Lost Innocence (18 page)

Sitting alone in the office, Sabrina put a hand to her chest as though to stem the pain of her loss. June had popped over to her flat a while ago to search for a missing press release, and from the minute she’d stepped out Sabrina had done nothing but think of Craig. She knew it wasn’t wise to dwell on happy memories, because of how wretched they made her feel afterwards, but while she was reliving them the joy and love were so real that it was as though time had turned back and it was happening all over again.

Now the past had faded, and she was here, in this office, and starting to feel the way she had when they’d first broken up, so desperate to see him that it was as though she couldn’t go on if she didn’t.

With a sob of anguish she thought of how hard she’d tried to get over him, and of the progress she’d finally started to make. Now, since his death and with Alicia turning up, it was as though she was being sucked right back into that terrible time when her grief had been so agonising that she’d virtually lost her mind.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Alicia left Nat and Summer sanding paintwork in the shop while she went off to B&Q to pick up a hundred and one DIY supplies. The temperature was rising towards ninety by now, making her
feel drowsy as she walked back to the Coach House, but she barely had time for the luxury of a yawn, never mind a siesta, if she was going to make her self-imposed deadline of August 1st.

As she drove out of the village she happened to check her rear-view mirror and spotted Annabelle and her friend sauntering across the high street towards the shop. There was no telling if they were intending to go in, but Alicia felt certain they were, and was half tempted to go back, if only to add an adult presence to the mix. Suspecting Nat wouldn’t appreciate his mother rushing to his assistance, she sent him and Summer a silent message of moral support instead and drove on. Luckily she’d told him about Annabelle’s phone call this morning, so at least he’d be prepared if she brought it up – what else she might spring on him Alicia guessed she’d find out later.

Back at the shop, Summer was in the studio foraging for a new piece of sandpaper when she heard voices at the front, and turned to find Nat’s tarty cousin and her equally tarty friend coming in through the door. Summer immediately stiffened, as much with nerves as with dislike, especially of the cousin who’d made no secret yesterday of the fact that she fancied Nat. Not that Summer considered her serious competition: as attractive as she might be, Summer knew that Nat didn’t go for girls who were as obvious as her, or who behaved like slappers, which Annabelle definitely did.

Wishing she’d put on at least a layer of mascara before coming here, she went to stand in the arch, wanting Annabelle to know she was there. Annabelle, however, was in mid flow talking to Nat, while her friend seemed to be sending someone a text, so for the moment Summer was invisible.

‘… so when you didn’t call I thought I’d come over in person,’ Annabelle was saying, twirling a finger round a loose strand of hair, ‘because I know what mothers are like. They always forget to pass on messages.’

‘No, Mum told me you rang,’ Nat informed her, ‘but we’ve been busy today.’

Annabelle swept an admiring look over his bare chest
and shoulders. ‘Mm, I can see,’ she commented, apparently unfazed by the put-down. ‘You’re really working up a sweat.’

Clearly not appreciating her crass attempt at flirtation, but polite to the end, he said, ‘So how are you?’

‘Oh, I’m cool,’ she answered, shifting her weight on to her other leg and tossing back her hair. ‘This heat is getting to me a bit though, which is why Theo’s party at the weekend will be so good. Did your mum mention it?’

‘She said there was something, but not what, exactly.’

Annabelle smiled and Summer’s throat turned dry. It was like watching a Venus flytrap preparing to clinch its prey.

‘No, well, I couldn’t tell her the details,’ Annabelle murmured, ‘because it’s like a really special kind of party, and I just know you’re going to want to come.’

Summer’s eyes were boring into Nat’s face, and as he looked at her, both Annabelle and Georgie turned round.

‘Oh,’ Annabelle said, as though a bad smell had just turned up, ‘I didn’t realise you were there.’ Her eyes travelled up and down Summer in a way that brought a rush of colour to Summer’s cheeks.

‘Thanks for the invite, Annabelle,’ Nat said, ‘but we won’t be able to make it. We’re doing something else on Saturday.’

Annabelle turned back again. ‘But you haven’t heard what kind of party it is yet,’ she reminded him, ‘and I honestly don’t think you’ll want to miss out when you do.’

‘Whatever it is, like I just said, we’re doing something else that night.’

Annabelle stole a quick glance back at Summer. ‘You can bring your girlfriend, if you like,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Theo won’t mind.’

