Thinking of You (2 page)

The flat was situated on the second floor of what had once been a four-story Georgian house. Ginny waited until Bellamy had discreetly relieved himself against a tree in the front garden before ringing the doorbell. This was it; they were here and Jem was about to get the surprise of her—

“Yes?”

“Oh, hi! You must be Rupert!” Ginny did her best not to gush in front of the flatmate Jem had told her about. “Um… is Jem here?”

“No.” Rupert paused. “And you are?”

“Oh, I'm her mum! And this is Bellamy, Jem's dog. How silly of me not to realize she might be out. I did ring a few times but her phone was switched off, and I just thought she was sleeping in. Er, do you know where she is?”

Rupert, who was wearing a pair of white shorts and nothing else, was lean and tanned. He shivered as a blast of cold air hit him in the chest. “She's working a lunchtime shift in the pub. Eleven till two, something like that.”

Lunchtime shift? Pub? Ginny checked her watch and said, “Which pub?”

“No idea.” Rupert shrugged. “She did say, but I wasn't paying attention. Somewhere in Clifton, I think.”

Since there were about a million pubs in Clifton, that was a big help. “Well, could I come in and wait?”

He looked less than enthusiastic but said, “Yeah, of course. It's a bit of a mess.”

Rupert wasn't joking. Upstairs in the living room there were dirty plates and empty cups all over the pale green carpet. An exotic-looking girl with short dark hair was sprawled on the sofa eating a bowl of CocoPops and watching a black-and-white film on TV.

“Hello!” Ginny beamed at her. “You must be Lucy.”

The girl blinked. “No, I'm Caro.”

“Caro's my girlfriend.” Rupert indicated Ginny as he headed into the kitchen. “This is Jem's mother, come to see her.”

Ginny wondered if she was supposed to shake hands or if that would be the ultimate uncool thing to do. Caro, through a mouthful of CocoPops, mumbled, “Hi.”

OK, probably uncool.

“And this is Bellamy.” Thank heavens for dogs, the ultimate icebreakers.

“Right.” Caro nodded and licked her spoon.

Oh.

“So! Are you at uni too?” Nobody had offered her a seat so Ginny stayed standing.

“Yes.” Caro dumped her empty cereal bowl on the carpet, rose to her feet, and headed for the kitchen.

Ginny, overhearing giggles and a muffled shriek of laughter, felt increasingly ill at ease. Moments later, Rupert stuck his head round the door. “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Oh, thank you, that would be lovely!” OK, stop it, stop speaking in exclamation marks. “White, please, one sugar.”

“Ah. Don't think we've got any sugar.”

Ginny said, “No problem, I'll just have a glass of water instead.”

Rupert frowned and scratched his head. “I think we've run out of water too.”

Was he serious? Or was this their way of getting rid of her?

“Unless you drink tap,” said Rupert.

Gosh, he was posh.

“Tap's fine,” said Ginny.

He grimaced. “Rather you than me.”

“Just ignore him,” said a voice behind Ginny. “Rupes only drinks gold-plated water. Hello, I'm Lucy. And I've seen the photos in Jem's room so I know you're her mum. Nice to meet you.”

Oh, now
this
was more like it. Lucy was tall and slender, black and beautiful. Better still, she was actually smiling. Ginny was so overcome with gratitude she almost invited her out to dinner on the spot. Within minutes, Lucy had cleared away armfuls of plates, chucked a slew of magazines behind the back of the sofa, and installed Ginny in the best chair like the queen.

“Jem only got the job yesterday. It's her first shift today. Still, a bit of extra cash always comes in handy, doesn't it?” Lucy was chatty and friendly, the best kind of flatmate any mother could desire for her daughter. Having made a wonderful fuss of Bellamy, she brought him a bowl of water and gravely apologized in advance for the fact that it came from a tap.

Rupert and Caro stayed in the kitchen and played music, then Rupert emerged to iron a blue shirt rather badly in the corner of the living room where the ironing board was set up.

“I could do that for you,” Ginny offered, eager to make him like her.

Rupert looked amused. “No thanks, I can manage.”

“Jem's never been keen on ironing. I bet she's got a whole load that needs doing. Actually, while I'm here,” said Ginny, “I could make a start on it.”

