Chapter 22
There he was. Mimi’s breath caught in her throat, because seeing him in real life was so much better than just picturing him in her mind.
She watched from her bedroom window as Otto, tail wagging madly, bounced through the fallen leaves as if he were on springs. Locating the orange frisbee Cal had just thrown, he grabbed it in his mouth and did a quick victory lap around the frosted village green before returning to drop it back at Cal’s feet.
Mimi hastily wiped the glass with her sleeve, where her breath had misted it up. It was the fourth of November, just over two months since she’d last seen Cal, one month since they’d spoken on the phone. He was wearing a dark blue rugby shirt and jeans, and his blonde hair was less sun-streaked now. As she leaned her elbows on the windowsill, a quiver ran across her shoulders and down her spine, and she couldn’t work out if it was due to the temperature in the air or the sight of Cal.
Oh, but look at those legs, that body . . .
The next moment, almost as if she’d said it aloud and he’d heard her, Cal turned and looked up at her window.
Mimi’s heart went into instant gallop mode but she resisted the urge to duck down. Because that would be ridiculous and anyway he’d already seen her. His eyes widened and he held out his hands in disbelief. Which felt fantastic, because he looked genuinely delighted to see her. And now he was signalling to her to open the window. The last time she’d done that, she’d managed to throw her bra and knickers at him. On this occasion she managed it without mishap.
‘Well this is a surprise,’ Cal called up. ‘Nobody told me you were back.’
‘Nobody knows. Marcus picked me up from Bristol airport late last night.’ Remembering with a jolt the way CJ had made fun of her after eavesdropping on their last phone conversation, Mimi deliberately didn’t let her voice go high-pitched and over-keen. ‘I’m just back for a couple of days. Time off for good behaviour.’
He laughed. ‘Anything you want to chuck down to me?’
‘Maybe not.’ See? Not remotely eager or flirtatious.
‘Are you decent?’ said Cal.
Well I try my best. Aloud, she said, ‘Sorry?’
‘Clothes. I can’t tell if you’ve just got out of bed or are already dressed. Because if you’re dressed, why don’t you join us? Look at Otto – he’s missed you!’
Was this Cal being flirty? Or simply as charming-in-a-platonic-way as he’d always been? Because Otto might be gazing up at her with interest but he clearly wasn’t on the verge of exploding with excitement. A happy tail-wag was as far as it went.
‘Give me two minutes,’ said Mimi, ‘and I’ll be down.’
Let’s be honest, the answer was never going to be no. The greeting was more enthusiastic once she reached them. Otto barked with delight, scrabbled his front paws against Mimi’s jeans and optimistically pushed his nose into her hand in search of treats.
Cal grinned. ‘Told you he’d missed you.’
Yes, but what about you?
Mimi said, ‘I’ve missed him too. Hello, pretty boy!’ She knelt amongst the crackling leaves and found herself on the receiving end of a boisterous and wriggly welcome. A split second later, a small blur of movement shot across her peripheral vision and Otto was off, abandoning Mimi in mid-wriggle in order to hurl himself after the blur.
‘Don’t take it personally. It’s squirrel-chasing season,’ Cal explained as they watched him race across the grass.
‘For three whole seconds I felt so loved,’ said Mimi.
‘Squirrels take priority. It just kills him that they can climb trees and he can’t.’
Now that she was back on her feet, she could see the fine laughter lines fanning out at the corners of Cal’s eyes. She was able to breathe in the scent of him, an irresistible mixture of toast and shampoo and the faintest hints of coffee and cologne.
‘How’s it been going with Lois and Felix?’ she asked.
He made a so-so gesture with his hand. ‘Lois is convinced Henrietta’s trained the cat to spy on her. She says everywhere she goes, Truman’s there, swishing his tail and giving her the evil eye.’
‘I think it comes naturally to Truman to do that. It’s kind of his speciality.’
‘I know. Anyway, I told Felix what you told me and he’s trying to make things better. He does love her,’ Cal said with a sigh. ‘And he’s doing his best to get through to her. But Lois doesn’t help herself sometimes. I know it’s not her fault, but there’s so much going on there that neither of them can sort out and it doesn’t make it easy for Felix.’ His smile was rueful. ‘At least she came back after flying out to see you. Felix was terrified she wouldn’t.’
Mimi half smiled too, because Lois had taken some persuading. Otto presented her with his frisbee and she tossed it into the air. ‘She doesn’t know I’m back. I thought I’d surprise her.’
