The Hornbeam Tree (38 page)

‘Can we have less of your spiritual counsellor, and more of you?’ Laurie said, gently steering her back on course.

Katie’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not hacking it as a Bodhisattva,’ she told her.

Not entirely sure what that was, Laurie merely smiled and waited for her to continue.

‘Well, OK,’ Katie said, still much too conscious of the camera, and wondering if she really wanted the whole world to know what a sad old specimen she actually was, ‘apart from regretting that I never made a few million, travelled the globe first class, and got blessed with Michelle’s legs and Pamela Anderson’s boobs, the thing I regret most is that, in my little box of life fireworks, God forgot to light the love and romance fuse. I mean, he tried a couple of times, but it kept going out, and then he just seemed to give up. And I’d hardly thank him if he got it all sparkling and fizzing up to the big explosion now, would I? Too bloody late, I’d tell him. Save it for Molly. She’ll more than deserve it once she’s through all this.’

Picking up on what might have been a note of bitterness, Laurie said, ‘Are you saying you feel cheated?’

Katie’s eyes dropped to Trotty, as though not wanting anyone to see what they might be giving away. ‘How can I say that,’ she finally answered, ‘when I have so much? But yes, I suppose that is what I’m saying, because it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that you’ve been excluded from life’s biggest club; one that everyone else seems to find so easy getting membership to, while for you, every door is an exit.’

Laurie said, ‘You’ve never been in love?’

Katie sighed and looked off towards the unused front door. ‘Actually, yes I have,’ she admitted, eventually. ‘I loved Molly’s father once, back in the early days, before I got wise. But then he managed to fleece me of everything, except, thank God, Molly, so, as regrets go, I’d say that marrying a man who didn’t love me and staying with him as long as I did has to top the charts. And up there with it is the regret – or sadness, I suppose – that no-one’s ever been in love with me. I would have liked to be adored and cherished, to feel as though I’m making someone’s world a better place, just by being there and being me. If the ship was sinking, or the house was on fire, no-one would be thrashing about trying to find me. I’m excluding Molly, you understand, because she’s a different kind of love altogether, and I know she’d be there for me, as I obviously would for her. What I’m saying is that if it weren’t for Molly, I’m not sure there’s really been any point to my life. The world, and everyone in it, would have trundled along just fine if I hadn’t
dropped
in, and now I have to wonder why I bothered, if all I’m going to do is bail out on my daughter at the very time she needs me most. That’s not a particularly admirable contribution to make to anyone’s existence, is it, least of all someone you love.’ She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully. ‘I think that falls under the heading of regret, doesn’t it?’

Laurie nodded.

‘So, alas I have no heart-melting memories of romantic trysts in Paris or Rome. There were never any glittering little packages at Christmas or on birthdays for me, so no special trinkets to pass on to Molly. No flowers on Valentine’s Day. Zippo from the Easter bunny; champagne and one glass on New Year’s Eve.’

She paused as she thought of her and Molly’s dream box and the crazy wishes they’d put in. They hadn’t added anything to it for a while, and she realized sadly just how many unfulfilled dreams she had now.

‘What are you thinking?’ Laurie prompted.

Katie’s eyes came to hers and slowly started to sparkle. ‘Let’s move on to something a bit cheerier now, shall we?’ she said.

Laurie sighed. ‘You’re like someone who puts their toe in the water then runs off shrieking it’s wet,’ she told her.

Katie chuckled. ‘Nicely put,’ she responded. ‘But I’m not a keen swimmer when it comes to self-pity, which is what regrets are all about really – well, mine are, and to tell the truth I am a keen swimmer, a bit too keen in fact, but I’ll do my drowning in private, if you don’t mind.’

‘So that’s it?’ Laurie said. ‘No more interview?’

‘Oh yes, plenty, if you can stand it,’ she answered, peering past Laurie towards the window. ‘But I think we might have to take a break, because, unless I’m mistaken, we seem to have visitors.’

Laurie turned round, and seeing two men getting out of a white saloon car she frowned, for one of them seemed familiar. Then, realizing who it was, she immediately jumped up. ‘It’s Chris!’ she cried, wondering what on earth he was doing here. ‘Chris Gallagher,’ she explained, and added darkly, ‘the art dealer who represents Andraya Sorrantos, and who happens to be a great friend of mine and Elliot’s.’ If he was back from New York, she was thinking, did that mean Andraya was back too?

Katie was on her feet, staring past her in amazement. ‘And with him,’ she murmured, as the two men approached the gate, ‘is Tom Chambers. Tell me I’m dreaming.’

