Something Borrowed (26 page)

‘Of what?’

Matchmaking.
‘Of things being okay.’ Chloe cringed. It had seemed like a fabulous idea in the throes of post-sexual satisfaction. Now, not so much. It didn’t feel like matchmaking, more like interfering. ‘Er, I think Nick just walked in. Is that him? He’s coming over, that’s him, right?’

The horrified look morphed into a deep blush and abject terror. ‘Oh, Chloe, please tell me you didn’t?’

‘I might have.’ Chloe hoped her sister would forgive her. She gave a little apologetic grimace. ‘Just a little text inviting him for a drink. Just as friends.’

‘Why the hell would you do that?’ Jenna stared across the room and raised a half-hearted wave to the pretty gorgeous man walking towards them. Her face was glowing, and no wonder. Nick walked with an easy confidence. He was tall, although not quite as tall as Vaughn.
Will that man ever get the hell out of my head?
Clearly Nick was very, very fit if the muscles straining his T-shirt were anything to go by, and his hair was cropped army-short, which accentuated warm dark brown eyes that glittered as he gave Jenna a huge smile. But he stopped short of a hug. ‘Hey. Hi, Jenna. How are you?’

‘G-g-great. Thanks. Um….’ Was it Chloe’s imagination, or was her sister stuttering? Make that speechless? That was new.

He grinned. ‘I’ll just grab a drink. Do you want anything? Hey, you must be Chloe. I’m Nick.’ He held out his hand.

Chloe took it and shook. It was nice and solid and safe. She was placing her sister into safe hands. Excellent. ‘Nice to meet you, Nick. And no drinks for me, thanks. I’m going home in two seconds. But Jenna’s on margaritas.’ She turned to her sister as he headed to the bar, giving them a good view of a well-toned backside. ‘Holy moly. Look at that fine specimen of a man.’

Jenna was looking. Boy, was she looking. Not quite tongue lolling out of her mouth looking, but near as dammit. She hissed at Chloe, ‘I hate you.’

‘No, you don’t. You love me. Maybe not so much right now, but you’ll thank me later and you know it came from a good place.’

‘Why is he here?
How
is he here?’

Chloe did feel a teensy guilty but was buoyed on by the alcohol. ‘One of us needs a chance at love, and I’m out of action for the time being. I texted him to say we were having a casual drink, and it would be a lovely surprise for you if he happened to be passing. I thought you need a nudge.’

‘I’m so not ready for this.’

‘You said you wanted to start living. Here’s your chance.
He’s
your chance.’ She ran her hand over her sister’s and squeezed it to stop it trembling. ‘Breathe, girl. Breathe. It’ll be fine. He is fine.’

‘He is mighty fine. But I’m not.’ Jenna’s jaw set tight. ‘No men, Chloe. I just want a business. A new life for me and my daughter. No. Men.’

‘Awww. Come on, I just want you to have some fun.’

‘Oh yeah. Like you?’

Chloe thought back to the steel kitchen counter and the strawberries. To the pancakes, the dancing, hiding under a throw and making love for hours. It had been beautiful and lots of fun, even if it wasn’t now. Even if her heart had been smashed to smithereens, her eyes still sore from the tears and her throat still full and raw. It might have sounded crazy, but she was totally glad because Hurricane Vaughn had happened. ‘Yes, honey, just like me.’

* * *

I
t was
late afternoon the next day by the time Chloe dared to catch up with Jenna. She texted her, playing light and pushing the guilt down to a minimum. It had been for her own good.

Chloe:
How did it go last night with Nick?

Jenna:
Okay I think, but I will never forgive you

Chloe:
Yes, you will. And…????

Jenna:
We talked a lot. He’s very lovely and kind, but only as a friend. He didn’t make a move, which was refreshing. (Or maybe it’s my layers of lard that put him off)

Chloe:
FFS Woman. Leave yourself alone. You’re gorgeous! But I’m glad it went well

Jenna:
I told him I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend… not in an intense way, I just said it in passing… and he seemed totally fine with that

Chloe:
Good—he should be

Jenna:
Looks like I have myself a friend, then. You know what? He’s totally into Game of Thrones too. So we had a long chat about that and theories about Jon Snow *swoon*. He’s got quite a sense of humour too. And… And, anyway, LEAVE ME ALONE! I have to get ready for book group. No, actually—come round now, you coward, and give me a hand. You OWE ME, BIG TIME

* * *

‘
S
o how’s
your man drought, Chloe? Getting any action?’ Mrs Singh peered over the book she was supposed to have read, but couldn’t remember anything about, so was relaying the story from the back cover. Clearly the book hadn’t held her interest, unlike Chloe’s sorry love life.

But before Chloe opened her mouth, her mum butted in. ‘No action for either of my girls, I’m afraid. Our Chloe was after seeing a relative of Jason. He’s dumped her. And Jenna’s not got a hope of finding a man as she spends her life here, with me and her wee baby. More’s the pity because neither of them are getting any younger.’

The strawberries that Vaughn had brought over—and that they hadn’t eaten or… anything—were sitting in the middle of the table. Jenna had dipped them in chocolate. Chloe reached out for one but decided she hadn’t the appetite for them anymore. Too many memories. ‘For the record, ladies,
I
dumped Vaughn before things got too serious. Actually, we were very grown up about it. And, Mum, do we need to broadcast our lives to everyone?’

‘These are your friends, love. They all just want to help. Don’t you, girls? A problem shared is a problem halved and all that.’ Mum sat back, her knitting needles clicking, in some sort of righteous assumption that she was in the right.

Faith, Kat and Saskia all nodded, eyes bright with an interest none of them had shown in the books either.

