The One You Really Want Page 5

  ‘OK.’ Paula leaned forward confidingly and lowered her voice. ‘Someone gave me the ring for Christmas. I know it’s a real diamond. I just didn’t want everyone else to know. You have no idea what it’s like, living in a place like Kilnachranan.’

  ‘Having an affair with a married man, making sure his wife doesn’t find out,’ said Rennie. ‘Can’t be easy.’

  Paula’s jaw tightened. She looked at him for a couple of seconds then briefly shook her head. ‘It isn’t. Can I have my ring back now?’

  But Rennie was studying it. ‘Know what Jonathan bought Nancy for Christmas? A lawnmower.’

  He watched the colour drain from Paula’s face, her breathing become fast and shallow.

  ‘Did he?’ Her voice was neutral.

  Carmen said, ‘Rennie, I—’

  ‘I’d say you got the better deal,’ Rennie continued. Maybe this wasn’t how they’d planned it but he was buggered if he’d stop now. ‘It’s Jonathan, isn’t it?’

  Paula now looked as if she’d stopped breathing completely. ‘What?’

  ‘Come on, don’t give me that. You’re having an affair with Jonathan Adams, right under his wife’s nose, and now you’ve been caught out—’

  ‘Rennie,’ hissed Carmen, jabbing him hard in the ribs, and this time he did stop. But it was too late. Turning, he saw Rose standing behind him holding a tray of baked potatoes and a bowl of prawns in mayonnaise. Shit, shit. From the expression on her face, she’d heard everything.

  Rennie mentally braced himself for the crash of the metal tray dropping to the ground. Shit, of all the people to have come up behind him at that moment.

  ‘Is this true?’ whispered Rose.

  ‘Sorry.’ Shaking his head, Rennie put a hand on her arm. ‘Rose, I’m so sorry.’

  Ignoring him, Rose stared at Paula. Still clutching the tray, she repeated, ‘Is it true?’

  Chapter 7

  Around them, the party was carrying on in full swing. Literally, in the case of the local curling team in their kilts, recklessly dancing along as Jon Bon Jovi blared from the jukebox.

  Paralysed with horror, Paula tried to take a step back. She glanced helplessly across at Jonathan, but he was too busy laughing at the antics of the curling team to notice.

  ‘Outside,’ Rose hissed.

  ‘Wh-what?’

  ‘Outside. Now.’ Passing the tray of baked potatoes over to Carmen, Rose nodded at the door. ‘Without drawing attention to yourself.’

  At that moment one of the kilted dancers lost his balance and stumbled backwards, landing on his backside on the dance floor and creating a handy diversion. As his audience screamed with delight upon discovering he was a true Scot, Rose prodded Paula, like a small ferocious bouncer, out of the pub.

  Rennie looked at Carmen. ‘Bloody hell.’

  Carmen put down the tray. ‘Nancy’s going to kill you.’

  ‘That’s if her mother doesn’t kill Paula first.’

  They followed Paula and Rose out through the front door of the pub. It was four o’clock, already dark outside, and snow had begun to fall. Illuminated by the misty orange glow of the street lights, with snowflakes already gathering in her hair, Rose McAndrew was giving the trembling younger woman a piece of her mind.

  ‘. . . you’re going to listen to me and pay attention. My daughter’s a good girl. She deserves so much better than this. Her husband may be a despicable idiot, but for some reason, God only knows why, Nancy worships him. She loves that man and I won’t have her hurt. If you think it’s clever to steal a married man away from his wife, well, then you’re as stupid as he is. Men like that aren’t worth stealing, trust me. And I’m certainly not going to stand by and see you hurt my daughter.’

  ‘But—’ began Paula.

  ‘No buts,’ Rose interjected icily. ‘It’s over. You aren’t going to see Jonathan again and Nancy is never going to find out what her pathetic apology for a husband has been up to behind her back.’

  ‘Actually, it’s OK. I already know.’ Stepping out of the shadows, Nancy saw everyone turn and stare at her. When she had emerged from the kitchen two minutes ago to find her friends and her mother missing from the pub, nobody appeared to know where they might have gone. When she pushed open the front door and heard Rose outside the pub berating someone, astonishment had rooted her to the spot. Lurking where no one would see her, she had listened in disbelief. But rather than Jonathan’s affair, it was her mother’s reaction that was truly confounding her.

