Chapter 10
Ten minutes later, they headed back out and across the green. On closer inspection, there was no sign of Cal. But Felix and Lois were sitting on one of the wooden benches and Felix instantly leapt to his feet.
He greeted Mimi with a hug. ‘How nice, and what a surprise. We did wonder if you’d be down, now that Marcus is back . . . Here, have my seat . . . no, I insist. Lois, isn’t it great to see Mimi? And doesn’t she look well?’
Lois embraced Mimi. ‘Lovely to see you again. And you are looking well.’
‘So are you,’ Mimi told her, because what other response was there?
Lois’s smile was dry. ‘Well, hardly. But never mind.’
Mimi nodded. They hadn’t seen each other since the accident. When she’d come down for the funerals of her father and Stacey, Lois had still been in hospital, battling to recover from her injuries. The lone survivor of the crash, she’d sustained multiple severe lacerations, bone fractures and internal injuries to her spleen and pancreas. Her left leg had been amputated below the knee. They’d managed to save the left arm, but the scarring was clearly visible, as it was on her face and neck.
‘It’s OK, you can have a proper look. I’m used to it. If you had scars, I’d want to see yours.’
Mimi saw the way Lois’s eyelid had been bisected and carefully repaired; as had the deep gash that ran diagonally from the right side of her forehead to the left side of her chin. There was other scarring on her upper chest, visible above her white vest top.
‘You’re still beautiful, though,’ she told Lois. ‘You’re still you.’ It sounded like a platitude, but she meant it.
‘Yeah.’ Lois grimaced. ‘I know. I’m the lucky one. At least I’m still here, alive and kicking with my good leg, and being the bane of my mother-in-law’s life.’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes. Are you kidding? She strongly disapproved of me seeing her precious son from the word go. Then the accident happened and her ex-husband was the driver, which made the whole situation that much more awkward.’ She paused to indicate to Felix that she’d like another drink, and waited while he and Marcus made their way into the pub behind them.
Mimi waited too. She hadn’t come to Goosebrook for Edward Mercer’s funeral, because why would she? Divorced from Felix’s mother many years earlier, Eddie had been living it up in Monte Carlo, enjoying every aspect of the expat lifestyle. An enthusiastic gambler and drinker, he’d evidently been far happier not being married to Henrietta. On that fateful weekend four years ago, he’d come back on a whim to see Felix. Delighted to join in with the treasure hunt, he had volunteered to be one of the drivers and the teams had been picked.
Eighty minutes later, a wild boar had shot across the road directly ahead of them. Reacting instinctively, Eddie had yanked the steering wheel to the left as the boar ricocheted off the bonnet, and the car had smashed at high speed into the trunk of an ancient oak tree.
Eddie, Dan and Stacey had been killed outright, as had the wild boar. The emergency services had managed to cut Lois free from the mangled wreckage and airlift her to hospital, where she’d remained for the next three months.
At the inquest, Eddie Mercer’s body was confirmed to have been free of alcohol and drugs.
‘Henrietta can’t stand me,’ said Lois. ‘She’s convinced I only married Felix to get my filthy grasping hands on his money. She thinks Felix only asked me to marry him because he felt guilty about what happened. She says if there hadn’t been an accident, Felix and I would have broken up long ago.’
Since bluntness and honesty appeared to be the order of the day, Mimi said, ‘And do you think so too?’
Lois shrugged. ‘It’s a possibility. She’s right about Felix feeling guilty and responsible by proxy. Let’s face it, I’m not the catch I once was.’ She glanced down at her prosthetic leg. ‘I didn’t marry him for his money. I’ll admit, though, I did wonder if anyone else would still want me.’
‘Oh you can’t have thought that. Thousands of men would want you. Millions,’ said Mimi.
‘But I don’t want any men, I want the same level of man I had before. I don’t want to settle for someone I wouldn’t have looked twice at before the accident. Sorry, I know what I sound like and you must be thinking I’m a spoiled selfish bitch because your dad died and I didn’t, so what do I have to moan about?’ Lois exhaled audibly. ‘But it’s kind of hard, trust me, getting your head around the idea that you can’t do the things you used to do, or attract the kind of men you used to attract.’
Mimi had heard from Marcus that the marriage was rocky, but it was heartbreaking to hear the reasons from Lois herself. ‘It must be so difficult,’ she said.
