No Bra Required! (21 page)

“If it is then she’ll be disappointed, because that isn’t
going to happen.”

“You may believe that, but I’m not so sure Katie does.”

After sending Katie to the Bed & Breakfast, and waving
Georgina off to Wales, Ed and Lucy went back to his house and fell into bed,
exhausted from the evening’s events.  Ed could sense that Lucy was feeling
a little insecure about Katie, so had suggested that Lucy stay with him for a
few days; at least until Katie had left for good. 

Lucy spent most of the following day weeding the garden and
mowing the lawn for Ed, keeping herself busy to avoid thinking about Katie and
the current situation.  The weather had improved, and the sun was burning
brightly with a cool breeze, so once she’d finished working in the garden, she
sat outside to read.  As she tried to concentrate on her book, Lucy felt a
presence beside her.  She looked up to see Katie, who was staring down at
Lucy over the top of a pair of huge sunglasses.

“What time will Ed be back?”  Katie demanded.

“Around six, and what the hell are you doing here, have you
come for the money?”

“No, like I said last night, I don’t want his money.  I
want to go into Newcastle, I have an appointment with a lawyer there.  My rental
car is being picked up this morning, so I was hoping I could borrow his
car.  Is he not coming home for lunch?”  Katie bit her nail
distractedly.

“No, not today, but tell me why you’re here.  Ed told
you to stay away unless you came to collect the cheque, and as you haven’t then
go away.”

“Listen for just one minute please, honey.  I need to
get to Newcastle and I need a car to get there,” Katie said the words slowly as
if she was talking to child. 

“I heard you, so get a train,” Lucy said just as slowly. 
Lucy turned back to her book.

“You could take me, or lend me your car.”  Katie smiled
at Lucy, ignoring the train suggestion.

“I’m not taking you,” Lucy spluttered. 

“Well, can I borrow your car then?”

“Are you crazy, why on earth would I lend you my car?” 
Lucy put her book down and glared at Katie.

“Because honey if I miss this appointment it’ll take weeks
to get another one.  I was lucky to get it due to a cancellation.  If
I do miss it the chances of me leaving sooner, rather than later, will be
pretty slim.  He’s going to get in touch with Luke about the money and our
divorce.”

The word divorce hit Lucy like a brick between the
eyes.  She hadn’t thought that Katie was that serious about leaving Luke
and her children behind.

“You’re divorcing him?”  Lucy asked.  “You didn’t
say.”

“He hit me, and would I really come here for Ed if I was
going to stay married to Luke?  Get a grip Lucy, if I want to move on, I
have to cut Luke loose.”

“Does moving on mean having Ed?”  Lucy stood up and
pushed the chair under the table.

“I told you last night, I’ll go as soon as I get some money
from Luke.  I can see now that Ed will never be mine again, so chill sweet
cheeks.  Now, can I borrow your car or not?”

Lucy realised that at least she would be able to have lunch
with Ed, without worrying whether or not they’d bump into Katie.

 “I’ll get you the keys, but you’ll need to put petrol
in it.  Do you have any money?”

Katie nodded.  “I’m not totally destitute.”

“Fine, and be careful in it, because if there’s any damage
you’ll have to pay.”

“Whatever you say honey.”  Katie followed Lucy toward
the house.

“And stop calling me honey.”  Lucy snapped, pleased to
be rid of the dreadful woman for a few hours.

At lunch Lucy had thought that she would tell Ed about
deciding to stay as she hadn’t had the opportunity yesterday, but as soon as
she saw him she could tell that he was worried about something.

“What’s wrong?”  Lucy asked.

Ed had kissed her cheek, taken hold of her hand and just
carried on walking towards the pub, without saying anything.

“Sorry Luce, I’m just a little tired.  We’ve had a busy
morning, and I didn’t sleep terribly well last night.”  Ed rubbed his
eyes.

“You’re not worried about Katie, are you?”  Lucy could
sense it was a little more than tiredness that was affecting Ed.

Ed shook his head.  “No more than yesterday, although
she’s got a bloody cheek asking to borrow your car, especially as I asked her
to stay away.”  He attempted a smile.  “But, why am I surprised by
anything that she does.  Where’s she gone by the way?”  Ed asked as
they crossed the road.

Lucy frowned.  “I told you on the phone earlier, have
you forgotten already?”

“Sorry, I’ve been so busy, I hate to say it but I probably
wasn’t listening properly.”

