The One You Really Want (4 page)

‘It's not funny. You're single, he's married. Nancy is my best friend and that bastard's cheating on her, I just know he is.'

Looking around the living room, with its complete absence of Christmas decorations, Rennie said, ‘If she's your best friend and you were going to be here on your own, why didn't she invite you up there for Christmas?'

‘She did. I turned her down, said I couldn't miss my shift at the shelter.'

‘And the real reason is?'

‘You know what I'm like. I can get a bit mopey at this time of year. I didn't want to inflict my moods on other people, make them feel guilty for having fun and enjoying themselves.' Carmen wriggled herself into a more comfortable position on the sofa. ‘Plus, I never did like Jonathan. The thought of having to pretend I did was more than I could stand.'

‘You see? That's the difference between us. I never pretend to like people I don't like. Complete waste of time. Why can't everyone just say what they think?'

‘Because world war would break out and everyone would end up dead.' Patiently Carmen said, ‘And how would that help?'

‘But what if your friend Nancy's got it all wrong? I mean, I've never met her husband, and he does
sound
like a dickhead, but she doesn't know for sure that he's fooling around, does she? OK, just off the top of my head here,' Rennie raked his fingers impatiently through his tousled hair, ‘he could have gone out a few weeks ago and bought her an emerald necklace for Christmas. Then a few days later, Nancy happens to mention in passing that she can't stand emerald necklaces. What's he going to do? Take it back to the shop. Buy her something else instead, like a sit-on lawnmower. But in the meantime his details have already gone into the computer. He's been added to their Christmas card list.'

‘Jonathan would never have done that.' Carmen's voice dripped with scorn.

Rennie shrugged. ‘Maybe not, but it's feasible. That'd be
my
excuse.'

The phone rang. Hastily swallowing a mouthful of Viennese truffle, Carmen snatched it up before Rennie could get in first and say something hideously embarrassing.

‘Hi, it's me.' Nancy's voice was hushed and strained.

‘And?' Carmen's heart went out to her.

‘Mum's just gone up to bed. I don't want her to overhear me. God, what a day. All this pretending everything's fine is exhausting.'

Carmen, who knew all about putting on a brave face and pretending everything was fine, said, ‘Where's Jonathan?'

‘Out.'

‘What? It's Christmas night!'

‘I know. He came back from the pub at two o'clock and we had a nice afternoon. Well, nice for Mum,' Nancy amended. ‘I mean, everything was like normal, as far as she was concerned. Then at eight o'clock Jonathan got a call on his mobile. He said it was his friend Hamish, having trouble getting his new computer fixed up. So off he went to help, but that was three hours ago and now his phone's switched off, and I'm a bit worried that when he does get home I might punch him.'

‘OK, sshh,' Carmen said soothingly as Nancy's voice rose. ‘How long is your mum staying with you?'

‘Until tomorrow night. That's another thing,' Nancy burst out. ‘This afternoon Jonathan told me we've been invited to a Boxing Day party at the pub. Well, I said no because I knew Mum wouldn't be too keen. Pubs aren't really her thing, and she wouldn't know anyone. So Jonathan said fine, me and Mum could stay at home if we liked, but he didn't see why he should miss out on a bloody good party. Oh God.' Nancy took a deep breath, steadying herself. ‘It's just awful. What's Mum going to think if he disappears again?'

‘Tell her,' said Carmen.

‘I can't, I just can't. She'd be so upset.' Nancy sounded close to tears.

‘She's your mother.'

‘Exactly!'

‘Take her home at lunchtime and go on to the party afterwards. '

‘How can I do that?' Nancy let out a wail. ‘She's all excited about staying with us until tomorrow night!'

‘OK, so all three of you have to go to the party.' Carmen was fast running out of options.

‘I know, I know we will. But I keep having this horrible thought,' said Nancy. ‘What if Jonathan's girlfriend is there? That could be the reason he's so determined to go.'

‘Well—'

‘Hang on, I can hear a car!' There was the sound of a curtain being swished back, then Nancy hissed, ‘It's Jonathan, he's home. I have to go.'

‘OK, good luck . . .' but the line had already gone dead. ‘She's all on her own,' Carmen said defensively, because her eyes were starting to glisten and Rennie was about to make fun of her for being such a girl.