‘It’s awful. And even worse feeling guilty about it too. Anyway, here they come with the drinks; let’s change the subject. How are things with you?’
Under the circumstances, it seemed only fair to say it. ‘I just found out this morning that my best friend has been shagging my boyfriend, who also happens to be my boss.’
Lois’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Seriously?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘That makes me feel better. Sorry, but it does. Thank you.’ Reaching for the glass Felix was holding out to her, Lois clinked it against Mimi’s tumbler. ‘Cheers!’
Forty minutes of conversation later, Mimi said, ‘The girl over there with the blonde curls . . . is that Cora?’
‘Where? Oh yes, it is. I suppose she’s grown up a bit since you last saw her.’
Mimi nodded; back then, Cora had been a chirpy six-year-old obsessed with zebras. Now, taller and thinner, wearing a plain white T-shirt and a pair of cut-off denim shorts, she was lying on her stomach on the grass, propped up on her elbows and gesturing with her hands as she chatted away animatedly with her friends. She was ten now. If it was hard losing your father in your twenties, imagine how much more agonising it must have been to lose your mum when you were just six.
‘How’s she doing?’ Mimi asked Lois.
‘Pretty good, all things considered. Cal’s been amazing with her.’ Lois shooed away a hovering wasp. ‘Mind you, the hormones are about to kick in; he’ll have that to deal with next.’
This was true, and a daunting enough challenge for any parent. Mimi watched as the wasp circled her glass like an old man taking a walk around his garden pond. ‘And how’s Cal coping?’
‘Fine on the outside. On the inside . . . who knows? You’d think after four years he’d have found someone else, but no. There hasn’t been anyone. Well, unless there has been and we just haven’t heard about it. Always a possibility.’
‘He’s not around this evening?’
‘Working, I think.’ Lois lowered her voice and murmured, ‘Look at Felix watching Maria. See the look on his face? D’you think something’s going on between them?’
Startled, Mimi followed the direction of her gaze. Maria was collecting empty glasses, and laughing at something Felix was saying. ‘I don’t think so. It’s just a normal kind of look.’
‘You’re probably right.’ Lois shook her head. ‘God, I hate being like this. I’m pathetic.’
Mimi checked once more. ‘There’s nothing going on there, I’m sure of it.’
‘Then again,’ said Lois, ‘you had no idea your boyfriend was carrying on with your best friend. So what would you know?’
Mimi grinned. ‘Touché.’
They left not long afterwards, heading back to the cottage. In the kitchen, Marcus began putting together something for supper. Upstairs, Mimi got on with unpacking her belongings, stowing her clothes in the wardrobe in the spare room that – if she decided to stay down here in Goosebrook – would become her room.
As she was stuffing underwear in the top drawer of the chest of drawers, she heard a car pull up outside, then a voice call out, ‘Cora!’
Even if the name hadn’t made it obvious, she would have known who it was. Cal’s voice was instantly recognisable, even four years on. Crossing the bedroom and pushing the window open further still, Mimi leaned out to get a look at him and saw that he was out of his car, beckoning to his daughter.
Then Maria said something to Cal and pointed in the direction of her window, prompting him to turn and look up at her. He raised a hand in greeting and Mimi automatically did the same, realising too late that she was still holding her underwear.
Hoping he wouldn’t notice, she released her grasp, expecting the items to land on the inner windowsill. But no, the turquoise bra with extra-extra padding and the navy knickers that were designed for comfort rather than seduction sailed through the air and landed on one of the rose bushes below.
Bugger.
By the time she’d galloped downstairs and wrenched open the front door, Cal was there on the doorstep with her mismatched bra and knickers in his hand.
‘Thanks.’ She took them from him with a rueful smile.
‘No problem. Just for a moment there I felt like Tom Jones, getting underwear chucked at me.’
‘If I’d been doing it on purpose, I’d have thrown nicer ones.’
Cal’s eyes creased at the corners with amusement. ‘How long are you down here for?’
Mimi shrugged. ‘No idea, haven’t decided yet.’
‘Well, it’s good to see you again.’ He took a step back. ‘I have to get Cora home now, but if you’d like to come over for a coffee tomorrow morning, just turn up. We’ll be there.’