Something Borrowed (22 page)

He took both her hands in his, suddenly serious—or as serious as a man could get with hot pink nails. ‘It’s good to know we want the same things. Tell me if that ever changes.’

Heart pumping hard, she looked away to check on Evie and to stop herself from looking into those dark grey eyes and telling him the truth. ‘It won’t.’

‘’
N
other story
… please, Auntie Coee.’ A very sleepy Evie handed Chloe a fourth bedtime story book and lay back down against Chloe’s chest, her chubby little thumb stuck firmly in her mouth. She’d been played out, fed to bursting by an award-winning chef and bathed in strawberry bath bubbles. Now she was snuggled up under her Peppa Pig duvet using Chloe as a pillow. Her wide eyes were starting to glaze, and she was becoming a dead weight on Chloe’s chest. It was well past her niece’s bedtime, but Chloe couldn’t resist this extra time; there was something so very special and trusting about a small child falling asleep in your arms. It was a huge responsibility and yet a promise to hold their hearts safe.

She wondered briefly whether her father had ever felt like that. Then she tried not to think about him at all, or the loss of that trust that had dogged her life lately. She wanted to love openheartedly; she wanted to feel the intense, fierce affection for a man that she wasn’t afraid to feel for her niece or her sister or mother.

Before she’d opened the book, Jenna appeared at the door. Her cheeks were unusually pink, and her blue eyes were a brighter aquamarine than usual. She tiptoed in and whispered, ‘Hey, how’s my little girl?’

‘Just going… going… gone.’ Chloe pressed a kiss to Evie’s sweaty forehead as she watched the little girl’s lips slacken, the thumb slipping forwards as her body finally relaxed in to the sleep she’d been fighting for the last hour. Wriggling slowly and carefully, Chloe managed to extricate herself without waking up the sleeping babe, and waited in the corridor while her sister finished tucking her daughter in. ‘Fancy a quick wine before I head off? I want to hear all about your day.’

‘Hell, yes.’ Jenna led the way back downstairs to the lounge. ‘God knows, I need one.’

Chloe poured two glasses of chardonnay while Jenna began to tidy up the debris of the last two hours’ playtime; building bricks, dolls, drawing paper, Play-Doh. ‘Geez, one small child sure makes a lot of mess. Right, Jenna. Stop clearing up, and sit down. I can finish this. You look knackered.’

‘I am. Thanks, honey. I owe you a big one for doing this.’

‘She’s my gorgeous niece; I love looking after her. Now, put your feet up and spill. How was your day?’

Jenna slumped onto the sofa, stretched out her legs and took a huge gulp of wine. ‘I’m exhausted, to be honest, but it was totally fine. Lovely, actually. You were right. It was nice to be out doing something different.’

‘And how was this mysterious Nick?’

Jenna’s eyes sort of misted and Chloe’s stomach jumped a little. It had been a long time since she’d seen her sister looking so animated about anything, let alone a man. Maybe she’d finally let her precious husband go? Probably not, but maybe she was starting to move on. ‘He’s okay, actually. Not at all like I remember. He’s got this confidence about him, kind of assured, you know. I guess that comes from giving orders to people. Although I wouldn’t let him give any to me. I told him straight up—I’m here to help, but I don’t do salutes, and I won’t jump when you say jump.’ Jenna gripped the stem of her wine glass and seemed a little distracted at the memory; her cheeks were still pink even though the room was cool. ‘I hope I wasn’t snappy. I tried to turn it into a joke.’

Chloe laughed. ‘You? Snappy? Never.’

‘He did look a bit scared at one point. Do you remember he was all lanky, spindly arms and legs at school, wasn’t he? Very geeky? But he’s not like that now. He’s…’ She took a deep breath, and Chloe could have sworn her sister actually sighed at the thought of Nick. Jenna’s mouth twitched at the corners as if she was tasting something delicious. ‘Well, he’s pretty gorgeous actually.’

Chloe felt her eyes widening. ‘Jenna? Is this really you talking?’

The pink cheeks turned a brighter shade of red, and she smiled. ‘My libido might be non-existent, but I can still appreciate quality when I see it. I am a red-blooded woman after all. Yes, he’s very nice. You remember that advert for the washing powder where the guy took all of his clothes off in a laundrette, except for his boxers? We were all mesmerised by his body and recorded it and kept putting it on repeat? God, he was gorgeous.’

