Читать онлайн книгу «A Summer to Remember» автора Виктория Коннелли
A Summer to Remember
Victoria Connelly
Escape deep into the English countryside in this perfect summer’s day read. Fans of Alexandra Potter and Katie Fforde won’t be able to resist.Nina Elliot is tired of her life. She’s not sure how it happened but, somewhere along the way, she lost track of where it was all going.So one fateful day, she makes a brave decision: she’s going to leave it all behind. Taking a job deep in the English countryside, Nina does just that. Ensconced at the Old Mill, she settles into daily life with the Milton family, where she works as a researcher for author Dudley.With endless summer days stretching out ahead of her, Nina couldn’t be happier. But her quiet life is soon interrupted when the handsome Milton boys return home – for they plan to make sure this really is a summer to remember…Relax and enjoy a breath of warm summer air with every turn of the page in the delightful new novel from Victoria Connelly - bestselling author of ‘Wish You Were Here’. Perfect for fans of Katie Fforde and Alexandra Potter.
VICTORIA CONNELLY
A Summer to Remember
Dedication (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
I’d like to dedicate this book to Jill Saint and to take this opportunity to remember her wonderful mother, the writer Dora Saint (1913–2012), whose ‘Miss Read’ books are a constant source of joy and inspiration to me.
Table of Contents
Cover (#ud3699428-0fdf-54ee-ab7b-0239470a3215)
Title Page (#ua01cb11c-d017-5f78-9e05-2fcb6533ead9)
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Acknowledgements
About the Author
By the Same Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
Nina Elliot glanced at the clock on the wall above the filing cabinet, willing the hands to turn a little quicker. The tiny office was so hot. The air-conditioning had broken yet again and the warm spring weather had sent indoor temperatures soaring. Or perhaps it was just Nina’s inner rage that was making her feel decidedly uncomfortable.
She looked across her paper-strewn desk towards her boss on the other side of the room.
‘No, I’ve told you that’s not good enough!’ she was yelling into the telephone. ‘Listen to me – why does nobody listen to me?’
Nina zoned out as the person on the other end of the line got their ear chewed off. She’d been working for Hilary Jackson in the marketing department of a doctors’ locum agency for ten months now and, as far as she was concerned, it was ten months too long. Her previous boss had been a sweet woman called Melanie Philips, who’d worn pink chiffon scarves and rose-scented perfume, and had never batted a blue-shaded eyelid if her staff were running late after their lunch break. The work would get done eventually, she reasoned, but let’s have a nice cup of Earl Grey first, shall we?
Melanie Philips was one of those people who seemed lit from within, Nina had often thought, but motherhood had called and the dark shadow of Hilary Jackson had descended.
Hilary Jackson was a tall, thin, rake-like woman with a pale face devoid of both make-up and humanity. She dressed in sombre-coloured clothing, which usually consisted of a navy trouser suit or, if she was in a more buoyant mood, pale grey. Today, it was the turn of the navy trouser suit.
Nina sighed and then gulped as Hilary put down the phone.
‘Have you got hold of Keith Maltby yet?’ she barked across the room.
‘I spoke to his assistant ten minutes ago,’ Nina told her.
‘Well, why hasn’t he called me back?’ Hilary said. ‘This is very important, Nina, or don’t you understand that? I have to speak to him now!’
‘I’ve left three messages for him,’ Nina explained. ‘His assistant said that he—’
‘Honestly! I sometimes think you’re trying to ruin this company, I really do! You can’t seem to do anything right. I always end up having to do everything myself. And where’s my tea? I asked you hours—’
‘It’s on your desk,’ Nina said, deciding it was her turn to interrupt.
‘Oh,’ Hilary said, momentarily floored. ‘Well, it’s stone cold now, isn’t it? Get me another and be careful not to add too much sugar. I’m sure you do it on purpose sometimes.’
‘Yes, your majesty,’ Nina whispered under her breath as she left the office and went into the tiny communal kitchen to make yet another cup of tea for her boss. Her hazel eyes felt dry and gritty, her shoulders felt tense and she knew she had knots in her back the size of golf balls.
This is no way to live, a little voice inside her said, the thought occurring to her for the first time. You’ve got to do something. You can’t stay here or you’ll go mad!
Her mind spiralled across the long, weary months of working for Hilary Jackson and the countless infuriating things she’d been made to do. Like when she’d worked through an entire weekend whilst her boss sauntered off to some holistic retreat. Or the way Hilary gave her impossible deadlines to meet whilst screaming at her so much that Nina would invariably leave for home in tears.
She looked at her watch now. It was lunchtime. She’d deliver Hilary’s fourth cup of tea and then she’d get out of there. She’d feel better once she was outside.
Stepping out into the street five minutes later, Nina breathed deeply as she forced herself to calm down.
Count to ten. Empty your mind. Calm down.
The mantra only occasionally worked around Hilary Jackson, but it was worth trying.
Her foot had just left the pavement when she heard the car horn. Startled out of her trance, she turned around, her fair hair swinging about her face as she glared at the offending driver.
For a moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Standing as if rooted to the spot, Nina looked into the window of the white car and thought she recognised the man at the wheel. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark mood. He didn’t smile, and the ensuing blasts from angry drivers urged her to make her mind up quickly.
Nina’s heart raced as she jumped back onto the pavement, just as the car swerved to avoid her. That, she thought, was a close call. She shook her head at her stupidity, cursing herself at the danger she’d put herself in because of her inner turmoil.
Taking a deep breath, she crossed the road safely and, once she was on the other side, glanced back over her shoulder to get another look at the driver, but the car had moved on.
‘Calm down,’ she told herself again. ‘You’ve got to calm down, otherwise you’ll have a heart attack before you reach thirty.’
She took another deep breath and cursed herself silently, knowing that, on top of her problems at work, she was still shaken from the night before and what had happened with her boyfriend Matt. They’d been together for four years but, as far as Nina was concerned, it was over. She could still see his face now, ashen and furious, his eyes burning with anger as she’d told him how she felt and how she couldn’t go on in a relationship with him.
‘I won’t let you do this to me, Nina,’ he’d told her as she’d stood in his flat, desperate to leave.
But the thing was, Nina wasn’t going to allow him to do—
She paused. Allow him to do what? She didn’t have the words to explain it, even to herself. All she knew was that this man made her feel miserable. Perhaps it was a kind of abuse she experienced with him – an emotional abuse. One thing was for sure – he made her feel worthless and deeply unhappy by the things that he did and the things that he said to her. A romantic relationship wasn’t meant to be like that, was it? She was pretty sure that she was an average woman, without too many unrealistic expectations when it came to the opposite sex, but surely she should at least feel happy with her chosen partner and not live in dread of what he might do or say next.
She swallowed hard as she remembered all the times he’d made her cry with his belittling comments. He always had to be in control of her – making her say and do things to please him, and she went along with it just to keep the peace and to placate him. But she’d been living a lie. For all those years, she’d been living a lie. Well, she’d finally vowed to herself that it was over and that she’d never let something like that happen to her again. Not ever. She was free from the hold he’d had over her, and she was going to put him out of her mind for good now. In fact, she’d rather not think about men at all at the moment. She had enough on her plate as it was.
‘Talk to Janey,’ Nina told herself, thinking of the dear friend she’d arranged to meet for lunch. Janey had an answer to every question and a solution to every problem. Walking through the main door of The Black Horse, she saw her perched on a barstool, and let out a loud sigh of relief.
‘Was that you being tooted at?’ Janey asked through a mouthful of salt and vinegar crisps.
‘Some idiot almost crashed at the traffic lights,’ Nina rolled her eyes, not wishing to acknowledge the fact that it had been her fault. ‘It’s been one of those days,’ she said, sitting down heavily on the barstool next to her friend.
Janey stared at her with undisguised horror. ‘God, Nina! You could plant potatoes in that forehead of yours. Are you okay?’
Nina gave a smile that only just began to unfurrow her brow. ‘Actually, it’s not just been one of those days – it’s been one of those months. Still, I shouldn’t be doing this, you know.’
‘Doing what exactly?’
‘Drinking during my lunch hour,’ she said with a little laugh.
‘Oh, it’s only one,’ Janey encouraged. ‘I’ve ordered our lunch to help soak it up, so it won’t do you any real harm. Anyway, you look as if you need it.’
‘I certainly do,’ Nina said, her eyes widening until she looked positively possum-like.
‘So, what is it? Why the phone call at that ungodly hour this morning?’
‘I’m so sorry about that,’ Nina said. ‘I just needed to see you today.’
‘You don’t have to apologise,’ Janey said sweetly. ‘I’m not blaming the bags under my eyes on you.’ Janey grinned but Nina didn’t respond. ‘Tell me,’ she prompted, obviously wondering what it was that had cost Nina her smile.
Their drinks arrived and Nina took a sip of her white wine, letting the sweet liquid flow into her system, her bright eyes seeming to focus on something that wasn’t quite present.
‘I’ve broken up with Matt,’ she said at last.
‘What?’ Janey almost choked at the impact of her words.
Nina shifted her weight on the stool. ‘It’s been building up for some time now and it just wasn’t working.’
‘Are you kidding? You two were brilliant together! Matt was – well, he was so charming and handsome and—’ Janey paused to find the right word, ‘perfect.’
Nina visibly flinched. ‘No,’ she said quietly, ‘not perfect.’ For a moment, she thought of her first few magical dates with Matt, when he had completely swept her off her feet with his good looks, his wit and his charm. Like Janey, she’d sincerely thought he’d been perfect, but she soon realised that nobody was perfect and it had been only a few weeks later that she’d seen the true Matt.
He’d been the sort of person who found it so easy to make friends because he had an uncanny ability to charm anybody he liked, but that charm would evaporate in private to reveal the real him – the cruel, controlling Matt that most of the world never saw.
‘Well, what then? Was he seeing someone else?’ Janey tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and looked closely at her. ‘You two have been together for longer than I can remember. I think I’ve worked my way through half a dozen relationships in the time you’ve been a couple and I always thought—’ she paused.
‘What?’ Nina asked softly.
‘I don’t know,’ Janey said, a wistful expression on her face, ‘just that I’d be throwing confetti over the pair of you before too long.’
Nina suddenly felt guilty for never having confided in her friend before, and suddenly wondered why that was. But, deep down, she knew why she’d kept quiet – because she’d blamed herself for the problems with Matt and had stupidly gone on believing that things would get better. Only they hadn’t, and she’d finally realised that she had to put a stop to things.
