Eleanor found that by the end of the week, she hadn’t managed to bump into Tom. Mainly because she had been deliberately avoiding going to Willow Tree Hall in case she actually had to speak to him.
Then she received a call from Annie. ‘We thought you’d gone back up to London as we’ve barely seen you since Glastonbury,’ she said, pretending to be cross.
Eleanor blushed. ‘No, I’m still here. I’m just a bit embarrassed about the photo with Tom, to be honest.’
‘I thought so,’ said Annie. ‘I was only kidding. Look, how about we come over to your place later. It’d be good to get away from the house anyway as we can’t move for rabid fans hiding in the undergrowth.’
Eleanor frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Rose has blabbed to someone about Tom staying with us and now we’re overrun with fans.’
Eleanor could feel the panic beginning to swell inside her. Someone was bound to recognise her at some point.
She was still pacing up and down when Annie and Megan arrived.
‘Don’t fret. Look at me instead,’ said Megan, pointing at her pale nose. ‘Your cream is amazing. I didn’t even peel.’
Eleanor smiled, feeling proud of herself before realising that she hadn’t felt that way about any aspect of her working life for a long time.
‘It’s lovely that you’ve been able to spend a bit of time making your cream again,’ said Annie, sitting down. ‘Did you enjoy making it?’
Eleanor found herself nodding. ‘It was really good fun.’
‘Glad somebody’s happy,’ muttered Megan.
‘Is everything okay?’ asked Annie gently.
‘It is now I’ve got wine,’ said Megan, before taking another gulp. ‘I’ve just got a really big Glastonbury hangover. It was such fun to do something different. How about a movie or something? Have you got Magic Mike for us to lust over?’
Eleanor flicked through her Mum’s DVD collection. ‘No but we’ve got Mamma Mia.’
‘Oh, I love that,’ said Annie.
As Eleanor set up the movie, her mum came in to join them. ‘Megan, you look so much better than when I saw you the other day.’
‘All thanks to your daughter’s magic carrot cream,’ Megan told her. ‘Have you got any more? I used it all up, but I’m bound to get burnt again this summer.’
‘It’s right here,’ said Eleanor, handing her a jam jar full of the newly made up cream.
‘Oh! That feels so nice and cool,’ said Megan as she smeared it a little bit on her hand before sniffing it. ‘Have you got any other flavours?’
Eleanor shook her head. ‘Only plain and carrot cream, I’m afraid.’
‘You should experiment a little,’ said her mum. ‘There’s so many wild flowers out at the minute.’
‘You know what you should do,’ said Megan, warming to the idea. ‘You should make up some different types and we’ll try them out for you. Like a spa evening!’
‘Oh yes!’ said Annie, nodding. ‘You should come too, June.’
Eleanor’s Mum smiled. ‘You don’t want an old fogey like me being there.’
‘Of course we do,’ said Annie.
‘And you’re not old,’ added Megan.
‘A spa evening,’ said Eleanor, deep in thought. She supposed that she could make up a few creams for them all. Plus she had loads of leftover luxury items from various VIP goody bags that she had managed to get hold of. The contents of which she had virtually never touched.
‘Sounds great,’ said Annie, nodding her approval. ‘I’m having trouble sleeping, stressing about all the fete and lack of wedding dress.’
‘Haven’t you seen anything online or in all those wedding magazines that you keep buying?’ asked Megan.
Annie shook her head. ‘Nope. I mean, there’s lots of lovely dresses but they just don’t seem right. I don’t know. Maybe I’m being too choosy.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Eleanor. ‘It’s your wedding dress. You need to be choosy. Next time we go shopping, I’m sure we’ll find one.’
She made a silent note to find something to soothe Annie’s nerves.
‘We’ll invite Rose as well,’ said Megan. ‘Then we can have a girly evening.’
‘I’d better get tidying this place if Rose is coming to visit,’ said her mum with a grimace.
Eleanor was staring down at her hands. The cream had helped her neck, but the eczema on her hands was still not fully cleared up. ‘I was thinking about trying to make up a bar of carrot soap to see if it would help my fingers as well,’ she said.
