CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

It’s a few days after mine and Drake’s ‘date’ by the pond, and we’ve tried to spend as much time as possible together. However, he got called into work yesterday afternoon, right before we planned to take a dip in the pool. There’d been a pile-up on the motorway, so they needed every available doctor.

It gave me time to collect what I needed for our next prank on Aaron. I’ve traipsed across London, heading into every stationary shop there is to get what we needed.

But before we can carry out our prank, we need to get through today’s pool party. There’s no way we can do it before or during, since there will be too many guests around to see. I don’t want to get caught. I’m actually enjoying torturing him.

“Hey, Pagan, we have a problem.”

My head snaps up at the urgent need in Alison’s voice as she rushes over to me. “What’s wrong?”

“I just got off the phone with the cocktail waiter. He’s sick, and we don’t have anyone down as a plan B.”

I scrub my hands down my face and lean back in the sunlounger. “And he didn’t think to call to give us a little warning?” I bite out, wanting to wring his neck.

She shakes her head, sitting on the bench next to me. “I made a note on your calendar to leave a bad review on his website. He didn’t even have anyone to recommend or another colleague to come help.”

My laptop is already open next to me on a small table, so I pick it up and start scrolling through my emails, seeing if anyone else I contacted regarding the cocktails is available.

“Let me call a few people. Amelia was really adamant about having a cocktail waiter. Apparently a friend of hers hired one for a Halloween party last year and she loved it. They do loads of crazy stuff while making them or something.”

“You sure? I don’t mind looking for you.”

“No, it’s fine. Did you get the bikini for Amelia?” I ask, a smirk forming when I think of Ada wearing the one Amelia originally planned to wear.

She giggles. “Yes. She’s actually grateful Ada pinched hers. She loves this one-piece suit I got better.”

Which reminds me. “Which one did you pack for me?” My voice is wary as I eye my best friend sceptically. I have a drawer-full, but knowing Alison, she picked the skimpiest one I own.

“I think it was the red one,” she says, then gets up, avoiding my eyes.

“Alison?” I drag out.

“I’ll let you get on with the cocktail bloke. If you can’t, I’m sure it’ll be okay. We have two hours before the party. Oh look, Ada’s—oh my God.”

I glance over to the back door, my eyes bugging out of my head when Ada walks out wearing a white bikini, the bottoms a little too tight.

“Holy crap!”

“Girls, just who I was looking for. Couldn’t find me cossie, so I dug this one back out. How nice is Amelia for giving it to me?”

“I’m going,” Alison rushes out, struggling not to laugh.

“She’s… one in a million,” I tell her with a tight smile.

“Even pushes these babies up,” Ada cackles, grabbing her boobs. God, please no more. “They’ve been hanging south for so long, I forgot―”

“Where’s Pam?” I interrupt.

“She should be out in a minute. But I wanted to catch you before,” she says seriously, taking a seat in the sunlounger across from me.

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask, sitting straighter now.

“Paintball tomorrow. I want in.”

Oh crap!

“How did you―”

“I have my sources. So?”

Ah, the itinerary she somehow emailed to herself from Alison’s laptop when she was sick.

“I think Jesse and Amelia just wanted it to be friends.” I choose to tread carefully, not wanting to upset her. Lord knows what would happen to me if I got on her bad side. I shudder at the thought.

She sighs, seeming disappointed. “They won’t know I’m there. I’ll tell the instructor I’m late to the party or something. I’m going to be old soon. I need to get these things done before I pass.”

She’s old now.

She bats her eyes at me and I crumble. “Okay. But if anyone finds out you’re there, do not implicate me in anyway. I actually love this job.”

“Why wouldn’t you? We’re awesome. But now that I have you, can I ask, what are your intentions with my grandson?”

I choke, staring at her in horror. “I… we—we’re friends.”

She grins. “I know, I can tell how good of a friend you are. But that’s not what I’m asking and you know it.”

Sighing, I reach for my drink, taking a sip. “I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

“How?”

Ever so blunt.

“I don’t have a good record when it comes to men. I have a hard time trusting them, and myself, anymore. I’ve hurt a lot of people.” Guilt hits me like it does every time I think of the mistakes I made, the pain I caused people.

“I can tell there’s a story there. Do you want to talk about it?”

