Cupid's Way (29 page)

Cissy nodded. ‘Four months,’ she said, her voice thick with pride.

‘I’m so happy for you both.’ Evie looked back at the TV, then glanced at Mavis who was wedged against her side. ‘Is this my surprise?’ she asked. Mavis nodded, then put her finger to her lips.

‘Watch first. Explanations later. Okay?’

Evie nodded. Next up was Stig, standing outside his spruced-up house looking more lord of the manor than scavenger of bins.

‘Cupid’s Way is special,’ he began, ‘because it has been my family home for over a hundred years.’ His voice was smooth and compelling, and he played to the camera with winks and gestures, talking about the history he’d witnessed in his lifetime. ‘Although I sadly never married, I like to think my home, my little slice of England, will still be here for future generations. Please,’ he added, gazing into the camera with bright eyes, ‘please don’t destroy this slice of England.’

‘Oh, you’re good,’ Tim said to Stig, holding up his hand for a high-five. Stig took a little bow, then extended his arm towards Sarah.

‘I had help with my script, of course,’ he said. ‘Credit where credit is due, young man.’

Tim gave Sarah a beaming smile, but Sarah kept her eyes down.

‘This is all really lovely,’ Evie said, smiling at Stig, ‘but could someone just tell me what it’s
for
?’

‘Wait and see,’ Mavis hissed. ‘I’m on next.’

Evie rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and returned her attention to the TV, where Mavis’s powdered face loomed large next to Frank’s. This was the first shot filmed indoors, and Evie recognised her grandparents’ living room with the raft of photos behind their heads. When had they done this? she wondered. It could only have been recently – there was the photo of Tommy in the corner. They must have been desperate for her to go out on one of her walks, just so they could grab Bob and his bonkers camera and get started.

Mavis began with the same ‘Cupid’s Way is special because,’ but then she paused and looked sideways at Frank. She seemed to be struggling to speak. Evie reached out for the hand of the real-life Mavis and held it tightly. On the screen in front of her, her gran finally found her voice.

‘This is something I haven’t talked about in years,’ she said. ‘Not even to my dear Frank here. But lately, with the threat to our homes becoming more and more imminent, I realised I couldn’t keep my story to myself any longer. First, I found the courage to tell my wonderful granddaughter, Evie. Evie made me see that I shouldn’t have to face this alone, that I wasn’t just a silly old woman still living with her ghosts. Cupid’s Way is more than special – Cupid’s Way is my lifeline. And this is why.’ On screen, Frank slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. His face was grave. She spoke to the camera, but Evie had the sense that her words were for him and him alone. ‘Many years ago I had … I had a son. And he lived here in this house. In Cupid’s Way.’

While Mavis shared her story, Evie let the tears run down her cheeks. No one in the room moved so much as a finger, and the silence was so absolute it was as though they had also forgotten to breathe. When her gran finished talking, Evie looked around. Mavis, sitting by her side, was the only person with dry eyes. Evie guessed her gran had cried enough by now.

‘There’s more,’ Bob said, standing, ‘but I think now would be a good time to take a break.’ His voice was thick with emotion. Evie nodded and got to her feet.

‘I need to go outside,’ she said.

*

‘Come on, then,’ Evie said, leaning against the back of the painted bench opposite the allotment. ‘Let’s have it.’

Mavis and Frank put on their innocent faces and looked at each other. ‘Whatever does she mean?’ Frank said.

‘Enough,’ Evie told them. ‘I’m sick of all this. For days now you’ve been shutting me out, and I’m guessing this is what you’ve been up to.’ Although why they’d kept it from her was still a mystery. Couldn’t she have had the chance to record a slot? Say why she thought Cupid’s Way was special? Even though they’d all been excited to show it to her, the fact she’d been excluded still hurt. ‘Your video is very sweet – okay, it’s more than sweet. It’s touching and beautiful and –’

‘And you haven’t even seen it all yet,’ Bob said, grinning. ‘It gets better.’

Sarah laced her hands together and stepped forward. ‘Evie, the fact is, we’ve been doing all this for a reason. Now that Dynamite Construction are back in the frame, so to speak,’ – Tim laughed uproariously, until Sarah threw him a look – ‘we thought it was time to take action. Our own kind of action, doing something that makes us feel in control.’ She must have caught the hurt in Evie’s expression, because she hurriedly added, ‘Not that what you’ve been doing for us all wasn’t incredible, Evie. You took us down the official channels, and that’s what we wanted – needed – from you. Our very own expert. Our girl in the know.’