Nina blinked hard, trying to prevent her tears from spilling. She’d promised herself that she wasn’t going to cry because she’d wanted this to happen; she’d made it happen by instigating the break-up with Matt, and yet the huge swelling of unhappiness that filled her shocked her to the core.
‘Do you mind if we change the subject?’ She looked at Janey and, for a moment, neither said anything.
‘Okay,’ Janey whispered, sensing her friend’s discomfort. ‘But that’s not all that’s bugging you, is it?’
Nina shook her head. ‘Like I said last night – my whole life’s a mess.’
‘Come on then – let’s hear it,’ Janey took a sip of wine, as if she needed fortifying before hearing Nina’s next confession.
‘Work,’ Nina said, making the word sound as if it were some newly discovered disease.
‘Well, that makes a change,’ Janey said with a tut.
‘I nearly walked out this morning,’ Nina confessed, closing her eyes and reliving the nightmare again.
‘Why didn’t you, then?’ Janey asked, having long been aware of Nina’s ability to aspire to something rather than to act.
‘But where would I walk to?’
‘God – you’re always so practical!’ Janey chided. ‘You spend far too much time thinking, and not enough time doing. Sometimes you should just go for it.’
Nina sighed. ‘That’s easy for you to say. You’ve got a great job. But not everyone’s dad owns a travel agency and sends his daughter to Greece every other week.’
‘Hey – that’s research for our new brochure!’
‘You’re the only person I know who hasn’t experienced a British winter for the past ten years,’ Nina said good-naturedly.
Janey giggled. ‘I know. I’ve been lucky.’
‘Yes, you have,’ Nina smiled, ‘but you deserve it. The most exotic place I get to visit is the local sandwich bar whenever her ladyship wants a BLT. Other than that, it’s the photocopy room or, on a good day, the stock cupboard. I wouldn’t mind so much if she was civil to me.’
‘She’s a cow!’ Janey stated with a frown.
‘Janey!’ Nina said in a reprimanding tone, although she was laughing, too.
‘Oh, you’re such a saint, Nina, but Hilary Jackson would even make a saint swear. Why don’t you admit it – she’s a complete bitch who doesn’t value you a jot!’
‘Oh, Janey!’ Nina couldn’t help giggling at her friend’s passionate defence of her.
‘What about when she made you take that enormous file home to put all those invoices into date order?’
‘I know, but I guess it was a job that had to be done,’ Nina said with a shrug, before taking the biggest sip of wine she could.
‘Yes, but in company time – not when you had a girls’ night out planned. I bet she didn’t pay you overtime for it either, did she?’
Nina shook her head. ‘No, she didn’t,’ she said, realising that she had been trampled on for so long that even her friend had noticed. Why oh why hadn’t she done anything about it before, she wondered? But perhaps the time was now. After all, she had taken control and ended things with Matt, so surely she could do the same with Hilary, she reasoned. This, she realised, could be a whole new beginning for her.
‘And remember when she swore at you for sending that letter to the wrong director – which was her fault anyway because she couldn’t ever get her facts straight.’
Nina sighed. ‘I know, I know!’
‘And there’s no need for her to be so rude to you all the time. That woman’s got more hard edges than a Neolithic flint! It’s not on.’ Janey shook her head in despair. ‘So what are we going to do about it?’
‘I don’t know – something,’ Nina said, suddenly hiccupping.
‘Oh, no, Nina – not hiccups again! That’s another thing too. I never knew you to hiccup before you took that dreadful job.’
‘Of course I hiccupped! Everyone hiccups.’
‘Yes, but not like that. Not with nervous tension.’
‘It’s not nervous tension. It’s probably just wine,’ Nina said, giving her loudest hiccup yet.
‘You know what you should do, of course? You should just tell Hilary Jackson where she can stick her job and leave,’ Janey advised, getting into her stride as agony aunt.
‘You think so?’ Nina said, a tiny smile emerging at last.
‘Yes I do.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Just like that. Clear your desk out, tell her what you really think of her and go. Easy. You’re far too good to be stuck in that box with Hilary forever. You’re intelligent, attractive—’
‘Soon-to-be unemployed—’ Nina hiccupped again.
‘No! You’ve got to be positive about this. Employers will be trampling over each other to get you on board.’ Janey smiled encouragingly, not happy at seeing her friend so down. ‘Come on, Nina! You’ve been depressed about this for months now. Something’s got to change, hasn’t it? What’s happened to the old girl I know and love – eh? The girl whose picture is in the dictionary under “vivacious”?’
Nina rolled her eyes in disbelief.
‘Well, obviously not today,’ Janey agreed, and a moment’s silence elapsed. ‘Okay,’ Janey began again, ‘let me put it this way. In an ideal world – what would you do? If you could do anything – what would it be?’
Nina looked into her wine glass. What did she want? What did she truly want? She knew it had nothing to do with the present life she was leading, but was an alternative life waiting out there for her? One in which she was truly valued for whom she was? She looked up at Janey.
‘I’d like to go back to the office and press Hilary’s delete button.’
Janey laughed, not really expecting Nina to come out with such an answer. ‘Then do it!’
‘I don’t know. I’ve always been taught not to throw too much caution to the wind in case it changes direction and slaps you in your face.’
‘Look,’ Janey said, placing a tanned hand on Nina’s right shoulder, ‘I think you’ve already made up your mind about this, haven’t you?’
‘Have I?’
‘Yes – you have,’ Janey said, giving her friend’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘So, you might as well try and have a bit of fun. Just repeat after me: “I’m going to tell Hilary where she can stick her job.” Go on!’
‘I’m going to tell Hilary where she can stick her job,’ Nina repeated obediently, suppressing a particularly large hiccup.
Janey smiled. ‘But first, we’re going to have another drink.’
Chapter Two (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
Dominic Milton had almost crashed the car at the traffic lights. It had been her, hadn’t it, dancing through the traffic like a ballerina? The same Sahara-blonde bob, swinging neat as a pendulum. The same lovely face with eyes wide and inquisitive. The face he remembered with such affection from over a decade ago. Nina Elliot.
He arrived home, parking his old Volkswagen in the last available space. It was a large driveway by normal standards, but now that both he and Alex had cars as well as their parents, parking was in pecking order, which meant that Dominic was often forced to park further down the lane.
He turned the engine off and sat looking over the dashboard for a moment, remembering the way that Nina had looked at him, accusingly, unknowingly. She hadn’t recognised him, had she?
He sighed and got out of his car. His mother was home. She’d remember Nina. Ambling up the driveway, shopping bag in hand, he fished for his key and opened the front door.
‘Dom, is that you? Dominic?’ his mother’s voice sang through from the kitchen above the sound of a dog barking.
‘Yes.’
‘Did you get my hairspray?’
‘Yes,’ he replied, reaching into the carrier bag for the golden can. He looked at the price sticker and grimaced, wondering if there was such a thing as a drying-out clinic for cosmetic addicts.
‘You’re an angel,’ Olivia Milton said as she walked into the hallway, kissing her son on the cheek. She smelt wonderful, she always did. It was like nothing he’d ever smelt anywhere else; a sort of condensed talcum powder mixed with old roses. Intoxicating, and as much a part of Olivia as her pearl accessories and high heels.
‘I’ve had such a morning – you wouldn’t believe it! Firstly, Andrea Giles phoned telling me there’s been a crisis and that we’ve lost the speaker for the fundraising dinner we’ve got next week, so I’ve been telephoning everyone in my phone book trying to find somebody else who’s both suitable and available. Then I was trying to make a list of everything we need to organise for this anniversary party and my head was spinning at the enormity of it when your father blasts into the room, accusing me of having moved part of his manuscript. “I haven’t been anywhere near your manuscript!” I told him. I wouldn’t dare, Dommie! He bites my head off if I so much as knock on his study door. Honestly, he really needs a secretary or something. He’s quite impossible!’
Dominic grinned, knowing just how difficult his father could be when he was writing his novel and just how melodramatic his mother could be when trying to deal with him.
‘I’m sure everything will work itself out,’ he told her.
It was then that a large fluffy dog tore out of the kitchen, launching itself into the air and crashing into Dominic in his own doggy greeting.
‘Oh, Ziggy!’ Dominic cried, pushing the dog down.
‘He’d absolutely love a walk, Dom!’ Olivia said.
‘You mean you haven’t walked him yet?’
‘I took him out in the garden but you know how he is in the fields. He just drags me along behind him like a ragdoll!’ Olivia said with a sigh.
‘I don’t know why you got him, Mum,’ Dominic said. ‘He’s completely crazy.’
She ruffled the dog’s head. ‘I just couldn’t say no to that face, could I?’ she said in the kind of voice she reserved for animals and small children.
‘You’ve got to get him trained,’ Dominic said, remembering the day five months ago when his mother had arrived home with the out-of-control puppy.
‘I know, I know,’ Olivia said, removing the portion of skirt that had found its way into Ziggy’s mouth before pushing him away from her and turning her attention to her son once more. ‘You all right, Dom?’ she asked, breaking his train of thought.
Dominic looked at his mother. ‘Do you remember Nina?’
‘Nina?’ Olivia walked over to the hall mirror, shook her head upside down and applied a heavy mist of hairspray to her thick red hair.
‘Our babysitter from years ago,’ he added.
‘Oh – Neee-na!’ she stood back up to full height. ‘Well, of course I remember her! She was that lovely girl who looked after you and Alex for – let me see – it must have been at least four years.’
Dominic nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘Gosh, you were such a cute little boy,’ Olivia said, patting his cheek.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Mum,’ Dominic complained. ‘I’m twenty-one, for goodness’ sake.’
‘Never too old for a bit of motherly affection!’ she said. ‘Anyway, what’s all this about Nina?’
‘I just saw her in town,’ Dominic said.
‘Really? How is she?’
‘No, I didn’t speak to her. I nearly ran her over.’
‘WHAT?’ Olivia shrieked. ‘Is she all right?’
‘Yes, of course she’s all right,’ Dominic said, but felt a pang of guilt as he realised that perhaps he should have stopped the car to find out. Too late now, though. ‘Anyway, I thought you might want to invite her to the anniversary party in August.’