My first reaction is to change the subject, but a part of me wants to finally talk to someone. “You know all about Aaron,” I tell her and she scoffs. “The second wasn’t a guy I was dating, because well, I never dated after Aaron. He hurt me too much. But we used to do events supporting different charities for a high-end company located near us. There were some really sleazy blokes there, but one, Jordan, was a real dick. He cornered me in the bathroom and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He just kept pushing. My twin brother, Sid, heard the commotion on the way to the bathroom and came in and pulled him away. But because I’m stupid, and because I didn’t want my dad to lose the business their company brought in, I waved it off, saying he was just drunk. He was my second big mistake, and a massive factor in why I don’t trust men or myself.”

My throat is dry and I can’t bring myself to look at Ada. “You should’ve told someone, girl. Men like that need their balls chopped off. But you need to remember that not all men are like that.”

“I know. I have four men in my life who prove that to me every day. My dad is my hero, and my twin, he’s my other half. My older brother, Dean, is my best friend, and my sister-in-law’s granddad is like one to me too. But want to know the worst thing about what happened to me?”

“What?” Her voice is soft, and I realise she truly wants to know, that she’s interested in what I have to say and cares.

“He did it again to my sister-in-law, but he got further with her. Not much further, but does it really matter? She’d been going through something at the time and it made everything much worse for her. I keep telling myself that if I had just told the truth, she wouldn’t have gone through that herself. But it wasn’t even the worst thing I did to her. I owe her everything. I nearly had her killed.” I’m rambling now, telling her more than I meant to as my eyes water.

I’ve carried around this huge guilt for so long that saying it out loud doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. I’ve spoken to Lola about it and she doesn’t blame me, but I blame myself enough for the both of us.

“Hey, you don’t need to talk about any of this.” She pats my hand, her eyes soft, full of concern and sadness.

“It’s actually a change for me. I don’t like talking about it, but I don’t mind.”

“Go on, then.” She sits forwards to hear better, enclosing her hand around mine. As much as I love the kind gesture, I wish she hadn’t, because her boobs nearly spill out of her bikini, giving me an eyeful.

“After that night, I tried my hardest to make it up to her. I didn’t know about her past or what she was going through. Then one night we went out to celebrate our businesses starting and I met a guy. He was handsome, charming and he made me feel like I mattered. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. And I knew enough was enough. I took a chance on him.” I swallow, finding it hard to talk about.

When I met Rick outside the toilets of the club we were at, I was enthralled. He knew all the right things to say to me, and I lapped it up like a kitten with milk.

“What happened?” Ada asks softly, concern in her voice.

I laugh harshly, tears burning my eyes. “He was her ex. Her abusive ex. He used me to get to her, and it worked. He kidnapped her, nearly killing her and my unborn niece in the process.”

Ada gasps, sitting back in her chair. Her eyes brim with tears and I watch as she struggles to hold them back.

“So you see, it’s complicated. Not only do I not trust easily, but I always end up picking the wrong men. And I know deep down in my bones that Drake is nothing like them, but he could still hurt me nonetheless.”

“Oh, girl, you’re a bloody walking TV show. My Drake looks at you like you hung the moon. I only asked because he’s been hurt before too by some little trollop. I didn’t want to see it happen again because… well, I kind of like you.”

I wipe my eyes and laugh. “Thank you. But I don’t plan on hurting Drake, I promise. If anything, it would be the other way around.”

“Trust me, girl, with the way you look and the kindness in that big heart of yours, it would be you doing the heart breaking. Those men were just a blip. Your sister-in-law is happy now. I’ve heard you talk about her. It’s time you started to let yourself be too. Plus, London is a great place to relocate.” She grins.

My eyes bug out, making her laugh harder. “I think you’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“Talk to him, make sure you both know where you stand. Now I need to go give the boys a heart attack, then get out of this dreadful thing before I die. It’s a torture device.”

I laugh, clutching my belly. “You’re wearing that to scare the boys?”

“Why else would I torture myself like this? It’ll be worth it.” She winks, then gets up and walks over to me. “You’re special, Pagan. It’s why I picked you. You just need to believe it yourself.”

Picked me? What’s that supposed to mean?

She’s already walking off and heading inside. I lean back, wondering what she meant, but with Ada, it could mean anything.

With my mind on Lola, I pick up my phone and call her, needing to hear her voice.

“Hey! We miss you,” she yells excitedly down the phone as soon as she answers. I immediately feel like shit for not calling them sooner.

“Hey,” I reply softly.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, serious now. “Dean, go away. No! I’m talking to her.”

I laugh when I hear my brother grunt, a sign he’s given in to his wife like he always does, no matter how much he pretends otherwise.

“I’m fine.”