  She’d never heard her mother like this before, hadn’t known she was capable of such a rant. It was like Gaby Roslin peeling off her face to reveal Anne Robinson underneath. Even more astounding was the discovery that Rose didn’t adore Jonathan and worship the ground he walked on. At this moment she seemed more likely to spit on it.

  Everyone was still gazing at her, Nancy realised, waiting for her to say something else. It was like stepping out onto a stage without learning your lines.

  ‘I know,’ she said again, trembling half with the cold and half with emotion. ‘But Mum, how on earth did you find out?’

  ‘I was in the right place at the right time.’ As shocked as Nancy, Rose said, ‘But I can’t believe you know. Oh darling, why didn’t you tell me?’

  ‘Because I didn’t want to spoil your Christmas. I knew you’d be upset.’

  Rose shook her head in disgust. ‘Upset? I’m not upset, I’m livid!’

  At that moment the door swung open and Jonathan appeared in the doorway. Taking in the situation at a glance he said, ‘What’s going on? Why is everyone out here?’

  ‘You may be stupid, Jonathan,’ Rose retorted, ‘but you aren’t brain-dead. Even you must be able to work it out.’

  Overwhelmed by the transformation in her mother, Nancy glanced across at Paula McKechnie, shivering in her sequin-strewn dress and looking utterly miserable. As she reached up to brush snowflakes from her face, a diamond glinted on her right hand. Watching her watch Paula, Rennie said by way of explanation, ‘That’s the Christmas present.’I

  How had he found this out? Nancy couldn’t begin to imagine. While she’d been busy helping Nora in the kitchen, slicing onions and grating a mountain of cheese, all this had been going on without her.

  ‘Cheating on your wife.’ Rose eyed Jonathan with disdain. ‘That is so low. How could you? She’s not even as pretty as Nancy! You should be ashamed of yourself. My daughter adores you—’

  ‘Mum, it’s OK. I’m going to leave him.’ A lump sprang into Nancy’s throat, because she couldn’t believe she was telling Rose this, wrecking her Christmas and breaking her heart. Except her tiny, frail mother wasn’t actually looking that heartbroken. In the glow from the street lamp, she swung back round to face Nancy, a look of hope on her pale face.

  ‘Really? Truly? Oh darling, thank God!’ Clasping her thin fingers together, Rose said anxiously, ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Absolutely sure.’ Nancy’s smile had gone wobbly with relief. ‘I thought you were mad about Jonathan. I thought you’d be devastated.’

  ‘Sweetheart, are you mad? I’ve known for years that he wasn’t good enough for you! I wouldn’t trust that little worm further than I could toss a caber.’

  ‘Look, this is ridiculous,’ Jonathan blustered. ‘You can’t talk about me as if I’m not even here! So what are you trying to make out, that something’s been going on between me and Paula?’

  ‘Lies, lies. See what I mean about him being pathetic?’ Rose shook her permed head with contempt.

  ‘Jesus, after all we’ve done for you,’ Jonathan shot back. ‘D’you seriously think I wanted you here with us over Christmas? I only put up with it to keep Nancy happy.’

  Outraged by this attack on her mother, Nancy opened her mouth to protest but felt Rennie’s hand on her arm. ‘Let her get on with it,’ he murmured, nodding at Rose. ‘She’s doing fine.’

  ‘And didn’t you do a great job of that,’ Rose riposted with spirit. ‘Never mind, you’ve certainly che
ered me up. This is turning out to be my happiest Christmas in years.’ Turning back to face the rest of them she said brightly, ‘Brrr, I’m getting a bit chilly. Shall we go now?’

  Grinning at Nancy and Carmen, Rennie said, ‘Whatever you say, Rose. You’re the boss.’

  ‘Wait,’ Jonathan called out as they were about to leave. Paula had already scuttled back inside, but he had never been able to handle not knowing the answer to something that was bothering him. ‘How did you find out?’

  It was snowing heavily now. Surveying him, Nancy thought how pretty the lit-up pub looked, how festive and inviting, and how having his hair plastered wetly to his forehead really didn’t suit Jonathan at all.

  Comforted by the feel of Rennie’s warm hand against the back of her neck, she said, ‘If I told you that, it would spoil the fun. When it’s time to start cheating on Paula, you’d make sure it didn’t happen again.’ She paused and added more cheerfully than she’d imagined possible, ‘This way, it just might.’

  Chapter 8

  ‘How are you doing?’ murmured Rennie at dinner that night.