Evie glanced over at Mavis and Frank, wondering if they’d told the others about her lack of architectural qualifications. Judging by Sarah’s words, they hadn’t, and she was grateful for that. There would be time enough for her to tell her friends, in her own words and in her own way, but right now it was no one’s business but her own.

‘So,’ she said, finally finding a smile for Sarah, ‘what is your plan? And what part does this video play?’

‘We’re going to send it to the TV stations,’ Sarah explained. ‘It’s pretty hard-hitting, when you consider that the council are proposing to use compulsory purchase laws to get these houses out of the hands of their rightful owners. Public opinion locally is pro the new medical centre, and of course they’re not interested in our little street.’

‘But elsewhere in the city, people are outraged,’ Tim said, butting in.

‘We’ve been gathering signatures,’ said Pip.

‘So that’s where he was the other day,’ Evie said to Cissy, who smiled and stroked her tummy.

‘We have over a thousand signatures so far,’ Sarah said, ‘and that’s without the Twitter campaign that Tim’s set up. We’ve got a Facebook page, and a Pinterest board with photos of Cupid’s Way and profiles of all the residents. That, together with the video – once it goes live on YouTube – should bring a hell of a lot of attention our way.’

Evie nodded. She felt an odd sort of pressure on her chest, like the air was getting thinner. She could have done all of this – social media, a public campaign, getting opinion on their side. Had she tried to be too clever? Had she been so tied up in her opinion of herself as the person in the know, their expert on the ground, that she’d lost sight of the bigger picture?

There she’d been, trying to ride to the rescue, and all along they’d been perfectly capable of rescuing themselves.

‘You still shouldn’t build your hopes up,’ she said. ‘This kind of thing, the publicity and all, the council will be expecting it. They won’t expect the development to be popular with everybody. Councils can be pretty robust, even in the face of negative public opinion.’ She saw the expressions around her droop just a little and wondered why she was still trying to be the voice of reason. ‘I’m not saying it won’t work,’ she added. ‘Just that you should be prepared that it
might
not.’

‘We are,’ said Sarah. ‘And that’s why this video and the internet campaign is our Plan B.’

‘Right.’ Evie waited, her head tilted to the side. ‘And? What’s your Plan A?’

Sarah looked at Tim, who looked at Mavis and Frank, who looked around then turned their gaze back to Sarah. She sighed and pulled a face.

‘You are, Evie. You’re our Plan A.’

Chapter 27

‘It won’t work.’ Evie’s voice was resolute. ‘You’re totally barking up the wrong tree here.’

Standing once again outside the offices of Dynamite Construction, Evie watched the glass doors revolve with dizzying speed after a high-heeled woman in a tailored skirt suit burst out of them. She looked down at her own scruffy attire – jeans and a faded T-shirt, with a red and blue flowered scarf grabbed in haste from the back of the door to try and smarten herself up a bit. She noticed the scuffed heels of her Converse look-alike trainers and sighed. This was a place she’d had no intention of visiting ever again, and she still wasn’t entirely sure how she’d allowed herself to get talked into it. But now, with the towering facade reflecting the eager faces of her escort, Evie decided enough was enough.

‘I’m not doing it,’ she told them. ‘I’m not going in.’

Sarah stepped forward, her manner brisk as though she’d been prepared for this eventuality. ‘Right, here’s what we’re going to do. We’ll all go up together, and if Evie still doesn’t want to see him then one of us will step in.’

Evie stared at her friend like she was a crazy person. ‘Sarah, this man is the CEO. You can’t just walk up to his office and knock on the door. There’s a receptionist, and there’ll be security in place – and he might not even be here. You do realise it’s very likely he’s not here, don’t you?’ She latched onto this thought with enthusiasm, but Sarah shook her head.

‘He’s here,’ she said.

‘Oh, really? What – have you phoned ahead and made an appointment?’ Evie’s laughter sounded shrill and more than a little hysterical.

‘Yes,’ Sarah told her. ‘Yes, we have.’

Evie’s mouth dropped open. ‘What?’

‘Stig organised it.’ Sarah turned and regarded the old man thoughtfully. ‘Stig’s been quite key, as it happens. He phoned through yesterday and arranged an appointment. And with what he found out about Zac and McAllisters … I don’t know what we’d have done without him, frankly.’

