Stirred with Love (16 page)

Kate thought back to the last time they’d had sex on the kitchen table.

Chloe rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you had a goodbye fuck? It’s never the same, you know.’

Kate recoiled at her words. ‘How would you know that?’

‘How would I know that you’d had a goodbye fuck? Or how would I know because of my age?’

Kate looked away in embarrassment.

‘Well, did you?’

She nodded.

‘And did it do the trick?’

‘If you must know, it scratched an itch.’ Kate sighed. ‘You’re right. We lost our way. There was no spark left, nothing to aim towards. We hardly did anything as a couple. I wanted….nights out together instead of me waiting for him to come home…quality nights in instead of him going to play football…I wanted
conversation!
’

‘And you think you can still have all that?’

Kate paused. ‘No, the magic has gone.’ She grabbed a cushion and pulled it in to her chest. ‘It’s just so confusing. My head seems to be over him but my heart hasn’t caught up yet.’

Chloe reached for her magazine and flipped her legs up onto the settee. ‘You should have told him to fuck off while you had the chance. Switch off that phone and use the new one now.’

‘That’s not practical. What if he needs to speak to me regarding the house?’

‘Give him the landline number. Or he can email you.’

‘But –’

‘Look, he’s bound to ring you again, and when he does, you shouldn’t give him the satisfaction of answering. He has no right to play with your feelings like that.’

Later as she tried to soak her cares away in a hot bath, Kate found she still couldn’t get Nick out of her mind. Was she just annoyed that he was being so blasé about the phone call after all the angst he’d caused her? Because he
didn’t
want her to go back, as she had thought the opposite? Or was her heart telling her things her head didn’t want to listen to?

Trying to concentrate on her paperback, after ten minutes she found that she’d read the same paragraph over and over again and still couldn’t remember a word of it. After the umpteenth attempt, she threw it to the floor in temper.

How dare he keep on messing with her feelings! The sooner things were sorted out with him now, the better.

The following morning, Kate and Chloe were handing out cakes and biscuits to anyone entering the market. It was their last attempt to drum up trade before their big day tomorrow.

 ‘Kate! Chloe!’ Tom shouted above the sound of the meat man advertising two-lamb-chops-for-a-fiver over his infuriatingly loud speaker. He weaved his way through the crowds before continuing. ‘Lily’s sent me to get you. You
have
to see the coffee shop. All the sign writing has been finished. There are lights above the main sign and it looks…’ he paused for effect, as well as to catch his breath after running all the way, ‘it looks faaaantabulous. Like a proper coffee shop
daann sarrth
. I’ll look after this little lot while you go and have a gander.’

Once Kate and Chloe had slalomed their way through the crowd, they walked a little faster. Then they walked a lot faster. A quick glance at each other was all it took for them to break out into a run. They laughed and pushed each other all the way back to the shop.

This is stupid, thought Kate. Surely this much excitement isn’t warranted for a sign going up?

But it wasn’t just the sign. They slowed down enough to take in the full effect as they walked along the row of properties towards the cobbled-frontage of number eleven. Or The Coffee Stop, as it was now saying above the double doors.

‘Kate, I feel like crying,’ said Chloe.

‘I know what you mean.’ Kate couldn’t take her eyes away. Tom was right. It looked amazing. The sign was made of cream Perspex, The Coffee Stop written in gold. The letters seemed more pronounced due to a shadowing technique, three globe shaped lights hanging down to illuminate it. A deep-purple awning was spread out above the smaller window where Lily, Alf and Irene sat at one of the new tables they’d brought outside. Sign writing in the bay window advertised some of the regular coffees and cakes they would be providing and there was an A-frame menu board
ready to be written on propped up by the low wall.

Alex stood with his hand high on the frame of the open doorway, one ankle flicked over the other. ‘Well, what do you think?’

Lily hadn’t heard Kate and Chloe arrive and turned her head to catch their reaction. She only had to look at their faces to know how pleased they were with the end result.

‘It’s finished,’ gasped Kate. ‘We actually have a coffee shop.’

‘I’m…’ Chloe’s hands rose up in mock surrender. ‘I’m lost for words.’

‘Must be good, then,’ teased Alex. ‘Let me show you how it looks with the blinds shut.’