‘That’s a lovely idea. The more the merrier,’ Olivia smiled. ‘And we used to all get on so well with Nina, didn’t we? Gosh, remember that time she came with us to the theatre and you were horribly sick into your bag of popcorn?’
‘Oh, Mum! Don’t remind me.’
‘And the time she stayed over and we all went to that stately home the next day and Alex fell in the moat, silly boy!’
Dominic couldn’t help but grin as he remembered his brother’s misfortune. ‘And Nina waded in after him.’
‘Yes! She was priceless – absolutely priceless,’ Olivia said. ‘I don’t know what we would have done without her. I’ve often wondered what became of her. She was like a member of the family. Gosh, Dommie, I’m so pleased she’s back in touch. Give me her address and we’ll send her an invite for the party. I can’t wait to see her again.’
Dominic almost visibly jumped. He hadn’t thought about that, had he? He hadn’t even known where she’d lived twelve years ago, let alone now. She might not even be living in Norwich at all – she might just have been visiting friends before moving on. She could live absolutely anywhere.
He suddenly felt sick. What if he’d missed his one opportunity of finding her again?
Nina walked slowly back to the office. As she arrived, she surreptitiously cupped her hands over her mouth, checking for signs of alcohol. She couldn’t smell anything that would give her away but she certainly felt light-headed. She tried to banish the smile that was threatening to stretch across her whole face. She’d poured three glasses of wine down her throat. She felt so naughty. She’d never had anything stronger than an espresso during her lunch hour before today. What on earth had got into her? Was it really the spirit of rebellion? Was she really about to assert her true self after months of being nothing more than Hilary Jackson’s doormat?
She opened the door into the airless room where Hilary was inspecting a mound of papers on her desk, which looked as if they’d multiplied threefold since Nina had left. It was Hilary’s usual mean trick. Whenever Nina dared to leave her desk, she would invariably find that her workload had increased out of all recognition when she returned. Well, not any more, she determined. She’d had enough.
‘Ah! There you are,’ Hilary said, making it sound as if Nina had been away on an expedition rather than on her lunch hour. ‘Didn’t you leave me that letter like I asked you?’
‘Yes – it’s on your desk,’ Nina said, indicating as she tried to keep calm.
‘Where?’ Hilary’s voice rose a decibel in disbelief as she raked her hands through her short, spiky hair in agitation.
‘It was right in the centre – where you could find it,’ Nina bit her tongue before she swore. The temporary numbing effect of the wine was fast evaporating.
‘Well, I can’t see it, can I?’ Hilary pushed the papers to one side. ‘Oh – there!’ she said, holding the letter up. Nina breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at her own desk, already desperate for another glass of wine.
‘Well, it’s creased now. You’ll have to print it out again.’
Nina opened the document up on her screen. This, she vowed, would be the last order she’d take from Hilary Jackson.
‘Not yet – wait,’ Hilary said. ‘There’s probably something I need to correct first.’
Nina sighed. Just bide your time, she said to herself. See the day out first and then tell her exactly what you think of her. Goodness only knew that she needed that length of time to build her courage up.
At four o’clock, Nina left her desk to make the tea. In the relative sanctuary of the kitchen, she stretched her arms high above her head and yawned loudly. She felt exhausted – as if, quite suddenly, all the hours of tedium, frustration and anger of working with her boss had snowballed into one gigantic mass of mutiny. It was time, wasn’t it?
The kettle boiled, and Nina poured the hot water into the mugs and stirred vigorously. She put an extra-large sugar into her own mug and the usual half a teaspoon into Hilary’s.
Hilary didn’t bother looking up from her papers as Nina re-entered the office and placed her mug on her desk. She sat down again, sipping her tea and glancing at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes.
‘For God’s sake!’ Hilary’s voice suddenly rose from behind her computer. ‘Did you put the bloody sugar in with a shovel?’ It was Hilary’s usual comment when Nina accidentally put a couple of extra grains in her tea. But Nina didn’t say anything. She was waiting. Just waiting.
Half-past five came and went and Nina’s computer remained on. Her eyes were sore from staring at its bright face all day and her cream blouse was damp with perspiration. She watched Hilary’s face as she proofread the latest copy of the same letter she’d printed out half a dozen times already that day. Hilary. Sounded a bit like horrible, didn’t it? Started with an h, same number of consonants. Horrible Hilary. Hilary the Horrible.
Nina shook her head, feeling as if she was fast sinking into insanity, her foot tapping against the desk leg as she looked at her watch, willing precious minutes of her life away before she could make her escape.
A smile curved the corner of her mouth as she recalled her friend’s voice in the pub.
‘Just clear your desk out, tell Hilary to take a hike and go.’
I will, Janey. I will, Nina said to herself.
‘Right!’ Hilary exclaimed, making Nina jump. ‘That’ll do for today.’
Nina got up from her chair before Hilary had a chance to change her mind.
‘But I’ll need you here for eight tomorrow to start work on the end-of-month reports. First, though, I’ve got a few items you need to pick up from the dry cleaners. They open at seven so you’ll be able to get them en route to the office but don’t – whatever you do – crease them like you did last time. Honestly, Nina – the state of my jacket when you brought it in! You really don’t think sometimes!’
Nina blinked in disbelief. There was no please, no asking if that was all right with Nina – it was just an order that demanded to be obeyed. And that’s when the stirring began – a strange bubbling inside her stomach. It felt like nothing she’d ever felt before. Anxiety, apprehension perhaps, urging her forward because, at last, the time had come.
‘I won’t be here at eight,’ Nina said, her voice unusually clear and calm. ‘And I won’t be here at nine either.’ As she spoke, she opened her desk drawer and took out her little pot of lip balm, before reaching to the side of her computer where a framed photo of her childhood pet dog, Bertie, had lived for the past two years.
Hilary looked at her, not quite comprehending. ‘I’m afraid it’s necessary to work extra hours in order to get the job done. And if you don’t value that—’
‘No,’ Nina said, blowing the light covering of dust from Bertie’s frame, causing Hilary to blink. ‘Quite frankly, I don’t value it because you don’t value me and so I’m leaving. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for some time now and I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long.’ Nina’s eyebrows rose as assuredly as her confidence. ‘You are rude, unreasonable and uncaring, and I’ve had enough.’ She looked at her boss briefly, noting the gaping mouth.
‘How dare you talk to me like that!’ Hilary Jackson said, her eyes narrowed into two mean slits.
‘This is something I should have done months ago,’ Nina told her, staring right back at her and, for the first time since she’d taken the job, unafraid of her boss. ‘The very day after you arrived, in fact, because you’ve made my life a complete misery. We’re meant to be work colleagues, but you treat me like your own personal slave. You never ask my opinion about anything. You bulldoze over any suggestions I dare to make or else claim them for yourself and take all the credit for them with the management team. You swear at me. You set unreasonable deadlines and expect me to do hours of overtime without any extra pay whilst you slink off to your holistic retreat! Well, it’s over, Hilary! I’m not going to be treated like this anymore!’
‘What?’ Hilary barked.
‘I believe I’m owed my notice in annual leave, which I’ve been unable to take for some time, owing to your ridiculous deadlines as well as the volume of work you’ve put my way.’ Nina swung her handbag over her shoulder and, after one last look around the room, walked slowly away from her desk.
‘Nina Elliot – you just stop and think about what—’
‘Goodbye, Hilary,’ she interrupted before opening the door. ‘And good luck finding a replacement,’ she continued, ‘because you’ll need it.’
When Nina got home, she kicked her shoes off and watched them hit the skirting boards with a satisfying thump. She’d done it; really done it this time, and not just acted out a scene in her head with a thousand witty retorts to each one of Hilary’s nasty instructions. It had felt wonderful. She’d felt free and full of all the possibilities that the future now held for her. She just had to decide what she wanted to do with it.
Chapter Three (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
When one door closes, somewhere a window is opened. At least, that’s how the saying went. But, Nina couldn’t help wondering the next morning if it had been wise to close a door before even knowing where to look for a window. Maybe not, but it had certainly been liberating.
Janey had sounded delighted when Nina told her.
‘Well done, you!’ she cheered down the phone. ‘Now don’t go walking into another nasty little job again. Have a break – enjoy yourself,’ she advised. That was all very well, but what was she going to enjoy herself with? Fun always seemed to come with a pretty hefty price tag. And, finding herself out of teabags as well as T-shirts, Nina thought she should at least start to look for another position.
The local recruitment agency wasn’t exactly what Nina had hoped for on the first day of her new-found freedom. The stark walls and bland office furniture looked like a ‘before’ room on a television makeover programme, and the jobs the city had to offer were just as uninspiring. Nina tutted, rolled her eyes, bit her lip and then walked back out into the sunshine. Janey was right. There was absolutely no point in summoning up the courage to jack in your job only to leap into another job that you didn’t totally love. She was worth more than that, and this was going to be a new start for her – not just in terms of a job but in her personal life, too. She was leaving behind the old Nina with the bad boyfriend and the bad job. Who knew what the future held in store for her? All she had to do was to remain optimistic and keep smiling.
She held her face up to the early summer sunshine, rejoicing in the fact that she’d never have to face Hilary Jackson again in that tiny, airless office. She’d never forget her boss’s face as she’d said goodbye. Like Munch’s ‘The Scream’ with a touch of Lady Macbeth. It had been quite scary, and Nina began to feel sorry for the next poor soul to be taken on by her old boss. But that wasn’t her concern. She’d done her time and now she was free.
It was a bright Wednesday morning at the end of May and she didn’t have to work; the city was her oyster. She could do what she wanted – visit all the places she never had time to when she was working. She could go to an afternoon matinee at the cinema, amble up the cobbled back streets and poke around the galleries and antique shops. She could browse around the bookshops or sip a cappuccino overlooking the rainbow array of the market. It was all there for the taking.
Nina chose the market.
The scent of fresh fruit and vegetables filled her nostrils and she walked without any real direction between the stalls. Cards for every occasion, cushions, CDs, casual coats, courgettes and chips – it was all there, and Nina ambled happily amongst the shoppers, smiling at everything yet nothing in particular, losing herself in the living labyrinth.
When she finally tunnelled her way out, she had to shade her eyes against the sun and, as she did so, she noticed a small boy crying and pointing up to the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a bright red balloon drifting high above the shops towards the heavens. His mother grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.
