This Is Your Life (21 page)

‘Nonsense,’ said Lizzie firmly. ‘Your pink garden is going to be a sensation, don’t you imagine for
a moment it’s not.’

A confusion of thoughts filled Lizzie’s head as she drove to Sparkie’s, in desperate need of some retail therapy. Poor, poor Ginny. How could she even bear to look at that awful man, let alone share a bed with him? And how did men like that get away with it? Edward’s arrogance was outrageous.  Lizzie shook her head, hoping that Ginny would come to her senses and kick Edward firmly into touch, exactly where he belonged.

After Ginny’s bombshell,
Lizzie needed Sparkie’s more than usual. Nola was up a ladder painting again when she got there, adding another line.

‘
For our customers who’ve lost their way…’ she called down to Lizzie.

Everyone is beautiful
…
had been painted on a previously bare section of wall.  Lizzie liked it.

Julia made
herbal tea, and they showed her all the wonderful new clothes that they felt sure were here especially for Lizzie.

‘Lovely, isn’t it, that one,’ said Julia admiringly. ‘Oh Lizzie, you
really
do
look beautiful, doesn’t she Nola? And some of these only came in this morning…’

Nola nodded in agreement, her feline eyes
watching Lizzie.

Eventually, she’d chosen a dress that she’d instantly fallen in love with, wonderfully flattering in soft
est, sludgy blue dotted with flowers.  It was a flowing kind of dress, the perfect length for showing off tanned legs and of course, she had to buy the pretty beaded sandals that went with it.

T
he girls had given her a faded silk rose on a slide to wear in her hair as a present, which Lizzie would never have chosen for herself, but Nola and Julia were right. It was the finishing touch. Between them, they had brushed her hair and pinned it up at one side, and shown her how to pin the flower just above her ear.

‘Oh,’ they said, beaming at her with delight
. ‘You look stunning Lizzie. Look.’

Th
ey’d pushed her in front of the enormous mirror and Lizzie did a double take. She barely recognised the person staring back at her – these girls were just incredible. 

‘
Do you have time for a drink Lizzie? Only there’s a new cocktail bar just opened. Just round the corner, and Nola and I were going to treat ourselves. We’ll treat you too!  Kinky Pinks all round!’  She’d taken her hand.  ‘Come and join us!’

Ginny would just love this place, thought Lizzie! Ice cream coloured tables and chairs with matching cushions, and a long list of cocktails with the most exotic names she’d ever heard.   Lizzie eventually got round to telling them about meeting Tom, and Nola and Julia had exchanged very knowing glances.

‘What?’ Lizzie asked them, looking from one to the other. ‘What is it?’

‘Fate,’ said Nola. ‘Or call it destiny. You see, if you hadn’t moved here, you wouldn’t have met Susie, nor would you have met Tom. But you’d already met him, hadn’t you? Oh, that’s even more amazing. Surely you can see, Lizzie, it’s meant to be…’

But Lizzie
was confused.

‘And,’ added Julia, ‘he recognized you
didn’t he?  It definitely means something, think about it.’

‘It’s karma,’ said Nola.

‘Kismet,’ added Julia, nodding.

‘Destiny. You can’t avoid it.’ And they were both silent, looking at her lovingly
, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

It all sounded double dutch to Lizzie
as she waited for them to start on about the universe again.  But it set her was thinking... In fact it startled her to realise just how much thinking she was doing these days, all about Tom Woodleigh.

‘But,’ she faltered. ‘But it’s not as though he’s asked me out or anything…’

‘Oh Lizzie,’ Nola shook her head, a knowing look on her pretty face. ‘You are a silly.’

‘He thinks you’re with Leo,’ added Julia. ‘Someone like Tom is far too much of a gentleman to go m
oving in on someone else’s girlfriend.’

‘Oh.’ Lizzie was dismayed. They were right.
How did they know these things? And why couldn’t she figure it out for herself? And what was she supposed to do now?

