When Love Knocks Twice (A Contemporary Love Story) (3 page)

Gail
scrambled away towards the door, avoiding the dilemma of how to say
goodbye to a long-lost friend.

Tom
stepped out into the sunshine and stood on the pavement for a moment,
taken aback by the whirlwind of memories stirred up by his meeting
with Gail. He crossed the road and took a closer look at the old
school. Standing up pretty well for its age. Better than me, he
thought. But it had had alterations as well, bits added and bits
knocked off. Just like us I suppose.

Without
making a conscious decision he wandered up a side road, and ten
minutes later arrived at some tennis courts. At least the tennis club
is still here, he mused. Remembered some good times there. Recalled
playing Gail and others, and getting beaten. Gail was a better player
than he had been, much to his chagrin. The old green wooden clubhouse
had disappeared, replaced by something more sleek in concrete and
steel. I guess they had to do something or it would have fallen down
of its own accord.

His
thoughts meandered back to Gail. A strange meeting. It created an odd
sensation in his brain. Did he regret it? No, definitely not. Did it
throw him out slightly? Yes, it did, but in a positive way. Yes, in a
positive way. As he sat on a bench watching a trio of teenagers
knocking a tennis ball around, he was taken right back. In his mind's
eye he could see himself, Gail, and others, many of whom he could no
longer put a name to, all playing around at the end of the teaching
session they had finished giving to some younger ones. Good times
they were. Good times.

He
sat for quarter of an hour until the heat of the sun became too much,
and then strolled back into the town centre along the railway
embankment in the shade of overhanging trees. He had left his car
back at the hotel before he had set out that morning, and checking
his watch, decided he could do without lunch if he was eating early
that night. So an ice-cream sufficed to keep him going on the two
mile stroll back to his hotel, for a shower and a lie down before he
had to go out.

Gail
found herself in more of a turmoil than Tom. She had had no inkling
of nostalgia when she set off from the house that morning, but now
she found herself transported back some forty years, remembering
situations, good and bad, from her teenage years. The embarrassing
ones were the ones that always came back first but then came the good
times, the happy memories, the laughter. They brought a smile to her
face as she went through the supermarket checkout, and brought a
smile in response from the woman on the checkout till.

Gail
thought of Tom as he had been then, remembered him as a slightly
awkward youth, but engaging in an immature sort of way. There were
plenty of people from that era that she would have been a lot less
happy to bump into. But Tom was fine she decided. Yes definitely
fine. She had always felt safe with Tom. Was that why she had invited
him to dinner? Or did she just want some company, someone to talk to?

She
discovered that she had driven home on automatic, her mind elsewhere,
and she chastised herself for not paying attention. Pull yourself
together woman, the grand-children will be here soon.

Tom
wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but when he pulled into the
driveway of the old stone manor house, he was fairly sure it hadn’t
been this. It was one of the old houses from the days of the founding
of the town, when grain merchants had moved out of the city to get
away from the nineteenth century city grime, and created dormitory
villages within commuting reach of the wharves and docks by the
river.

The
driveway was so large, that he would have been in a quandary as to
where to park the car, but for the two cars already parked neatly,
side by side, against an extensive flower bed. He pulled in beside
them, took a deep breath and got out of the car. As he had lain on
the bed in his hotel room, he had started to have misgivings about
all of this. He still felt emotionally fragile after his wife's death
and perhaps this wasn't a good idea, dredging up the past. Too late
you fool, he told himself, and gathered the courage to push the
doorbell. He took the time to run some fingers through his hair, very
aware that there was less to run his fingers through than there had
been in the old days.

Gail
opened the door, a little flustered.

“ Come
in. Come in,” she beckoned, gesturing him to come over the
threshold.

“ Are
you sure it's convenient?” he offered, pointing to the cars
parked on the drive. “I don't want to intrude.”

Gail
looked at him sternly. “Tom Drysdale, if you don't stop
apologising...well just come in. The family are still here, so come
and meet them.”

