Pastures New (27 page)

Ben refrained from saying that, considering Caroline had spent the best part of the last fortnight playing tonsil tennis with Gerry, it seemed a bit rich to think she actually cared what happened to Dave. Instead, he said, ‘I expect he’ll turn up.’ He poured himself a can of lager, took off his tie and pointedly went into the lounge and collapsed on the sofa in front of the TV.

Caroline followed him.

‘But what do you think I should do?’ she asked. ‘I’m really worried about him.’

‘Caroline,’ said Ben in exasperation. ‘If you care so much, what are you doing with Gerry?’

‘Gerry?’ Caroline looked blank for a moment. ‘Oh, I dumped Gerry. He was just a bit of fun.’ She pouted. ‘I was cheering myself up because you turned me down.’

Ben groaned. ‘Caroline, don’t start.’ He switched off the television and made for the stairs. ‘I’m going to get changed and then I’m going out,’ he said.

‘Where to?’ Caroline demanded.

‘Anywhere but here,’ said Ben.

Half an hour later, Ben was knocking on Amy’s door.

‘Ben, hi.’ Amy looked a bit flustered.

‘Do you mind if I come in?’ Ben asked.

‘Of course I don’t mind,’ said Amy, who didn’t appear all that pleased to see him.

‘You’ve been ignoring my calls,’ said Ben, as he sat down in the kitchen.

‘Sorry,’ said Amy. ‘I know it sounds feeble, but I have been busy.’

‘Too right it sounds feeble,’ said Ben. ‘So does that mean you were ignoring my calls, or that you really were too busy to answer them?’

‘A bit of both,’ said Amy. ‘I’m sorry, Ben, I just needed some time to get my head round things. Caroline told me you were practically engaged and –’

‘She said what?’ yelled Ben.

Then, suddenly, there was a crash of some kind followed by muffled cursing. It was coming from the direction of the allotments.

‘What was that?’ Amy stood up and went to the kitchen window.

‘Shit, do you think Saffron’s intruder is back?’

‘Wait there,’ said Ben, opening the back door and grabbing a garden fork that was leaning against a wall.

‘Don’t be daft,’ said Amy. ‘There’s safety in numbers. I’m coming too.’

A wild figure burst up the garden path. ‘Ben, help me!’ It was Caroline, looking unusually unkempt and sobbing hysterically. She threw her arms around Ben. ‘I think someone’s just been trying to break into your house. And I think they tried to follow me here. I’ve got a stalker!’

‘What?’ Ben replied. He let go of Caroline and
advanced slowly towards the garden gate, holding his fork aloft. Amy and Caroline followed behind him.

Amy’s garden gate was swinging in the light summer breeze. There was a rustling sound, followed by a cough. Ben pulled back the gate, ready to pounce on the intruder.

A big burly bloke wearing a backpack stood by the garden gate.

‘Hello mate,’ he said in a distinctive Aussie accent. ‘I’m looking for Caroline. I thought she came in here.’

Caroline looked at the man, in a state of shock. ‘Dave,’ she gasped. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘This is Dave,’ Caroline said rather unnecessarily.

‘Well, this is a bonza welcome,’ said Dave. ‘Do your friends normally wave garden forks at people?’

‘Sorry,’ said Ben, ‘case of mistaken identity. We were expecting an intruder, and thought you were them.’

‘I was just coming to find Caroline,’ said Dave. ‘And now it seems I have.’

Caroline was looking shell-shocked. Amy almost felt sorry for her.

‘You came,’ Caroline whispered.

‘Well I told you I would,’ said Dave. ‘We need to sort things out, Caz, once and for all.’

Ben coughed and looked at his feet.

‘Preferably without an audience,’ added Dave.

‘Right, yes, of course.’

Ben coughed again, and held out his hand. ‘I’m Ben,’ he said. ‘Caroline’s staying with me.’

Dave disdained the proffered hand. ‘Ah, the love rat,’ he said coolly. ‘Caroline’s told me all about you.’ He turned to look at Amy. ‘I’d watch this one if I were you.’

Ben looked stunned and opened his mouth to say something, but Caroline forestalled him.

‘Oh Dave, don’t be such a gorilla. There’s no need to be jealous of Ben any more, is there, Ben?’ And, so saying, she leaned forward, putting a hand on Ben’s chest and brushing his cheek with the slightest of kisses, leaving Ben looking even more stunned.

Amy stood there fuming. Had they all forgotten she was there?

‘Amy, let’s go back inside,’ said Ben. ‘I think these two have some catching up to do. Dave, you’re welcome to crash at mine. Caroline’s got keys. I’ll see you both later.’