The week of Susie’s wedding
was here and Lizzie’s nerves were getting the better of her.  It was going to be a huge affair.  Over two hundred guests, top notch caterers, and a band who were ‘completely awesome,’ according to Cassie at least. Lizzie was wishing with all her heart that the Woodleighs had employed a society florist, leaving her free to spend the week as she usually did, digging flowerbeds and covered in earth, which though tiring was infinitely less stressful.

But then she might not have been invited…And Lizzie’s heart was a-flutter as she thought about running into Tom, though she wasn’t sure what, if anything, she was expecting. Rather rashly she’d invited Leo, though after what Nola and Julia had pointed out, she was beginning to wish she hadn’t, but Leo had sauntered in to her kitchen and seen the invite and before she knew it the words had popped out. 

But she’d also had the best piece of news.  Julian had called her first thing.

‘Ah, Lizzie… I’m emailing you.  Now.  Co
py of the article on the farm… You know…erm… well, could you just run your eye over it and make sure it looks alright?’

             
Astounded, Lizzie agreed, and called him back half an hour later.

             
‘Julian – it’s perfect.  The photographs too… It really looks incredible!’

             
‘Ah, well, glad to hear you say that.’  He sounded pleased.

             
‘Oh and Julian?  Thank you,
so
much…’

It was
Lizzie’s last morning at Ginny’s until after the wedding, and the plants were being delivered.  After unloading what felt like endless trays of plants on the drive, the driver carried the heaviest shrubs over to the back of the garden, where they would be kept until after the wedding, before he drove off, leaving Lizzie alone with the rest, in pots, in the middle of Ginny’s drive. Lizzie began the arduous task of moving it all, and as she carried yet another armful of plants across the lawn, she noticed the slight figure of Ginny’s youngest daughter standing forlornly by the greenhouse.

‘
Hello.  You’re Alice aren’t you?’ She’d noticed her before, the youngest and least flamboyant of the girls, but with brown eyes like a deer’s and skin dusted with freckles, possibly the prettiest. 

Alice smiled back shyly. ‘I just wondered’, she asked quietly, ‘can I stay
down here for a bit? If I’m not in your way?’

‘Tell you what’,
Lizzie said, wondering if Alice
knew
, ‘I’ve got tons to do here. You could help me for a while if you like? There’s all this to move into the shade, and then we need to water it all. What do you say?’

Alice’s face lit up. She followed Lizzie out to collect some more plants.

Lizzie soon discovered that Alice didn’t share her big sisters’ obsession with clothes and make up, not to mention boys of course.  She’d also divulged that actually, yes, she had met Tom. More than once actually… There was a twinkle in Alice’s eye as she’d told Lizzie what a stupid crush her sisters had going on! If only she knew... thought Lizzie, mortified, that she herself wasn’t much better.

And i
t seemed that Alice was also genuinely interested in the garden. She’d already asked if she could help with the planting. Maybe there was a gardener in this family yet.

‘I could help you again if you like?’ volunteered Alice shyly
as Lizzie was leaving. ‘I mean, I don’t want to be a nuisance, only if it’s useful …’ Her voice tailed off.

‘Do you know,’
Lizzie said slowly, ‘I might just take you up on that. I could really do with an extra pair of hands this week, with the wedding flowers. Obviously I’d pay you. It would be hard work though,’ she hastened to add.

‘
Thanks!’ beamed Alice. ‘I’ll just check with Mummy…’

Antonia had stopped as she rode past Lizzie’s cottage on Hamish.

‘I say, Lizzie… Tobes has asked me to the wedding!  Going to be a frightfully posh do…Hope you’ve got a frock?’

Lizzie ignored her.  ‘You know we need some ideas for the Ball!  Have you got the tickets yet by the way?  Shouldn’t we be selling them?’