“If I asked my mother to iron anything for me,” Lucy said cheerfully, “she'd call me a lazy toad and tell me to do it myself.”

Jem's room was untidy but clean. Ginny's heart expanded as she drank in every familiar detail, the happy family photos on the cork board up on the wall, the clothes, books and CDs littering every surface, the empty Coke cans and crisp packets spilling out of the wastepaper bin. Unable to help herself, she quickly made the bed and hung all the scattered clothes in the wardrobe. This must be the new top Jem had bought in Oasis. Oops, and there was an oily mark on the leg of her favorite jeans; they needed to be soaked if that was going to come out. And was that nail polish on—

The front door slammed and Ginny froze, realizing that she was clutching her daughter's jeans like a stalker. Hastily flinging them back onto the bed, she burst out of the bedroom just as Bellamy began to bark. A split second later she reached the living room in time to see Jem and Bellamy greeting each other in a frenzy of ecstasy.

“I don't believe this! Mum, what are you
doing
here?” Jem looked up as Bellamy joyfully licked her face.

“Your mother's come all this way to see you,” Rupert drawled and Ginny intercepted the look he gave Jem, clearly indicating how he felt about mad mothers who drove hundreds of miles to see their daughters on a whim.

Shocked, Jem said, “Oh,
Mum
.”

“No, I haven't,” Ginny blurted out. “Crikey, of course I haven't! We're on our way to Bath and I just thought it'd be fun to pop in and say hello.”

“Really? Well, that's great!” Letting go of Bellamy at last, Jem gave her mother a hug. Ginny in turn stroked her daughter's blond, pink-streaked hair. It wasn't quite the reunion she had envisaged what with Rupert, Caro, and Lucy looking on and her brain struggling to come up with an answer to the question Jem was about to ask, but at least she was here. It was better than nothing.

Oh, she'd missed her so much.

“Bath?” Jem stepped back, holding her at arm's length and looking baffled. “What are you doing going to Bath?”

Aaargh, I haven't the foggiest!

“Visiting a friend,” said Ginny.
Quick, think.

“But you don't know anyone in Bath.”

I
know
, I
know
!

“Ah, that's where you're wrong,” Ginny said gaily. “Ever heard me talking about Theresa Trott?”

Jem shook her head. “No. Who's she?”

“We were at school together, darling. I got onto that Friends Reunited website, left my email address, and in no time at all Theresa had emailed me. She's living in Bath now. When she invited me up to stay with her, I thought I couldn't drive past and not stop off here en route, that would be rude. So here we are!”

“I'm so glad.” Jem gave her another hug. “It's lovely to see you again. Both of you.”

“Your mother was about to start ironing your clothes,” said Rupert, his mouth twitching with amusement.

Jem laughed. “Oh, Mum.”

Deciding she hated him and feeling relaxed enough to retaliate now, Ginny looked Rupert in the eye and said, “Hasn't your mum ever ironed anything for you?”

“No.” He shrugged. “But that could be because she's dead.”

Damn,
damn
.

Dddddrrrringgg
went the doorbell.

“You may as well get that, Jem,” Rupert drawled. “It's probably your father.”

Jem grinned and pulled a face at Rupert, then skipped downstairs to answer the door. She returned with a thin, dark-eyed boy in tow.

“Lucy, it's Davy Stokes.”

Lucy was in the process of pulling her gray sweater up over her head. Tugging down the green T-shirt beneath, she said, “Hi, Davy. All right? I was just about to jump in the shower.”

Ginny heard Rupert whisper to Caro, “I expect he'd like to jump in with her.”

“Sorry.” Davy, who had long dark hair, was clutching a book. “It's just that I promised to lend you this so I thought I'd drop it round.”

“What is it? Oh right, John Donne's poems. Great, thanks.” Lucy took the book and flashed him a smile. “That's really kind of you.”

Blushing, Davy said, “You'll enjoy them. Um… I was wondering. There's a pub quiz on at the Bear this afternoon. I wondered if maybe you'd like to, um, come along with me.”

Rupert was smirking openly now. Ginny longed to throw something heavy at him.

“Thanks for the offer, Davy, but I can't make it. Me and Jem are off to a party. In fact we need to get our skates on or we're going to be late. We're all meeting up at three.”