“Please don’t lie to me. Especially when I can’t poke you in the eye.”

She would.

I cringe at the memory of the black eye she once gave me. I got funny looks for weeks. Even had a few regulars at Lola’s ask if I needed someone to talk to.

“I was just thinking about you, about everything. I wanted you to know how much I love you. You’re more than just Dean’s wife—you’re my sister and best friend.”

I hear her choke on a sob and my brother’s voice comes on the line. “Why are you upsetting my wife? Are you okay? Do I need to come get you?”

I sniffle. “No. I’m sorry, I just―”

“It’s just my hormones,” I hear Lola tell Dean before the phone rustles. “You’re my family too,” Lola says, and she shoos Dean away, making me laugh. “But what brought this on?”

“Long story, one I plan on telling you when I have more time. I just wanted you to know. And that I’m sorry for everything that happened.”

She knows what I mean because she sighs, sounding sad. “You have nothing to apologise for. I keep telling you that. Nothing was your fault. I’ve never blamed you and I never will. I love you. But whatever has you thinking of all that stuff, you need to stop. We’re fine now. Or is this about something else?”

I wonder if I should tell her, then decide to just go for it. “Am I on speaker?”

“No.” The phone goes quiet and I hear her tell Dean she’s stepping outside. “I’m in private. Now what’s going on?”

I tell her all about Drake, how he makes me feel. I tell her how handsome he is, how funny, and about Aaron being here―who she already knows about. I confided in her one night when we were drunk. It took a lot of tears and three bottles of wine to get through it, but at the end of it all, she was ready to find him and kick his arse. Not that she’d hurt a fly… well, not intentionally.

“He took you to his special spot?” she asks dreamily. “This is so much better than Prince Harry. Brooke is going to throw a fit. She’ll want to come out and meet him. What are you going to do now? You sound like you already have feelings for him.”

I groan because I think I do. “I don’t know. I’ll talk to him later tonight, see where we stand.”

“Send me a picture. I want to know what he looks like.”

I laugh. “I can’t send you a picture.”

“Yes, you can.” Her tone holds no nonsense, and it makes me grin. “How else can Brooke and I check him out?”

“You two are terrible. I can understand Brooke, but you have my brother.”

“Yes, I do,” she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. “But you’re my sister, and I want to know all about him.”

“And check out his abs?”

“Just don’t tell Dean.”

We both giggle and the earlier memories have now gone, no longer plaguing me. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I smile, loving her to pieces. “I have to go, but I promise to keep in touch. I didn’t realise how absent I’ve been.”

“You’re working. It’s fine. But please keep in touch. We miss you.”

“Give a kiss to Cece for me, and say hi to everyone.”

“I will. Now go talk to your man. I’m going to calm mine down. I think he’s in the bedroom packing, ready to come get you.”

I laugh because it sounds about right. “Go on. Tell him I’m fine and was just being sentimental.”

“I will.”

We hang up and I look down at the phone.

“Pagan, hi.”

I turn to Pam and smile, wiping under my eyes. “Hi, Pam. Everything okay?”

“Dear, are you crying? Is this a bad time, because I could come back.”

I wave her off. “No, no. I was on the phone to my sister-in-law. We always get like this.” It’s only a semi-lie, so I don’t feel ashamed saying it.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Now, what did you want to discuss?”

“My mother.” She sighs, which causes my lips to twitch. “She’s going to come to you. I don’t know when or how, but she will, and when she does, she’ll want access to the paint bowling tomorrow.”

“Paintballing,” I giggle. I don’t have the heart to tell her Ada’s already sought me out. I also don’t share I want to know what she has up her sleeve.

“Paintballing. Sorry.” She waves her hand, taking a deep breath. “Anyway, she was in the army back in the day and thinks she can still move like a soldier.”

“She was in the army?” I ask, surprised.

“Yes. My mother will outlive everyone, I’m sure. But I’d rather she go out with old age and not because she played a part in her demise.”

Laughing, I nod. “Ada most certainly will outlive everyone. I’ve never known anyone with such energy before. If it weren’t for her looks, I’d think she was in her twenties.”

She chuckles. “Don’t I know it. I’m glad we had this chat though. She can be a handful at times, but she means well. Which also brings me to this. She has something planned for that boy Aaron. Whether she comes to you or not, I don’t mind. He deserves it. I knew he was a bit of a… well, a skirt-chaser, but I never knew he cheated. It makes sense why we never met his ex-wife.”

“Ex-wife?” I don’t want to ask, but come on—Aaron and marriage seems a little far-fetched.