‘Oh darling, you’re way behind!  Yes, I do have them and I’ve already sold a hundred and twenty!  Without even trying!  Miriam’s thrilled of course.  And you’ll never guess
, but Eucalyptus even bought a couple…but she wouldn’t tell me who she’s bringing!  I asked of course, but she went a bit pink and wouldn’t say!  Golly – I’m intrigued!  I wonder if it’s anyone we know?’

‘I’ve seen the article for the magazine!’ said Lizzie.  ‘It’s perfect!  The headline is ‘
Gardens for a new generation’. 
We just have to hope that loads of people read it and want to send Miriam their money…’

‘Stand still darling,’ she said to Hamish who was bored and starting to fidget.  ‘I tell you,’ she said to Lizzie.  ‘
She’ll have more visitors than she knows what to do with by the time we’ve finished.’

Susie’s hen weekend had passed in whirl of sunshine, surfing and seafood, with some serious wine drinking thrown in for good measure. Rock had been at its picturesque best, with iridescent turquoise waves crashing onto the pale sand, and hot - gloriously so. Susie had found herself driven to waste not a single second. A sense of recklessness had her running for the sea, urging her further out to catch bigger waves than usual, pushing her usual boundaries.

Now on her way home, s
he was gripped by a sense of panic as she at last acknowledged what was eating her.  Because just days before her wedding, Susie was having second thoughts.  What if Rory wasn’t the one?  And she didn’t feel enough for him? How did she know she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life?

That evening, Lizzie had collapsed in the shade of her apple tree with a large mug of tea, with Darren perched on her lap.  Her chickens clucked serenely as they scratched in the long grass, and Lizzie tried not to think about all the to-do lists in her head, as she gazed into the blue sky and felt the tension in her muscles ebb away. She breathed in wafts of the honeysuckle that was just coming into flower and that’s exactly where Susie found her, when she wandered around the side of the cottage.

‘Hey Susie!  You ok?’ 
Susie looked tired - not her usual sparkly self at all. ‘How about some tea, or a proper drink?’

‘I could murder a glass of wine. I’m sorry
Lizzie, I should have brought some, but I didn’t know I was coming here. I was driving by and well, I just thought maybe I could pop in, if you’re not busy of course…’

Something was definitely up, thought Lizzie.
She looked most subdued - not a trace of that boisterous excitement.

‘
Of course I’m not – come on, I’ll find some wine.’

Susie sat on the brightly cushioned seat of one of
the chairs which were still in one piece but only just, and leaned her elbows on the table, quiet, after hours of driving too fast. Lizzie sat down opposite and poured out two glasses of white wine.

‘How was your weekend? It must have been great! What did the girls have in store for you?’

‘Actually, said Susie, ‘it was surprisingly uneventful. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it was lovely - we sunbathed and surfed, and had some fantastic food. But, oh Lizzie, I’ve been feeling quite funny…’ Susie couldn’t stop once she started.

‘You and Leo,’ she asked tentatively. ‘Is it, you know, anything serious?’ She watched Lizzie’s cheeks blush under her tan, as she studied her wine glass.

Lizzie looked up, a quizzical look on her face. ‘Honestly? I don’t think so. It could never be. He’s just not my type. I do think he’s gorgeous looking and I did wonder to start with, but…’ She broke off, not wanting to tell Susie that meeting her brother Tom had put a stop to that; that Tom put Leo in the shade...

But tears
had starting to trickle down Susie’s cheeks, and Lizzie reached out a hand to her.

‘I’m glad you said that. You know
, that bloody Leo…I hate myself Lizzie…but I’m more attracted to him than I’ve ever been to Rory…sorry, I hope you don’t mind me telling you, only I don’t know what to do... I was hoping that if he was your boyfriend it would snap me out of it. You know, girls code and all that…’ But Lizzie wasn’t upset in the slightest, it was just that
Leo,
of all men… it was ridiculous. He wasn’t worth it.

