An Autumn Crush (42 page)

‘Can you imagine what that poor cow’s gone through?’ said Steve, the image of his babies fresh in his mind. He didn’t want to think it could happen to anyone. Especially
not to Juliet. That she would feel babies grow inside her over and over again and never get to feel them breathing.

‘No, I can’t,’ said Guy, ‘I really can’t.’

‘It scares me to even hear stories like that,’ shivered Steve, taking the flowers out of the wrapping and putting them in the vase that stood in front of the cross. He looked up to
see Guy staring over the top of the next gravestone.

‘What’s up?’ he asked.

‘Steve – look.’

Steve swung his head around to where Guy was pointing. The
poor cow
in the blue coat was walking out of the graveyard. And it was Floz.

They threaded their way to the corner of the churchyard where teddy bears and balloons sat amongst the flowers.

‘Here,’ said Steve, pointing to a gravestone of an angel. Upon it were the words:

Let your children be as so many flowers, borrowed from God.

If the flowers die or wither, thank God for the precious loan of them
.

James Christopher Cherrydale b. d. 4 November 2002

Elisabeth Jane Cherrydale b. d. 14 October 2004

Eleanor May Cherrydale b. d. 2 November 2005

Sleep in Peace, Our Little Ones

We Shall Meet Again

Love Always, Mummy and Daddy

‘Oh my God, that’s why!’

Then Guy understood. Everything made sense. Why Floz had suddenly gone cold on him that day in Hallow’s. When he had been talking about having lots of children – children that she
could never bear him. Gina had said that Floz couldn’t keep her eyes off him on the day of Lulu Masserati’s wedding – she
did
like him, after all. He didn’t know what
he was going to do with this information yet. All he did know was that he wasn’t going to give up on Floz.

There was hope and he was going to seize it and run with it.

‘My, my, you three ladies – and Raymond, of course – don’t you look a picture?’

Perry grinned, taking in the sight of his wife in her bronze suit, Floz in her beautiful chocolate dress, Juliet in her classy golden gown holding a teardrop of gold flowers and leaves, and
Coco, smart in his suit. The girls had stayed with the Millers the night before the wedding, and had been regally fussed over by them. Coco and Gideon had come along too with dips and nibbles and
cakes, and Perry had mixed some of his speciality home-made port-soaked-punch and in the end it had turned into a rather jolly mixed-sex hen party.

‘I can’t believe I’m getting married,’ said Juliet, looking at herself in the mirror. She grinned for the millionth time. Alberto was giving them one of the inn’s
hotel rooms as a honeymoon suite, and Juliet couldn’t wait to dive into bed with her husband as Mrs Feast. Boy, was she going to feast on him tonight.

‘I can’t either,’ croaked Coco, patting his choked-up chest. ‘I think it’s marvellous.’

Floz nodded and smiled, but her heart felt so heavy. As much as she was looking forward to the wedding, she was dreading seeing Gina cosying up to Guy. She would just have to try very hard not
to look at them.

‘The weather’s holding,’ said Grainne, looking out of the window at a fine, if chilly day, with a faint hint of mist above the grass. The trees were bare now, the last of the
leaves ripped from their branches in the winds of the night; the blackberries were long gone, poppies slumbering under the soil, and the conkers had all fallen and were engaged in battles in the
schoolyards. The rusts of autumn’s hair would be turned to white soon enough.

Perry handed out long flutes of champagne and raised his own to his daughter.

‘My darling girl, may you and Steven be as happy as your mother and I have been and continue to be.’

Floz toasted her grinning friend and enjoyed the warmth that this lovely family generated. She wished she could store it, for she felt cold winter was only a breath away.

‘Ready?’ asked Guy.

‘I’m crapping myself,’ said Steve. ‘Can you say “I’m crapping myself” in church?’

‘I’m sure God would forgive you this once.’ Guy adjusted Steve’s golden rose in his buttonhole.

The organist was playing the equivalent of church Musak as the pews filled up with aunties and wrestlers.

‘Yes, I’m sure I’ve got the rings.’ Guy patted his pocket as Steve opened his mouth to ask the same question yet again.

