‘What does she say?’ asked Rick, his face falling. Vee bit her lip. This wasn’t how she’d seen the day panning out. Rick had been looking more relaxed since they’d decided to play truant from the house. Now, he was visibly tense, his face pale under the tan. In Vee’s opinion, anything from Rhonda was bound to put a dampener on their day, and just when they’d been getting on so well, too. The only way they’d managed to put what Vee privately thought of asphotogatebehind them was by never mentioning it. Now everything could be going to change, and not for the better.
‘Hang on, I’ll read it out to you,’ Vee said. ‘Uh oh, she wants to meet up with me. I thought we might just exchange a few texts, or something.’ She cleared her throat.
Hi Sweetie. Good to hear from you after all this time.
Vee rolled her eyes at Rick. ‘Sweetie? She never called anyone that in the old days and I really can’t see why she’d be pleased to hear from me. Anyway, listen to the rest.’
Sorry for the delay in replying. I’ve been away on an extended Caribbean cruise. It’s our third trip this year and my darling hubby always bans my phone when we’re away so I’m a bit out of touch. Did you want to meet up? I guess we have loads to talk about?
‘Urgh. I hate the wordhubby,’ said Vee. ‘And anextendedCaribbean cruise too. Typical of Rhonda to marry someone who can afford that kind of stuff. What shall I say?’
Rick shrugged. ‘You’d better say yes, I suppose. You’re not going to be happy until you’ve dug deeper into the past. I can’t help thinking it’s a mistake though.’
Vee ignored the warning and typed a quick question regarding where she could find Rhonda, and more importantly, when. The answer came back immediately.
By chance, I’m free all day today, which as you can imagine, doesn’t often happen! Why don’t you come to me? I’m assuming you’re still in Willowbrook, but you can get here by car in half an hour. Come now! Can’t wait for a good catch-up.
What followed was an address in a part of the county that Vee recognised as the nearest thing they had to a stockbroker belt. She read the new message out to Rick and raised her eyebrows.
‘You’re going to have to do it,’ he said. ‘You won’t settle until you’ve seen her, will you? Rhonda’s really hit the big time if she lives out there. I did some work for a friend of a friend in that neck of the woods and the houses around and about his were selling for upwards of two million.’ He glanced at Vee who was gazing back in what she hoped was an appealing manner.
‘Oh, okay. I’ll drive you,’ Rick said, heaving a sigh. ‘Might as well get it over with, I suppose, and taking a taxi out there would cost you a fortune.’
Vee flashed him a grateful smile and sent back a reply saying they were on their way. She didn’t explain who she was arriving with. Let that be a surprise. Rick started the engine and drove in silence, out of Meadowthorpe and into the surrounding countryside. The mood in the van was tense.
‘Are you worried about meeting Rhonda again?’ Vee asked, although the answer was obvious in the set of Rick’s jaw and the fact that he was tapping his fingers on the wheel whenever there was even the slightest hold-up.
‘Nah. She’s just a jumped-up social climber,’ he said. ‘She was nothing then and she’s irrelevant now. I’m just fed up because she’s ruined our one day off. We don’t need to stay at hers long though, do we? We’re heading in the direction of the coast now. There might still be time to go and see the sea.’
The idea of a trip to the seaside was tempting, but Vee couldn’t ignore the churning feeling in her stomach. She half-wished she’d never tried to get in touch with Rhonda, but they’d come this far, and Rick was right. There would be no way of parking the niggling unease until Vee had faced her past and unravelled the tangle of memories that haunted her. They weren’t even whole memories really, just snippets, hauntingly vague.
As they drew nearer to the address Rhonda had given Vee, the houses became more and more opulent, surrounded by well-manicured lawns. Finally, they drew up at number twelve, Woodland Row, which was at the end of a leafy cul-de-sac. Unlike Vee’s own house in Fiddler’s Row, the word was deceptive because the houses down this lane were so far apart from each other that they could hardly have been thought of as part of the same development. Number twelve, The Laurels, was the largest and had a garden full of mature trees and shrubs, with a drive that wound its way up to a gravel sweep and a flight of stone steps. At the top of the steps was an enormous front door, standing open. It was painted a glossy black with flourishing olive trees in terracotta pots on either side of it.