Nat’s eyes returned to Summer. She was praying he wouldn’t admit that she wasn’t going to be here, because as soon as he did she knew the Venus jaws would snap shut.

‘Once again,’ he said to Annabelle, ‘we’re not free.’

‘It’s a topless party around the pool,’ she informed him, delivering a smouldering look straight into his eyes. ‘It could be like when we used to play draughts, only better.’

As Nat flushed, and Georgie giggled, Summer said,
‘I don’t mean to be rude, Annabelle, but I think Nat’s given you an answer, and we’ve a lot to do here, so if you don’t mind…’

Annabelle slanted her the kind of look that was meant to make Summer feel small, and irrelevant, and it worked. Then, turning back to Nat as though Summer had vanished in a dust cloud, she said, ‘You do remember when we used to play draughts, don’t you? Whoever lost a piece had to take something off, until neither of us had anything on and then …’

‘That was a long time ago,’ he cut in abruptly. ‘We were kids. It was just a game.’

She shrugged. ‘We used to play it a lot though, didn’t we? You’d get hold of my hand and put it on your thing…’

‘Annabelle, will you just leave,’ Summer interrupted. ‘We’re not going to the party, Nat’s grown up now, and you need to do the same.’

Annabelle’s nostrils flared. No one ever spoke to her like that and got away with it, least of all some smutty-faced, vertically-challenged ginger with white eyelashes and freckles. ‘What was your name again?’ she sneered.

Summer’s eyes flicked to Nat. ‘Summer,’ she answered, already tensing for the tongue-lashing of her life, and hoping Nat would step in to stop it.

However, for all her eye-blazing and pumped-up fury, Annabelle wasn’t sufficiently seasoned to deliver the knockout blow when it was needed. So all she managed was a tart, ‘OK, Georgie, we’re done here,’ and turning on an expensive wooden heel, she swept back her hair and stalked out of the shop.

‘Phew!’ Nat sighed as soon as they’d gone. ‘She is such a piece of work.’

‘If she actually had a brain she’d be lethal,’ Summer snorted. ‘What were you thinking, ever getting involved with her?’

‘I said, we were kids. It was just a bit of fun and we weren’t
involved
.’

‘Well that’s not how she made it sound, stripping off together…’

‘Summer, don’t do this,’ he interrupted. ‘It’s what she
wanted, to try and cause trouble, so don’t give her the satisfaction.’

Still angry, but seeing the sense of what he was saying, she turned back into the studio.

Following her in, he put his arms around her and looked into her eyes. ‘You don’t have anything to worry about as far as she’s concerned,’ he told her softly. ‘She didn’t mean anything me to then, and she sure as hell doesn’t now.’

‘But what’s she going to be like once I’ve gone?’ she protested. ‘That’s what’s worrying me.’

‘It doesn’t matter what she’s like. I won’t be having anything to do with her, so it’s not an issue.’ He kissed her gently. ‘I swear, by the time we see one another again, we probably won’t even remember her name,’ he said.

‘That’s not fair,’ Annabelle grumbled. ‘You always win. Are you sure you didn’t cheat?’

Nat grinned. ‘Totally,’ he replied, pushing the draught board aside. ‘So, you know what happens now.’

She giggled, and yelped as his fingers closed around her wrist.

‘Ssh,’ he warned. ‘You locked the door, didn’t you?’

‘Of course.’ She was starting to look anxious.

‘You don’t have to be afraid,’ he told her. ‘I won’t hurt you.’

She giggled again, then moved along as he came to sit next to her.

‘Here,’ he said, taking her hand.

Letting him guide her fingers, she wrapped them around him and held her breath.

‘Can I touch you now?’ he whispered raggedly.

She nodded, then gasped as his fingers grazed over her breasts.

‘Is that OK?’ he asked.

‘Yeah.’ She swallowed. ‘It feels really good.’ Then, ‘You can touch me down there if you like,’ she said shyly.

Nat knew that he’d never forget how much he’d wanted to cover Annabelle’s body with his and push himself into her. He’d never gone that far before, but he sensed she’d
let him if he wanted to. Maybe he would have, had they not heard someone coming up the stairs.

‘The bitch,’ Annabelle was fuming, as she and Georgie crossed back to Holly Way, ‘who the hell does she think she is, telling me I ought to grow up? I should have smacked her one, or told her there was no way she was invited to the party, because no one wants to see her nasty gingey pubes and flat white tits. Ugh, she’s such a minger, I don’t know how Nat can stand to look at her, never mind go with her.’