‘She's not on her own, she's got her mother and her husband there with her. I bet she wishes she was on her own.'

‘You're all heart,' said Carmen.

‘I'm not so bad.' Grinning across at her, Rennie said, ‘I've got hidden depths.'

As he took out his mobile, Carmen eyed it suspiciously. ‘Who are you ringing now?'

‘Calling a cab.'

‘Where are you going?' Her stomach contracted; she'd been perfectly all right on her own. But now that Rennie was here, she didn't want him to leave.

‘The Savoy.'

‘You can stay here if you want.' Carmen prayed she didn't sound as needy as she thought she sounded.

‘I know.' Rennie winked to show he'd been teasing her. ‘I am staying here. But I'm already booked into the Savoy. I need to get over there and pick up my stuff.'

 

‘Here, cup of tea. Happy Boxing Day.'

Hmm? From the depths of sleep, Carmen heard the clink of china and smelled toothpaste and soap. Her eyes snapping open in disbelief, she saw that Rennie had brought her a cup of tea. Not only that, but it was still pitch black outside. He was even wearing aftershave.

‘Oh my God,' squeaked Carmen, catching sight of the alarm clock. ‘It's four o'clock in the morning!'

‘I know, blame it on the jet lag. Now drink your tea,' Rennie said bossily, ‘and chuck a few things into a case. Car's going to be here in half an hour.'

Was he hallucinating? Sleepwalking? Unbelievably drunk?

‘What's going on?' Carmen eyed him with suspicion.

‘I didn't bring you a Christmas present. So this is it. We're going on a little trip.'

The trouble with Rennie was he had absolutely no concept of the words little trip. Last night he'd been talking about Australia and she'd mentioned that it was somewhere she'd always wanted to visit.

Cautiously, Carmen said, ‘How are we getting there?'

‘Plane. Don't worry, I've already booked the tickets.'

Oh God, it was Australia!

‘I don't know where my passport is.' She rubbed her eyes.

‘Come on, where's your sense of adventure?'

‘Gone walkabout.' Then Carmen saw that he was laughing at her.

‘You don't trust me at all, do you? I wasn't actually planning to whisk you off to the Australian outback.'

‘Where then?'

‘Thought we might try the Edinburgh outback instead. See what Boxing Day parties are like up there.' Rennie ruffled her hair. ‘Give your friend Nancy a bit of moral support.'

Nancy nearly fainted when she answered the front door at ten thirty on Boxing Day morning and found Rennie Todd standing on the doorstep.

‘Rennie? Good grief, what are you doing here?'

The last time she'd seen him had been at Spike's funeral. The time before that, at Spike and Carmen's wedding. He was her best friend's brother-in-law and she'd always found herself slightly at a loss for words in his presence.

And now here he was, looking even more like a rock star than ever in the out-of-context environment of her own front doorstep. His long hair gleamed, his diamond earring glittered in the sunlight and he was ridiculously tanned.

‘I came up to see Carmen,' said Rennie.

‘What? But she isn't here!'

He frowned. ‘Yes she is.'

‘Honestly, she isn't.' As Nancy shook her head, Jonathan came up behind her to find out what was going on.

‘Who is it?'

‘Carmen's brother-in-law.' Embarrassed to say his name, Nancy gestured awkwardly towards Rennie. ‘He's looking for Carmen. I'm just explaining she isn't here.'

‘Look, I'm sorry, but she is,' Rennie insisted, reaching over and yanking Carmen into view.

‘Waaaahhhh,' shrieked Nancy, hugging her. ‘I only spoke to you last night!'

‘It was Rennie's idea. We caught the eight o'clock flight.'

‘But you said you couldn't come up because you have to work!'

‘I made her see sense. They already had plenty of volunteers for today.' Rennie grinned. ‘Carmen isn't as indispensable as she likes to think. Hi, I'm Rennie.' He nodded at Jonathan, who was still standing behind Nancy. ‘I've heard all about you.'

Oh God, thought Nancy, please don't.

‘Actually we've met before.' Leaning past Nancy, Jonathan shook his hand. ‘I was there at the wedding.' When Rennie looked blank, he added, ‘Carmen's wedding . . . when she married your brother.'

