keep me posted. And enjoy London – it’s the best city in the world!
Laurie xx
Rachel kept on pressing the bell as music was playing in Jay’s flat and she reasoned he must not have heard it when she rang the first time. The door opened on her third ring.
‘Rachel, hi,’ Jay said with a smile. ‘Sorry – have you been waiting? It’s a bit loud in here.’ She was almost too flustered to notice how his white T-shirt set off his golden skin. Almost.
A man passed behind Jay through into the kitchen, followed by a young blonde woman. ‘Harley, our drummer,’ Jay said, gesturing backwards – ‘and Amber – Harley, can you turn it down a bit?’ Jay asked, looking over his shoulder.
‘Sorry to bother you,’ Rachel said. ‘But it’s a bit of an emergency, I’m afraid. There’s a problem with our shower. The attachment came away from the wall and all watery hell has broken loose. So there’s a chance you’ll have a leak coming through your ceiling – I guess –’ she said, peeking into the flat to check the layout was the same – ‘it would be your bathroom ceiling.’
‘Oh that shower,’ Jay said calmly, ‘I know it well.’ He smiled. ‘Don’t worry, it’s happened before and for some reason the water’s never come through.’ Jay’s laidback manner was contagious, and Rachel found herself relaxing a little. The shower really didn’t seem like such a big deal all of a sudden. ‘Laurie had some issues with it when she first installed it. I can come up now and sort it out for you now, if you like?’
‘No … I mean,’ Rachel floundered, ‘I didn’t mean that.’
‘It’s really not a problem,’ Jay said. ‘Seriously, it didn’t take long at all last time.’
‘It was this part here,’ he said, pointing to where the shower tap attached to the wall as he dried his hands. ‘I’ve fixed it, but you’ll just have to be gentle when you’re using it.’ He swept up the wet towels and chucked them into the laundry basket in the corner of the room. ‘Laurie was totally set on getting this freestanding bath,’ he said, smiling and shaking his head. ‘It was in
Elle Decor
or something.’
Rachel smiled. ‘Well, thank you. So much – we really appreciate it. I think you’ve earned a cup of tea. Will you stay for one?’
‘Sure,’ Jay said, putting his tools to one side and following her through into the living room.
Rachel took some chocolate-chip biscuits out of a packet and put them on a plate, then brought them with the tea into the living room.
‘You’re a lifesaver,’ Rachel said.
‘Honestly, it’s fine,’ Jay said. ‘Actually it’s given me a break from Harley’s nagging,’ he smiled. ‘We’ve got a gig tonight and I think he’s nervous, he thinks we haven’t rehearsed enough.’ He laughed. ‘Band politics. Worse than families.’
Rachel poured the tea and offered Jay the plate of biscuits.
‘You’re a musician?’ Rachel asked.
‘Yes,’ Jay said. ‘Harley and I started a band in our twenties and we play gigs every so often, tour a bit.’
‘Is it full-time?’ Rachel asked.
‘It used to be, but recently I’ve been busy starting up a small business. I trained as a cabinet-maker a while back and recently I’ve had a few commissions. Just got a workshop around the corner so I can expand.’
‘Sounds interesting,’ Rachel said.
‘I enjoy it,’ he said. ‘Anyway, how are you guys settling in up here?’ he asked, looking around.
‘Good, thanks,’ Rachel said. ‘Zak and Milly found a cat this morning, they’re playing with it in her room, that’s what’s keeping them quiet.’
‘Don’t tell me,’ Jay said, narrowing his brown eyes. ‘Tabby, white paws, bags of cunning?’
‘Is he a regular at yours too?’ Rachel asked.
‘He should be,’ Jay joked. ‘He’s mine – his name’s Mr Ripley. So-called for his talents at finding his way into other people’s flats. I do feed him, I promise,’ he laughed. ‘He’s just got an adventurous spirit. Anyway, if Zak and Milly are playing with him I’ll just grab him when I go back down. So, feline visitors and disobedient showers aside, are you enjoying your stay?’
‘Yes,’ Rachel said. ‘Although it’s not a holiday. My husband Aiden’s mum is sick in hospital and she needed to see a specialist here.’ Rachel glanced down and took a sip of her tea.
‘Oh,’ Jay said, sitting forward on the sofa. ‘I didn’t realise. I’m really sorry to hear that.’
‘Thanks,’ Rachel said. ‘We’re just grateful to Laurie for letting us stay here, for suggesting the house swap. I don’t know how we would have managed otherwise.’
‘A house swap?’ Jay said.
‘Yes, she’s staying at our place. A cottage in a tiny Yorkshire village probably isn’t her usual scene.’
Jay smiled in surprise. ‘Yorkshire? Wow. I knew she was going on holiday – but that’s not quite what I pictured. I don’t think she’s been further north than Hampstead before. How is she coping?’
‘She said something about wanting a change of scene. And Skipley really is beautiful.’
‘I’m sure it is,’ Jay said, sitting back into the sofa. ‘Laurie in the countryside,’ he said, as if he was picturing it. He went quiet for a moment, then a smile crept back on to his face. ‘In those heels she wears?’
Rachel smiled. ‘I left her some wellies.’
‘Now there’s an image. And what, then you’ll switch back before Christmas?’ Jay said, and Rachel nodded.
‘Shame, in a way, that you won’t be staying longer, I mean. Christmas here is great. Lily puts on an amazing spread. A lot of kids there too, Zak and Milly would enjoy it.’
‘Oh yes, Laurie told me about that,’ Rachel said. ‘But Christmas for us is just family. We’re a bit boring like that.’
‘Nothing boring about it,’ Jay said, finishing his cup of tea. ‘Listen, I should go. But thank you for the tea.’
‘No, thank you,’ Rachel said, ‘you really saved the day fixing that leak.’
‘No worries,’ he said. ‘See you again soon. Now, if you don’t mind I’m just going to try and persuade my cat to come home with me.’
From:
[email protected]
Hi Milly,
I like the photos you sent, thanks. I’m sitting in the Lion and the Unicorn, where the four of us were the other night.
Wondering what songs you’d be putting on the jukebox if you were here now. I wish you were. They’ve got loads of Motown stuff, like the Supremes. You said you liked them, right? I’m going to put a song on for you now.
Carter x
From:
[email protected]
Hi Milly,
Me again. What’s your phone number? Can I call you? I saw Kate again and asked for it, but she wouldn’t give it to me for some reason. I don’t know, she was being weird. Listen, Milly, I want to talk to you properly, hear your voice.