‘It was nothing,’ he said, waving his hands. But his eyes glittered with mischievous pleasure.

Mavis’s expression mirrored Evie’s. ‘You? How do
you
know Mr Andrews?’

Evie, just as desperate to know the answer to this question, noticed Stig recoil at the emphasis. But then something occurred to her.

‘Hold on just a bloody minute. You said Stig arranged this meeting yesterday? Like, before you’d even asked me if I’d do it?’

Sarah nodded, clearly deciding honesty was the best approach, but the others demurred, claiming innocence. Evie dismissed them, and focused on Sarah and Stig.

‘You two. Come here.’ They moved to stand in front of Evie: Sarah at least a foot and a half taller and standing proud and unapologetic, Stig shuffling and fiddling with his neckerchief. ‘So, you planned all this – the video, the “What’s special about Cupid’s Way” stuff – with the sole intention of getting me to take it to Michael?’

‘As I said, it was our Plan A, yes.’ Sarah managed to sound both bored and breezy, as if going over all this again was a complete waste of time. But Evie wasn’t finished with her yet.

‘What I want to know is, why? Why me? Fine, we had a bit of a connection at first, but there’s no reason on earth to imagine he’s going to listen to me, or take any notice of this video of yours.’ She stressed yours, still feeling miffed that they hadn’t given her the chance to record her own message of support. ‘I’ve tried to reason with him, I’ve tried to get him to change his mind. And look where it got me. It got me here, standing with you lot, pinning all our hopes on a stupid video. It won’t work,’ she said again, and only just stopped herself from stamping her foot like an angry child.

‘How will we know if we don’t try?’ Stig drawled. She glared at him and he shrugged. ‘Got to be worth a go, don’t you think?’

She looked around at the others. Each of them wore the same stubborn expression. Sarah lifted her wrist and checked her watch.

‘We’re going to be late,’ she said conversationally. Evie threw up her hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

‘Fine. If this is what you want – humiliation and ridicule and a pointless waste of time – then let’s go. Let’s just get this over with.’

*

In the lift on the way up, Mavis regarded Evie with wounded eyes. ‘We put our heart and souls into that video, Evie. It’s not stupid.’

‘I’m sorry, Gran. I didn’t mean to upset you.’

Mavis turned away with a huff, and Evie looked through the glass wall and watched the floors surrounding the atrium drop away. They were all packed into the one elevator, and it was pretty clear that Stig still didn’t have a handle on the whole personal hygiene thing. For reasons Evie couldn’t fathom, Bob had brought his video camera with him – he had to hold it up above his head to even fit the thing in the lift with them. It was just as well Pip and Cissy had decided to stay home because Cissy was feeling sick.

Evie rested her head on the cool glass and tried to steel herself for what was to come. Her mind was still spinning, playing catch up, but she knew there was no backing out now. Somehow, while she’d been nursing her wounds in her grandparents’ spare bedroom, the residents of Cupid’s Way had been running around hatching this plan. If she really cared for them, she had to do this. She knew that. It didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

They emerged into the wide, carpeted space outside Michael’s office, and a spiky-haired youth who looked about sixteen told them Mr Andrews would be with them shortly. Mavis and Frank perched on the arms of a white leather sofa, while Bob and Freda leaned over the balcony and gazed in awe at the atrium. Alun had stayed home with Eloise and the boys, which Evie thought a very good thing indeed. Bob Peacock wasn’t nearly so bolshy – or so downright embarrassing – without his clan to back him up.

She wandered over to Sarah and Tim, who had taken up positions on either side of a glass coffee table. She had the ridiculous idea that they were watching her to make sure she didn’t try and make a run for it.

‘Sarah, tell me again why you think he’ll listen to me?’

‘Oh, Evie.’ Sarah looked at Tim, then pulled Evie back towards the lifts, out of earshot of the others. She regarded her friend for a moment, then said, ‘First of all, why don’t you tell me why you think he won’t?’

Evie laughed. Where to start? ‘Okay, first of all because he’s a hard-headed businessman and not remotely sentimental. That,’ she said, pointing to the video Sarah clutched in her hand, ‘is lovely and touching – and just the sort of thing the press will lap up. But Michael? Not a chance. Don’t you think I’ve tried, Sarah? Do you think those times I tried to talk to him we just chatted about the weather?’