Sunshine Over Wildflower Cottage (13 page)

‘Morning,’ said Caro, seeing Stel’s name come up on her mobile.

‘Am I disturbing you? Are you with clients?’

‘Nope. I’m having a day off. That’s the joy of being the boss. Why, are you all right?’

‘No. I’ve agreed to go out with that bloke at work tonight and I’m bloody petrified,’ replied Stel.

At the other end of the phone, Caro raised her perfect brace of eyebrows.

‘Well, that’s a surprise. I thought you didn’t fancy him. Not at all, you said. What’s changed in such a short time?’

‘He found Basil,’ replied Stel. ‘He went to a lot of trouble for me. It was as if I saw him with different eyes.’

Caro stopped herself quipping that if Ian had had different eyes she might have fancied him a bit sooner. Stel had told them all that the gardener at work had a soft spot for her but that he had eyes she couldn’t take to.

‘Well, that’s great and I can’t wait to hear all about it tomorrow.’

‘You don’t fancy a coffee, do you?’ asked Stel. ‘It’s okay if you don’t. I just feel a bit lost this morning and my nerves are in shreds.’

‘Do you want to meet me at two o’clock for a coffee up at Well Life? They’ve just refurbished the café and apparently it’s gorgeous.’

‘You’re an absolute star,’ said Stel, mentally clapping her hands together in delight. ‘Are you sure though?’

‘I’m sure,’ Caro said. It was obvious Stel needed some company and after all the times Stel had been there for her, she wouldn’t have turned her down. ‘I’ll see you up there.’

*

Viv was back in the folly by twelve-thirty. There was a lot of fog on the M62 and an accident had caused a further hold-up. It was a very long, miserable journey. She couldn’t believe that only three hours ago she had been hugging her mum and snuggling her big purring cushion of a cat. They both felt so very far away.

She made herself a coffee and stood at the folly window looking at the storm clouds advancing across the vast expanse of sky overhead, swallowing up any traces of white. The cottage lights were on and she could see Geraldine standing at the sink talking to someone Viv couldn’t see. It could have been Heath but was just as likely to be one of the house animals, because Geraldine talked to them all the time. Beyond the cottage was the garden where the bones of the departed animals lay. They were all at peace now and some digger was going to plough up their final resting place. Viv was as yet undecided whether or not she believed in an afterlife. Old buried bones felt no pain, that she did know. But it still felt such a shame that they’d be scooped out and disposed of like rubbish rather than loved in the ground here.

The mist was thin today, like spider threads weaving through the blades of long grass. Viv tried to imagine what it would be like looking out of the window and seeing houses everywhere. The view of the sun and hill would be the same but the silence would be gone. And the quiet, the calm, was as much a part of this place as the mists and the wildflowers.

Viv, what has all this to do with you?
Some reprimanding part of her was wagging its finger at her. She couldn’t afford to let sentiment get in the way of what she had to do here.

Hugo had been insistent that being in Ironmist would be to her advantage. Her chance to get an influential business patron on board. She daren’t tell him that she had thrown a bucket of dirty water over that potential patron and his daughter.

She felt blessed by the ability she had to replicate scents. Maybe she should have been more ambitious because Hugo constantly nagged her to contact one of the famous perfume houses, and was frustrated by her insistence that she had no wish to join a huge conglomerate. Hugo was a rising star in the London laboratory where he worked. They had stayed good friends; in fact, if Hugo hadn’t been gay, he was convinced that they’d have made an amazing dynamic couple. Posh and Becks with test-tubes.

Today presented the perfect opportunity to fulfil the brief for the essence of a summer rainstorm that a major client had requested. And it would keep her thoughts occupied. The windiest, wettest area would be up by Ironmist Castle, she reckoned. So, with her walking boots and old quilted jacket on and her notepad and pen in her pocket she set off to explore. Viv didn’t mind the rain. When she was little, on many a rainy day, she and Stel had donned their wellingtons and waterproof coats and splashed in mud. As she grew up, Viv realised it was her mother’s way of venting frustration at the men in her life. It saved breaking her fists against a wall.