Amy followed Ben down the path, churning up inside. Why had Dave told her Ben was a love rat? And why did Caroline’s simple kiss make her feel so jealous? Before Caroline’s return Amy had begun to feel she was entrusting her heart to Ben more and more. She was on the threshold of something new, and as she’d said to Ben, she would need to decide either to go through the door that was opening up before her, or stay where she was. Earlier in the week she had been on the verge of telling Ben she was prepared to make a move, but since Caroline’s revelations she didn’t know where she stood with Ben any more.

Ben arrived home just after midnight. He had gone back to Amy’s with a heavy heart. He had tried to laugh off Dave’s comments about him being a love rat, but
he could tell Amy didn’t quite believe him. They had ended up spending a perfunctory evening in front of the telly watching Jonathan Ross, then he had left. And something Amy had said as he left made him feel even more lousy.

‘Take care with my heart,’ she whispered as she kissed him softly good night. ‘It’s still very fragile.’

‘I know,’ he’d whispered back, kissing her on the top of her head. ‘I know.’

And it was that fragility that worried him. Caroline had caused him nothing but trouble since she’d got here. And he felt that Amy wasn’t up to being a pawn in one of Caroline’s games. Nor did he want her to be. If he wasn’t careful, Caroline could ruin it all for him before it even started.

As he turned the key in the lock he was greeted by the sound of Caroline’s sobbing.

Great. Just what he needed.

‘Oh, Be-e-en,’ she wailed. ‘He’s gone. I’ve lost him.’

‘Who – Dave?’ said Ben. ‘Why, what happened?’

‘Well, we came back here,’ said Caroline. ‘And at first it was fine. We had a bit of a kiss and a cuddle, and I thought maybe I was wrong to go. And then, just as things were getting interesting, he had to ruin it.’

‘How?’ Despite himself, Ben was intrigued.

‘He only asked me to marry him,’ said Caroline dramatically.

‘But isn’t that what you wanted?’ Ben was perplexed. Despite her flirtation with Gerry, Caroline had spent the best part of the previous few weeks moaning about Dave, and now he was here she was pushing him away.
Women were a mystery to him, they really were.

‘Nooo. Yesss. I don’t know,’ said Caroline. ‘I do want him. But not all that marriage malarkey. It’s way too much commitment. I mean, suppose he’s not The One. Then what do I do?’

‘Caroline,’ Ben laughed, ‘you can’t go through life thinking that the next person you meet might be better than the one you’re with. You have to make a choice sometime.’

‘Yes, well,’ Caroline looked at him, tears streaming down her face, ‘we all know why I’m not good at commitment.’ And Ben did know. It was the reason they had got together in the first place. Their common experience of early grief, forming a bond that Ben had mistaken for much more.

‘Caroline,’ he said gently, ‘lots of people lose a parent when they’re young. You can’t use that as an excuse forever. And it’s not as though you were so unhappy growing up, is it? I mean, you get on okay with your stepdad, don’t you?’

‘My dad left me,’ Caroline practically howled. ‘I was six years old, and he walked out one day and he never came back. He didn’t leave a note. We never heard from him again. Why would he do that? How could he do that? And how can I ever trust a man again?’

Ben sat down next to her. ‘Oh Caroline, because you have to. If you’re to live your life well, you have to learn to trust again.’ He put his arm around her, and gave her a hug. ‘Come on, you’re not usually like this. And this Dave bloke, well, he thinks enough of you to travel
halfway round the world for you. I think that’s worth risking your heart, don’t you?’

Caroline looked at him, and for a moment he was back there with her, in the early days of their relationship. He gently wiped the tears from her eyes. When she was vulnerable like this, she made him care, even though he didn’t want to.

‘You know there’s only one man I know worth risking my heart for.’

A look passed between them. Ben thought of Amy, lost and lonely on the other side of the allotments, waiting and wondering. She, too, thought it was worth risking her heart for him. How had he ended up in such a mess?

‘I’m not,’ said Ben. ‘I’m sorry, whether she wants me or not, I’m in love with Amy. But Dave
does
love you. And I think, whatever you say, you love him too. Go to him. Give him a chance.’

‘What chance can he have, when you’re here?’ Caroline persisted.

‘Every chance,’ said Ben, more firmly than he felt. ‘You have to give him that chance. I think he deserves it, don’t you?’

‘So what’s going on with Caroline and Dave now, do we know?’ Saffron greeted Amy as they made their way down Mrs Wallace’s path. Mrs Wallace was another of their few regulars left, and today they were pruning some of her bushes and tidying up her bedding plants.