She
led him through the hallway to a door leading into the back of the
house, which opened into a large farmhouse-sized kitchen complete
with refectory table in the centre, at which sat a young woman in her
twenties, in tee-shirt and jeans. Tom did a double-take and stopped
in his tracks, something that didn't go unnoticed by Gail.

“ Yes,
I know, she's the spitting image of her mother. This is Emily my
daughter.”

And
she was right, Tom could have been looking at Gail thirty years ago.
“Hi,” was all he could stutter.

Emily
nodded in acknowledgement. “Hi. Welcome to the madhouse, take a
seat.”

At
this point the need for a conversation opener was avoided by two
toddlers running into the kitchen, running around the table and
running back out again, oblivious to any of their surroundings.

“ Katy
and Roddy, grand-children,” explained Gail. “Live-wires,
bundles of energy.” She paused momentarily. “Do I
remember you saying you didn't have any yet.”

“ That's
right. A delight yet to come.”

“ Take
a tip from me. Save up all your spare energy now, in readiness.”

“ Thanks
for the warning.”

“ Coffee?”
offered Gail.

“ Please,”
replied Tom, and “No,” replied Emily. “I've had
enough already.”

Gail
busied herself putting some coffee on, and Emily turned to Tom.

“ So
Mum says that you two knew each other in your teens.”

“ That's
right, back in the last century.”

Emily
put on a mischievous smile. “So dish the dirt. What was she
really like as a teenager?”

“ Emily,”
warned Gail.

“ Don't
worry Gail,” reassured Tom. “Your secrets are safe with
me.”

There
was a pause before Gail replied, “I always knew I could trust
you Tom.”

There
was something in her tone of voice that caught Emily's attention. She
looked at her mother, then Tom, and finally back to her mother.

“ Were
you two an item?” she exclaimed.

“ Emily!”
shrieked Gail, in a shocked tone of voice. “What a question to
ask.”

Emily
appeared unabashed and undaunted, and turning to Tom, raised an
eyebrow in interrogative fashion. Tom did not appear in any way
embarrassed, although slightly at a loss as to how to reply.

He
looked at Gail as he replied to Emily. “No, we were never an
item, were we Gail?”

“ No,
just good friends.”

Emily
adopted a quizzical expression, as if she didn't know whether to
believe them, or whether there was a conspiracy going on. The
interrogation may have gone on longer but for the arrival of Jeremy
and his wife.

Gail
grabbed the opportunity.

“ Tom,
Jeremy and Sarah, parents of the two tornadoes you saw a moment
ago.”
There were general 'Hi's' exchanged, Jeremy apologised
for their delay in coming through but the Lego had been at a crucial
stage. Tom confessed to being a Lego enthusiast and before he knew it
he had been dragged through to the lounge to inspect the Lego models,
leaving Emily and Gail preparing coffee and dinner in that order.

Emily
got up and closed the door behind them before sitting down again.

“ So,
what is it with you and Tom?” she quizzed.

“ What
do you mean?” replied Gail.

“ Like
I say. What is it with you and Tom?”

“ Nothing.
I bumped into an old friend, who I probably will never see again so
I'm taking the chance to catch up on years lost. That's all.”

Emily
didn't respond but gazed at her mother with the sort of expression
that Superman would use to melt ice in a bid to save the world.

“ You're
fond of him, aren't you?”

Gail
gave her the sort of look that left Emily in no doubt that she had
crossed a line, and if she continued to do so then she would regret
it. Emily knew that look and didn't push any more.

Shortly
after, with coffee brewed and dinner in the oven, Gail and Emily
joined the others. Gail stopping in the doorway to watch the heads
bent over the pile of Lego on the carpet, one of the heads
distinctive due to the grey hairs. She smiled and made some sort of
remark about eternal children, whilst the thought occurred to her
that Gordon should have been there, playing on the floor with his
grand-children.