The main road through Ironmist was deserted except for an old man carrying a paper under his arm and walking a small terrier that was wearing a snug blue coat. He nodded at Viv and she replied with a good morning. When she reached the top of the hill where the breezes blew unhindered, Viv raised her head and inhaled deeply. The wind had picked up the scents of the nearby forest, the last of the May bluebells, the first of the summer flowers from local gardens, a hint of clean linen as if someone’s forgotten washing was flapping about on a line. Yes, Viv could put this together in her little makeshift laboratory in the kitchen corner of the folly. As the wind changed direction, she detected something else that wouldn’t feature in the mix though: the smell of stables; horses, hay, sweet feed, a middle note of earthy manure. Viv turned and headed towards it, hood up, braced against the gusts. Above, the clouds seemed to be blackening by the second. Light flashed, viciously bright against the sooty sky and immediately after, thunder grumbled. Viv knew that a hilltop was not the most sensible place to be when lightning was on the prowl for a place to earth itself. She would be wise to find some sort of cover. She could either go left and stand under a tree – not the best idea, she thought – or head right past Ironmist Castle where any passing lightning might find something of interest to play with rather than her.

She hurried past the massive closed gates to Ironmist Castle and as the wind dropped for a second, she again picked up the scent of horses – but stronger now – by a path between two hedges. The ground was studded with hoof prints leading in both directions and she figured that this must lead to the stables within the grounds. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a jagged spear of lightning fork above her head and that made her legs move even quicker down the bridle path. She hoped she wouldn’t bump into one of the Leightons on their horses, but at least the weather made it less likely that they’d be riding today.

The rain started to whoosh down; fat drops that fell faster and faster as if racing against each other. Viv was drenched in seconds. The gate at the end of the path was locked, but it was low enough to climb over, especially for someone like Viv who was as fit as a flea. Her mum had encouraged her to exercise and be strong in order to cope with all the operations she’d faced in her life. Viv was on the other side of it in no time – on Leighton land. She half expected an alarm to go off and a floodlight to pick her out in all her trespassing glory, but nothing happened.

The stable block was huge and immaculately maintained. All the wood of the frontage had been recently re-stained by the look of it and the metalwork touched up with shiny black paint. It was evident that the Leighton horses were kept in the lap of luxury. There were four of them, if the number of boxes was anything to go by, but only one was poking its head out over the top of the split doors – a tall chestnut with a long fine head checking out the weather. It nodded at Viv as if greeting her, then blew through its nostrils as if it had taken the salutation back.

Another show of lightning and thunder, so loud that Viv felt it shudder through her. Her hair was plastered to her face despite her hood and her clothes were stuck to her skin. She had never felt as soggy in her life. She huddled under a canopy that jutted above a side door and shook her limbs like a dog. She noticed a security camera above her head but luckily it was trained in the wrong direction to pick her up. She watched the raindrops hit the ground with such force that they bounced upwards as high as her knee and knew she would have to wait it out before attempting to go back to the folly. The canopy didn’t afford much shelter as the wind was driving the rain against her. She twisted the handle of the door behind her not expecting it to be unlocked, but it was. Viv opened it tentatively in case all the horses came thundering towards her, but they were enclosed in their own individual boxes. She shut the door behind her and looked around at all the tack, the blankets stored on shelves, the bright rosettes hanging on the walls. Beside the rosettes there were four rustic wooden signs, each one bearing a name scrolled in elaborate pokerwork. Octavia, Antonia, Victoria, Nicholas. And below each hung a hat and a crop.
The whole Leighton family
.

Chapter 22

Stel arrived twenty minutes early at the Well Life Supergym in Dodley because she was sick of walking around the house like a caged tiger not knowing what to do with herself. But she picked up a newspaper and sat in the lovely new café waiting in comfort while the minutes ticked by.

Caro arrived at ten to two looking preened and perfect as always, even though she was only wearing jeans and a long white shirt. She mouthed over to Stel that she’d get the coffees. When she arrived at the table with them, Stel was jittery and apologetic.

‘I came early or I’d have got the drinks,’ said Stel. ‘I didn’t want them to get cold though.’

‘It’s only a coffee, Stel. I haven’t bought you a fillet steak,’ tutted Caro with a smile. ‘If it makes you feel any better, you can get the next one.’