‘No, I won’t say anything to Juliet about Floz,’ Steve said, as Guy opened his mouth in turn. ‘I know Ju would be upset, thinking of all those times she press-ganged Floz
into going shopping with her for baby stuff.’

The organist switched tunes. Der-der-der-der; der-der-der-
derrrr
. The first bars of ‘Here Comes the Bride’. She was here.

‘Oh fuck,’ said Steve. ‘Sorry, God.’

‘Good luck, mate,’ said Guy.

‘And you, for later,’ said Steve, with a wink.

Alberto Masserati and his family and staff had done the wedding party proud. The dining room in the inn was draped in materials in autumn shades, the linen on the table
matched, and confetti of tiny leaves had been scattered everywhere. Even the waitresses were in brown dresses with white aprons and leaf crowns in their hair, giving the impression they were
part-time Roman Empresses.

As they drank Buck’s Fizz, Floz felt as if she were being stared at. She was right. She turned to the side to see Guy’s eyes upon her, grey and intense. He was blatant in his
interest and didn’t turn away after being discovered staring, but merely smiled and tipped his glass towards her. She smiled back a little and swung her eyes away, feeling a blush spread over
her cheeks – and wondered why there was no Gina with him.

He was in a funny mood today. As they were leaving the church, the bride and groom walking down the aisle, the best man and bridesmaid behind, he had held out his arm for her to take.

‘You look beautiful, Floz,’ he had said.

‘Oh . . . oh, thank you,’ she had replied.

‘Like a wood nymph.’

‘Not a gnome then?’ she had chuckled.

‘Oh no, most definitely a nymph.’

‘Wait till I start flying about later,’ she had joked bashfully.

‘I’d love to make you feel as if you were flying, Floz,’ he had replied smokily, under his breath but still loud enough to be heard.
What the heck had he meant by that?
Although the tone he had used had left her in no doubt really that he wasn’t planning on taking her paragliding. It had made her legs very quivery. She was glad to be at the other end of the
top table, in between Coco and Perry and away from Guy’s gaze.

Alberto served up asparagus wrapped in prosciutto for starter, then ‘Autumn soup’ which was a rich, thick broth made of root vegetables and served with leaf-shaped toasts. Lime
sorbet followed and preceded a main course of pork medallions in a mustard sauce. Dessert was toffee-apple brûlée, each one with a tiny heart-shaped sparkler fizzing away on it.

Perry stood up then to deliver his short and sweet speech. He was a shy man and didn’t relish standing up in public.

‘I’m not very good at the speeches,’ he began, to a rousing chorus of encouraging applause. ‘But I’d like to thank Alberto and his family and his staff for doing
this lovely reception for us. Come out and take a bow, my friends.’

To a splendid ripple of applause, Alberto and his equally shy gang of staff came out to be publicly acclaimed before disappearing back to the sanctuary of the kitchen. On stage Alberto reaped
attention; off it, he made Perry look like Peter Mandelson.

‘And thank you to all the relatives who’ve travelled to see my little girl get wed. All I’ll say is that I would have been delighted to welcome Steve into our family, except
he’s already been in it for thirty years. That means that he knows what he’s getting with my daughter and he’s a very brave man.’

There was a loud rumble of laughter at that, especially as Juliet put her hands on her hips and pretended to look affronted.

‘I’ll say to you both what Gron’s dad said on our wedding day.’ Perry coughed and the room hushed to pin-drop silence.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, would you please raise your glasses and toast my beautiful Juliet and her Romeo – Steven. The new Mr and Mrs Feast.’

‘The bride and groom!’ everyone chorused and clapped. Grainne gave Perry a big kiss on the cheek. Now he could relax and enjoy himself at last.

Guy stood up. He looked even larger in this tiny room with the low ceilings. Floz felt her heart do a bit of a gallop at the sight of him in that black morning suit and waistcoat, chocolate
cravat at his neck, shirt white and crisp, golden rose bright and tightly budded in his buttonhole. He was going to make someone a lovely husband one day, some children a wonderful father.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he began, swinging his eyes around the room, locking with Floz’s yet again before moving on. ‘I was going to tell you an embarrassing story about
Steve, but there were so many I didn’t know where to start.’

The wrestlers began shouting that they had loads too.

