It's Now or Never (9 page)

‘Yes, that's her.'

‘She's a friend of mine actually. I'm glad to hear she was only doing her job properly.'

Oh god, why didn't that surprise me? Now I'd only gone and insulted his friend too.

‘Look,' he said, laughing it away. ‘Just take a chance, Jen. It's only dinner. Call it a one-off. If you hate it, and me, I promise you'll never have to see me again.'

When he put it like that I honestly couldn't see any reason to refuse.

‘Okay,' I said, downing the rest of my cappuccino as though it were a vodka, ‘that would be lovely.'

‘Really?' Alex's face lit up as though he hadn't actually believed I would consent. ‘How about next Friday then?'

‘Perfect!' I could be that girl who dated in a carefree and casual manner without losing my heart to the extremely good-looking man opposite me. I would just need to practice.

Chapter Nine

‘Oh my god! What is that revolting smell?'

It was the first time I'd seen Angie in months, ever since the wedding in fact. She waltzed through my front door radiating good health; her hair was kissed with highlights from the sun and her skin was peppered with freckles, but there was something else about her too, an indefinable magical quality that made her look different somehow, changed in some way from the single girl I used to know.

She stopped in her tracks on her way down my hallway and took a deep inhalation. Her mouth curled in disgust, before she gagged and covered her mouth with her hand.

‘Really, Jen, what is that stench? Has someone died?'

‘It's my chilli jam bubbling away on the stove. I'm not sure what's happened actually. This is my third batch. The first lot I had to chuck out because it was too runny, the second lot was so thick you could stand a spoon up in it and this lot is smelling really vinegary. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going wrong.'

‘Eugh, listen to you Goldilocks.' Angie shuddered with distaste. ‘So, what's with the domestic goddess stuff then?'

‘Oh, it's for my new blog. I've only got a dozen or so followers at the moment, but I'm hoping to grow it over the next few months. I've been trying to put up a couple of posts a week. Seasonal gardening tips, simple craft projects, country kitchen recipes, that kind of thing. Molly from work gave me a jar of homemade chilli jam last Christmas and it tasted absolutely divine. I thought it would make a really popular post. How to grow your own chillies at home, making the jam and then decorating the jars for presents.'

‘Blimey, you'll need to be careful not to kill off all your followers with that stuff. It smells like paint stripper.'

‘You won't be mocking me when my jars of chilli jam are selling like hot cakes from garden centres across the country. I'll be the Paul Newman of Casterton. I think I probably just need to tweak the recipe slightly.'

‘Hmmm.' Angie raised her eyebrows doubtfully, before her shoulders heaved dramatically and she made a fist of her hand at her mouth.

‘It's not that bad,' I said laughing. ‘Come in to the living room and I'll close the kitchen door. Fancy a glass of this?' I asked, taking the bottle of Prosecco she was offering. I kissed her on both cheeks, happy to have her back again.

‘Maybe later. I could murder a cup of tea first though.'

‘So how was the honeymoon?' I asked, when I returned with our drinks. ‘You look amazing! Bronzed, radiant and just unbelievably happy. Married life obviously agrees with you.'

‘Oh it's fading already,' said Angie, holding her arms up for examination. ‘We had such a brilliant time though, but honestly, even paradise can wear a bit thin after three weeks. All that sun, sea, sand and sex, it was exhausting!'

‘Huh, chance would be a fine thing,' I said, pulling a disgruntled face.

‘I've brought you this,' she said, handing me a pretty little gift wrapped box. I quickly tore off the paper, opened it up and pulled out a green jewel encrusted bracelet.

‘That's so lovely, thanks, Angie. You didn't need to do that, but I'm really happy that you did! It's so beautiful.' I giggled, fastening the bracelet around my wrist.

Settled on the sofa, Angie proceeded to tell me all about her honeymoon – showing me photos of their beachside villa and shot after shot of golden sands, blue skies and beautifully put together plates of food. It looked idyllic.

‘Tom did some snorkelling and some paragliding. You know what he's like. He needs to get his adrenalin fix, but I was just happy to sit by the pool or on the beach, reading my book and dipping into the water occasionally just to cool off.'