He disappeared into the shop and for a few crazy moments shouted through the door, ‘Blinds open…blinds shut…blinds open…blinds shut.’ Kate watched as the vertical slats flew to one side of the window and back again. ‘Blinds pulled across…blinds shut again.’

‘What do you two think?’ Kate spoke directly to Alf and Irene.

‘It looks okay,’ Alf replied curtly.

Lily tutted. ‘It looks far better than okay,’ she told him. ‘They’ve worked so hard to get it finished. I’m really proud of them.’

Kate wasn’t perturbed as she sat down next to Lily. They’d get around Alf eventually and she knew he was only protecting his friend.

‘And you, Irene?’ she asked. ‘What do you think?’

Irene pushed her glasses further up her nose. ‘It’s a darn sight better than it was,’ she admitted.

Kate smiled with gratitude at the same time as Lily.

‘Although,’ Irene continued, ‘I still think she’s mad to open it up again.’

‘Yoo-hoo! Kate!’

Kate turned her head to see Lucy, from the gym, tottering across the road.

‘Lucy! You look fantastic.’ Kate walked towards her, admiring her golden legs on show beneath her short denim skirt. ‘Good holiday?’

Lucy air kissed her dramatically. ‘It was fabulous. Plenty of sea, sand and lots of the other!’ She pulled off her sunglasses and looked Kate up and down. ‘I hardly recognise you with your clothes on,’ she shrieked at her own joke.

Kate turned to everyone, praying they understood that Lucy was referring to always seeing her in gym wear.

‘This is Lucy,’ she introduced the petite blonde to everyone. ‘She’s going to be working here in the mornings, on an ‘as and when’ basis, until trade builds up. Oh, and all day on a Thursday, if that’s okay, Luce?’

Lucy nodded and gave a royal wave to the group. ‘Sorry I missed all the fun while you’ve been busy working but I’ve been to Benidorm for a week – hence the tan.’ She held out a bronzed arm for them to see. ‘I’m so lucky to have skin that browns easily. You must be Chloe,’ she said to a wary looking woman.

‘And I’m Alex.’ He shot forward and held out a hand. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Oh,’ Lucy tittered, ‘the pleasure is all mine.’

‘Are you helping out tomorrow?’

Lucy shook her head, layered hair flicking around her chest. ‘I have to go to a wedding this weekend. We’ve hired a room for two nights so I won’t be back until Sunday. But I’ll be here on Monday. Bright and early.’

‘What a pity.’ Alex’s shoulders dropped sensationally. ‘Our next job is in Birmingham. Looks like I’ll have to do a detour on my way home.’

As Lucy laughed again, Chloe stood in the background watching everyone fuss around the newcomer. Kate had said something about employing another pair of hands but she hadn’t expected it to be someone as vivacious as Lucy.

‘Glad you could make it after all the hard work has been done,’ she said to her, pointing at Lucy’s long acrylic nails. ‘Mind, you wouldn’t want to be breaking any of those.’

Kate’s look was puzzled as she caught the malice in Chloe’s tone. But Lucy wasn’t fazed.

‘Oh, don’t worry about me,’ she said. ‘I have a nail technician on standby for such a thing. He’s a friend of mine. I’ll get him to do yours if you like.’

Chloe folded her arms to hide her hands which weren’t looking their best at the moment. ‘No thank you,’ she answered. ‘I like all my body parts to be real.’

Lucy looked puzzled for a moment before roaring with laughter. ‘Oh, you’re referring to my puppies,’ she said, flicking her eyes down to her chest. ‘No, I can assure you they’re every bit real. You and I are going to have to watch where we’re walking – we’ll be bouncing off ourselves if we’re not careful!’

Lily couldn’t believe that it was twelve-thirty at night and she was still wide awake. Unable to toss and turn in her bed any longer, she’d moved into the old living room. The room, although clean and tidy before, had been transformed into another bright place. The walls had been treated to a dash of cream, paintwork back to its original white. A calligraphic printed throw had taken care of the badly worn settee and it had been pushed back as far as it would go. It provided much needed space, especially as Kate and Chloe had persuaded her to part with the old sideboard she’d had since her wedding day – which wasn’t much of a problem as she’d only kept it because it belonged to Bernard’s mother. Much to her amazement, Lily hadn’t had to fight to keep her cream armchairs. They’d been seen as stylish accompaniments.