‘Why don’t you then, love?’ said her mum. ‘The kitchen’s messy enough so it doesn’t matter what you do in there.’
Eleanor frowned. ‘You can’t make proper soap without caustic soda. And I can’t use that here. Not with all the animals.’
‘You can do it at my place,’ said Megan, with a shrug. ‘Neal keeps promising to redo our garden but he never does. It looks like a nuclear war zone anyway.’
Eleanor shook her head. ‘Thanks, but I daren’t. Not with the kids. It’s pretty scary stuff and can really burn your skin if you’re not careful. It needs to be away from people, just in case.’
‘I know,’ said Annie. ‘What about the old stable block in the grounds of the hall? I think there’s even running water over there. Nobody will disturb you.’
‘You can have your very own beauty factory,’ said Megan.
Annie suddenly looked excited. ‘That’s it! Then you can make lots of stuff for the fete! Oh, it’ll be wonderful. You’ll probably make some money and that’s another stall that I can add to the list. Local girl and all that.’
Eleanor wasn’t so sure. She looked up at her mum, who was nodding her approval. ‘I think that’s a lovely idea,’ said June.
Annie wasn’t taking no for an answer. ‘What else are you going to do with yourself this summer? Oh, say yes! Please! For me! I’m desperate.’
They were all looking at her, Annie with such pleading eyes, that Eleanor found herself nodding her head in agreement.
‘Okay,’ she said. If only to keep the peace with her friends. ‘Just as a temporary thing.’
Her mum was smiling as she left the room.
‘Have you thought about what you’re going to do next for work?’ asked Annie.
Eleanor shook her head. ‘No idea. I still feel like such a failure.’
‘Why would you feel like that?’ said Megan, rolling her eyes. ‘You lived in London, for god’s sake. I’ve never even got out of this village. At least you’ve seen stuff. Life!’ She was waving her hand around furiously as she spoke. ‘You’ve been to glamorous parties and all of that.’
‘Megan,’ said Annie softly. ‘You’re happily married with three kids. Do you not think that’s a life too?’
‘I dunno,’ said Megan with a sigh. ‘I think I’m just mourning my twenties because I had kids and didn’t have any fun.’
Annie made a face. ‘You know why I had to leave home. My twenties weren’t a barrel of laughs.’
‘And I ran away from all that awful stuff with my dad to spend my twenties running from party to party, not enjoying any of them,’ said Eleanor. ‘Oh, and missing my friends.’
‘We missed you too,’ said Annie, with a soft smile.
But Eleanor was still worried about Megan. ‘Maybe you could work from home or something? Then you can manage it around the kids and the school run.’
Megan waved away her concerns with her hand. ‘Don’t worry about it,’ she said with a casual shrug. ‘I just get fed up and bored sometimes. But you know what has perked me up? Gareth Blunt got in contact on Facebook.’
‘Gareth Blunt from school?’ said Annie, frowning. ‘That guy you had a huge crush on?’
‘Yeah!’ said Megan, her eyes gleaming. ‘We had one glorious fumble and kiss at the prom.’
‘And then you met Neal a few months later at college,’ said Annie, ever the romantic.
Megan smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, Eleanor noticed.
‘What’s Gareth up to now?’ she asked.
‘Some kind of TV director or something,’ said Megan. ‘All very glamorous.’
‘Oooh!’ said Annie. ‘Let’s google him.’
Eleanor refilled their wine glasses as the movie played on.
A few hours later, Eleanor stared at the two empty jugs of Pimm’s. How had they got through all of that between the three of them? Her mum hadn’t even had a drink. But it turned out the Megan had actually finished off most of the Pimm’s. Annie and Eleanor had to help her stagger down the street after she insisted she didn’t need a lift.
‘Man, she was pretty drunk tonight,’ said Eleanor frowning. ‘Do you think she’s okay?’
‘Probably just blowing off some steam,’ said Annie, with a shrug. ‘I think she gets pretty bored at home.’
After Sam had picked her up, Eleanor went back indoors, deep in thought and wondering what she could do to help her friend. But her mind was blank. Especially as her own life left a lot to be desired right now.