‘Sounds wonderful,' I sighed.

‘Oh it was. These last few months have been such a heady whirl. I have such lovely memories of our wedding day. I don't think it could have been more perfect if we'd tried. And to share it with the people we love most in the world, well, what more could we have asked for?' Angie let out a heartfelt sigh. ‘So, did anything happen between you and Alex? Every time I looked over at you two, you were deep in conversation, gazing into each other's eyes.'

I laughed.

‘I'm not sure about the gazing into each other's eyes bit, but we had a great time. I'm really glad Alex was there to share the day with me. Yeah, it was good fun.'

If I'd been trying for nonchalant, Angie was having none of it.

‘Good fun? Is that all? What happened after we left? Did you two go on somewhere? Was there any schmoozy-moozy stuff going on that I should know about?'

‘No, don't be daft. We just went for a quick drink to round the evening off. It was lovely, really nice.'

Angie and I didn't have secrets from each other, or at least we hadn't up until now, but I wasn't going to admit to her or to anyone else, come to that, that I'd gone home with Alex that night. I barely liked to admit it to myself. Just the thought brought me out in a hot prickly rash. Besides, Angie had Tom to confide in so it was perfectly reasonable that we wouldn't share absolutely everything with each other any more.

‘He's been asking after you, you know?'

‘Who has?'

‘Alex, of course!' said Angie, looking exasperated. ‘He was saying to Tom what a great girl he thought you were and how much he enjoyed your company. I think he was trying to find out if there was anybody else on the scene. If you were available?'

‘Really?' I looked away, not wanting to meet Angie's eagle-eyed gaze, the hot prickly sensation putting in a reappearance. Funny, I thought I'd had ‘available' plastered all over my forehead. ‘Well, I do hope Tom didn't give away all my deepest secrets.'

‘Well, you know Tom. He's pretty clueless when it comes to these things so I think your secrets are safe with him. Do you think you'll see him again?'

‘Alex? He's texted me a few times, but I don't know that I will.' I didn't enjoy lying to Angie, but to be honest I still wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing in agreeing to a date. Half of me was still thinking I might cancel. ‘Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, funny and charming and good-looking, but…'

But what? If I'd heard anyone else describing a single available man that way I would have rushed over and nabbed him for myself. What was it that was stopping me from seeing someone I actually really liked? Alex was the first guy I'd fancied in ages, so why couldn't I just roll with it. The trouble was – it wasn't only the fact I fancied the pants off Alex, there was more to it than that. We'd clicked in a way that rarely happened with other guys; there was a connection between us that I'm sure I hadn't imagined. One I couldn't put down solely to the number of glasses of wine we'd drunk that day either.

‘…we're different people,' I managed to conjure up. ‘And he's really not my type.'

‘Well to be honest, I'm pleased,' said Angie, sounding relieved. ‘I was worried he might have cast you under his spell. You wouldn't be the first or the last. From what Tom's told me, he's bad news as far as women are concerned. P-L-A-Y-E-R. Big time. Commitment issues too, I think.'

If I'd been wavering, Angie's damning assassination of Alex's character had definitely put paid to any doubts.

‘Sounds like I did well to escape his clutches then,' I said, breezily, trying hard to hide my disappointment.

That was the issue. It had been almost too easy being with Alex; the conversation had flowed smoothly, along with the wine, and falling into bed with him had seemed like the most natural thing in the world. A one-off, never happened to me before kind of thing, but I was realising it was much more of a regular, everyday kind of thing for Alex. Did I really just want to be another notch on his bedpost?

As soon as Angie went home I'd send Alex a text cancelling our date.

‘Anyway, I'm going to have a top-up,' I said, picking up my empty glass. Best to forget all about it and move on. I brought the bottle of wine in from the kitchen. ‘Are you ready for one?'

Angie shifted on the sofa, tucking her legs beneath her.

‘Um, do you have something soft, a coke or a lemonade?'

I looked at her askance. The girl who could drink me under the table and still come up smiling was asking for a lemonade. If this is what married life did to you I wasn't sure I wanted any of it.