The heavily patterned curtains at the three single sash windows had been replaced with horizontal wooden blinds. A plain cream rug hid most of the tatty brown carpet that was due to be replaced next week and the picture Kate had brought with her had pride of place over the fire. A concoction of modern art, Lily had been informed.

In an effort to get comfortable, she reached for an embroidered cushion from the chair and then rested back into the settee. Slowly, she pulled her slippered feet onto her low foot stool. Rosie, who had padded in behind her a few minutes earlier, stirred by her side before stretching her legs and settling again. Lily smiled. Even though she had jumped into the new bean bag as soon as Kate had put it onto the floor, Rosie still preferred to sit on the settee when there was anyone in the room.

Anxiously, Lily tried not to think about the list of things to do before they were ready to open in the morning. Instead, she thought about her dress hanging on the wardrobe door, along with its matching jacket. She was really looking forward to wearing something bright for a change. The last time she’d worn a suit, she’d been saying goodbye to Bernard. The new clothes seemed like a symbol of the future. She wanted everything to be perfect. For herself. For Kate and Chloe. Most of all, for Bernard.

Lily must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, it was quarter to seven. She sat still for a few moments. It always took her a while every morning before she felt steady enough to stand. Often, she’d find the room spinning or she’d be left with a queasy feeling. A sign of old age, Dr Warren had told her when she’d been worried enough to question her about it during her last appointment. But Lily was more concerned that her worst fear was about to rear its ugly head again.

Once back in the real world, she slowly got to her feet and let in the day as she pulled up one of the blinds. The square was quiet, except for the odd bird flitting about here and there. Lily yawned and felt her stomach flip again as she thought of what was to come. She might be fit for nothing at the end of today but she was looking forward to it immensely.

She went through to the kitchen and switched on the kettle. A minute later, she checked to see if it was switched on at the socket. It was. She flicked on the light switch but nothing happened.

In a rush of panic, Lily realised that the electricity was off.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

‘Chloe, get up!’ Kate banged on her bedroom door. ‘The electricity has gone off. We need to check the food in the fridge.’

Chloe shot out of bed. Without thinking, she turned the light switch on and then off just to make sure. Then she shook her head. Why
did
she do that?! Quickly, she dressed and ran down the stairs.

‘Have you checked the fuse box?’ she asked Kate who was flicking through the pages of the telephone directory.

Kate clicked her fingers. ‘Of course! Now why didn’t I think of that?’ She threw Chloe a look of exasperation. ‘Be my guest, if you know what to do.’

‘I was only trying to help.’

Lily passed Chloe a teacloth. ‘Here, you can help mop up the water. The electricity must have been off for hours. I’ve managed to salvage most of the cakes, but some of them are sodden.’

‘We won’t be able to open now, will we?’

Kate looked over to see tears well up in Chloe’s eyes. ‘Oh yes, we bloody well will,’ she replied. ‘Don’t worry. This will only be a hiccup. I’m just going to fetch my mobile. The cordless phones aren’t working.’

When she came back ten minutes later, the floor was practically dry. Chloe was complaining sorely of wet patches on her knees.

 ‘The electricity supplier doesn’t know how long we’re likely to be off,’ Kate told them while they looked on in disbelief. ‘The problem is underground and until they get to it they can’t say what it is. If you stand on the forecourt, you can hear them digging.’

‘Oh no,’ said Lily. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘That’s not all,’ said Kate. ‘It’s only Church Square and Williamson Street that have been affected.’

‘Typical.’ Chloe huffed. ‘It couldn’t happen on any other day. Have you rung Alex? He’ll know what to do.’

‘Gone straight to voice mail. We’ll have to wait until he gets here.’

‘What about trying Terry’s number?’ Lily looked at the clock. Ten past seven. ‘I know it’s early, but he will be up.’

‘Good idea.’ Kate grabbed his business card from off the notice board. ‘In the meantime, Chloe, would you help Lily load as many things as you can into both our cars? We’ll have to rely on other people’s good natures, try and blag some room in their fridges for now.’

‘It’s not the contents of the fridges that are the real problem,’ said Lily forlornly. ‘We can’t provide any coffee.’

 Chloe and Kate both stopped what they were doing. Suddenly the extent of the situation bore down on them.