‘Whatever,’ Georgie shrugged, ‘he’s definitely not coming to the party, so so much for plan B.’

‘She’s not getting away with that,’ Annabelle muttered, barely listening. ‘I’m telling you, even if he doesn’t come on Saturday, I know he wants to go with me, and when he does she’s going to know
all
about it.’

Chapter Eight

Over the next few days, apart from taking Summer to the station, where Alicia said her goodbyes at the car, allowing the young ones some privacy for their own difficult parting, she and Nat barely left the shop. Thanks to Mimi’s long-suffering husband Pete, and his trusty pickup truck, the remaining junk had been shunted off to the tip, and brand-new display cases made from recycled materials were starting to take shape out on the patio. While Pete sawed, hammered, drilled and planed on his Workmate, Nat whitewashed walls, Alicia painted woodwork and window frames, and Mimi kept up an endless supply of refreshments.

In the evenings, after a quick salad or fish and chips from the Friary if she was too tired to whip something up, Alicia worked at the computer in her bedroom, designing stationery, business cards, promotional flyers and a logo, while Nat concentrated on creating a website. Sorting out the practical elements of running a business was her biggest headache, but Maggie at the pub rode in to the rescue by sitting her down one afternoon and going through everything she’d need to get started, from an accountant, to insurance, to a trusted shipper in the event she needed to send her sculptures or other products to distant destinations.

By Friday, thanks to a slew of recommendations, she had a shortlist for all categories, and when Sam the postman showed up at two o’clock with a special delivery containing a credit-card machine and notification that she’d be able to receive payments from the following Wednesday, Alicia declared it time to celebrate. No matter that the phone still wasn’t on, and the electricity was coming through like Morse
code, they’d achieved so much in less than a week that they royally deserved a night off.

‘At last,’ Rachel laughed, when Alicia and Nat joined her and Dave at their local pub near Ditcheat. ‘We were beginning to wonder if we’d ever see you again.’

Though Alicia would have preferred to go to the Traveller’s, having narrowly avoided running into Sabrina once, she wasn’t prepared to chance it again, especially while Robert wasn’t around. ‘Where are the kids?’ she asked, surveying the garden to try and spot them.

‘Both on sleepovers,’ Dave answered, his merry blue eyes showing how pleased he was to have his wife to himself for the night. ‘They’re back in the morning, and they both want to know if they can come over to help with the shop.’

‘Too right,’ Nat piped up. ‘I don’t see why I should be her only slave, so bring ’em on.’

Laughing as she hugged him, Rachel said, ‘You’ve got paint in your eyebrows and no tan. She’s definitely working you too hard.’

Alicia smiled fondly as Nat glanced at her and winked. ‘So what are we all going to have to drink?’ she demanded. ‘Nat’s driving, so…’

‘It’s all taken care of,’ Dave interrupted. ‘It’s not every day a girl gets her first credit-card machine, so we reckoned it had to be champagne.’

Alicia’s eyes widened as she burst out laughing. ‘But I’m buying,’ she insisted. ‘It was my idea to celebrate, and…’

‘Will you sit down and behave,’ Dave told her. ‘This is our treat, and dinner’s on us too.’

‘Oh no,’ she said seriously. ‘I’m fully aware of what’s happening in the property market, so…’

‘I have a rich wife,’ Dave reminded her. ‘She’s raking it in at that surgery, which is something else to celebrate, she’s finally taken on a partner who’s due to start in September, so I might actually get to see something of her.’

‘That’s great,’ Alicia cried, giving Rachel a hug. ‘I’d forgotten you were looking for someone.’

‘Hardly surprising when the search started almost a year ago, we’ve all got bored with it by now, but tonight’s not
about me, it’s about you two and new beginnings. Just a shame Darcie’s not here to join in.’

‘I don’t think she’d necessarily agree with that,’ Nat told her. ‘She’s having such a great time in France she’s hardly got time to talk to us when we call. Unless she wants my brotherly advice on how to let a boy know she likes him.’

‘To which Nat replied,’ Alicia butted in, ‘if he’s French tell him to
tire-toi
, which basically means bugger off, and if he’s English she has to give him Nat’s number so he can deal with it in person.’

Laughing, Rachel said, ‘How very helpful of you. I’m sure she was extremely appreciative.’