‘That’s Tom?’ Laurie cried, focusing on the handsome stranger who was moving ahead of Chris into the garden.

‘That’s Tom,’ Katie confirmed, breaking into a grin. ‘My God. This is going to cheer up Michelle,’ and rushing out through the kitchen she threw open the door to greet him. ‘What are you doing here?’ she cried joyfully, as he scooped her up in an embrace.

‘You have to ask?’ he responded, a roguish twinkle in his eye that betrayed nothing of the shock he’d felt at how gaunt and wasted she looked.

‘Michelle’s going to get the surprise of her life,’ she declared, stepping back to look at him.

Beside them Laurie was warmly embracing Chris. ‘Is Elliot with you?’ she asked.

‘We dropped him at Biggin Hill,’ he answered, ‘then flew on to a private airfield a couple of miles down the road. I’m not stopping, I just offered to make sure our friend got here in one piece.’

Immediately Laurie said to Tom, ‘Have you spoken to Max? Do you know about Josh Sh …’

‘Yep, Elliot called him from a payphone right after we landed,’ he told her, holding out a hand to shake. ‘Tom Chambers. And I’m guessing you’re Laurie Forbes.’

She smiled and shook. ‘I feel I already know you,’ she told him, meaning it, and turned to introduce Katie to Chris.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you,’ Katie said, shaking Chris’s hand and somehow stopping herself from swooning, because though Tom might be a good-looking man, she wasn’t sure she’d ever met anyone quite as handsome as Chris Gallagher. Inevitably a coquettish little bloom of hope began wondering if God was making one last attempt at the unlit romance fuse, but it quickly withered as Laurie said, ‘Where’s Rachel? I thought you two were still in New York.’

‘We came back at the end of last week,’ he told her. ‘She’s in Cornwall now, which is where I’m headed.’

‘But you’ll stay and have some tea,’ Katie protested. ‘Or champagne even. If I had some.’

Laughing, Tom slipped an arm round her shoulder and whispered, ‘So where is she?’

‘Out shopping for a car, but she should be back any time.’

‘Let’s ring her,’ Laurie said, following Katie as she turned back inside.

‘No. If she’s due back any time, I’d kind of like to surprise her,’ Tom said. Then to Katie, ‘How is she? Or more to the point, how are you? You look damned wonderful.’

‘Stage make up,’ Katie informed him. ‘But I’m fine. Now tell me about you, and how the heck you got here.’

As they talked, Laurie turned to Chris and with an uneasy feeling in her heart said, ‘Did Andraya come back from New York with you?’

His expression showed his dismay. ‘I’m afraid so,’ he answered. ‘She’s in London.’

Feeling her tension increase, she said, ‘Does Elliot know?’

‘He didn’t mention her when I saw him.’

She let her eyes fall away, still too easily able to picture the Brazilian bombshell in an intimate embrace with Elliot.

‘It’s over,’ Chris told her quietly. ‘He knows what a big mistake he made, so he’s not about to do anything stupid again.’

Her eyes came back to his, but then becoming aware of what Tom was telling Katie, she turned to listen.

‘… and by the time we spoke to Max,’ he was saying, ‘we’d already heard from Sajid that Farukh and three others have been arrested in Pakistan.’

‘On what charges?’ Laurie asked.

‘Still vague,’ he replied, ‘but they’ll be terrorist-related,
and
as trumped-up as Josh’s, you can be certain of that.’

‘Doesn’t all this make it risky for you to be here?’ Katie asked. ‘I mean, if they’re pulling the others in …’

‘Probably,’ he said, ‘but by the time we knew what was happening we’d already landed, so I decided to take the chance. Let’s just hope they don’t have any long-range listening devices aimed in this direction. If they do, I guess we’ll find out soon enough. Which,’ he said, turning back to Laurie, ‘is another reason I don’t want you to call Michelle. The less said on the phone right now the better, because you can be certain they’re all tapped, or sending signals to some spook satellite somewhere.’

Katie shuddered as she took a bottle of wine from the fridge. ‘I don’t care if it’s barely midday,’ she declared, ‘I’m having a drink, and I hope you’re all going to join me.’

‘Sorry, but this is where I have to duck out,’ Chris said with a grimace of apology. ‘I’ll take the car back to the airfield,’ he told Tom. ‘You know how to get hold of me if you need to,’ and after embracing Laurie again, he left.

