The Lie of Love (10 page)

‘I’d say I look like someone who
has been asleep all night in my soft bed with my sweet dreams,’ he grinned.

‘Something
like
that,’ Julia replied, rolling her eyes.

‘We should probably get on,’
Darcy said, trying to change the subject to something altogether less
treacherous.  ‘People are gathering now and I think they’re expecting
entertainment.’

‘They’ll get that alright,’ Harry
said. He winked at his mother. ‘See you later. Collect lots of
dosh
, won’t you?’ he called behind him as he raced over to
the orange and yellow-clad group waiting by the lifeguard station.

‘
Ooop
,
there’s Ray Matthews from the council,’ Julia said, twisting her head to see a
man in a navy suit and tie that was completely at odds with the laidback,
holiday environment, step onto the sand. ‘I’ll just go and grab a quick word
with him before we start.’

‘No problem,’ Darcy said. Julia
took off across the beach towards the man, long purposeful strides marking her
out as someone who meant business. Whatever it was she wanted to speak to Mr
Matthews about, Darcy was in no doubt she would get her point across.
Distracted from her musings by the peal of laughter coming from a nearby
family, Darcy ran her eyes over the crowds, reminded that she was still waiting
for the arrival of her own. There was no sign of
Ged
and the children.

‘He’ll be here,’ Amanda said,
guessing Darcy’s worries.

‘I hope so.’ Darcy chewed her lip
and glanced in the direction that Harry had just taken. Right now she needed
Ged
to be there more than ever, if
only to save her from her own foolish thoughts.  She needed him to be the
man she loved, she needed him to remind her why she had married him and vowed
to forsake all others, because right now, the
Ged
-shaped
hole in the crowd was doing a terrible job of that.  ‘Perhaps I should
phone, make sure he’s up and getting the kids ready. When I left he was still
in bed but he promised he was getting up.’

‘If he promised to get up then he
will have done.’ Amanda handed Darcy a bright yellow bucket with a coin slot in
the lid. ‘You and I have too much work to do to worry about that. Check out
that crowd of purses and wallets, untapped, right over by the harbour wall.
They’ll be off to the shops with all that lovely silver and gold in no time if
we don’t go and relieve them of it.’

Darcy laughed, anxiety draining away.
It was hard to stay fretful when you were within range of Amanda’s infectious
optimism. ‘Ok…. So what’s the plan of attack?’

‘You hold them down and I’ll
rifle in their pockets.’

‘You should hold them down,’
Darcy said. ‘You could use your stilettos to pin their arms to the ground.’

‘Yes, but you have actual
physical fitness on your side,’ Amanda countered.

‘Oh yes,’ Darcy wryly, ‘those two
runs I’ve been on lately have turned me into a ninja warrior.’

‘You’re still training, though?’
Amanda asked as they started to walk towards the crowds.

‘Sort of.
It’s hard to stay motivated though.’

‘It is when you’re training on
your own. You need a partner to run with.’

‘I don’t know anyone.
Ged
certainly wouldn’t come. He’d
be too busy rolling on the floor laughing at me to run anyway.’

‘What about Harry? He’s a fitness
nut.’

Darcy halted. ‘Harry?’ It was a
terrible, disastrous idea. So why did it sound so appealing when Amanda
suggested it? As quickly as the thought had lodged itself in her mind, she
pushed it out. ‘I’m sure he wouldn’t have time to jog around after a middle
aged lump just in case she had an asthma attack.’

‘You’re not middle aged and I
don’t recall you having asthma.’

‘I will after this race is over.’

‘If you’re worried about looking
bad, why don’t you do a little more training alone, get your fitness levels up,
and then ask him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.’

‘No,’ Darcy said, shaking her
head vehemently to reinforce the negative. ‘I’m quite capable of doing it
myself. And
Ged’s
scorn
alone should be motivation enough. Perhaps I should just staple a photo of him
laughing to a stick attached to my head and run after it.’

‘That could work,’ Amanda said as
they resumed their walk. ‘Sometimes I do think you’re a secret genius.’

‘Only secret?
Not an out-and-out
bonafide
Einstein?
How disappointing.’

‘Darcy!’

Both women turned to see Ethan
Reeves from the
Echo
hailing them as he strode along the sand. He was in
a casual polo shirt, open at the neck, and a pair of slacks with canvas shoes.
It was a far cry from the slick suit he had worn to Darcy’s house.