‘Oh my god,' I cried, in a blinding moment of realisation, almost dropping the bottle in surprise. There could only be one reason for Angie being off the booze. ‘You're pregnant!' I said, dropping back down on to the sofa.

She nodded, her eyes widening. A smile spread across her lips as her cheeks flushed pink.

‘Yep. Can you believe it? We've worked out that it must have happened that very first night Tom and I got back together again. It did mean I spent most of the honeymoon throwing up but I always think if you're going to be ill then it's much better to do that in paradise.'

‘Oh darling, I am so happy for you both. That's the most amazing news.' I stared at her stomach as though seeing it for the first time, as though it had taken on a life force of its own, which it had! I pulled her towards me for a hug, surprised to feel tears gathering in my eyes.

She'd always said that she hated children and swore that she would never have kids of her own, but here she was pregnant with her first child. Angie would make the most wonderful mother. It just amazed me that it had never occurred to me before.

‘I couldn't be happier. It's all been a bit crazy, first the wedding and now this. Funny how your life can turn around so quickly.'

She was absolutely right there. A couple of months ago and we'd both been single girls about town without a care in the world. Now she was married and expecting a baby, and had a whole heap of responsibility on her shoulders. It certainly explained why I noticed the subtle change in her appearance; radiant, happy and tired all rolled into one.

‘What does Tom think?'

She screwed up her face and winced.

‘He was completely shocked at first. It wasn't planned and I think he would have liked more time to ourselves before we started a family, but events have been taken out of our hands now.' She shrugged, looking as though she couldn't quite believe the news herself. ‘He's slowly coming round to the idea though. He's going to be the best dad ever.'

‘And you're going to be the best mum ever. I just know you are.'

‘Do you know,' said Angie, looking thoughtful. ‘This just confirms to me that it was all meant to be. It's as though fate has stepped in and decreed that this would happen. Do you believe in fate, Jen?'

I pondered on that one for a moment.

‘I don't know.'

‘I do. I know it sounds daft, but I'm a great believer in these things. Tom and I were always meant to be together, he just needed a little convincing of that fact.'

She giggled, and I thought that I'd never seen her looking happier.

‘Well, I think it's the most brilliant news.'

Obviously Fate was far too busy sorting out Angie's love life to step in and do something about mine, but I was hopeful that my turn would be next. Perhaps Fate just needed a nudge in the ribs, a reminder that I was here, ready and waiting. Perhaps if I put out a small request to the universe, they'd be able to do a job lot and sort out my love life and everything else at the same time.

Thinking about it, perhaps I didn't believe in fate after all.

‘Jen?'

‘Yeah?'

‘Sorry to go on, but your chilli jam, do you think it's all right out there?'

‘Oh shit!' At that moment the aromas of burnt sugar and vinegar so pungent it hit me right in the back of my throat, making my eyes water, wafted out to join us in the living room. I dashed out to the kitchen, grabbed a tea towel and snatched the stock pot off the hob, peering hopefully into the pan. I stuck my wooden spoon into the gooey black flecked mess and attempted to give it a stir, but that congealed blob of sugar wasn't going anywhere.

‘Hmm,' said Angie, looking over my shoulder, giving me a reassuring squeeze with her hand around my waist. ‘If you want my advice darling, that recipe needs a little more tweaking yet.'

Chapter Ten

It was my final week working at Browns and by the Thursday I'd cleared all my paperwork and drawn up lists of the jobs I did on a daily, weekly and monthly basis for my successor. I prepared spreadsheets, updated my filing systems and transferred the huge pile of business cards on the office desk onto the contact lists on the computer.

There was still a part of me that felt guilty about leaving Matt in the lurch. Everyone at work had expressed their surprise when they'd learnt I was moving on. Matt had called me his right-hand woman and wondered how he would ever manage without me. A couple of times he'd asked if there was anything he could do to make me change my mind and had offered me considerably more money and a new role within the company to entice me to stay, but I knew if I didn't leave now, I never would. I'd be collecting my pension from Browns.