For a few moments, Nina stood transfixed, watching the red balloon until it became nothing more than a scarlet pinprick against the sky. Best go shopping for some food, she thought. It would be a new experience to go shopping on a weekday and the very thought of it made her smile. Even the simplest task was beginning to seem like an adventure.
Dominic wasn’t having any luck at all. First of all his mother and brother, Alex, had blocked his car in – again – and then he’d found he was out of petrol. He’d had to beg twenty pounds from his dad in return for a promise to trim the yew hedges at the back of the house, which was a task worth at least fifty pounds of anyone’s money.
And things didn’t get any better when he reached Norwich. Just what was he doing? It was madness, sheer madness to be driving around, getting caught up in the one-way system in the desperate hope of spotting her again. And the lunch hour traffic was hell. But on he drove, narrowly avoiding several careless workers who thought they could cross safely in front of him after having one too many at the pub. But not once did he run into Nina.
Where was she?
Since nearly running her over, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the old days, when he and Alex had been growing up. He had so many fond memories of his childhood and the reappearance of Nina had woken them all up. And his mother was very keen to see her again. If only there’d been more time. If only he’d got her number.
After an honorary lap around the one-way system, he parked his car. He might as well make the most of finding himself in the centre of town, he thought, so he walked around the market, breathing in the scent of fresh flowers and fruit, the salt tang from the fish counter and the glorious smell of hot chips. He wandered about, turning left here, right there, until he surfaced once more into the dazzling light.
It was then that something caught his eye: a small boy was crying and pointing towards the sky. Dominic looked up and saw a red balloon floating away. Poor little mite, he thought and then sighed. Like the little boy, he wasn’t quite sure what he should do next.
He loved the city and often wandered around without a particular direction in mind, and today was no exception because he really didn’t have a direction to follow.
It might be worth going back to the zebra crossing, he thought, but it wasn’t very likely that she’d be there. He was just wasting his time. She was but one person in a city of thousands. But he had to try, didn’t he?
Olivia Milton clinked a second bottle of wine into her shopping trolley and searched her pockets for the list she’d made earlier that morning. It wasn’t there of course. She knew she’d left it on the kitchen table. She also knew that there’d definitely been more on the list than parmesan cheese, olives and Pinot Noir.
She pushed her trolley into the next aisle hoping that, by scanning the shelves, her memory would be jogged and that they’d all actually be able to eat that night.
Olivia always did her shopping on a Wednesday. Nina, on the other hand, had never experienced the pleasure of a supermarket when one was able to move freely through it and not spend longer in a queue than you had spent actually choosing your items. And, also unlike Olivia, Nina had her list with her.
It was the strangest feeling being in a supermarket when she should have had her feet tucked firmly under a desk and her ear glued to a telephone, having orders barked at her by Hilary Jackson. However, now she was unemployed, she became acutely aware of the cost of things and had to make sure that she only got the absolute essentials.
As she turned into the next aisle in the hope of finding a jar of pesto sauce for under a pound, she almost crashed into a trolley that had been left at right angles for all and sundry to trip over and into.
Nina grinned as she saw the contents: two bottles of wine, a slab of parmesan and copies of Hello! and Country Life. She could just imagine the sort of person who’d own such a trolley. Barbour and pearls, she thought. Land Rover and Labrador sort. This woman wouldn’t have to hunt for three-for-two offers or dented tins that had been reduced. Oh, no.
Nina looked down the aisle and gasped. It was her: no Barbour today – it was far too warm – but little pearl earrings, an old-fashioned piecrust blouse and a long loose skirt in a Liberty fabric, which might have made her look terribly middle-aged and dowdy but which, in fact, looked wonderfully regal on her and marked her out as part of the country set. Her red hair was cut sharply and blow-dried to perfection, and her flawless skin was made up with the absolute minimum of make-up.
She watched the woman bend down to reach for a bottle of tomato sauce. It was the next item on her own list and she walked towards the shelf. Leaning forward, the strangest sensation hit Nina – via the nostrils. The most heavenly scent enveloped her and instantly transported her back to her past. An image of a beautiful white Georgian mill house by a river in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. A house that had been hung with heavy printed curtains and filled with huge log-like pieces of furniture in oak. And the two young boys she’d looked after.
It was Mrs Milton.
Nina watched for a moment, just to be sure, smiling at the memories that were resurfacing, before summoning up the courage to speak.
‘Mrs Milton?’ Nina’s voice was quiet, but obviously startled the woman.
‘Yes?’ she said, turning around in surprise.
Nina cleared her throat. ‘I don’t know if you’ll remember, but I used to babysit for you. I’m Nina Elliot.’ Nina watched in amazement as the woman’s face beamed, her eyes crinkling at the edges.
‘Neena! Gracious! I don’t believe it. Are you all right?’
‘Yes, very well, thank you.’
‘No – I mean – after what happened.’
‘Pardon?’ Nina was puzzled. How on earth could Mrs Milton have heard that she’d walked out of her job?
‘Dominic – the car – he told me all about it.’
‘Car? But I don’t have a car,’ she said.
‘No – his car. You know – he nearly ran you over. I was terribly worried. Silly boy.’
Nina’s expression remained one of complete bafflement but then the cogs of her memory slowly turned, releasing the image of the stern face at the traffic lights, the car horns, the panic, the half-recognition.
It had been Dominic. Little Dommie Milton whom she’d once tucked up into bed; the little boy who’d once woken her up because of a nightmare involving giant sunflowers. This same little boy had nearly run her over.
‘Oh, yes!’ Nina exclaimed, ‘But I didn’t know it was him. I mean, I thought I recognised him, but—’
‘But you’re okay?’
‘Yes! Absolutely fine. It was my fault really,’ Nina said. ‘I just wasn’t thinking straight, but I’m fine, thank you.’
‘What a relief. Honestly. He goes around in a dream, that boy. He really shouldn’t be behind a wheel at all. Well, other than a potter’s wheel.’
‘Gosh, how is everyone?’ Nina asked with a smile, trying to imagine the young boys who would all be grown men now.
‘Oh, very well – very well,’ Olivia enthused. ‘Billy’s working in London as a pilot and taking off all over the place. Alex has had about twenty different jobs since graduating and can’t seem to settle to any one of them, and Dommie’s just graduated from art school and is preparing for his first art show in Norwich.’
Nina beamed a smile. ‘You must be so proud of them all.’
‘Oh, I am!’ Olivia said. ‘And you wouldn’t believe it but Dudley and I have our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary this summer,’ she said, as if not quite believing it herself.
‘Oh, congratulations!’
‘Thank you,’ Olivia paused and then her forehead crinkled, ‘only there’s so much to organise! We’ve never thrown such a big party before. We’re having a marquee set up in the garden and a band and balloons and flowers – the works! It’s almost as much fuss as our wedding day.’
‘It sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun,’ Nina said, remembering the times she’d joined the Miltons for lunches and dinners at the mill and how splendid they’d made even the simplest of meals, with the great table set with silver, glass and fine china. She couldn’t imagine how splendid an anniversary party was going to be.
‘And you must come along, Nina! We’d love to have you as our guest,’ Olivia said. ‘Now, would you mind awfully if I looked in your basket? I’ve come out without my shopping list and I’ve gone completely blank. I can’t remember a single thing we need.’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ Nina said, trying not to grin as she remembered the wonderful forgetfulness of her former employer.
Olivia looked thoughtful. Milk, bread, a tub of margarine, a small box of nasty-looking soap powder, bananas and an economy pack of tissues.
‘See – I haven’t got any of those. TOILET PAPER!’ Olivia shouted, startling a passer-by before taking off into the next aisle, leaving Nina to stand guard over her trolley. She really was a case. Nina had never managed to work out how she could host a dinner party for twelve and bring up three boys, but never know where to find her lipstick.
‘Here!’ Olivia said, returning with two bumper-sized packs of toilet paper. ‘Thank goodness I ran into you. My head is spinning so much with everything at the moment that the simplest things seem to elude me. Anyway, I simply can’t believe how many years it is since we all saw you. There’s so much to catch up on.’
‘Yes,’ Nina said, trying to remember exactly how many years it had been since she’d last visited the mill. She’d stopped babysitting for the Miltons after going to university, and that was ten years ago now.
‘So, what are you doing with yourself these days?’ Olivia asked her.
Nina bit her lower lip. It was the question bound to be asked sooner or later, but she hadn’t had time to prepare an adequate answer, not thinking she’d ever meet anyone she knew during a weekday trip to the supermarket.
‘Secretarial work,’ she said. ‘Actually, I’ve just finished a job that was – well,’ she paused, ‘it wasn’t right for me and I’m trying to find something that fits, you know? Something where I can really make a difference and feel valued.’
Olivia nodded. ‘Well, you were always valued at the mill. You were our favourite babysitter. You had such a way with our boys. You deserve nothing but the best,’ Olivia said, smiling kindly and then her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. ‘Goodness,’ she said. ‘I’ve had the most wonderful idea. You said you’re looking for a job?’
Nina nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said warily.
‘Then I might just have the very thing for you,’ she continued, her eyes widening. ‘How about popping over to the mill tomorrow morning. Are you free?’
‘I am,’ Nina said.
‘Excellent!’ Olivia said. ‘Oh, how exciting this is. I can’t believe it. First, Dommie nearly runs you over and then I run into you! I tell you, this is fate, Nina. It really is. Now, don’t forget about tomorrow – mid-morning?’
Nina nodded, wondering what on earth Olivia had in mind for her.
‘Oh, God! I’ve forgotten the mince!’ Olivia suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her trolley and executing a quick three-point turn, narrowly avoiding the tins of custard. ‘See you tomorrow, Nina!’
‘Goodbye, Mrs Milton,’ Nina called after her, watching Olivia waltz away with her errant trolley.
Grabbing a bottle of tomato sauce in a brand she’d never heard of, but that was offering twenty per cent free, Nina felt a definite skip in her step as she headed towards the check-out. She was going to visit The Old Mill House. With the river rushing by it and buttercup fields and bluebell woods on the doorstep, it was a little piece of paradise in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. It had been years since she’d been there, years since she’d even thought about it, but it had always held a special place in her heart. It would be wonderful to see it again – wonderful to see the boys again. Perhaps, Nina thought, this was the very door she’d been looking to open.