  ‘D’you know, I haven’t the faintest idea.’ Nancy was touched by his concern; he was a virtual stranger, after all. Even if the fact that her marriage had broken up this afternoon was pretty much entirely down to him.

  ‘You’re in shock,’ Rennie told her. ‘Hey, but you did the right thing.’

  They were in the restaurant of the Kincaid in Edinburgh; Rennie had insisted on booking them into the hotel and treating them to dinner, as arranged. Following their departure from the Talbot Arms, the four of them had returned to Nancy and Jonathan’s house and helped Nancy to pack.

  ‘You don’t need to leave,’ Carmen had reminded her. ‘Why should you have to be the one to go?’

  ‘I’d rather.’ Nancy hadn’t needed to think about it, her mind was already made up. The house had always felt more like Jonathan’s than hers. He paid the mortgage, the property was in his name, he’d invariably had the final say when it came to decorating or buying furniture. Well, he was welcome to it. Right now she didn’t care if she never saw Kilnachranan again.

  Nodding at the waiter who was wondering if they’d like their glasses refilled, Rennie speared a scallop and said, ‘What if he wants you back?’

  From across the table, Rose put down her own fork and said, ‘She’ll tell him to take a running jump. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure of that.’

  Nancy smiled, she couldn’t help it. ‘Honestly, it’s like having a whole new mum. You’ve never been like this before.’

  ‘I know. I’m making up for lost time. Could you be an angel and bring me some more butter?’ Touching the young waiter’s arm, Rose confided, ‘I’ve had two bread rolls already, but they’re so gorgeous I’m going to have a third. Don’t worry, pet, I’ll pay the extra.’

  Rose was loving every minute of her evening. Watching her sitting there at the table, a tiny grey-haired figure in a pale blue shirt and her favourite dusty-pink knitted twinset, Nancy marvelled at the change in her.

  ‘You don’t have to pay extra. Mum, why didn’t you ever tell me how you felt about Jonathan?’

  ‘Och, Nancy. Surely you know the answer to that. Remember Darren,’ Rose chided gently.

  Nancy suppressed a shudder. Oh yes, she remembered Darren. Her first love. Darren had been two years older than her - eighteen, gosh, so grown-up - and every mother’s nightmare. He drove like a lunatic, drank like a . . . well, lunatic, had regularly stood her up in order to go clubbing with his mates instead and had generally made her life a misery.

  When Rose had pointed this out to her, at the same time making clear her own views on Darren, their relationship had been stretched to the limit. The last thing Nancy had needed was her mother making her miserable too. She had a clear memory of herself, over-hormonal and consumed by the unfairness of it all, yelling, ‘You don’t understand, I LOVE HIM! And he loves me!’ before stomping up to her room and slamming the bedroom door so hard that her Spandau Ballet poster had fallen off the wall.

  After that she’d felt morally obliged, as only a sixteen-year-old can, to carry on seeing Darren for another eight and a half humiliating months.

  What a dickhead he’d been. How masochistic she’d been. When it came to spiting her face, it was a wonder she’d had any nose left.

  ‘Well,’ Rose said now, across the table, ‘I wasn’t going to run the risk of that happening again. And to be fair, Jonathan did seem all right to begin with. It was a while before I decided I really didn’t like him. But you were about to be married and you wouldn’t have thanked me for telling you, so what else could I do? You might have cut me out of your life.’

  ‘Oh God, I wouldn’t—’

  ‘Well, I wasn’t going to take that risk.’ Rose shrugged and calmly buttered her roll. ‘Far simpler to pretend to adore him. Anyway, it’s over now, and that’s the best Christmas present I could have asked for. You have the whole of your life ahead of you. You’re young and beautiful and you can do anything you want.’

  Nancy prayed she wasn’t about to start crying. The suddenness of it all had knocked her for six. ‘I don’t know what I want to do. I don’t know what I can do.’ A mental image of herself in a hideously jaunty baseball cap serving behind the counter of Burger King sprang to mind. Hastily she pushed it away.

  ‘Hey, you don’t have to worry about that. Give yourself time to think about it,’ said Rennie.

  Feeling panicky and helpless, Nancy said, ‘But I don’t have anywhere to live.’

  Opening her mouth, Rose began to say, ‘Darling, you—’

  ‘Now you’re being daft,’ Rennie said forcefully. ‘You can come and stay with us.’