‘I’m just glad that my best friend is my sister’s Mr Right,’ Guy said with such tenderness in his voice that Steve was forced to start gulping to stop tears racing to his
eyes. ‘What she doesn’t know is that he’s fancied her from school.’

‘Have you?’ gasped Juliet.

‘Yep,’ said Steve.

‘Why didn’t you tell me then?’ she said.

‘I daren’t,’ he said. ‘I might have fancied you, but you scared the living daylights out of me as well.’

‘Oy, you two, shut up!’ called Guy as everyone laughed. ‘Steve has been the best friend anyone could have. And I know he and Juliet will be happy, because he’ll be her
best friend too as well as her husband.’

‘Aw!’ came a chorus. Alberto Masserati was peeping out of the kitchen, blowing his nose.

‘And I’d like to thank Juliet’s beautiful
bridesmaids
for supporting her and being there for her. Coco has been Ju’s friend forever, and though Floz has only come
into our lives this autumn, we all feel we’ve known her as long.’

He smiled at her, and she smiled back, feeling hot and light-headed and self-conscious and honoured all at the same time.

‘Please, raise your glasses to Floz and Coco.’

‘Floz and Coco.’

Guy winked at Floz and she coughed. She was glad when he sat down and the spotlight of his attention was switched off for a bit whilst she caught her breath.

Then Juliet stood up to a roomful of chuckles.

‘I know what you’re all thinking,’ she said. ‘That I’m going to be doing the speech instead of Steve, but marriage has mellowed me. Temporarily anyway. Ladies and
gentlemen, may I present my husband – the groom.’

There was a lot of applause and laughter as Steve stood up and looked totally dumbfounded.

‘Well, thank you, Wife,’ he said. ‘Back to the kitchen with you.’

‘Don’t push it, love,’ said Juliet, emptying her glass of orange juice.

Steve grinned. ‘I’d like to thank you all for coming and seeing my first wife and I married today.’

Everyone laughed heartily, Juliet included.

‘Seriously. The Millers have been my family for as long as I can remember. So this day means more to me than I could say. And wherever we end up living – whether it’s here or
America for a few years or both – you know I’ll look after her and our children with everything that I’ve got. I’ve always loved her. And I always will. I’ll have to,
because she’d kill me otherwise.’

‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,’ said Coco, alternating between sobbing and giggling at the speeches.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, please raise your glasses to my lovely missus. Juliet – the bride.’

‘The bride!’

Coco collapsed into his hankie. ‘Oh, Floz, we’re all falling apart. She’s off to America with Steve and you’re off to God knows where.’

Floz put her arm around him. It felt very much like the end of a lovely era to her too. She daren’t even think of the week to come, packing up, possibly moving into that awful house with
the smelly carpet and the wheezing landlord.

‘Fireworks after the coffee, everyone,’ announced Alberto as his waitresses starting busying around with cafetières.

‘Are they those Chinese ones Steve got last year from Robber Johnny?’ asked the Grim Reaper.

‘Yep,’ yelled Steve overhearing him. ‘And he’s got me a “Big Bugger” as well.’

‘Chuffing hell. I’ll get the ambulance standing by,’ laughed Grim.

‘You must not be a stranger to us, dear Floz.’ Perry poured out a coffee for Floz. ‘You must come for lunch on Sundays or pop around whenever you want.’

‘Thank you,’ said Floz, pressing down the emotion rising in her throat.

‘We’ll go out for lunch as well sometimes,’ said Coco, nudging her from the other side. ‘I feel like I’ve had you in my life forever, Floz.’

‘Don’t,’ said Floz, blowing out her cheeks. She looked around at the jolly throng and hoped she wouldn’t make a clot of herself by crying. The Pogmoor Brothers were
arm-wrestling, the Grim Reaper had his giant arm around his tiny girlfriend’s shoulder as he was deep in conversation with Jeff Leppard and Big Bad Davy and their wives, Klondyke Kevin was
flirting with Amanda, Daphne and her husband were chuckling at something, Juliet and Steve were talking quietly to each other, holding hands. Guy had his back to her as he talked to Fred Zeppelin
and his missus. His black curly hair just covered his collar, and Floz wondered what it would feel like in her fingers.