The Vintage Teacup Club (35 page)

There was a hand-drawn picture of a white rabbit next to it.

Maggie got out of bed, rubbing her eyes, and slipped her flowery maxi dress back on. Still dazed, she wondered through to the kitchen to get a glass of water and drank it down in one. It
was
getting late, she thought, looking out the velux window at the sun setting. How had she fallen asleep like that?

She filled her glass again and looked over at the kitchen wall clock – nine-thirty. Then she spotted it; there, tied on with string, was another note, the same as the last.

Who dares to taint

with vulgar paint

the
royal flower bed?

This time she recognised the words right away: of course, the red queen from
Alice in Wonderland
!
Off with their heads
, she recalled. Maggie slipped on her sandals and, with the clues in her hand, rushed down the stairs and out of Owen’s cottage into the courtyard. Across it, over at the stables, she could see that the door to Owen’s workshop was slightly open; she smiled as she realised he must be over there waiting for her.

She closed the cottage door behind her, and saw that to the side of it was a child’s wooden writing desk. On it was a violet-coloured glass, with a label around the base. ‘Drink me,’ it said. She flipped the label over, and as she read the other side she smiled: ‘(I’m non-alcoholic, by the way)’. She took a sip of the drink, cooling elderflower cordial.

Maggie took the glass with her as she crossed the courtyard. As she reached the door to Owen’s workshop she remembered how she’d once slammed it in fury, on a day that already seemed a lifetime ago. This time she pushed it open gently, and felt something flutter down onto her shoulder, then another soft touch against her face, her arms, against her head. She looked down at the ground where a rain of diamonds, clubs, spades and hearts, had fallen all around her.
You’re nothing but a pack of cards
, she thought to herself, picking up an ace.

Owen’s workshop was empty, but the back door was open and she could hear the soothing sounds
of jazz playing in the garden. Maggie put her empty glass down on the side and walked over towards the music, knowing exactly where she was heading. At the back of Owen’s walled garden was a sprawling white rose bush. She made straight for it, nearly tripping up on a loose paving stone. She looked at each of the flowers and then crouched down to check the ones closer to the ground. It was then she saw the single red rose hidden low; next to it was a small pot of red paint and an abandoned paintbrush with another tag round it. On the card were the words: ‘
Who’s been painting my roses red?
’

Maggie looked back at the red rose and saw that the paint was still wet. There, hung around one of the leaves on the stem, something was shining. Reaching for it, she saw it was a bracelet, inlaid with polished pieces of amber, a perfect match for the necklace her grandmother had given her, the one she was wearing right now.

She turned around and there, sat on the driftwood bench, was Owen.

In the drawing room at Darlington Hall, pictures of bouquets were spread out on the table between Jack and Maggie. Lucy had left to get some more water and Jack leaned towards Maggie, a mischievous glint in his eye.

‘I know it’s early days,’ he said. ‘But I think it’s great about you and Owen getting
together.’ He gave her a wink.

‘Thanks, Jack,’ Maggie said, feeling her cheeks colour. ‘It’s been a bit of a whirlwind to be honest.’

‘I can promise you, Maggie, you’ve picked a good one there,’ Jack said, more seriously now. ‘Owen’s a good friend and a really nice guy, through and through. I’d marry my sister off to him if I had one.’

‘Well, I’m glad you don’t. And that’s what I thought, well, hoped,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve not had great luck this year, but he does seem different. And he doesn’t seem to think I’m past it yet.’

Jack laughed, ‘Of course not. You’re a total catch,’ he gave her a cheeky smile and Maggie was reminded of how much she’d warmed to him from their first meeting. ‘Anyway, Owen’s always been pretty grown-up, and I think working for himself has made him a lot more responsible too.’

‘Does Lucy …’ Maggie asked.

‘Nah, I haven’t told her anything yet,’ Owen said. ‘We don’t want her leaking it to
It Girl
, do we? God, you’d end up seeing a picture of you and Owen as a box-out feature in the wedding exclusive,’ Jack drew the imaginary box in the air with his hand, ‘HOW WE FOUND LOVE AT WONDERLAND WEDDING.’

Maggie laughed. ‘We’ll tell her soon, though,’ she said. ‘Should put her mind at rest about the two of us
getting on at any rate.’

‘Yes,’ Jack said, ‘and you know she’s going to be thrilled. She’ll claim the credit for match-making you is the only thing.’

Lucy came back into the room with a jug of water. ‘Did I hear someone say
It Girl
?’

‘It’s nothing darling,’ Jack said. ‘Just talking about some of the feedback we had from the magazine over features they want to include.’

Lucy settled herself on the sofa close to Jack. ‘They’re big on the croquet,’ she said. ‘Although I said a definite no on using live hedgehogs as balls for the shots they wanted.’ Maggie smiled.

‘I mean honestly,’ Lucy said. ‘I know they said we’d just be posing, but I got enough hassle just for wearing a mink fur to that premiere, didn’t I, Jack? I don’t want all those animal rights people on to me again. It took the dry cleaners for ever to get the fake blood out of it, and it still looks a bit pink.’

Jack gave Lucy’s leg a little squeeze. ‘So is everything OK, Maggie?’ Lucy asked. ‘It looks like you and Owen have got it all in hand now.’

Maggie tried not to get distracted as Jack leaned back on the sofa, making kissy-faces at Maggie that his wife couldn’t see.

‘Yes, everything’s going perfectly, Lucy. Your wedding is going to be truly
spectacular.’