‘Someone’s dressed for the
occasion,’ Amanda said approvingly.

‘It’s the reporter from the
Echo
.’

‘Then I’m very sorry I missed him
at your house.’

Darcy shot her a weary look. ‘Do
I need to remind you about a certain husband?’

‘Oh absolutely.
My heart will always belong to my Mr Right, but sometimes my eyes belong to all
the Mr Wrongs.’

‘As long as it’s only your eyes,’
Darcy laughed.

‘I haven’t missed the start, have
I?’ Ethan panted as he caught up.

‘I think they’re just about to
announce the first event.’ Amanda held out a hand. ‘I’m Amanda Gale, by the
way, campaign manager for
Sophie’s Steps
.’

‘Ah, yes,’ Ethan held Amanda’s
hand in a firm grip as they shook. ‘Darcy told me all about your instrumental
role in the fundraising efforts. I’ll be sure to get a few words and a photo,
but now I need to catch the lifeguards before they start.’

‘Of course,’ Amanda purred. ‘I’m
not going anywhere in a hurry.’

Ethan tilted his head in
acknowledgement and then rushed after a man carrying a camera case who was
making his way to the group of lifeguards now warming up and taunting each
other, their raucous laughter ringing out across the beach.

‘He’s rather charming,’ Amanda
said as she watched him go.

Darcy gave a theatrical frown.
‘You need tablets for that.’

‘What?’ Amanda’s eyes were wide
with mock innocence.

‘Your hormones
going loco.’

Amanda laughed. ‘I don’t think
I’m the only one.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Darcy asked.  Even as the words left her lips she felt herself colour. She
knew exactly what Amanda meant and she wished there was no way to deny it that
wouldn’t sound like a pathetic lie.

‘I’ve seen the way you go all
gooey-eyed when Harry talks to you. It’s disgusting.’

Darcy looked across to see that
Amanda was grinning at her, despite her words of disapproval. ‘He’s cute,’
Darcy said, ‘but far too young, obviously,’ she added quickly. ‘It’s just a bit
of harmless flirting, that’s all.’

‘And we all enjoy a little bit of
that from time to time. Don’t worry; I’m not judging you. Just don’t deny me my
silver-fox fantasies if you’re going to have your toy boy ones.’

Darcy laughed self-consciously.
‘Ok, it’s a deal. Now I suppose we should do some actual fundraising at some
point instead of discussing the finer points of the opposite sex.’

‘Agreed.
Let’s start with that affluent and generous looking bunch over there…’

‘Perhaps we ought to split up,’
Darcy said. ‘You deploy your charm with them and I’ll go the other way, rattle
my bucket and try to look desperate enough to get the sympathy vote.’

Amanda roared with laughter.
‘We’ve got this fundraising pegged, haven’t we?’

‘We seem to.’

‘Right, let’s work the crowd and
I’ll see you back here in half an hour, just before the games start.’

‘Don’t forget…’ Darcy called
after Amanda’s already retreating figure, ‘you’re not supposed to ask…’

‘Yes, yes,’ Amanda called back.
‘People have to offer to give, I know. But how can they refuse such a worthy
cause?’

Darcy smiled. She loved Amanda’s
faith in people and her endless enthusiasm. She wished she could be more like
that instead of constantly sliding down the slimed walls of her own bottomless
well of self-doubt.  Once again she found herself scanning the crowds for
a sign of
Ged
and the
children. And once again she was disappointed. Why couldn’t he support her,
just once? Was it really that much to ask?

Her attention was drawn by
another familiar figure. Darcy looked to see Rachel pick her way gracefully
over the sand. She was wearing a short flared dress, pulled in at her tiny
waist by a wide belt. Her hair had been tousled into loose waves that spilled
over her shoulders and down her back and her skin had a subtle, sun-kissed glow
which brought out the intense brown of her eyes.  She gave Darcy a shy
wave, before turning to the crowd of lifeguards. Darcy guessed she was
searching for one in particular and the sudden dart of resentment and envy that
pierced her heart took Darcy completely by surprise. Rachel was young and
pretty and charming – any boy would be a fool not to be flattered by her
attentions and any boy would desire her. When Harry looked at Darcy, she could
never be sure that the lust in his eyes was real or in her imagination, but
when he looked at Rachel, there was no mistaking it.