Vee and Rick were speechless for a few moments after he turned off the engine. They opened their doors and began to clamber out. Before they could think of any exclamations that would match the grandeur of this residence, a woman came out onto the top step. She was slim, very blonde and from her viewpoint by the van, Vee could see that she was dressed in a jumpsuit of the softest cornflour-blue silk that clung to her figure in all the right places and was open far enough at the front for a magnificent cleavage to be on view.
‘Sweetie,’ she called, gliding down the steps. ‘Itisyou. I saw the van coming up the drive…’ she turned up her nose very slightly ‘…and I actually thought it was the gardener. Glad you managed to get a lift anyway.’
Rhonda came forward to greet Vee, completely ignoring Rick. She grabbed her by the shoulders and air-kissed her on both cheeks with an extra third kiss for luck. Vee tried to smile, but the sight of the other woman’s wide blue eyes and bouncing curls was taking her right back to a place she’d tried not to visit for many years.
‘Hi, Rhonda,’ she said. ‘This is my friend Rick. I expect you remember him from our schooldays. Probably as Ricardo though?’
There was an icy silence and then Rhonda moved over to stand in front of Rick. She peered at him. ‘I didn’t expect to seeyouagain,’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’
Rick pulled himself up to his full height and stared down at Rhonda. ‘I’m here because Vee asked me to come,’ he said. ‘Long time, no see. You haven’t changed much but I guessIhave, if you didn’t recognise me.’
‘You most certainly have. You weren’t nearly so easy on the eye in those days, Ricardo… or Rick, I should say.’ Rhonda was clearly beginning to appreciate Rick’s finer points the more she took in the muscular frame, outdoor tan and short hair, as blond as her own. She gave him a brilliant smile and turned to head back into the house.
‘Follow me, both of you. I arranged for some champagne to be put on ice ready for your arrival, sweetie,’ she said over her shoulder to Vee. ‘But this is a double celebration, isn’t it? Two throwbacks for the price of one, you might say.’
‘I’m driving,’ said Rick tersely. ‘And we won’t be staying long. We’re on our way to the coast for an afternoon out.’
‘How super. I’m tempted to hitch a lift and join you, but I try to keep out of direct sunlight these days. So ageing,’ said Rhonda, glancing at Vee’s healthy complexion as she ushered them into a spacious hall where a wide staircase curved up to a gallery that reached all around the upper level. An enormous crystal chandelier hung in the centre. Vee couldn’t decide if it was pretentious or stunning. Rhonda caught her looking up at it.
‘Oh, I can guess what you’re thinking, sweetie. A bit over the top, I know, but my hubby…’ Vee winced but Rhonda was in full flow and didn’t notice. ‘Headoresthat kind of thing and I have to let my gorgeous Hubs have his way sometimes to keep the peace, if you get my meaning? Come into my parlour, said the… something or other… I can never remember all that stuff we had to learn at school, can you? Waste of time, most of it.’
Vee had the strong feeling that if she was to meet ‘Hubs’, she would need to offer him all her sympathy. The idea of spending your life with this brittle creature was toe-curlingly awful even at this short reacquaintance and she could tell by Rick’s face that he was thinking the same. They trailed after Rhonda into the ‘parlour’ which was roughly the size of a ballroom. The chairs and sofas, which all looked brand new, were ranged around the room like guests at a party who didn’t really want to speak to each other. The pale cream carpet was thick and soft under their feet, and Vee belatedly wondered if they should have taken their shoes off, but Rhonda hadn’t removed her own high-heeled stilettos, so she guessed if you were as rich as this, you probably didn’t worry about a few marks on the carpet.
‘Have a seat, guys,’ said Rhonda, gesturing to a little group of satin-striped chairs near the French windows. ‘I’ll just ring for the champers. I’ve asked them to do a few smoked salmon blinis and so on, in case you were peckish. I never eat at this time of day, just a kale smoothie when I wake up and then I fast until dinner, but not everyone has the same strict regime.’