‘Well hooray for that!’ Lucy said, bringing her manicured hands together. ‘I can hardly wait now, you know. It’s not easy finding the man of your dreams, is it?’ she looked at Maggie with pity in her eyes. ‘But I tell you, I can’t wait to get that ring on my finger.’ With that she cupped Jack’s face in her hands and
gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

‘Surprise!’

Zoe, wearing a strapless black and silver dress and looking somehow even more fearsome than she did in her suit, handed me a glass of fizz the moment I stepped through the door of the Fox and Pheasant.

I looked around the pub, taking in the scene. Oh my lord. Today had been my last day at the office, and it had felt much like any other, just with a bit more to do to ensure everything went smoothly while I was away on my honeymoon. My last week had passed in a blur, with my mind very much on the wedding. Dan kept telling me that everything would be OK, but while it was true we’d worked past other hitches, a tea party
wedding with cheap blue cups just wasn’t the picture I wanted framed on my mantelpiece. There were only three days to go until Dan and I tied the knot, and I was really having a hard time letting go of the day I’d dreamed of.

Chloe had coaxed me out for drinks after work though, and when I said I was feeling anti-social, she insisted that I needed to take my mind off the wedding. I looked over at her now and gave her a discreet glare as I saw that most of the office had turned out for my celebration drinks, party poppers firing at me from all angles.

After my second glass of Cava I’d started to get in the swing of things, and I was touched by the giant card everyone had bought me, filled with signatures and nice notes wishing me luck for the wedding. There really were some lovely people in the office and I felt bad for having been grouchy earlier about celebrating with them. Zoe had even got me a present, a voucher for tea for two at a four-star country hotel nearby. She watched intently as I opened the envelope, trying hard not to stare at the serious amount of cleavage she’d got out for the occasion. ‘I thought you and Dan could go after the wedding sometime, when all the excitement’s died down. And you know what,’ she said with a wink, ‘it wasn’t even a freebie.’

Chloe and I found a nook away from
the crowd to catch up a bit in peace.

‘You don’t need to worry,’ Chloe said, ‘it’s the people who make a wedding, Jen, everyone knows that. We’ll all be there, your family and friends, and we’ll make sure it’s special.’

‘And don’t forget,’ she continued, ‘you’ve organised loads of other things. You managed to book that all-female swing band, didn’t you?’

I nodded. I’d heard them at the summer festival on the green last year, and watched in awe as couples from the swing-dancing group twisted and spun across the grass. Alison and Jamie would probably have been among them.

‘I know you’re right, Chlo. Of course it’s all about the people,’ I said, snapping out of my sulk properly at last.

‘Chloe,’ I asked, taking a sip of my drink. ‘If you thought something was going on, between Dan and me, if you saw him with someone else …’

‘What?’ Chloe said, spluttering out her drink in a decidedly unladylike way.

‘No,’ I said, passing her a tissue which she used to dab at the damp patches on her top. ‘Sorry, I mean hypothetically speaking. If you saw Dan with another woman, not kissing, but just together – would you tell me?’

‘Oh, thank God,’ Chloe said. ‘You had me worried there for a minute. Don’t do that to me, Jen,’ she said, putting a hand to her
forehead. ‘Anyway, so, right, if I saw Dan with someone else – I’d think, Dan is generally a fantastic guy who has proven his loyalty time and again. It is highly unlikely that he would cheat on you, and if he did you’d hope he’d be smarter than to do it round here where someone like me would be bound to spot him. I’d assume there was a rational explanation.’

She tilted her head, thinking, ‘and then if it happened again I’d talk to him about it, I think.’

‘OK,’ I replied. ‘You’re right.’

‘Am I?’ Chloe said. ‘Oh good. Do I get another drink? Or do I get to find out who you’re on about, at least?’

‘You’ve earned your next drink, yes, Chlo. But no, I’m not saying anything as I’m sure now there’s nothing to say.’ I felt bad now for ever doubting Pete, it was none of me or Maggie’s business who he was friends with and after our talk Maggie had quickly rejected her concerns, putting them down to post-fallout paranoia after Dylan’s betrayal.

‘Anyway, talking of couples,’ I changed course to deflect Chloe’s interest, ‘are you OK about coming to the wedding on your own? Do you want to invite someone else as your plus one, now that Jon’s out of the picture?’

‘Oh no, don’t worry, Jen. I’ll be fine.’ Chloe was attracting more admiring glances than ever this evening, so I didn’t doubt it. She was dressed down, in loose black trousers and a coral blouse, her hair up in a French pleat, and she looked radiant. The initial shell-shock of breaking up with Jon had worn off completely
and she had bounced back better than ever. Ben, the feisty reporter who’d been on her case for months, more smarm than charm, in my view, really couldn’t take his eyes off her tonight.

‘Anyway, enough about the wedding – I thought you were supposed to be distracting me from it?’ I said, teasing. ‘So tell me, how are things going at work?’

‘Gary’s finally giving me a break, can you believe it?’ Chloe said, her face lighting up. ‘I pitched two feature ideas to him – one on boutique hotels, the other on budget interior decorating, and he’s letting me write both. Seeing as Alan left to go travelling and there’s the recruitment freeze still on, I think he’s realised he’ll need me to work on more features, so he’s sending me on some journalism courses too.’

‘That’s fantastic,’ I said. Then as we spoke something caught my eye, a flash of silver and black at the bar. Woah. Was that …?

‘Oh. My. God. Have you seen that?’ I said to Chloe, nodding over towards the bar as I gradually took in the full picture. ‘Do you think there’s another reason Gary might have chilled out a bit?’ Chloe stared open-mouthed and I let out a snort of laughter
as we clocked Zoe’s hands creeping onto Gary’s bum as he kissed her up against the bar.