She looks around, making sure we’re alone before leaning in closer.

“Yeah. He was married to a girl named Lisa. They weren’t married long, just enough to have two kids. He doesn’t see them though.”

If you’d asked me years ago if hearing he got married and had two kids hurt, I would’ve said yes. I would’ve felt like I was dying inside. But oddly enough, I feel nothing.

I’m actually disgusted that he has two kids he doesn’t see.

What a jerk!

“He doesn’t see them?”

“No.” She shakes her head, clearly disgusted herself. “I don’t know why my son would associate with someone like that, someone with no loyalty or love for family. But my Jesse, he had a few problems at law school with people thinking they were above everything. Aaron helped him out, and I think he feels he owes him somehow. Either way, Aaron’s always been good to him. We’ve never met his children, and no one brings them up.”

I’m still mulling over everything, wrapping my head around it all. In the end, I can’t make sense of it, so I give up trying. “It seems a shame to bring two kids into the world and not want to see them. I’m actually angry on their behalf.”

She nods, agreeing. “He doesn’t speak to his parents either. Something went down with them before the divorce. It’s why I’m not going to get involved with whatever my mother has planned. I think he needs a little mischief.”

I laugh. “Well you can guarantee that with Ada.”

“Mum! Mum!” I hear Drake yell, his voice booming across the garden.

Our eyes meet, widening at the sound of pure and utter fear in his voice. We stand, turning towards the doors leading out onto the patio.

“Oh Lord, what’s happening?” Pam asks with a shaky voice.

“Mum! Mum!” Jesse shrieks, and he sounds just as horrified. “Grams, please! No!”

We both rush towards the house, heading towards the garden room, where the screaming is coming from. We both stop short when we enter. I slap a hand over my mouth to smother my laughter. Drake hears and narrows his eyes in my direction.

Sitting in the middle of the table, Ada is sipping her tea, perfectly fine and ignoring the chaos going on around her.

She’s also still only wearing a bikini.

“Mother!” Pam gasps.

“Mum, sort her out. I mean it. I’m going to bleach my eyes out and see if I can find something to wipe the last ten minutes from my memory,” Jesse yells, still covering his eyes. He walks into the corner of the table, cursing. “Fuck!”

“Language,” Pam scolds. “Mother, what are you wearing?”

Ada gives Pam a dry look. “Are you really asking me?”

“Yes!”

“I can’t. I need to… I don’t know, go drown myself,” Drake hisses. “We were happily eating our lunch when she walked in wearing that. I feel sick.”

Laughing, I dodge his glare and turn to Ada. “I think maybe we should get you dressed.”

She winks at me. “I’m just going to go through to the gym, see if Aaron, Jon and Adam would like some refreshments.”

“Mother, no!”

“Just be anywhere but here,” Drake whines, still not looking at his grandmother.

“You’ve seen this all before. I have what every woman has.”

“No, Grams, you don’t. I’m scarred for life. I’ll never, not ever, get over this.”

“Glad my body is that memorable.”

“Mother! I think you’ve damaged my boys enough for one day. Why don’t we go choose a nice outfit for the pool party?” Pam speaks to her like she’s an unhinged child, and I giggle.

“A snow coat will do,” Drake mutters.

Pam and Ada leave, but before they get out of earshot, Pam’s panicked voice echoes into the room. “Mother, not the gym, please.”

I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach as I try to catch my breath. “I love Grams.”

“Makes one of us,” Drake mutters.

“It could’ve been worse. She could’ve been wearing a thong.”

His face turns green as he glares down at me, stepping forward. “That’s so not funny.”

Taking a step backwards, I shrug, grinning. “True though.”

“Run,” he mouths, and I squeal, running like my life depends on it.

The minute I get to the staircase, we hear Aaron, Jon and their other friend Toby yelling for help.

Ada steps into the long hallway, her grin wide.

“Fuck. I’m going. Later, gorgeous,” Drake curses, slapping my arse before running up the stairs two at a time like he’s on fire.

When he’s out of sight, I watch Ada saunter towards me, swaying her hips from side to side.

When she reaches me, she holds her hand up for a high five. I palm her hand, still grinning and laughing lightly.

“Ah, this is going to be the best three weeks of my life,” she says before heading up the stairs.

Hopefully to get some clothes on. I never want to see that view ever again.

But she has a point. This really is going to be the best three weeks. Not only for her, but for me too.

My smile is wide as I make my way back outside, ready to find the most perfect cocktail maker London has to offer.