‘Susie. You can’t seriously be considering breaking up with Rory?
I don’t know Leo that well, but I can’t imagine him ever settling with one person. He’s attractive, yes - but he’s a serial flirt,’ she said firmly, adding ‘and he plays games. He’s never there when you need him and turns up when you’d rather he didn’t, out of the blue, and probably only because he hasn’t had a better offer. It’s funny really, when you meet someone like him, it’s a challenge! You think you’re going to be the one to change him, help him see the error of his ways and save his soul!  Of course, the truth is people like Leo don’t change. Not really.’ Lizzie shuddered, as she thought of Ginny’s husband Edward. ‘Just imagine being married to such a a…philanderer! You know, when I first met him, I wondered whether Mum would have liked him. I think she would have, though she definitely would have warned me off him. But for once, I didn’t need her to. I actually managed to figure it out for myself.’

In spite of herself, Susie wiped her face and attempted a wobbly smile. Lizzie was a better judge o
f character than she’d thought. It seemed she’d got the measure of Leo on her own, far better than Susie had imagined.

‘The wedding was going to be so perfect, and now
...’  Susie looked downcast. ‘I know I sound like a spoiled brat, and I really don’t mean to. So much trouble has gone in to organising it. You know it’s literally taken months to plan and oodles of money, and here I am, considering giving it all up just like that…

‘When you first met Rory,’ Lizzie asked her.  ‘How did you feel then?’

Susie sighed.  ‘Oh, it was exciting and fun, and Rory always looked out for me.  Still does.  He’s a good person Lizzie, he doesn’t deserve this.’  The tears were starting again.

‘
And Leo is exciting and dangerous… You’d have great sex and he’d leave you as soon as the next girl batted her eyelashes at him.  You’ve known Rory ages, of course it’s not exciting like
that
.’

But Susie
looked exhausted.

‘Sleep on it,’
said Lizzie. ‘Try to put it out of your mind, and see how you feel tomorrow...’

‘Do you often do that? Think what your Mum’s advice would be?’ Susie asked.

Lizzie gave a small smile and swallowed. ‘I used to hear her voice often. It was uncanny at times, as though she was standing right beside me,’ she told Susie. ‘It freaked me out to start with, especially when I couldn’t believe she’d died. Now it happens much less often, but I can nearly always imagine what she’d say about something important. It’s almost like she’s still there…’

‘What do you think she’d say to me?’ asked Susie in a small voice.

Lizzie thought.  ‘You know, she left me a letter.  About having freedom and choices… I’ll show you sometime.  I guess you have a choice, right now…’

They
talked on into the evening, until the blue sky took on a wash of faded orange and pink which almost matched Lizzie’s T-shirt as the sun slid down out of sight.

I
t was well past midnight when the girls made their way inside.  Lizzie showed her guest to the spare bedroom. The little bed under the eaves looked to Susie like the most inviting place in the world, with fresh white cotton pillow cases, and the faded blue duvet, and all those colourful cushions. Susie decided she’d leave the curtains open, so that she could lie in bed and look at the stars. So much for that idea. As soon as her head hit the pillows, she was sound asleep.  So soundly that she wasn’t aware of Lizzie sneaking back in, nor that she left the crystal that Nola had given her on the table beside the bed before tiptoeing off to her own.

Next morning Lizzie was up with the lark, but wondering if the wedding would still be on, thinking she’d better uninvite Leo very swiftly. She had to go and collect the vases she’d hired, and had left a note for Susie. The air was still cool, and some early morning riders trotted down the lane, making the most of the morning before the sun and flies got too much.

Stopping off at Ginny’s on her way home, Lizzie wanted to check if the plants needed watering, and to make sure Alice was still free to help her over the next few days.
Alice was out for the day, but Ginny assured her she was very happy, if Lizzie was really sure…And no need to collect her, Ginny would be delighted to bring her over, lowering her voice to say that if she didn’t get out of the house, she might end up killing someone, nodding her bouffant head jerkily as she spoke, in the direction of her mother who was visiting. Poor Ginny – plagued by so many difficult relatives… She’d said nothing more about the Edward business but her face was stretched tighter than ever.