Lucy felt somewhat annoyed, but Ed was right, he had such a
responsible job and was extremely busy, but how could he forget something as
important as Katie arranging a divorce.

“She’s gone to Newcastle; she’s managed to get an
appointment to see a solicitor about getting a divorce.”

Ed suddenly stopped in his tracks.  “A divorce?”

“Yes Ed, a divorce.  I was shocked too.  I
honestly thought that she’d go back to him after a few weeks of teaching him a
lesson.”

“Hmm.”  Ed carried on walking.  “She really is serious
then.”  His voice trailed off.

Lucy glanced at Ed and noticed that he was staring into the
distance.

“Are you okay?” she asked, pulling at Ed’s hand.

“What, erm, yes sorry.  Yes, I’m fine.  What do
you fancy for lunch anyway?”

“Anything,” said Lucy aware that Ed’s mind was certainly not
on food.

When Lucy arrived back at Ed’s house, she was surprised to
see her car parked on the drive.  It was only three hours since Katie had
gone off to Newcastle to see her solicitor, Lucy hadn’t expected her back
yet.  She sighed, wondering whether the visit had been unsuccessful as it
had been so short.

“Hello,” Lucy said dully as walked into the garden.

Katie was sitting at the table leafing through a
magazine.  She looked up and gave a half smile to Lucy.

“Nice lunch?”  Katie asked.

“Erm, yes thanks.”

“That’s good.  I half expected to find you both here
when I got back, Ed always did like a little afternoon sex session.  ”

Lucy tutted and gave Katie a cold stare.

“What we do is our business, not yours.  Did you see
your solicitor?   I must say I didn’t expect you back so soon,” Lucy
said moving past Katie.

“I see I’m not supposed to enquire after your business, but
you can ask about mine.   No fair Lucy honey.”  Katie smiled and
wagged her finger at Lucy.  “However, if you must know, I saw him, and
he’s going to start the ball rolling from this end.  He thinks I could be
divorced within a couple of months.”

Lucy looked at Katie quizzically.  She knew exactly how
long it would take to be divorced, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t a couple
of months, especially with one of the parties being overseas.  However,
Lucy said nothing – she didn’t want Katie to know that she  was getting
divorced, or more specifically how only four short months ago Lucy had still
been living ‘happily’ with her husband.

“That sounds quite quick,” Lucy commented.

“He’s a good lawyer.”

Lucy winced; Katie’s Anglo-American drawl was starting to
grate on her.

“Well, let’s hope he gets you some money fairly
quickly.  So, do you have my keys, you could have just put them through
the letterbox.”  Lucy held her hand out to Katie.

Katie threw the keys nonchalantly in Lucy’s direction. 
“I wanted to be sure you got them back, and I’ve got nowhere else to go. 
The old witch at the hotel won’t let me stay in my room.”  Katie flicked
her hair back before continuing to leaf through the magazine.

“And that’s our problem because?”

“Because you and Ed made me stay there, so just let me hang
around here for a while, anyway I want to talk to Ed about something?”

Lucy wondered whether the thought of one more night in the
Bed & Breakfast had been enough to break Katie, and she was going to ask Ed
for the money.  She looked up at the blue sky and sighed.

“Okay, but Ed won’t be back for another couple of hours
yet.”

“That’s fine by me, honey.”  Katie stood up and moved
toward Lucy.

“Oh no, I’m going for a bath, you can stay out here; there’s
no rain forecast.”

An hour later Lucy came back downstairs, surprised to hear
voices coming from the kitchen.  She couldn’t be sure, but was convinced
it was Ed and Katie.  Entering the kitchen she almost froze as she saw
them both drinking wine at the breakfast bar.

“Oh hi honey.”  Katie smiled over the top of her wine
glass as she spotted Lucy in the doorway.

“Hi, I didn’t know you were home, you’re early.”  Lucy
moved over to Ed and kissed him on the cheek.

“Hmm, my last patient didn’t turn up.  Do you want
some?”

Lucy nodded as Ed went to the cupboard to get her a
glass.  She sat in Ed’s seat and looked across at Katie, who winked and
smiled.

“So, what were you talking about?”  Lucy asked, a lump
the size of an apple growing in her throat.

“Oh just old times,” Katie answered.

Ed turned to Lucy and smiled as he placed a glass in front
of her.