Three o'clock? It was half-past two already. Ginny wondered if Lucy was lying in order to spare Davy's feelings.

“OK. Well, maybe another time. Bye.” Davy glanced shyly around the room while simultaneously backing toward the door.

“Let me show you out,” said Rupert.

He returned moments later, grinning broadly. “You've made a conquest there.”

“Don't make fun of him,” Lucy protested. “Davy's all right.”

“Apart from the fact that he has no friends and still lives at home with his mum.”

“So, what's this party you've been invited to?” Ginny put on her bright and cheerful voice and looked at Jem, whom she'd driven for three and a half hours to see.

“It's Zelda's birthday. She's on our course,” Jem explained. “We're starting off at this new cocktail bar on Park Street. I'd better get ready. What time do you have to be in Bath?”

“Oh, not right this minute. I can drop you off at the cocktail bar if you like.”

“Thanks, Mum, but there's no need. Lucy's driving and we're picking up a couple more friends on the way.”

“Jem?” Lucy's disembodied voice drifted through from Jem's bedroom. “That black top you said I could borrow isn't here.”

“It is! It's on the floor next to the CD player.”

“The only thing on the floor is carpet.” Popping her head round the door, Lucy said, “In fact all your clothes are missing.”

“They're in the wardrobe,” Ginny said apologetically. “I hung them up.”

Rupert was highly entertained by this.

“Oh, Mum.” Jem shook her head. “You'll be making my bed next.”

Lucy grinned. “She's done that too.”

“Checking the sheets,” Rupert murmured audibly into Caro's ear.

“Well, I think we'd better leave you to it.” Realizing that the girls had less than ten minutes in which to get ready and she was only in their way, Ginny clicked her fingers at Bellamy. She enveloped Jem in a hug and made sure it wasn't a needy one. “And you,” she added, waggling her fingers in a friendly fashion at Rupert and Caro because, like it or not, they were a part of Jem's new life.

“What rotten timing,” said Jem. “I've only seen you for two minutes and now you're rushing off again.”

Ginny managed a carefree smile. So much for her wonderful plan to spend the weekend with the person she loved more than anyone else in the world. “I'll give you a ring in a few days. Bye, darling. Come on, Bellamy, say good-bye to Jem.”

***

Outside it was starting to rain. As she drove off, waving gaily at Jem on the doorstep, Ginny felt her throat begin to tighten. By the time she'd reached Whiteladies Road the sense of disappointment and desolation was all-encompassing and she no longer trusted herself to drive. Abruptly pulling over, willing the tears not to well up, Ginny took several deep breaths and gripped the steering wheel so hard it was a wonder it didn't snap in two. It's not
fair
, it's not
fair
, it's
just
not
—

With a jolt she became aware that she was being watched. She turned and met the quizzical gaze of Davy Stokes. In the split second that followed, Ginny realized she'd pulled up at a bus stop, it was a bitterly cold, rainy afternoon and from the expression on Davy's face he thought she'd stopped to offer him a lift.

Oh, brilliant.

But it was too late to drive off. And at least she wasn't in floods of tears. Buzzing down the passenger window and reaching over, Ginny dredged
that
voice up again and said chirpily, “Hello! You're getting terribly wet out there! Won't you let me give you a lift?”

He was a kind-of-friend of her daughter. She was the mother of a girl he was kind-of-friendly with. Just as she'd felt obliged to make the offer, Ginny realized, so Davy now felt compelled to accept it. Looking embarrassed, he said, “Is Henbury out of your way?”

Ginny had never heard of Henbury but after having driven two hundred miles up here and with the same again to look forward to on the return journey, what were a few more?

“No problem. You'll have to direct me, though. And don't worry if Bellamy licks your ear, he's just being friendly.”

“I like dogs. Hello, boy.” Having climbed into the car and fastened his seat belt, Davy flicked his long dark hair out of his eyes and said, “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything you like.”
Yerk
, so long as it's nothing to do with contraception.

“Did they talk about me after I'd gone?”

Ginny paused. “No.”

He smiled briefly. “Shouldn't pause. That means yes. Do they think I've got a crush on Lucy?”