‘Oh, right. Sorry, I don't remember you. Never mind, we're here now.' Rennie flashed his dazzling smile. ‘All the way up from London. You can invite us in if you like.'

 

‘I can't believe it,' Nancy whispered when Jonathan had borne Rennie off. ‘You're actually here. You don't know how much better that makes me feel.' Lowering her voice still further, she added, ‘Does Rennie know?'

Nodding, Carmen said, ‘It's OK, he won't say anything. We're on your side.'

‘God, this makes all the difference in the world. Come through and say hello to Mum.' Happily Nancy dragged her through to the kitchen, where Rose flung herself at Carmen in delight.

‘What a surprise! Oh my word, it's Christmas and I don't even have anything for you.' Rose loved to buy gifts for everyone; to be caught out like this clearly bothered her.

‘You didn't know we were going to be here.' Carmen, who'd always been fond of Nancy's tiny, doll-sized mother, smiled and said, ‘I didn't know we were going to be here. I didn't get anything for you either.'

But Rose was already dragging an enamelled bangle off her wrist. ‘Here, pet, you have this. Pretty, isn't it? But it'll look so much better on you than on me . . . here, take it.'

‘Rose, I couldn't possibly—'

‘It's just a wee present. Don't offend me now,' Rose said anxiously, as she crammed the bangle over Carmen's left hand. ‘Don't hurt my feelings by trying to give it back.'

There really was no answer to that. Rose would give you the shirt off her back if you wanted to polish your sunglasses. Whatever she offered, you knew her feelings would be hurt if you refused. Forced to give in gracefully, Carmen said, ‘It's gorgeous, thank you so much,' and kissed Rose's soft powdered cheek. The powder smelled and tasted like powder from the olden days, which, seeing as Rose only ever wore it on very special occasions, it undoubtedly was.

‘It's lovely to see you again.' Having patted Carmen's face, Rose turned and said, ‘And you're Rennie. We haven't met before.'

Stepping forward to drop a kiss on each of her cheeks, Rennie grinned. ‘If we had, I'd definitely have remembered. Mmm, you smell gorgeous, like a Hollywood goddess. It's like kissing Greta Garbo.'

He'd always known how to charm the opposite sex.

‘Ah, get away with you!' Flushing with pleasure, Rose playfully slapped his hand. ‘Greta Garbo's dead.'

‘It's like kissing Greta Garbo at the height of her beauty.' Rennie was undeterred. ‘When she starred in
Queen Christina
. That's one of my all-time favourite films.'

‘Truly?' Rose's face lit up. ‘Greta Garbo's my all-time favourite actress. I watched
Queen Christina
on the television just the other week. They were showing it on a Sunday afternoon—'

‘I've got it on video,' said Rennie. ‘And
Ninotchka
.'

‘Oh, I just love
Ninotchka
!'

‘And
Camille
,' Rennie pulled a face, ‘but I don't love it as much as the others.'

‘Well, who'd have thought it? You, another Garbo fan! And with hair like yours,' Rose marvelled. ‘I mean, I know it's one of those music things, but does it really have to be that long?'

‘
Rose
,' hissed Jonathan. ‘He's our guest.'

‘So's Rose,' Rennie said easily. ‘Which means we can both say whatever we like. Now, we've sprung ourselves on you, so would you let me take you all out to lunch, to make up for it?'

‘We can feed you!' Rose looked deeply offended; on the worktop behind her stood bowls of chopped carrots, potatoes and onions. ‘There's more than enough for everyone.'

Under his breath Jonathan murmured, ‘There's enough for everyone in Kilnachranan.'

‘But wouldn't lunch out be more of a treat for you? How about the Kincaid Hotel in Edinburgh?' said Rennie. ‘It's supposed to be fantastic. We could make a proper afternoon of it.'

Jonathan said, ‘Bit short notice. I wouldn't think you'd get a table.'

‘Oh, they'll find one for me. Suzy Kincaid's an old friend.'

Leaning against the worktop, Carmen wondered what it must be like to be Rennie, always able to do anything you wanted to do. In fairness, he'd been exactly the same before the band had known fame and fortune.