Katie tugged out the cork. ‘So, your own personal …’ but before she could say pilot Tom put a finger to her lips. ‘Best not to discuss him,’ he said in a whisper.

Katie looked at Laurie.

‘I’ll explain later,’ Laurie told her, keeping her voice low. She was very well aware of the need for secrecy where Chris was concerned, since Elliot and Tom were almost certainly putting his contacts
in
the intelligence world to as much good use as his pilot skills.

A few minutes later, as they clinked glasses and started to drink, the door banged noisily open and Molly stumbled in saying, ‘Mum! I have to have some new clothes. You’ve got …’ Seeing the visitors she abruptly stopped. Then noticing her mother had make-up on, and that her eyes were all sparkly and gooey, she was on the point of backing out before anything got embarrassing, when Katie said, ‘Where are your manners, Molly? Don’t you remember Tom?’

Molly blinked. Oh yeah, he’d come here before, with Michelle. Years ago. Did that mean he was going to take her away again? ‘Hello,’ she said sweetly.

‘And Laurie you know,’ Katie said.

‘Hello,’ Molly mumbled. Then remembering what she’d been saying as she’d come in, she switched on the charm and sidled up to her mother.

‘You’re too transparent,’ Katie told her, before she could begin. ‘Now sit down and have a half-glass of wine if you like, or at least try to make civilized conversation before you start trying to wheedle anything out of me.’

‘You’re sure like your mother,’ Tom said to Molly.

Katie’s eyebrows shot up. ‘I don’t think she’ll thank you for that,’ she responded as she looked at Molly’s pink cheeks. ‘I’m not sure I do either. I mean, look at her.’

‘Mum!’ Molly responded. Then turning her eyes playfully on her, she said, ‘Actually, I’m happy to be like you.’

Katie was immediately suspicious. ‘Exactly how much do you want?’ she demanded.

Molly threw out her hands as the others laughed. ‘I
am
,’ she insisted, and stealing a quick look at Tom, she slipped her arms round Katie’s neck and said, ‘You’re the most beautiful person in the world.’

Katie looked at her askance. ‘Have you been drinking?’ she asked.

‘I’ll just go and clear in there,’ Laurie said discreetly, and went off to dismantle the camera before Molly spotted it.

‘So Molly,’ Tom said, tilting back in his chair, ‘tell me all about how life is with you these days. The last time we met I guess you weren’t much more than ten, and you’re obviously pretty grown-up now. What are you, fourteen?’

‘Fifteen in January,’ Molly told him.

‘And do you have yourself a boyfriend?’

Molly coloured to the roots of her hair, but to Katie’s amazement, she said, ‘Well, there’s kind of someone. It’s not serious, or anything.’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Oh, nothing. I mean, like, I don’t want to tell you while she’s here,’ she said, poking a finger into her mother’s waist.

‘Then it must be something like Cedric, or Bartie,’ Katie teased.

‘It
so
is not!’ Molly declared. ‘If you must know, it’s Brad.’

‘As in Brad Pitt?’ Katie said.

‘Actually, he looks just like him.’

‘So he’s about thirty, is he?’

‘Not even close. Forty-seven, actually.’

Tom chuckled. ‘Even older than me.’

Aware of the way Katie was regarding her, Molly said, ‘It was a joke, Mum. I know what you’re thinking …’

‘OK, OK,’ Katie said, noticing Michelle’s car pulling up outside. ‘Just as long as it was,’ and deciding not to say anything to Tom, she continued entertaining him with the silly banter with Molly, until Michelle opened the door saying, ‘Someone’s parked in my space. It must be hikers, but in this …’

Tom was grinning all over his face, and as he winked, her hands flew to her mouth.

‘I don’t believe it,’ she gasped, as he came to take her in his arms. ‘When did you get here? I mean … Oh God … Did you know he was coming?’ she said to Katie, barely noticing how Molly’s face had darkened the instant she came in.

Katie shook her head.

Michelle stood back to look at him, taking in all the craggy and badly shaven features of his beloved face. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

His eyes were alight with laughter. ‘Don’t I look it?’

‘Of course, but … Do you know what’s happened? Katie must have told you about Josh.’

‘I’m ahead of you,’ he responded, ‘there’s been more news since, but right now, I’d kind of like to focus on you.’

As they kissed, Katie watched Molly flounce off up the stairs, then deciding she too was extra to requirements she went to help Laurie.

‘I should probably be heading back to London now,’ Laurie said, as she pressed closed the steel
camera
case, while thinking of how different her reunion with Elliot was likely to be from the one going on in the kitchen.