‘Still enjoying it out there? You look well.’
‘The weather’s fantastic. I mean, it’s the beginning of November, but we still have warm sunny days. Whereas here . . .’ Mimi nudged the frosty grass with the toe of her boot and gave an exaggerated shiver. ‘Bit chilly. Anyway, how did that portrait go? Was it a success?’
‘Turned out OK, thank goodness. Finished it last week and took it over there a couple of days ago. Pretty nerve-racking, but Lara seemed to like it.’
Mimi realised she was watching him for clues; was it her imagination or had there been a momentary flicker of something in Cal’s eyes, a hint of a secret in his smile, when he mentioned Lara’s name? Oh God, had something happened between the two of them? Surely not, though; Lara was married – happily married, by all accounts – to Darren May.
But the unsettled sensation in her chest was expanding; once you’d discovered that your best friend had been carrying on a torrid affair with your own boyfriend, you kind of realised anybody could be doing anything right under your nose whilst you remained completely oblivious to it.
Anyway. Mimi gathered herself. ‘Is she nice?’
‘Who, Lara? Oh yes, she’s great. Really friendly . . . well, you know. The kids were fine too, thank goodness. I didn’t meet Darren because the painting’s a surprise for their wedding anniversary. She’s planning on giving it to him tomorrow, so we just have to hope he likes it as well.’
What did really friendly mean? Forcing the possibilities out of her mind, Mimi said, ‘Ah, I bet it’s brilliant. I’d have loved to see the painting. D’you have a picture of it on your phone?’
‘I do.’ Cal went to take his mobile out of his jeans pocket, then remembered and said, ‘Except I left my phone at home on charge. Damn. Unless . . . well, if you wanted to come back with me now, you could see the photo on my laptop. Or if you’d rather, I can just text it to you . . .’
‘I’m not busy. I’d love to come and see it,’ said Mimi. ‘Is Cora at home?’
‘She is, although she’s off to dance class soon. And she’d love to see you again too.’ He whistled for Otto, who was still performing acrobatic leaps into the air at the foot of one of the chestnut trees whilst the squirrel taunted him from above. ‘Come on, boy, let’s go.’
When they reached the house, Cal said to Cora, ‘Look who I found!’
‘Hi!’ Cora, dressed in pink tights and a black leotard, was busy criss-crossing the satin ribbons of her ballet shoes around her ankles, tying them neatly and tucking in the ends. She beamed up at Mimi from the floor. ‘Oh, have you left your job? Are you back for good?’
And for a moment Mimi wished she could say yes. Because living back here in Goosebrook and seeing Cal and Cora on a daily basis would be so much nicer and more fun than working for a stroppy, self-centred writer who hated to write.
‘Mimi’s just back for the weekend,’ said Cal. ‘Now how are you doing, nearly ready? I’m just going to show Mimi the photo of the painting I did for Lara May, then we need to head off.’
‘Dad, it’s OK, Charlotte’s mum called while you were out. She’s on her way over here now to pick me up, then I’m going back to theirs afterwards. It’s all arranged.’
‘Really?’ Cal looked surprised. ‘Well that’s nice of her, isn’t it? That’s great.’
The happy thought flitted through Mimi’s mind that this now left Cal with a few hours unexpectedly free. Maybe he’d suggest they went out for lunch again.
‘Charlotte’s mum’s taking us to the cinema, then afterwards we’re going shopping.’
‘Are you saying you’d rather do that than spend the day at work with me?’ Cal clapped his hand to his chest in abject dismay.
‘You mean sit in a boring office while you meet people and talk to them for aaaages about summer houses? Even though it’s winter?’ Cora flashed a grin at Mimi. ‘Yes, Dad, I’d rather go to the cinema and watch a film with Charlotte and her mum.’
‘Ah well, nice to know one of us has a social life,’ Cal said good-naturedly. ‘I suppose I can manage on my own.’ He opened his laptop and gestured for Mimi to join him at the dining table, cluttered with Cora’s efforts at jewellery-making. ‘Sweetie, you need to clear all this away before you go.’
Having seen Mimi start at the word sweetie, Cora giggled. ‘Mimi thought you were telling her to clear the beads away.’
Which was a tad awkward. Mimi said, ‘My dad used to call me sweetie too. And when I was little he was always telling me to tidy up my stuff.’