‘I have no idea,’ said Amy. She looked miserable. ‘I’ve barely seen Ben since Friday. And when I do he’s distant and standoffish. I hate myself for doing it, but I can’t stop thinking about the things Dave and Caroline said.’

‘Oh I’m sure he’s wrong,’ said Saffron. ‘He’s just jealous of Ben, I expect. And you know what a flirt Caroline is. She’s probably used Ben to wind Dave up.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ said Amy. ‘But he didn’t tell me that he and Caroline had been together before she went away. Maybe he’s been lying to me.’

‘Amy, I’m sure he hasn’t,’ said Saffron. ‘Maybe he just didn’t know how to tell you.’ She tried and failed to suppress the thought that perhaps Amy was right. Although she knew Ben was decent and honourable, he and Caroline did have history. And he wouldn’t be the first to get swept away by Caroline’s charms. Saffron shook her head: there was no point even thinking this, and certainly no point telling Amy.

Mrs Wallace came down the path to greet them.

‘I wasn’t expecting you today,’ she said, looking puzzled.

Amy and Saffron looked at each other in alarm. Not again.

‘Sorry,’ said Saffron, wondering if she’d made a mistake, but knowing she hadn’t, ‘I had you down in my diary for today, have I made a mistake?’

‘Oh, no,’ said Mrs Wallace, ‘it was right. But that nice lady from your office popped round, and said that you wouldn’t be coming today after all.’

‘
What
nice lady?’ Saffron’s hackles were up.

‘The fair-haired one.’ Mrs Wallace peered short
sightedly at Amy. ‘Not your friend here, the other one.’

‘Let me guess,’ said Saffron grimly, ‘she was about five foot four, rather well endowed, done up to the nines, with platinum-blonde hair, blue eyes, too much foundation and sharply polished nails?’

‘Yes, that’s her,’ said Mrs Wallace. ‘She apologised profusely and said you’d ring me.’

‘I bet she did,’ muttered Saffron to Amy. ‘Well at least I’ve got my proof. It has to be Maddy badmouthing us. The description fits her to a T.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Don’t know yet,’ said Saffron, ‘but for now I think we need to reclaim our client, don’t you?’

Turning back to Mrs Wallace, she said, ‘I’m so sorry, I think there’s been a mistake. My colleague can be a bit enthusiastic sometimes. She must have got her dates muddled. It’s next week we can’t make. But as we’re here, we might as well do something, mightn’t we?’

‘Right,’ said Saffron as they drove away from Mrs Wallace’s house a couple of hours later, ‘how about a spot of Maddy-bashing? We’ve still got time before the school run.’

‘You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you?’ Amy suddenly had visions of a girly cat fight in the street, and herself, Saffron and Maddy all behind bars.

‘No, of course not,’ said Saffron, ‘but we
are
going to pay her a little visit, to find out just exactly what she’s up to.’

‘Won’t she be at work?’

Saffron snorted. ‘Work? You have to be joking. Someone like Maddy only exists to take men for a ride. In this case the lucky chap happens to be Gerry, so I don’t feel too sorry for him. He works his rocks off, while she stays at home playing the trophy wife, and being a lady who lunches.’ Saffron frowned. ‘Well at least she used to. I have no idea what she’s doing working behind a bar. Still, I don’t expect she has to work
too
hard for her living.’

‘Nice life if you can have it,’ said Amy. Then she looked at Saffron and grinned, ‘Nah, I think I’d be bored witless.’

‘Me too,’ said Saffron laughing. ‘Ah, here we are.’

She pulled into a road where scores of brand-new executive houses, all looking like they’d come out of a real-estate magazine, were crammed together in the smallest space possible. But they were all detached, which no doubt made them highly desirable.

‘Blimey, their gardens must be the size of handkerchiefs,’ said Amy. ‘We wouldn’t get much work around here.’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Saffron, ‘they might need help with their flower arranging.’

She drove up to a house that was exactly like the rest, except that it looked so sparkly and neat it was more like a show house than a real home.

Saffron got out of the car and marched to the front door, which she banged on vigorously.

There was a slight pause before the door was opened, and Maddy stood nonchalantly before them.

‘He’s not here,’ she said, and started to close the door. ‘As
you
should know.’

‘It’s not Gerry I’m looking for,’ said Saffron, expertly putting her foot in the doorway and preventing Maddy from shutting the door. ‘It’s you.’

‘Oh?’

‘Come on, Maddy, I think you know why I’m here,’ said Saffron.