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Victoria Connelly
Escape deep into the English countryside in this perfect summer’s day read. Fans of Alexandra Potter and Katie Fforde won’t be able to resist.Nina Elliot is tired of her life. She’s not sure how it happened but, somewhere along the way, she lost track of where it was all going.So one fateful day, she makes a brave decision: she’s going to leave it all behind. Taking a job deep in the English countryside, Nina does just that. Ensconced at the Old Mill, she settles into daily life with the Milton family, where she works as a researcher for author Dudley.With endless summer days stretching out ahead of her, Nina couldn’t be happier. But her quiet life is soon interrupted when the handsome Milton boys return home – for they plan to make sure this really is a summer to remember…Relax and enjoy a breath of warm summer air with every turn of the page in the delightful new novel from Victoria Connelly - bestselling author of ‘Wish You Were Here’. Perfect for fans of Katie Fforde and Alexandra Potter.
VICTORIA CONNELLY
A Summer to Remember
Dedication (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
I’d like to dedicate this book to Jill Saint and to take this opportunity to remember her wonderful mother, the writer Dora Saint (1913–2012), whose ‘Miss Read’ books are a constant source of joy and inspiration to me.
Table of Contents
Cover (#ud3699428-0fdf-54ee-ab7b-0239470a3215)
Title Page (#ua01cb11c-d017-5f78-9e05-2fcb6533ead9)
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Acknowledgements
About the Author
By the Same Author
Copyright
About the Publisher
Chapter One (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
Nina Elliot glanced at the clock on the wall above the filing cabinet, willing the hands to turn a little quicker. The tiny office was so hot. The air-conditioning had broken yet again and the warm spring weather had sent indoor temperatures soaring. Or perhaps it was just Nina’s inner rage that was making her feel decidedly uncomfortable.
She looked across her paper-strewn desk towards her boss on the other side of the room.
‘No, I’ve told you that’s not good enough!’ she was yelling into the telephone. ‘Listen to me – why does nobody listen to me?’
Nina zoned out as the person on the other end of the line got their ear chewed off. She’d been working for Hilary Jackson in the marketing department of a doctors’ locum agency for ten months now and, as far as she was concerned, it was ten months too long. Her previous boss had been a sweet woman called Melanie Philips, who’d worn pink chiffon scarves and rose-scented perfume, and had never batted a blue-shaded eyelid if her staff were running late after their lunch break. The work would get done eventually, she reasoned, but let’s have a nice cup of Earl Grey first, shall we?
Melanie Philips was one of those people who seemed lit from within, Nina had often thought, but motherhood had called and the dark shadow of Hilary Jackson had descended.
Hilary Jackson was a tall, thin, rake-like woman with a pale face devoid of both make-up and humanity. She dressed in sombre-coloured clothing, which usually consisted of a navy trouser suit or, if she was in a more buoyant mood, pale grey. Today, it was the turn of the navy trouser suit.
Nina sighed and then gulped as Hilary put down the phone.
‘Have you got hold of Keith Maltby yet?’ she barked across the room.
‘I spoke to his assistant ten minutes ago,’ Nina told her.
‘Well, why hasn’t he called me back?’ Hilary said. ‘This is very important, Nina, or don’t you understand that? I have to speak to him now!’
‘I’ve left three messages for him,’ Nina explained. ‘His assistant said that he—’
‘Honestly! I sometimes think you’re trying to ruin this company, I really do! You can’t seem to do anything right. I always end up having to do everything myself. And where’s my tea? I asked you hours—’
‘It’s on your desk,’ Nina said, deciding it was her turn to interrupt.
‘Oh,’ Hilary said, momentarily floored. ‘Well, it’s stone cold now, isn’t it? Get me another and be careful not to add too much sugar. I’m sure you do it on purpose sometimes.’
‘Yes, your majesty,’ Nina whispered under her breath as she left the office and went into the tiny communal kitchen to make yet another cup of tea for her boss. Her hazel eyes felt dry and gritty, her shoulders felt tense and she knew she had knots in her back the size of golf balls.
This is no way to live, a little voice inside her said, the thought occurring to her for the first time. You’ve got to do something. You can’t stay here or you’ll go mad!
Her mind spiralled across the long, weary months of working for Hilary Jackson and the countless infuriating things she’d been made to do. Like when she’d worked through an entire weekend whilst her boss sauntered off to some holistic retreat. Or the way Hilary gave her impossible deadlines to meet whilst screaming at her so much that Nina would invariably leave for home in tears.
She looked at her watch now. It was lunchtime. She’d deliver Hilary’s fourth cup of tea and then she’d get out of there. She’d feel better once she was outside.
Stepping out into the street five minutes later, Nina breathed deeply as she forced herself to calm down.
Count to ten. Empty your mind. Calm down.
The mantra only occasionally worked around Hilary Jackson, but it was worth trying.
Her foot had just left the pavement when she heard the car horn. Startled out of her trance, she turned around, her fair hair swinging about her face as she glared at the offending driver.
For a moment, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Standing as if rooted to the spot, Nina looked into the window of the white car and thought she recognised the man at the wheel. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark mood. He didn’t smile, and the ensuing blasts from angry drivers urged her to make her mind up quickly.
Nina’s heart raced as she jumped back onto the pavement, just as the car swerved to avoid her. That, she thought, was a close call. She shook her head at her stupidity, cursing herself at the danger she’d put herself in because of her inner turmoil.
Taking a deep breath, she crossed the road safely and, once she was on the other side, glanced back over her shoulder to get another look at the driver, but the car had moved on.
‘Calm down,’ she told herself again. ‘You’ve got to calm down, otherwise you’ll have a heart attack before you reach thirty.’
She took another deep breath and cursed herself silently, knowing that, on top of her problems at work, she was still shaken from the night before and what had happened with her boyfriend Matt. They’d been together for four years but, as far as Nina was concerned, it was over. She could still see his face now, ashen and furious, his eyes burning with anger as she’d told him how she felt and how she couldn’t go on in a relationship with him.
‘I won’t let you do this to me, Nina,’ he’d told her as she’d stood in his flat, desperate to leave.
But the thing was, Nina wasn’t going to allow him to do—
She paused. Allow him to do what? She didn’t have the words to explain it, even to herself. All she knew was that this man made her feel miserable. Perhaps it was a kind of abuse she experienced with him – an emotional abuse. One thing was for sure – he made her feel worthless and deeply unhappy by the things that he did and the things that he said to her. A romantic relationship wasn’t meant to be like that, was it? She was pretty sure that she was an average woman, without too many unrealistic expectations when it came to the opposite sex, but surely she should at least feel happy with her chosen partner and not live in dread of what he might do or say next.
She swallowed hard as she remembered all the times he’d made her cry with his belittling comments. He always had to be in control of her – making her say and do things to please him, and she went along with it just to keep the peace and to placate him. But she’d been living a lie. For all those years, she’d been living a lie. Well, she’d finally vowed to herself that it was over and that she’d never let something like that happen to her again. Not ever. She was free from the hold he’d had over her, and she was going to put him out of her mind for good now. In fact, she’d rather not think about men at all at the moment. She had enough on her plate as it was.
‘Talk to Janey,’ Nina told herself, thinking of the dear friend she’d arranged to meet for lunch. Janey had an answer to every question and a solution to every problem. Walking through the main door of The Black Horse, she saw her perched on a barstool, and let out a loud sigh of relief.
‘Was that you being tooted at?’ Janey asked through a mouthful of salt and vinegar crisps.
‘Some idiot almost crashed at the traffic lights,’ Nina rolled her eyes, not wishing to acknowledge the fact that it had been her fault. ‘It’s been one of those days,’ she said, sitting down heavily on the barstool next to her friend.
Janey stared at her with undisguised horror. ‘God, Nina! You could plant potatoes in that forehead of yours. Are you okay?’
Nina gave a smile that only just began to unfurrow her brow. ‘Actually, it’s not just been one of those days – it’s been one of those months. Still, I shouldn’t be doing this, you know.’
‘Doing what exactly?’
‘Drinking during my lunch hour,’ she said with a little laugh.
‘Oh, it’s only one,’ Janey encouraged. ‘I’ve ordered our lunch to help soak it up, so it won’t do you any real harm. Anyway, you look as if you need it.’
‘I certainly do,’ Nina said, her eyes widening until she looked positively possum-like.
‘So, what is it? Why the phone call at that ungodly hour this morning?’
‘I’m so sorry about that,’ Nina said. ‘I just needed to see you today.’
‘You don’t have to apologise,’ Janey said sweetly. ‘I’m not blaming the bags under my eyes on you.’ Janey grinned but Nina didn’t respond. ‘Tell me,’ she prompted, obviously wondering what it was that had cost Nina her smile.
Their drinks arrived and Nina took a sip of her white wine, letting the sweet liquid flow into her system, her bright eyes seeming to focus on something that wasn’t quite present.
‘I’ve broken up with Matt,’ she said at last.
‘What?’ Janey almost choked at the impact of her words.
Nina shifted her weight on the stool. ‘It’s been building up for some time now and it just wasn’t working.’
‘Are you kidding? You two were brilliant together! Matt was – well, he was so charming and handsome and—’ Janey paused to find the right word, ‘perfect.’
Nina visibly flinched. ‘No,’ she said quietly, ‘not perfect.’ For a moment, she thought of her first few magical dates with Matt, when he had completely swept her off her feet with his good looks, his wit and his charm. Like Janey, she’d sincerely thought he’d been perfect, but she soon realised that nobody was perfect and it had been only a few weeks later that she’d seen the true Matt.
He’d been the sort of person who found it so easy to make friends because he had an uncanny ability to charm anybody he liked, but that charm would evaporate in private to reveal the real him – the cruel, controlling Matt that most of the world never saw.
‘Well, what then? Was he seeing someone else?’ Janey tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and looked closely at her. ‘You two have been together for longer than I can remember. I think I’ve worked my way through half a dozen relationships in the time you’ve been a couple and I always thought—’ she paused.
‘What?’ Nina asked softly.
‘I don’t know,’ Janey said, a wistful expression on her face, ‘just that I’d be throwing confetti over the pair of you before too long.’
Nina suddenly felt guilty for never having confided in her friend before, and suddenly wondered why that was. But, deep down, she knew why she’d kept quiet – because she’d blamed herself for the problems with Matt and had stupidly gone on believing that things would get better. Only they hadn’t, and she’d finally realised that she had to put a stop to things.