  ‘Of course you can,’ Carmen joined in. ‘Get away from here for a while, take a little holiday. It’d be great to have you in London.’ Turning her attention to Rennie, she raised her eyebrows and added pointedly, ‘Us?’

  He looked mystified. ‘What?’

  ‘You just said us.’

  Rennie shrugged. ‘The rest of the tour’s been cancelled. I’m free for the next couple of months.’

  ‘So that’s settled, is it?’ Carmen sounded rattled. ‘Last night you asked if you could stay for a few days.’

  Nancy, watching her reaction, wondered what this was all about.

  ‘And since then I’ve decided you could use the company.’ Unperturbed, evidently treating Carmen’s reaction as a challenge rather than an insult, Rennie said, ‘I did promise Spike that if anything happened to him, I’d keep an eye on you.’

  ‘You liar! That is bullsh—rubbish,’ Carmen blurted out with an apologetic glance at Rose. ‘He didn’t ask you anything of the sort.’

  ‘OK, maybe he didn’t. But it was one of those unspoken things.’

  ‘That you’d keep an eye on me? I haven’t seen you for months!’

  ‘And now I’m making up for lost time.’ Tapping his fork against his plate, Rennie said, ‘This prosciutto is fantastic.’

  ‘What, twenty-four-hour surveillance? I don’t need keeping an eye on.’ Carmen was defensive. ‘I’m fine.’

  Turning his attention to Rose, Rennie said easily, ‘Any Christmas decorations in your home?’

  ‘In my flat, you mean?’ Startled, Rose said, ‘Well, of course there are. I didn’t go overboard, what with it just being me on my own and not even there over Christmas itself, but I put a tree up, and lights in the window - and a lovely wreath with fir cones sprayed gold.’ She looked anxiously at Rennie. ‘Is that the kind of thing you mean?’

  Carmen was watching him too, as mutinous as any teenager.

  ‘When I turned up at Carmen’s place yesterday, there was nothing,’ said Rennie, his tone conversational. ‘Not a fairy, not a strip of tinsel in sight.’

  Rose looked at Carmen, as shocked as if Rennie had just announced that she was the star attraction in a lap-dancing club.

  ‘Oh, pet. Not even a tree?’

  ‘This is ridiculous,’ Carm
en blurted out. ‘There’s more to Christmas than decorations, you know! Just because I was too busy to put any up doesn’t make me some kind of basket case—’

  ‘Actually, don’t worry about me,’ Nancy said hurriedly. ‘I think I’ll just stay here in Edinburgh.’

  ‘You will not,’ declared Carmen, her eyes flashing. ‘You’re staying with me. And that way I won’t need a . . . a childminder to keep an eye on me, because I won’t be on my own, will I?’

  ‘Oh, sweetheart,’ Rose flapped her hands consolingly, ‘he didn’t mean it like that.’

  ‘Yes I did, that’s exactly what I meant,’ said Rennie. ‘And how’s Nancy supposed to cheer you up when she’s just getting over her own marriage break-up? The two of you would make a fine pair, living like a couple of hermits, each as gloomy as the other. What you both need is some fun. Hey, don’t look at me like that,’ he told Carmen more gently. ‘I’m trying to help here. You need cheering up and I can do that, it’s what I’m good at.’

  ‘Should have been a Bluecoat,’ muttered Carmen.

  ‘He has a point,’ Rose said hesitantly.

  ‘Thank you, Rose.’ Rennie nodded with satisfaction, beckoning the waiter over. ‘We’d like a bottle of Veuve Cliquot please.’

  ‘And it’s only for a couple of months,’ Rose added. ‘It’s not as if he’d be there forever.’

  Gravely, Rennie said, ‘Thank you, Rose. I’m sure you meant that in a flattering way.’

  ‘I hate being cheered up,’ Carmen grumbled. ‘Insane people, whooping and clapping like orang-utans, bellowing at you to join in and have fun.’

  ‘OK. No whooping and clapping, I promise.’

  Wearily, Carmen said, ‘You aren’t going to let this drop, are you?’

  ‘No,’ said Rennie. ‘Nancy? Would you mind an extra house guest? Just for a few weeks,’ he reminded her. ‘It’s not as if I’d be there forever.’

  ‘Oh, you.’ Playfully Rose smacked his wrist. ‘You know I didn’t mean like that.’

  ‘Of course I wouldn’t mind.’ Nancy didn’t feel it was her place to object; it was Carmen’s house, after all. ‘But—’