‘Who? Advert guy or Nick?’

Jenna looked away, blinking slowly. ‘The advert guy, of course. But Nick, he has a couple of scars from shrapnel—oh, you know he was nearly killed in Afghanistan?—but that makes him more rugged in a way. He’s kind of like advert man, but real, and better somehow, you know.’

‘No, I don’t know. I haven’t a clue. Are you telling me he took his clothes off?’

Jenna looked simultaneously shocked and yet thrilled at the thought. ‘Don’t be ridiculous! It was the first time I’ve seen him for years, and there were removal people coming in and out, and his parents… Good God, Chloe, one night of sex and you’ve got it on the brain. It wasn’t that kind of afternoon.’

‘Thank the Lord for that.’ Chloe thought back to the cosy afternoon she’d had with Evie and Vaughn, which had been a far cry from the night of sex, but nonetheless enjoyable. ‘So… and… well…?’

‘Well, nothing. He’s just a nice guy.’

Once again, Chloe sensed a but coming. ‘But?’

‘But now he’s moved in, and I imagine he’ll be too busy with work and things.’

‘Too busy to what?’

‘Oh, nothing.’ Jenna flushed. ‘I’m just being silly. Honestly. I am. Tell me about your day. How was my girl? Was she good? Did she eat anything? I’m worried she’s getting a bit fussy with her food. Apparently that can happen when they hit three.’

‘That’s right, change the subject. I’ll humour you because you’re clearly tired, but I won’t let you off so easily next time. Evie ate three huge pancakes with chocolate spread, peanut butter and bananas. A pear for afternoon tea and I gave her some spaghetti on toast when we got home from the park ‘cos I know it’s her favourite, and I didn’t have the energy for arguing.’

‘She doesn’t like bananas. Or peanut butter.’

‘She does now.’

Jenna sat forward, eyes narrowing. ‘And you don’t know how to make pancakes.’

‘Vaughn made them, and he had her help him.’ She shouldn’t have felt guilty about that, but for some reason she did, just a little. She’d shared Evie’s time with him, but they’d all enjoyed it.

The way Jenna looked at her was half scrutiny, half admiration. ‘So he stayed a while?’

‘It’s good for Evie to have positive male role models, right? He cooked breakfast, came to the park and then went to play football. With Jason.’ And that felt strange and weird as if she was living some part of her old life, but from the outside looking in.

‘Are you okay with that?’

‘It’s really none of my business.’ Vaughn was his own man; she couldn’t tell him what to do, and she wouldn’t dream of doing so. ‘But he did ask if I was okay with it. That was refreshing. New.’

Pouring another large glass, Jenna peered at her in that questioning way that sisters have. They want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but… ‘So things are getting heavy with le chef?’

This time, Chloe hugged the absolute truth close to her chest. ‘I’m determined to keep everything simple. He’s just a bit of fun.’

‘Sweetie, nothing’s just a bit of fun. Trust me on this.’

‘Says the woman who invented the Love Plan.’

‘You needed a date. I wanted you to play a little, not invest so much in a man that you go work for him, spend your weekends with him and forget everything else for him.’

This was starting to get uncomfortable, mainly because she’d actually pinpointed Chloe’s dilemma. ‘So, plans to see Nick again?’

‘He did ask me to have a drink next week. But I don’t think I will. Is there anything on the TV?’ Sluggishly, Jenna leant forward, grabbed the remote control and crossed her arms. To everyone else, this would mean she wasn’t talking anymore.

To Chloe, it was an invitation to dig deeper and find out what was eating her little sister. It wasn’t that she was trying to be nosy; it was because sometimes Jenna needed protecting from herself. She was determined not to have a good time. Ever again. ‘Why not go out with him? I’ll babysit.’

‘Because I haven’t got time to be doing things like that.’

‘Like what? Enjoying yourself?’

There was a Cassidy roll of the eyes as if Chloe should try keeping up with Jenna’s life. ‘How can I enjoy myself with another man when Ollie’s watching down on me? I can’t. Chloe, I can’t.’

‘He wouldn’t want you to be sad for the rest of your life. He’d want you to find someone else.’

‘There is no one else. No one could ever be as perfect for me as he was. And besides, look at me, Chloe.’ She pointed to her body. A perfectly good size twelve. It was a strong body; it had weathered terrible things. And sure, like everyone, there were wobbly bits, but they were glorious, well fought for curves as far as Chloe was concerned.