Nina blinked hard, trying to prevent her tears from spilling. She’d promised herself that she wasn’t going to cry because she’d wanted this to happen; she’d made it happen by instigating the break-up with Matt, and yet the huge swelling of unhappiness that filled her shocked her to the core.
‘Do you mind if we change the subject?’ She looked at Janey and, for a moment, neither said anything.
‘Okay,’ Janey whispered, sensing her friend’s discomfort. ‘But that’s not all that’s bugging you, is it?’
Nina shook her head. ‘Like I said last night – my whole life’s a mess.’
‘Come on then – let’s hear it,’ Janey took a sip of wine, as if she needed fortifying before hearing Nina’s next confession.
‘Work,’ Nina said, making the word sound as if it were some newly discovered disease.
‘Well, that makes a change,’ Janey said with a tut.
‘I nearly walked out this morning,’ Nina confessed, closing her eyes and reliving the nightmare again.
‘Why didn’t you, then?’ Janey asked, having long been aware of Nina’s ability to aspire to something rather than to act.
‘But where would I walk to?’
‘God – you’re always so practical!’ Janey chided. ‘You spend far too much time thinking, and not enough time doing. Sometimes you should just go for it.’
Nina sighed. ‘That’s easy for you to say. You’ve got a great job. But not everyone’s dad owns a travel agency and sends his daughter to Greece every other week.’
‘Hey – that’s research for our new brochure!’
‘You’re the only person I know who hasn’t experienced a British winter for the past ten years,’ Nina said good-naturedly.
Janey giggled. ‘I know. I’ve been lucky.’
‘Yes, you have,’ Nina smiled, ‘but you deserve it. The most exotic place I get to visit is the local sandwich bar whenever her ladyship wants a BLT. Other than that, it’s the photocopy room or, on a good day, the stock cupboard. I wouldn’t mind so much if she was civil to me.’
‘She’s a cow!’ Janey stated with a frown.
‘Janey!’ Nina said in a reprimanding tone, although she was laughing, too.
‘Oh, you’re such a saint, Nina, but Hilary Jackson would even make a saint swear. Why don’t you admit it – she’s a complete bitch who doesn’t value you a jot!’
‘Oh, Janey!’ Nina couldn’t help giggling at her friend’s passionate defence of her.
‘What about when she made you take that enormous file home to put all those invoices into date order?’
‘I know, but I guess it was a job that had to be done,’ Nina said with a shrug, before taking the biggest sip of wine she could.
‘Yes, but in company time – not when you had a girls’ night out planned. I bet she didn’t pay you overtime for it either, did she?’
Nina shook her head. ‘No, she didn’t,’ she said, realising that she had been trampled on for so long that even her friend had noticed. Why oh why hadn’t she done anything about it before, she wondered? But perhaps the time was now. After all, she had taken control and ended things with Matt, so surely she could do the same with Hilary, she reasoned. This, she realised, could be a whole new beginning for her.
‘And remember when she swore at you for sending that letter to the wrong director – which was her fault anyway because she couldn’t ever get her facts straight.’
Nina sighed. ‘I know, I know!’
‘And there’s no need for her to be so rude to you all the time. That woman’s got more hard edges than a Neolithic flint! It’s not on.’ Janey shook her head in despair. ‘So what are we going to do about it?’
‘I don’t know – something,’ Nina said, suddenly hiccupping.
‘Oh, no, Nina – not hiccups again! That’s another thing too. I never knew you to hiccup before you took that dreadful job.’
‘Of course I hiccupped! Everyone hiccups.’
‘Yes, but not like that. Not with nervous tension.’
‘It’s not nervous tension. It’s probably just wine,’ Nina said, giving her loudest hiccup yet.
‘You know what you should do, of course? You should just tell Hilary Jackson where she can stick her job and leave,’ Janey advised, getting into her stride as agony aunt.
‘You think so?’ Nina said, a tiny smile emerging at last.
‘Yes I do.’
‘Just like that?’
‘Just like that. Clear your desk out, tell her what you really think of her and go. Easy. You’re far too good to be stuck in that box with Hilary forever. You’re intelligent, attractive—’
‘Soon-to-be unemployed—’ Nina hiccupped again.
‘No! You’ve got to be positive about this. Employers will be trampling over each other to get you on board.’ Janey smiled encouragingly, not happy at seeing her friend so down. ‘Come on, Nina! You’ve been depressed about this for months now. Something’s got to change, hasn’t it? What’s happened to the old girl I know and love – eh? The girl whose picture is in the dictionary under “vivacious”?’
Nina rolled her eyes in disbelief.
‘Well, obviously not today,’ Janey agreed, and a moment’s silence elapsed. ‘Okay,’ Janey began again, ‘let me put it this way. In an ideal world – what would you do? If you could do anything – what would it be?’
Nina looked into her wine glass. What did she want? What did she truly want? She knew it had nothing to do with the present life she was leading, but was an alternative life waiting out there for her? One in which she was truly valued for whom she was? She looked up at Janey.
‘I’d like to go back to the office and press Hilary’s delete button.’
Janey laughed, not really expecting Nina to come out with such an answer. ‘Then do it!’
‘I don’t know. I’ve always been taught not to throw too much caution to the wind in case it changes direction and slaps you in your face.’
‘Look,’ Janey said, placing a tanned hand on Nina’s right shoulder, ‘I think you’ve already made up your mind about this, haven’t you?’
‘Have I?’
‘Yes – you have,’ Janey said, giving her friend’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘So, you might as well try and have a bit of fun. Just repeat after me: “I’m going to tell Hilary where she can stick her job.” Go on!’
‘I’m going to tell Hilary where she can stick her job,’ Nina repeated obediently, suppressing a particularly large hiccup.
Janey smiled. ‘But first, we’re going to have another drink.’
Chapter Two (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
Dominic Milton had almost crashed the car at the traffic lights. It had been her, hadn’t it, dancing through the traffic like a ballerina? The same Sahara-blonde bob, swinging neat as a pendulum. The same lovely face with eyes wide and inquisitive. The face he remembered with such affection from over a decade ago. Nina Elliot.
He arrived home, parking his old Volkswagen in the last available space. It was a large driveway by normal standards, but now that both he and Alex had cars as well as their parents, parking was in pecking order, which meant that Dominic was often forced to park further down the lane.
He turned the engine off and sat looking over the dashboard for a moment, remembering the way that Nina had looked at him, accusingly, unknowingly. She hadn’t recognised him, had she?
He sighed and got out of his car. His mother was home. She’d remember Nina. Ambling up the driveway, shopping bag in hand, he fished for his key and opened the front door.
‘Dom, is that you? Dominic?’ his mother’s voice sang through from the kitchen above the sound of a dog barking.
‘Yes.’
‘Did you get my hairspray?’
‘Yes,’ he replied, reaching into the carrier bag for the golden can. He looked at the price sticker and grimaced, wondering if there was such a thing as a drying-out clinic for cosmetic addicts.
‘You’re an angel,’ Olivia Milton said as she walked into the hallway, kissing her son on the cheek. She smelt wonderful, she always did. It was like nothing he’d ever smelt anywhere else; a sort of condensed talcum powder mixed with old roses. Intoxicating, and as much a part of Olivia as her pearl accessories and high heels.
‘I’ve had such a morning – you wouldn’t believe it! Firstly, Andrea Giles phoned telling me there’s been a crisis and that we’ve lost the speaker for the fundraising dinner we’ve got next week, so I’ve been telephoning everyone in my phone book trying to find somebody else who’s both suitable and available. Then I was trying to make a list of everything we need to organise for this anniversary party and my head was spinning at the enormity of it when your father blasts into the room, accusing me of having moved part of his manuscript. “I haven’t been anywhere near your manuscript!” I told him. I wouldn’t dare, Dommie! He bites my head off if I so much as knock on his study door. Honestly, he really needs a secretary or something. He’s quite impossible!’
Dominic grinned, knowing just how difficult his father could be when he was writing his novel and just how melodramatic his mother could be when trying to deal with him.
‘I’m sure everything will work itself out,’ he told her.
It was then that a large fluffy dog tore out of the kitchen, launching itself into the air and crashing into Dominic in his own doggy greeting.
‘Oh, Ziggy!’ Dominic cried, pushing the dog down.
‘He’d absolutely love a walk, Dom!’ Olivia said.
‘You mean you haven’t walked him yet?’
‘I took him out in the garden but you know how he is in the fields. He just drags me along behind him like a ragdoll!’ Olivia said with a sigh.
‘I don’t know why you got him, Mum,’ Dominic said. ‘He’s completely crazy.’
She ruffled the dog’s head. ‘I just couldn’t say no to that face, could I?’ she said in the kind of voice she reserved for animals and small children.
‘You’ve got to get him trained,’ Dominic said, remembering the day five months ago when his mother had arrived home with the out-of-control puppy.
‘I know, I know,’ Olivia said, removing the portion of skirt that had found its way into Ziggy’s mouth before pushing him away from her and turning her attention to her son once more. ‘You all right, Dom?’ she asked, breaking his train of thought.
Dominic looked at his mother. ‘Do you remember Nina?’
‘Nina?’ Olivia walked over to the hall mirror, shook her head upside down and applied a heavy mist of hairspray to her thick red hair.
‘Our babysitter from years ago,’ he added.
‘Oh – Neee-na!’ she stood back up to full height. ‘Well, of course I remember her! She was that lovely girl who looked after you and Alex for – let me see – it must have been at least four years.’
Dominic nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘Gosh, you were such a cute little boy,’ Olivia said, patting his cheek.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Mum,’ Dominic complained. ‘I’m twenty-one, for goodness’ sake.’
‘Never too old for a bit of motherly affection!’ she said. ‘Anyway, what’s all this about Nina?’
‘I just saw her in town,’ Dominic said.
‘Really? How is she?’
‘No, I didn’t speak to her. I nearly ran her over.’
‘WHAT?’ Olivia shrieked. ‘Is she all right?’
‘Yes, of course she’s all right,’ Dominic said, but felt a pang of guilt as he realised that perhaps he should have stopped the car to find out. Too late now, though. ‘Anyway, I thought you might want to invite her to the anniversary party in August.’
‘That’s a lovely idea. The more the merrier,’ Olivia smiled. ‘And we used to all get on so well with Nina, didn’t we? Gosh, remember that time she came with us to the theatre and you were horribly sick into your bag of popcorn?’