“Ignore her Luce, I found her in the garden when I got
home.  She wants to know if I can find her a different place to stay,
apparently Mrs Trickett is ‘an old witch and the bed smells of biscuits’. 
Anyway, did you have a nice bath?”  Ed kissed Lucy on her lips and stroked
her cheek.  “You smell lovely,” he said.

Lucy suddenly felt less anxious because of his touch and his
kiss, although all hopes that Katie was here to take the money and run, were
evidently futile. “Thanks, and have you found her somewhere else to stay?” Lucy
asked before taking a sip from her wine. 

“No, he’s being mean and won’t,” Katie said leaning over to
give Ed a nudge in his arm.

“Katie, just drink your wine and go.” He turned to
Lucy.  “She helped herself when I had to take a call,” he explained,
shooting Katie a hard stare.

“I’ll start dinner in a minute, I assume that you’ll be
leaving soon Katie.”

“I could stay.” Katie exclaimed with a huge grin on her
face, and a wink at Lucy

Ed frowned at her.  “
No, you can’t
.”

“Oh and we all seemed to be getting on so well,” Katie
purred.  “Anyway, I’m not hungry, so no need to worry honey, oops sorry, I
forgot that you don’t like me calling you honey.  Lucy it is from now on.”

Ed sighed and shook his head.  “I need some fresh air,
I tell you what I’ll go and get us a Chinese take-away and you’d better be gone
by the time I get back,” he nodded at Katie.

“I don’t mind cooking.”  Lucy caught hold of Ed’s hand
and drew him to her.  “Or we could just go for a walk if you need some
fresh air.”

“No, I don’t want you to have to cook.  I won’t be
long.  What would you like?”

“Ooh I’ve changed my mind, please let me stay, I love
Chinese food and I really don’t have anywhere to else to go.” Katie smiled at
both Ed and Lucy. “I promise that I’ll behave.”

“Oh for God’s sake just get her some food,” Lucy cried, “She
may actually go and leave us alone once she’s eaten.”

Ed shrugged.  “Well it’s up to you, but she can eat it
in here, we’ll go into the lounge.”

“But…” Katie started to argue.

“Shut up Katie, that’s my only offer, so take it or leave
it.”

Katie nodded and looked at Ed from under her
eyelashes.  “Thank you Ed.”

“Just tell me what you want,” Ed said thrusting a menu under
her nose.  “And hurry up.”

Once Ed left to get the food, Lucy busied herself getting plates
and knives and forks ready while Katie read the newspaper.  There was no
conversation between them, which in itself concerned Lucy.  Katie usually
took immense delight in annoying Lucy.

Lucy decided to watch the early evening news and was just
going into the lounge when her mobile shrilled in her pocket.  She didn’t
recognise the number but answered it anyway.

“Hello,” she answered tentatively.

“Is that Lucy, Gerald’s daughter?”

“Yes, is there something wrong with Dad?”

“No, sorry dear.  I didn’t mean to startle you. 
I’m Grace one of your dad and Richard’s neighbours.  It’s just I’ve been
out in my garden, and I could hear running water, so I looked over the wall and
well, there’s a lot of water running out from under the back door.”

“Oh God, you’re joking.”  Lucy started to look around
the room for her car keys.  “How much is a lot?” she asked, picking the
keys up from the table.

“Well it’s rather like a small stream.  Your Dad gave
me your number when he went away, just in case.  I did knock on Hilary’s
door, because I know she and Frank have a key, but they’ve not been home all
day.”

“Okay, thanks Grace, I’ll go over there as soon as I
can.  Bye.”

“Oh dear, trouble?” Katie asked without looking up from the
paper.

“There’s water running from my dad’s house.  Tell Ed
I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  With that, Lucy ran out of the front door
and got into her car.

As she turned the corner, she didn’t spot Ed on the pavement
returning with a bag of take-away food.

When Lucy got to the house, she parked the car and rushed in
through the front door.  There was no sign of anything in the hallway and
she couldn’t hear any running water.  She went through to the kitchen at
the back of the house, but there was still nothing.  Then suddenly she
heard the water coming from the utility room on the far side of the dining
area.  The problem was obvious when Lucy opened the door.  There was
water gushing from halfway down the water pipe that ran from the boiler. 
The washing machine and tumble dryer were saturated as the water cascaded off
them, and various mops, brushes and buckets were floating on the pool of water
that had formed.  Luckily there was a step down into the utility room,
which was why the kitchen and dining room hadn’t been affected.