‘Mum used to call me beanie.’ Cora held up her finger and thumb, an inch apart. ‘Because when I started growing in her tummy she said I looked like a bean.’
‘Here we are,’ Cal announced and Mimi stood behind him as the finished portrait filled the screen.
Coming up alongside her, Cora said, ‘I think it’s good because they’re all so smiley.’
‘That’s exactly it.’ Mimi nodded; it was true. The likenesses were there, but more than that it was the atmosphere of warmth and happiness that the portrait had managed to capture and convey. It was informal, colourful and immensely cheering, everything you could want in a depiction of the people you loved most in the world.
‘No wonder she’s happy with it,’ said Mimi. ‘It makes you want to live inside the painting. It’s just perfect,’ she told Cal. ‘When he sees this, he’s going to be bowled over. How could he not love it?’
The next moment, Otto jumped up and started barking. They heard a car pull up outside, followed by doors banging and the sound of female voices.
‘We’re here!’ Finding the door on the latch, Charlotte’s mother let herself in and joined them in the living room. ‘Oh, hello, I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? Back in the summer at the water park. Cora tells me you’re working in Spain now. How wonderful! Della Day-Johnson, how d’you do?’
Mimi shook her outstretched hand and smiled at Charlotte, who’d appeared behind her mother. Della was wearing a cream fake-fur coat and her hair was the expensively streaked kind that swung like a curtain. She was tall and slender, wearing a high-necked honey-coloured sweater, matching narrow trousers and leopard-print ankle boots. Her make-up was expertly applied and her perfume was gorgeous.
‘Hi, I’m Mimi.’
‘I know.’ Della beamed. ‘Cal told me about you. Back for long?’
Mimi shook her head. ‘Just a couple of days.’
‘Well, enjoy the cold weather! Right, you two, let’s go. Cora, have you got your change of clothes? Cal, do you want to come over and pick her up around seven? You’re very welcome to join us for dinner – I’ve already made my world-famous lasagne, because it’s Cora’s favourite. In fact you must stay, I insist. Do we all think he should do that, girls?’
‘Yes!’ chorused Cora and Charlotte with childish enthusiasm.
Nooooo, wailed Mimi, but only in her head.
‘And if you have a couple of glasses of wine and can’t drive home, you’re most welcome to stay in the spare room. How about that, Cora? Does it sound like fun? You and Charlotte can have another sleepover!’
Talk about obvious . . .
‘Yayyy!’ Cora and Charlotte hugged each other as they jumped up and down.
Mimi marvelled at Della’s over-the-top tactics.
‘And now we really should be leaving,’ said Della. ‘Mustn’t be late for ballet. Cal, you have a good day at work and we’ll see you this evening. Lovely to meet you, Mimi. Bye, Otto!’
‘Woof,’ Otto barked, performing the party trick that had so entranced Mimi the first time they’d met. It was weirdly disappointing to hear him doing it for Della, who beamed her approval and said, ‘Oh you’re such a good boy, aren’t you!’
When they’d left in Della’s car, there was a moment of awkward silence before Cal said, ‘Well, I suppose I need to get to work.’
What was going through his mind? Something, but Mimi couldn’t begin to decipher it. And it was a real shame he wasn’t free for the rest of the day, but that couldn’t be helped.
She said, ‘I must go too. Have fun this evening over at Della’s.’ Teasingly, she added, ‘At least you’re getting dinner cooked for you. Always a bonus.’
‘There is that.’ Cal smiled wryly and reached for his car keys.
‘She’s definitely still keen on you.’ Mimi couldn’t help herself; she had to say it. ‘I mean, you’ve probably noticed, but just in case you hadn’t. The way she was looking at you and being so super-casual, bit of a giveaway.’ It was only fair to warn him.
Cal nodded. ‘It’s fine, I can deal with it.’
Of course he could. He’d had enough practice, fending off the less-than-subtle advances of the other mothers at the school gates.
‘Right, I’m off. Thanks for showing me the painting. Will you be going to the fireworks display tomorrow night, or do you have to stay here with Otto?’
‘Oh, Otto isn’t bothered by fireworks,’ said Cal. ‘He loves them. We’ll definitely be there tomorrow night.’
‘I’ll see you there then.’ Reaching the door, Mimi turned and said brightly, ‘Bye, Otto!’
But Otto was too busy noisily slurping water from his blue china bowl to notice.
It was surprisingly galling to be snubbed by a dog.