‘Oh, Mum! Don’t remind me.’
‘And the time she stayed over and we all went to that stately home the next day and Alex fell in the moat, silly boy!’
Dominic couldn’t help but grin as he remembered his brother’s misfortune. ‘And Nina waded in after him.’
‘Yes! She was priceless – absolutely priceless,’ Olivia said. ‘I don’t know what we would have done without her. I’ve often wondered what became of her. She was like a member of the family. Gosh, Dommie, I’m so pleased she’s back in touch. Give me her address and we’ll send her an invite for the party. I can’t wait to see her again.’
Dominic almost visibly jumped. He hadn’t thought about that, had he? He hadn’t even known where she’d lived twelve years ago, let alone now. She might not even be living in Norwich at all – she might just have been visiting friends before moving on. She could live absolutely anywhere.
He suddenly felt sick. What if he’d missed his one opportunity of finding her again?
Nina walked slowly back to the office. As she arrived, she surreptitiously cupped her hands over her mouth, checking for signs of alcohol. She couldn’t smell anything that would give her away but she certainly felt light-headed. She tried to banish the smile that was threatening to stretch across her whole face. She’d poured three glasses of wine down her throat. She felt so naughty. She’d never had anything stronger than an espresso during her lunch hour before today. What on earth had got into her? Was it really the spirit of rebellion? Was she really about to assert her true self after months of being nothing more than Hilary Jackson’s doormat?
She opened the door into the airless room where Hilary was inspecting a mound of papers on her desk, which looked as if they’d multiplied threefold since Nina had left. It was Hilary’s usual mean trick. Whenever Nina dared to leave her desk, she would invariably find that her workload had increased out of all recognition when she returned. Well, not any more, she determined. She’d had enough.
‘Ah! There you are,’ Hilary said, making it sound as if Nina had been away on an expedition rather than on her lunch hour. ‘Didn’t you leave me that letter like I asked you?’
‘Yes – it’s on your desk,’ Nina said, indicating as she tried to keep calm.
‘Where?’ Hilary’s voice rose a decibel in disbelief as she raked her hands through her short, spiky hair in agitation.
‘It was right in the centre – where you could find it,’ Nina bit her tongue before she swore. The temporary numbing effect of the wine was fast evaporating.
‘Well, I can’t see it, can I?’ Hilary pushed the papers to one side. ‘Oh – there!’ she said, holding the letter up. Nina breathed a sigh of relief and sat down at her own desk, already desperate for another glass of wine.
‘Well, it’s creased now. You’ll have to print it out again.’
Nina opened the document up on her screen. This, she vowed, would be the last order she’d take from Hilary Jackson.
‘Not yet – wait,’ Hilary said. ‘There’s probably something I need to correct first.’
Nina sighed. Just bide your time, she said to herself. See the day out first and then tell her exactly what you think of her. Goodness only knew that she needed that length of time to build her courage up.
At four o’clock, Nina left her desk to make the tea. In the relative sanctuary of the kitchen, she stretched her arms high above her head and yawned loudly. She felt exhausted – as if, quite suddenly, all the hours of tedium, frustration and anger of working with her boss had snowballed into one gigantic mass of mutiny. It was time, wasn’t it?
The kettle boiled, and Nina poured the hot water into the mugs and stirred vigorously. She put an extra-large sugar into her own mug and the usual half a teaspoon into Hilary’s.
Hilary didn’t bother looking up from her papers as Nina re-entered the office and placed her mug on her desk. She sat down again, sipping her tea and glancing at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes.
‘For God’s sake!’ Hilary’s voice suddenly rose from behind her computer. ‘Did you put the bloody sugar in with a shovel?’ It was Hilary’s usual comment when Nina accidentally put a couple of extra grains in her tea. But Nina didn’t say anything. She was waiting. Just waiting.
Half-past five came and went and Nina’s computer remained on. Her eyes were sore from staring at its bright face all day and her cream blouse was damp with perspiration. She watched Hilary’s face as she proofread the latest copy of the same letter she’d printed out half a dozen times already that day. Hilary. Sounded a bit like horrible, didn’t it? Started with an h, same number of consonants. Horrible Hilary. Hilary the Horrible.
Nina shook her head, feeling as if she was fast sinking into insanity, her foot tapping against the desk leg as she looked at her watch, willing precious minutes of her life away before she could make her escape.
A smile curved the corner of her mouth as she recalled her friend’s voice in the pub.
‘Just clear your desk out, tell Hilary to take a hike and go.’
I will, Janey. I will, Nina said to herself.
‘Right!’ Hilary exclaimed, making Nina jump. ‘That’ll do for today.’
Nina got up from her chair before Hilary had a chance to change her mind.
‘But I’ll need you here for eight tomorrow to start work on the end-of-month reports. First, though, I’ve got a few items you need to pick up from the dry cleaners. They open at seven so you’ll be able to get them en route to the office but don’t – whatever you do – crease them like you did last time. Honestly, Nina – the state of my jacket when you brought it in! You really don’t think sometimes!’
Nina blinked in disbelief. There was no please, no asking if that was all right with Nina – it was just an order that demanded to be obeyed. And that’s when the stirring began – a strange bubbling inside her stomach. It felt like nothing she’d ever felt before. Anxiety, apprehension perhaps, urging her forward because, at last, the time had come.
‘I won’t be here at eight,’ Nina said, her voice unusually clear and calm. ‘And I won’t be here at nine either.’ As she spoke, she opened her desk drawer and took out her little pot of lip balm, before reaching to the side of her computer where a framed photo of her childhood pet dog, Bertie, had lived for the past two years.
Hilary looked at her, not quite comprehending. ‘I’m afraid it’s necessary to work extra hours in order to get the job done. And if you don’t value that—’
‘No,’ Nina said, blowing the light covering of dust from Bertie’s frame, causing Hilary to blink. ‘Quite frankly, I don’t value it because you don’t value me and so I’m leaving. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for some time now and I really don’t know why it’s taken me so long.’ Nina’s eyebrows rose as assuredly as her confidence. ‘You are rude, unreasonable and uncaring, and I’ve had enough.’ She looked at her boss briefly, noting the gaping mouth.
‘How dare you talk to me like that!’ Hilary Jackson said, her eyes narrowed into two mean slits.
‘This is something I should have done months ago,’ Nina told her, staring right back at her and, for the first time since she’d taken the job, unafraid of her boss. ‘The very day after you arrived, in fact, because you’ve made my life a complete misery. We’re meant to be work colleagues, but you treat me like your own personal slave. You never ask my opinion about anything. You bulldoze over any suggestions I dare to make or else claim them for yourself and take all the credit for them with the management team. You swear at me. You set unreasonable deadlines and expect me to do hours of overtime without any extra pay whilst you slink off to your holistic retreat! Well, it’s over, Hilary! I’m not going to be treated like this anymore!’
‘What?’ Hilary barked.
‘I believe I’m owed my notice in annual leave, which I’ve been unable to take for some time, owing to your ridiculous deadlines as well as the volume of work you’ve put my way.’ Nina swung her handbag over her shoulder and, after one last look around the room, walked slowly away from her desk.
‘Nina Elliot – you just stop and think about what—’
‘Goodbye, Hilary,’ she interrupted before opening the door. ‘And good luck finding a replacement,’ she continued, ‘because you’ll need it.’
When Nina got home, she kicked her shoes off and watched them hit the skirting boards with a satisfying thump. She’d done it; really done it this time, and not just acted out a scene in her head with a thousand witty retorts to each one of Hilary’s nasty instructions. It had felt wonderful. She’d felt free and full of all the possibilities that the future now held for her. She just had to decide what she wanted to do with it.
Chapter Three (#uac9d0cfa-760d-5a39-9186-6cbeb26b1806)
When one door closes, somewhere a window is opened. At least, that’s how the saying went. But, Nina couldn’t help wondering the next morning if it had been wise to close a door before even knowing where to look for a window. Maybe not, but it had certainly been liberating.
Janey had sounded delighted when Nina told her.
‘Well done, you!’ she cheered down the phone. ‘Now don’t go walking into another nasty little job again. Have a break – enjoy yourself,’ she advised. That was all very well, but what was she going to enjoy herself with? Fun always seemed to come with a pretty hefty price tag. And, finding herself out of teabags as well as T-shirts, Nina thought she should at least start to look for another position.
The local recruitment agency wasn’t exactly what Nina had hoped for on the first day of her new-found freedom. The stark walls and bland office furniture looked like a ‘before’ room on a television makeover programme, and the jobs the city had to offer were just as uninspiring. Nina tutted, rolled her eyes, bit her lip and then walked back out into the sunshine. Janey was right. There was absolutely no point in summoning up the courage to jack in your job only to leap into another job that you didn’t totally love. She was worth more than that, and this was going to be a new start for her – not just in terms of a job but in her personal life, too. She was leaving behind the old Nina with the bad boyfriend and the bad job. Who knew what the future held in store for her? All she had to do was to remain optimistic and keep smiling.
She held her face up to the early summer sunshine, rejoicing in the fact that she’d never have to face Hilary Jackson again in that tiny, airless office. She’d never forget her boss’s face as she’d said goodbye. Like Munch’s ‘The Scream’ with a touch of Lady Macbeth. It had been quite scary, and Nina began to feel sorry for the next poor soul to be taken on by her old boss. But that wasn’t her concern. She’d done her time and now she was free.
It was a bright Wednesday morning at the end of May and she didn’t have to work; the city was her oyster. She could do what she wanted – visit all the places she never had time to when she was working. She could go to an afternoon matinee at the cinema, amble up the cobbled back streets and poke around the galleries and antique shops. She could browse around the bookshops or sip a cappuccino overlooking the rainbow array of the market. It was all there for the taking.
Nina chose the market.
The scent of fresh fruit and vegetables filled her nostrils and she walked without any real direction between the stalls. Cards for every occasion, cushions, CDs, casual coats, courgettes and chips – it was all there, and Nina ambled happily amongst the shoppers, smiling at everything yet nothing in particular, losing herself in the living labyrinth.
When she finally tunnelled her way out, she had to shade her eyes against the sun and, as she did so, she noticed a small boy crying and pointing up to the sky. She followed his gaze and saw a bright red balloon drifting high above the shops towards the heavens. His mother grabbed his wrist and dragged him away.