Darcy watched her trip over the
sand, watched Harry get nudged by one of his companions as she approached them,
watched his head flick up from a clipboard he had been studying, watched his
genuine grin of delight as he saw her. Darcy watched all these things and felt
a hollow sickness inside.

‘What are you collecting for?’

Darcy turned to find a young
woman with an ice-cream encrusted toddler clamped to her hip standing next to
her, trying to peer at the details on the side of her bucket. She stared at the
woman almost as if surprised to find anyone else there.  Shaking herself
she forced a smile, reminded of the reason why she needed to rid herself of all
the selfish impulses that seemed to rule her lately and concentrate on the
things that really mattered.

‘It’s for my daughter… she has
cerebral palsy and we’re trying to take her to America
for an operation that could help her to walk.’

‘Really?’ the woman asked,
sounding impressed. ‘That’s an incredible thing to do.’

‘I don’t know,’ Darcy shrugged,
‘I think most mums would do the same if they could.’

‘Not all mums…’ the woman set the
protesting toddler down for a moment and rifled in a small satchel slung across
her shoulder. ‘Just for a minute, Nancy…’
the woman said to the little girl who had now started to wail. She produced a
handful of coins and gave them to the girl. ‘Why don’t you put these in the
lady’s bucket?’

At this, the little girl stopped
her crying, like a switch had been flicked, and she beamed. Carefully, she
slotted the coins, one by one, into the hole in the lid of the bucket.

‘Thank you so much,’ Darcy said,
smiling at the little girl and then up at her mum. ‘Every person who helps us
takes us a little bit closer to Sophie’s dreams of walking.’

The woman reached for Darcy’s
hand and gave it a squeeze. For a moment, Darcy was taken aback by the
familiarity of the gesture, but then she relaxed.

‘I hope you raise the money and
make her dreams come true,’ the woman said. ‘I wish you all the luck in the
world… you deserve it and so does your little girl.’ She scooped up her own
daughter and ledged her back on one hip. ‘Wave goodbye, Nancy…’

The little girl waved a podgy
hand.

‘Are you staying for the games?’
Darcy asked.

The woman shook her head. ‘We’re
on holiday, love, came down to the beach for one last look before we head home.
And I have a husband waiting impatiently in a car somewhere so we can get
going.’

Darcy wished she could say the
same as she bid the woman goodbye. Even an impatient husband would be better
than an absent one right now.

Darcy spent the next half hour
wandering amongst the crowds, smiling politely, offering thanks and a kind word
or more information about their cause whenever she received a donation. By the
time she had caught up with Amanda again, the first event had been announced
and was about to begin. 

‘How did you get on?’ Amanda
asked.

Darcy shook her bucket in reply, a
satisfying rattle of coins issuing forth.
‘How about you?’

Amanda handed her bucket over and
Darcy frowned as she weighed it up. ‘It feels light… Your end was not so good?’

‘Silly… it’s full of notes!’
Amanda laughed.

Darcy grinned in return as she handed
it back. ‘Good old Amanda
… working
your magic, eh?’

‘Naturally…’

Their attention was drawn by a
row of four lifeguards lining up at makeshift starting blocks further up the
beach.

‘Looks like we’re off,’ Amanda
said. ‘I’ve been so looking forward to this one.’

‘You mean to say that you weren’t
bowled over with excitement by the bingo at the old folks’ home last week?’
Darcy grinned.

‘Strange how it doesn’t have
quite the same appeal, isn’t it? Must be something to do with the lovely beach
air…’

‘More like the lovely toned beach
bodies,’ Darcy laughed.

‘That too.’

Darcy was continually being
amazed by the generosity and good nature of the public on which her quest
relied, and as they stood in the audience, entertained for the next few hours
by sporting antics as diverse as dinghy dragging, sandcastle jumping and a
trampoline based game dubbed
Baywatch Bouncing
, they were barely left
alone for two minutes without someone wanting to donate. It gave her the
warmest feeling to know that people cared so much for a girl they didn’t know
and a family who hardly registered the tiniest indent on the face of the earth.
 For a short while, as she watched the lifeguards cajole and win over the
crowd with their good humoured antics and infectious enthusiasm, as she watched
Harry in particular display the kind of physical prowess that had given him the
supple young body he now boasted, she could almost forget that she had been
abandoned by her own husband.
But not quite.