‘I will. Thanks for meeting me. I’m just a bit anxious about tonight. I’ve worn a groove in the carpet walking up and down it.’

Caro slapped Stel’s hand which was hovering near her mouth. ‘Don’t bite your nails,’ she said. ‘How long is it since your last date?’

‘A year and a half,’ Stel replied. ‘It was that bloke who sold used cars, do you remember?’

‘Was that the one with the really long nasal hairs?’

‘No. There was Nasal Hair, then the one who got really nasty when I said I didn’t bother voting, then the used-car salesman. He was the one who started crying in the pub.’

Caro clicked her fingers in recollection. ‘The one who’d only split up from his wife a few days before.’

‘That’s the one. Total disaster. I swore after that I’d stay single. Bloody internet dating. I never met anyone decent on that site.’

Caro shuddered. She was so glad she was happily married and had never had to go down the route of signing up to Matchmaker.com.

‘But you’ve changed your mind?’ Caro studied Stel’s expression. She looked absolutely terrified.

‘Yes, Caro, but I don’t know why.’ Stel lifted her hands up as if she hoped the answer would drop into them from high. ‘Scrap that, yes I do know why. Gratitude. I opened my mouth without thinking. So no change there then.’

‘Oh, Stel.’ Caro smiled at her. ‘Then text him and make some excuse.’

‘I haven’t got his number.’

‘Oh hell.’

‘No, I’ll go,’ said Stel. ‘I said I would. And he is nice. And kind. I’m just nervous. I tell you, I’m too old for this dating lark. It’s too stressful.’

‘How’s Basil?’ asked Caro, changing the subject for a minute before Stel worked herself up into even more of a state.

‘Put it this way, I’ve had to fetch his old litter tray from the garage because he won’t go out at all now.’

‘Poor boy, he must have frightened himself to death getting lost.’

‘I know. I was so relieved that Ian found him. He’d been out for ages looking for him. He was scratched almost to death picking Basil up as well. His arms were a right old mess.’

‘Well, you always wanted a knight in shining armour, didn’t you? Let’s hope this time you’ve found yourself a good one.’

It made a change for Stel to aim high, thought Caro, though she didn’t say it. Stel had had a succession of crap boyfriends when she was younger. Then she took some time away from the dating scene when Viv came along. Then she got lonely and ran back to it with open arms and an open heart when Viv reached school-age. Her luck hadn’t got any better for the thinking time. And as for that Darren she’d lived with – ugh. Stel was overdue someone who was as kind and sweet as she was. Such as Al next door. He was big and solid and just what she needed and wasn’t it just sod’s law that they’d never got together.

‘Just be yourself,’ said Caro, covering Stel’s hand with her own. ‘And enjoy it. And don’t offer to pay for anything on a first date.’

‘He might think I’m tight.’

‘If he is a proper gentleman he won’t. You’re worth being treated. If you don’t see your own worth, how do you expect a man to?’

Stel grinned. ‘I wish I were as sensible as you, Caro.’

You wouldn’t have wanted to go through what I did in order to learn sense
, Caro thought to herself, but said instead, ‘I have high hopes that one day you will be, Stel.’

Chapter 23

There was little warning of the heavy stable door opening, just the squeak of the iron ring handle being twisted and the judder of the wood as it caught in its frame then a tall, slim woman appeared feet away from Viv. It had to be Victoria Leighton, the mother. She was wearing jodhpurs and an oversized brown jumper, and her black hair had been loosened by the wind from the pins which served to secure it. She looked casual-chic and elegant. Her jaw tightened as she caught sight of the intruder, and with one smooth movement she swept a crop from the wall.

‘Who the hell are you?’ she demanded loudly.

‘I’m sorry, I got caught in the rain. The lightning scared me,’ returned Viv. She was soaked through, which lent truth to her account.

‘This is private property,’ said Victoria Leighton, her hand gripping the crop tightly, ready to use it if necessary. ‘The shower has ended so you can get out.’ She stood aside so that Viv could pass. ‘You’re trespassing. There are security cameras, you know.’ Even though she spoke with an English public school accent, there was a slight skimming over her Rs, a vestige of her first and formative years in Germany.

‘I swear I only came in to escape from the weather. I noticed the stable as I was looking around for somewhere to take shelter.’