For a few moments, Nina stood transfixed, watching the red balloon until it became nothing more than a scarlet pinprick against the sky. Best go shopping for some food, she thought. It would be a new experience to go shopping on a weekday and the very thought of it made her smile. Even the simplest task was beginning to seem like an adventure.
Dominic wasn’t having any luck at all. First of all his mother and brother, Alex, had blocked his car in – again – and then he’d found he was out of petrol. He’d had to beg twenty pounds from his dad in return for a promise to trim the yew hedges at the back of the house, which was a task worth at least fifty pounds of anyone’s money.
And things didn’t get any better when he reached Norwich. Just what was he doing? It was madness, sheer madness to be driving around, getting caught up in the one-way system in the desperate hope of spotting her again. And the lunch hour traffic was hell. But on he drove, narrowly avoiding several careless workers who thought they could cross safely in front of him after having one too many at the pub. But not once did he run into Nina.
Where was she?
Since nearly running her over, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the old days, when he and Alex had been growing up. He had so many fond memories of his childhood and the reappearance of Nina had woken them all up. And his mother was very keen to see her again. If only there’d been more time. If only he’d got her number.
After an honorary lap around the one-way system, he parked his car. He might as well make the most of finding himself in the centre of town, he thought, so he walked around the market, breathing in the scent of fresh flowers and fruit, the salt tang from the fish counter and the glorious smell of hot chips. He wandered about, turning left here, right there, until he surfaced once more into the dazzling light.
It was then that something caught his eye: a small boy was crying and pointing towards the sky. Dominic looked up and saw a red balloon floating away. Poor little mite, he thought and then sighed. Like the little boy, he wasn’t quite sure what he should do next.
He loved the city and often wandered around without a particular direction in mind, and today was no exception because he really didn’t have a direction to follow.
It might be worth going back to the zebra crossing, he thought, but it wasn’t very likely that she’d be there. He was just wasting his time. She was but one person in a city of thousands. But he had to try, didn’t he?
Olivia Milton clinked a second bottle of wine into her shopping trolley and searched her pockets for the list she’d made earlier that morning. It wasn’t there of course. She knew she’d left it on the kitchen table. She also knew that there’d definitely been more on the list than parmesan cheese, olives and Pinot Noir.
She pushed her trolley into the next aisle hoping that, by scanning the shelves, her memory would be jogged and that they’d all actually be able to eat that night.
Olivia always did her shopping on a Wednesday. Nina, on the other hand, had never experienced the pleasure of a supermarket when one was able to move freely through it and not spend longer in a queue than you had spent actually choosing your items. And, also unlike Olivia, Nina had her list with her.
It was the strangest feeling being in a supermarket when she should have had her feet tucked firmly under a desk and her ear glued to a telephone, having orders barked at her by Hilary Jackson. However, now she was unemployed, she became acutely aware of the cost of things and had to make sure that she only got the absolute essentials.
As she turned into the next aisle in the hope of finding a jar of pesto sauce for under a pound, she almost crashed into a trolley that had been left at right angles for all and sundry to trip over and into.
Nina grinned as she saw the contents: two bottles of wine, a slab of parmesan and copies of Hello! and Country Life. She could just imagine the sort of person who’d own such a trolley. Barbour and pearls, she thought. Land Rover and Labrador sort. This woman wouldn’t have to hunt for three-for-two offers or dented tins that had been reduced. Oh, no.
Nina looked down the aisle and gasped. It was her: no Barbour today – it was far too warm – but little pearl earrings, an old-fashioned piecrust blouse and a long loose skirt in a Liberty fabric, which might have made her look terribly middle-aged and dowdy but which, in fact, looked wonderfully regal on her and marked her out as part of the country set. Her red hair was cut sharply and blow-dried to perfection, and her flawless skin was made up with the absolute minimum of make-up.
She watched the woman bend down to reach for a bottle of tomato sauce. It was the next item on her own list and she walked towards the shelf. Leaning forward, the strangest sensation hit Nina – via the nostrils. The most heavenly scent enveloped her and instantly transported her back to her past. An image of a beautiful white Georgian mill house by a river in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. A house that had been hung with heavy printed curtains and filled with huge log-like pieces of furniture in oak. And the two young boys she’d looked after.
It was Mrs Milton.
Nina watched for a moment, just to be sure, smiling at the memories that were resurfacing, before summoning up the courage to speak.
‘Mrs Milton?’ Nina’s voice was quiet, but obviously startled the woman.
‘Yes?’ she said, turning around in surprise.
Nina cleared her throat. ‘I don’t know if you’ll remember, but I used to babysit for you. I’m Nina Elliot.’ Nina watched in amazement as the woman’s face beamed, her eyes crinkling at the edges.
‘Neena! Gracious! I don’t believe it. Are you all right?’
‘Yes, very well, thank you.’
‘No – I mean – after what happened.’
‘Pardon?’ Nina was puzzled. How on earth could Mrs Milton have heard that she’d walked out of her job?
‘Dominic – the car – he told me all about it.’
‘Car? But I don’t have a car,’ she said.
‘No – his car. You know – he nearly ran you over. I was terribly worried. Silly boy.’
Nina’s expression remained one of complete bafflement but then the cogs of her memory slowly turned, releasing the image of the stern face at the traffic lights, the car horns, the panic, the half-recognition.
It had been Dominic. Little Dommie Milton whom she’d once tucked up into bed; the little boy who’d once woken her up because of a nightmare involving giant sunflowers. This same little boy had nearly run her over.
‘Oh, yes!’ Nina exclaimed, ‘But I didn’t know it was him. I mean, I thought I recognised him, but—’
‘But you’re okay?’
‘Yes! Absolutely fine. It was my fault really,’ Nina said. ‘I just wasn’t thinking straight, but I’m fine, thank you.’
‘What a relief. Honestly. He goes around in a dream, that boy. He really shouldn’t be behind a wheel at all. Well, other than a potter’s wheel.’
‘Gosh, how is everyone?’ Nina asked with a smile, trying to imagine the young boys who would all be grown men now.
‘Oh, very well – very well,’ Olivia enthused. ‘Billy’s working in London as a pilot and taking off all over the place. Alex has had about twenty different jobs since graduating and can’t seem to settle to any one of them, and Dommie’s just graduated from art school and is preparing for his first art show in Norwich.’
Nina beamed a smile. ‘You must be so proud of them all.’
‘Oh, I am!’ Olivia said. ‘And you wouldn’t believe it but Dudley and I have our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary this summer,’ she said, as if not quite believing it herself.
‘Oh, congratulations!’
‘Thank you,’ Olivia paused and then her forehead crinkled, ‘only there’s so much to organise! We’ve never thrown such a big party before. We’re having a marquee set up in the garden and a band and balloons and flowers – the works! It’s almost as much fuss as our wedding day.’
‘It sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun,’ Nina said, remembering the times she’d joined the Miltons for lunches and dinners at the mill and how splendid they’d made even the simplest of meals, with the great table set with silver, glass and fine china. She couldn’t imagine how splendid an anniversary party was going to be.
‘And you must come along, Nina! We’d love to have you as our guest,’ Olivia said. ‘Now, would you mind awfully if I looked in your basket? I’ve come out without my shopping list and I’ve gone completely blank. I can’t remember a single thing we need.’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ Nina said, trying not to grin as she remembered the wonderful forgetfulness of her former employer.
Olivia looked thoughtful. Milk, bread, a tub of margarine, a small box of nasty-looking soap powder, bananas and an economy pack of tissues.
‘See – I haven’t got any of those. TOILET PAPER!’ Olivia shouted, startling a passer-by before taking off into the next aisle, leaving Nina to stand guard over her trolley. She really was a case. Nina had never managed to work out how she could host a dinner party for twelve and bring up three boys, but never know where to find her lipstick.
‘Here!’ Olivia said, returning with two bumper-sized packs of toilet paper. ‘Thank goodness I ran into you. My head is spinning so much with everything at the moment that the simplest things seem to elude me. Anyway, I simply can’t believe how many years it is since we all saw you. There’s so much to catch up on.’
‘Yes,’ Nina said, trying to remember exactly how many years it had been since she’d last visited the mill. She’d stopped babysitting for the Miltons after going to university, and that was ten years ago now.
‘So, what are you doing with yourself these days?’ Olivia asked her.
Nina bit her lower lip. It was the question bound to be asked sooner or later, but she hadn’t had time to prepare an adequate answer, not thinking she’d ever meet anyone she knew during a weekday trip to the supermarket.
‘Secretarial work,’ she said. ‘Actually, I’ve just finished a job that was – well,’ she paused, ‘it wasn’t right for me and I’m trying to find something that fits, you know? Something where I can really make a difference and feel valued.’
Olivia nodded. ‘Well, you were always valued at the mill. You were our favourite babysitter. You had such a way with our boys. You deserve nothing but the best,’ Olivia said, smiling kindly and then her eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment. ‘Goodness,’ she said. ‘I’ve had the most wonderful idea. You said you’re looking for a job?’
Nina nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said warily.
‘Then I might just have the very thing for you,’ she continued, her eyes widening. ‘How about popping over to the mill tomorrow morning. Are you free?’
‘I am,’ Nina said.
‘Excellent!’ Olivia said. ‘Oh, how exciting this is. I can’t believe it. First, Dommie nearly runs you over and then I run into you! I tell you, this is fate, Nina. It really is. Now, don’t forget about tomorrow – mid-morning?’
Nina nodded, wondering what on earth Olivia had in mind for her.
‘Oh, God! I’ve forgotten the mince!’ Olivia suddenly exclaimed, grabbing her trolley and executing a quick three-point turn, narrowly avoiding the tins of custard. ‘See you tomorrow, Nina!’
‘Goodbye, Mrs Milton,’ Nina called after her, watching Olivia waltz away with her errant trolley.
Grabbing a bottle of tomato sauce in a brand she’d never heard of, but that was offering twenty per cent free, Nina felt a definite skip in her step as she headed towards the check-out. She was going to visit The Old Mill House. With the river rushing by it and buttercup fields and bluebell woods on the doorstep, it was a little piece of paradise in the heart of the Norfolk countryside. It had been years since she’d been there, years since she’d even thought about it, but it had always held a special place in her heart. It would be wonderful to see it again – wonderful to see the boys again. Perhaps, Nina thought, this was the very door she’d been looking to open.
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