It
wasn't long before Jeremy and Sarah made their excuses and left, to
feed mouths and administer bath-times. Emily also made her goodbyes
and followed them out to the car, shepherded by Gail.

With
the car door open, Emily turned to kiss her mother goodbye, but
before doing so, she looked her in the eye.

“ Enjoy
yourself.” Gail made a face but Emily repeated. “No Mum,
I mean it, enjoy yourself, it's time you had some fun.”

Gail
returned to find Tom tidying toys in some sort of logical manner.

“ Oh,
thank you. Just move them over to the corner. The kids will be back
in a few days to make a mess again so it's not worth a lot of
effort.”

Tom
was left to his own devices, while Gail went to prepare the remainder
of dinner, and rather than stand hovering over the cook, he took the
opportunity to survey the bookshelves and the music collection, LPs
and CDs stacked in some sort of order. Some he nodded at knowingly
whilst others raised an eyebrow. He picked up a book he had been
meaning to read for some time but had never got round to, and that
was where Gail found him half an hour later, perched on the arm of an
easy chair, book in hand.

“ Dinner's
ready if you want some,” she announced.

Tom
hastily put the book down as if he had been caught in some guilty
act, and stood to follow her out of the room.

They
ate an easy meal with no awkwardness, talked of general things,
children, jobs, the world and all manner of things impersonal.

Gail
poured some coffee. The conversation came round to missed
opportunities in life.

“ Have
you had any regrets?” asked Gail.

“ Lots,”
replied Tom quickly.

“ Like?”

“ Like
not trying acting, like not writing a novel, like not telling my wife
I loved her more often.”

“ I
can identify with that.”

“ And
yours?”

“ My
regrets?” replied Gail. “Oh. I don't know. I regret not
experiencing more, not relishing the moment. Always worrying about
tomorrow instead of enjoying today.”

“ Deep,”
quipped Tom. “Very deep. But oh so true.”

They
paused to imbibe some coffee.

“ Did
you ever want to become an item?” quizzed Gail.

“ What,
us become an item?”

“ Yes.”

“ Wow.
You're as bad as your daughter.”

“ She's
had a very good tutor.”

Tom
blew his cheeks out as he considered his reply, while Gail waited
patiently.

“ I
had a huge crush on you when I was, what, fifteen, sixteen. Would I
have asked you out? No, I wouldn't have done.”

“ Why
not?”

“ I
had such low confidence as a teenager. And you had older, better
looking, smarter boys swarming around you like bees around a honey
pot.”

Gail
frowned. “You should have said something all the same.”

“ Easy
to say now.”

“ Adolescence
was such a painful time for us all, wasn't it?”

“ Always.
Has to be, to make us into adults I suppose. And you? What about
you?”

“ Me?”

“ Yes.
Did you ever want to be an item?”

It
was Gail's turn to hesitate. “I liked you as a friend. A good
friend, good to have around. You were dependable, solid. I meant what
I said. I felt I could always trust you. I don't think I would have
wanted to jeopardise that.”

“ Well,
there we are. Good friends then.”

Conversation
returned to more general topics until Tom checked his watch and
declared it was time he turned in.

“ What
are you planning tomorrow?” responded Gail.

“ I
was going to take a walk out across the heathland where we used to
play as kids.”

“ Are
you interested in having any company?”

Tom
hesitated. His brain tossing around between enjoying his own company,
and enjoying the company of this attractive woman with whom he felt
at ease.

“ That
would be good,” he replied, “But I hope you're ready for
a brisk walk.”

“ Walking
boots at the ready,” quipped Gail.

They
made arrangements to meet the next day, and hugged politely on the
doorstep as Tom thanked her for the meal and made his good-nights.

Gail
lay in bed, her mind wandering around her youth, memories flitting in
and out, situations she had completely forgotten about, people she
hadn't thought of for decades. She was totally oblivious to the
noises through the open bedroom window, noises of the night, that
occasional car, the odd dog barking.