‘You’re beautiful.’

‘I’m fat. That’s what I am. I’ve got so many stretch marks on my belly and my thighs I look like an ordnance survey map. And I have saggy boobs, and most of my clothes are stained by Evie’s food. I probably smell like a three-year-old’s poop, and if I’m lucky, I might just have nits too.’ Jenna’s hand went instinctively to her head and scratched a little. ‘Did you notice whether she was scratching her head?’

‘No. I didn’t notice. I don’t think so, though. And your stretch marks are just little silver lines, sweetie.’ Chloe had no idea that Jenna had such a hang up about the way she looked. ‘Look at what you’ve been through; you gave birth, for God’s sake. That’s a whole new person right there that you created. You’ve been through an awful lot, Jenna. You’ve earned those damned lines. And there're no saggy bits in the world that can compete with decent shapewear and a damned good bra. And anyway, what the heck has any of that got to do with Nick?’

‘Exactly. It has nothing to do with him. He wouldn’t be interested.’

Shock registered in Chloe’s chest.
Jenna. Was. Interested. In. Nick
. ‘Of course he would. What’s wrong with a real woman?’

Jenna grimaced and downed another half a glass of wine. ‘A real woman? He’s been holed up in Afghanistan with a squadron of beautiful, athletic, skinny women who kick-ass and shoot guns. They’re all very real. Just not my kind of ordinary-real.’

‘It’s the army, love, not
Survivor
. I doubt they’ll walk around in bikinis with AK47s slung over their bare shoulders. And even if they do, why should that matter? You can kick-arse when you want to.’

‘Because how would he ever look at me when he could have one of them?’

Chloe looked at the nearly empty bottle of wine. All of this was so not how Jenna usually acted. Where was her happy, shiny smile? ‘Maybe you’re exactly what he wants?’

‘Well, I’m not going to find out.’

‘He asked you out for a drink, but even though you fancy him you’re not going?’

‘No. And I don’t fancy him. Stop that. I can’t go out with him. I just can’t.’

Well, we’re going to see about that.
‘It’s your life, I guess. But I just don’t see what the problem would be to have one teeny drink. Not like now, obviously, given you’re three-quarters through a bottle. But one drink wouldn’t hurt.’

‘No. And that’s my final answer.’

The wine was going down well, but Chloe needed to get home and put together a proposal and an estimate for the festival wedding. ‘Hey, was that Evie I heard? I think she’s crying. Do you want me to go up?’

‘No, no. You’ve done enough. I’ll go; I’ve missed her. Going out without her is a bit like having an arm missing. I kept holding my hand out to Nick to walk across the road—so embarrassing!’

‘Did he take it?’

‘Don’t be stupid. He just looked at me as if I was a lemon. And grinned.’

‘So, there’s a man with a sense of humour. Big tick for that. There are worse things you could do.’ Like having sex on a kitchen counter. She couldn’t quite believe how she’d found the temerity to just walk up to the restaurant and ask Vaughn for sex.

If it hadn’t been for Jenna setting her up on those dates, and the walk back from the cafe after
DrewsAmused,
she’d never have been in this situation. Funny how life had a way of springing things on you, pushing you in directions you couldn’t ever imagine going.

An idea bloomed fresh in Chloe’s head.

Maybe that’s what Jenna needed—a little push in the right direction. It was nothing more than what Jenna had already done for Chloe. ‘Okay, hon. I’ll get going now. I have to write a proposal for a new client. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, we have another wedding to organise. Two amazing women I met at Taylor’s wedding yesterday.’ Had it only been yesterday? It seemed like an age ago, so much had happened in between time. ‘A festival theme with haystacks and long-stemmed bouquets, daisies in the hair and floaty dresses. Just up your street.’ There was another little murmur from upstairs. ‘Oh, oh, there she goes again. Give her a kiss from me. Let’s talk tomorrow.’

As her sister left the room, Chloe dug deep into the bag Jenna had left on the floor by the sofa. Taking out her phone, she wrote down a number.
It’s for her own good
, she convinced herself. It would be so great for Jenna to have a little excitement in her life, to have random sex in random places, to feel something again.

No harm done: a little matchmaking for the matchmaker.