Chloe looked at them all sitting there expectantly and tried for a diversion. ‘Okay. Well, in good news, Jenna is looking to secure a contract for a florist’s shop next to The Duke. So you have to make sure you all buy fresh flowers every week, at the very least. If everything goes to plan, it’ll be opening in a month or so.’ She winked at her sister, whose cheeks were pink and flush.

Jenna took up the story, her voice light and excited. Talking about this new venture made her the most animated she’d been in years, apart from last night when she’d first set eyes on Nick. ‘Yes, it’s going to be called
Something Fragrant
. I wanted to keep the poem idea going: Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue. Something…
Something Fragrant
works, I think.
Something Fresh
? Unless anyone can think of anything better?’

‘
Something
Better? Something Sexy? Something Sweet?’ Mrs Singh laughed and tucked into the strawberries. ‘I’m good at this. I’m wasted in a hardware shop.’

‘You most certainly are. You have many talents, Mrs Singh. Actually, you should become a Private Investigator. You know more about everyone’s lives before they know themselves.’ Chloe gave her a smile. ‘There are a few details we need to iron out, first. Jenna went round to have a look at the place this morning. There’s a small room out back which I can use as an office, and I can even advertise right there on the main thoroughfare. Plus, I can work in the shop when Jenna needs to drop off or pick up Evie.’ It was all worked out, and Chloe had started to look forward to this next phase.

She reached into her bag and dug out some printed papers she’d been working on all afternoon, trying to keep Vaughn from hopping into her head and making her regret the words she’d said to him.

Why couldn’t she have just strung him along? At least that way she’d have had more fun and more time with him. ‘Here’s some proofs I’ve done for some new flyers. I’m moving into event planning too, so anything you need a hand with, let me know. Bar Mitzvahs, birthdays, funerals, whatever. I’m your girl. Diversification is the key, right? We have to be Jills of all trades these days.’

After they’d all passed the flyers around and made comments and suggestions, there was a satisfied silence. For a short minute. Then Mum sat forward. ‘Right you are. I’ve been mulling things over, and I’ve decided there're some things I need to say to my girls.’

Faith frowned softly with concern and stood up. ‘Should we leave you to it?’

Bridget raised her hand and forced Faith back down in her seat. ‘Oh no, you stay right there. I’m going to say it here because you all were there when the news broke.’

Even though her Mum was deadly serious, Chloe couldn’t help smiling. Mum thought she was an international news item.
Breaking news… parents split up twenty-odd years ago
.

It happened. Chloe had come to realise, once the shock had worn off, that bending the truth a little just to make someone feel better wasn’t the worst sin someone could commit. Shit happens, as Vaughn said. And you dust yourself off and get up and face another day. Over and over on repeat until you find a slice of sunshine that makes everything seem just a little bit better; a smile from a toddler, a group of women having wine and talking nonsense, sisters, flowers, summer.

And having her mum here, instead of taking to her bed, and trying to make her peace. That meant so much. Another bit of sunshine right there—forgiveness and reconciliation.

Bridget was saying, ‘I wish I could say he tried to get in contact with you, but he didn’t. I wish I had letters for you from him, but I don’t. I couldn’t understand how someone could do that, girls; just walk away from their own children and never want to be part of their lives. But he did.’ She cleared her throat again; there was a husk to it infused with sadness and regret and embarrassment. ‘It hurt me so much to see you and think of what you were missing out on. It was hard not to talk about what he’d done, to tell you the truth, but I didn’t want to see that in your eyes. You were the most beautiful things in my life, you still are, and I didn’t want to see your faith in love broken because of him. So I told you he was dead. I know I shouldn’t have, but once I’d said it, I couldn’t ever go back, could I? And then he did die… so it didn’t become a problem. I’m sorry, loves. I really am.’

There was a rock in Chloe’s throat, and she stumbled over and gave her a hug, tight. ‘It’s okay, Mum. I get it. It’s amazing the things you can do when you love someone, right?’
Like walking away. And being happy that you’d held him just for a little while.

‘I love you both. To bits. Although sometimes you drive me mad with frustration.’ Jenna squeezed their hands. ‘Right, now, who’s for wine? And Chloe’s made something. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s very… pink.’

Chloe leant over and gave the goo a swirl with a carrot stick and took a bite. ‘It’s beetroot and feta dip. It’s just missing something. I never did get the proper recipe.’ And then her heart started hurting a little again at the thought of Vaughn and the kiss in his office. But it was okay. Jenna had told her the hurt came in waves, but it got easier. Chloe knew that herself, though, too. She would survive. Especially with these women around her.

There was a muddle of hands with carrot sticks and pink dip and someone mumbled, ‘Well, it’s the first time she’s ever bought food to book club, so that’s a start.’

‘Now…’ It was Kat, the book group leader, who never led. Or read a book. ‘About the books…?’

‘Not a chance. I want to hear about Jenna’s date.’ Mrs Singh licked her lips and grinned.

Mum’s eyes widened. ‘Jenna had a date? Now how did I not know about that?’

‘Mrs Singh, how do you know about that?’ The woman was a walking miracle.

There was a glint in her eyes. ‘I have my sources.’

But Jenna’s mouth was all pouty, and her ears were red. ‘It wasn’t a date. It was just a friend. You know, Mum, the one I told you about, the soldier.’

Mrs Singh, again. ‘I’m told he couldn’t keep his eyes off you.’

‘Probably struggling to see around me.’

‘Will you ever stop talking about your weight? Hey, have you heard about the latest superfood? It’s got a weird name, but don’t they all. Apparently it’s from the Amazon and the women there have been eating it for centuries…’