The Way to a Woman's Heart (22 page)

And the solace of the countryside had quickly become familiar, and after one visit, the traffic and noise and bustle of Winterbrook, which wasn’t a very big town really, had made Ella wince and long for the peace and tranquillity of Hideaway Farm.

It was all very strange. Mark and London belonged to some other time, on some other planet. It was like she’d been sucked into some delightful Berkshire Brigadoon…

Singing along to some ancient song on the car radio, Ella hoped George would have a great time with Doll’s kids. It seemed very quiet without him and his plastic lorries and non-stop chattering in the car. And, despite the lure of the air con, the shopping in Big Sava had taken half the time – especially as there’d been no detour to Patsy’s Pantry. However, it would be reassuring to get back to the farm and tell Poll that George had rushed off with merely a backward glance and causal wave to be surrounded by his noisy new gang of best friends.

So, this morning, now the shopping was done, all she had to do was sort out the post piled in the hall and the disaster
zone of the three-legged table in the catastrophically untidy study that Poll called her desk.

With no computer and no mobile phone, Poll’s life still revolved around Proper Correspondence. Consequently, both the hall table and the three-legged ‘desk’ were piled haphazardly high with envelopes, opened and unopened, of every shape and hue. Ella laughed to herself. Poll was the most disorganised person she’d ever met.

Pretty sure she now knew a short cut back to Hideaway Farm, Ella indicated towards Lovers Knot and drove confidently along the narrow road. Oh, yes, disorganised Poll might be, but she was definitely the kindest person in the world. She’d made not only her, but also Trixie and Ash and Billy feel effortlessly at home, and the odd collection of such different personalities had melded well together. It really was like a proper family now.

Oooh, no… not again…

Ella frowned. She really had to stop frowning so much. Especially as Onyx had the smoothest skin she’d ever seen. Botox, she’d reckoned, but Onyx had laughed and said no, her complexion was one of the few good things she’d inherited from her apparently extremely bad-tempered and therefore non-stereotypical Caribbean grandmother.

However, Ella felt on this occasion, a frown was warranted.

Having been daydreaming and not concentrating on the road signs, she must have taken a wrong turning after the one for Lovers Knot… Where was she? Wasn’t this single-track lane dangerously close to the frightening Mrs Webb’s Miracle Mart in Angel Meadows? She was pretty sure it was, and now
she was waiting in a queue of traffic, OK then, behind two other cars, but it passed for a queue in the countryside.

Peering crossly through the windscreen and swearing that next time she’d stick to the tried and tested route, Ella frowned again.

There was a familiar flash of colour up ahead.

Neapolitan stripes: green, cream and pink.

Surely not?

Ella peered through the windscreen again. Yep, it certainly looked like it. And, yes, she thought as she moved forwards another couple of inches, it was.

Ash’s Maxi’s ice-cream van, complete with its huge phallic cornet on the roof. Parked in a lay-by at the side of the road.

And he wasn’t alone.

Ella nudged the car slowly forwards to the junction. There was a second ice-cream van parked facing Ash’s. This one was blue and white and also sported an impossibly large cornet rampant on its roof. They looked like stags at bay.

And Ash, looking disgustingly gorgeous despite the silly hat and a rather ill-fitting white jacket, was standing on the lay-by, having what looked like a fairly animated discussion with the other vendor who, while being several inches shorter than Ash, was much, much wider.

Had Ash, unfamiliar with the business, inadvertently encroached on the territory of a rival?

Oooh, Ella, thought. Ice-cream wars! Here, in the deepest of the deep Berkshire countryside.

She immediately pulled the car to the side of the road,
clearly much to the annoyance of the perma-tanned, hair-extensioned would-be WAG in the sports car behind her, and leaped out.

Ouf! The heat was intense. The scorching sun spiralled from the road, bounced from the high hedgerows, and dazzled from the dusty verges. This was surely going to be the barbecue summer to beat all barbecue summers. For once Ella thanked Poll’s hippy-chick influence on her wardrobe. The long floaty skirt and brief cotton top were perfect for a June heatwave.

If my friends could see me now, she thought cheerfully, as, tucking her long, unstraightened hair behind her ears, she flip-flopped her way towards the ice-cream vans. Not a designer label in sight. Nothing more than lip gloss and mascara on her face. Her city friends would probably have a fit.

As she approached the ice-cream vans, she was aware of a crowd gathering on the far side. How weird the countryside was. People appeared from nowhere. There were no parked cars and very few houses along the route, but there were still people everywhere.

‘Hi!’ She approached Ash and the other ice-cream seller. ‘Is this a private fight or can anyone join in?’

They turned and stared at her.

Ash grinned. ‘Oh, hi, Ella, where the heck did you spring from?’

‘Got lost coming back from Hazy Hassocks, saw you and the van – and him –’ Ella nodded towards the other vendor ‘– and thought you might need some help.’ She turned her attention to the second ice-cream man. ‘Leave him alone.
Look, I know you must be guarding your territory, but give him a break, can’t you? He’s new to the job, and the area, and I’m sure he didn’t mean to stray on to your patch. I’m sure there’s plenty of room for both of you – there’s no need to resort to violence.’

‘Er, no,’ the second vendor said, ‘I’m sure there isn’t.’

‘Good,’ Ella said. ‘So, if Ash apologises to you, and you explain to him that this is your pitch and he leaves, that’ll be an end to it, won’t it?’

‘Well, yes, but –’

‘Good,’ Ella repeated, amazed that the negotiations had gone so easily. She really should have a job with ACAS if not with the United Nations. She held out her hand. ‘Thank you. That’s very magnanimous of you. I’m Ella Maloney.’

‘Mike Sparrow.’

They shook hands. It was at this point that she realised Ash was laughing.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘You. I never realised you could be so fierce. And much as I appreciate your support, there’s no need.’

‘There’s every need,’ Ella said crossly. ‘I hate bullies.’

‘Hold up,’ Mike Sparrow interrupted. ‘I ain’t a bully.’

Ella snorted. ‘Well, you would say that, wouldn’t you? It looked like you were being very bullying to me.’

‘Ella,’ Ash said gently. ‘We weren’t fighting. Mike’s a friend.’

‘Oh.’

Mike Sparrow chuckled. ‘Ah, we just met up. I’m off to Bagley-cum-Russet – wouldn’t touch this pitch with a
double cone plus two flakes. Angel Meadows – blimey, they’ve got some odd ’uns here and no mistake.’

Ella knew she was blushing. It probably clashed wonderfully with her rapidly turning gingery hair. Sod it. ‘Oh, right, but it looked as if –’

‘And it was very kind of you to stop and fight my corner,’ Ash said, still grinning, ‘but Mike and I aren’t ice-cream rivals. We weren’t going to challenge each other to a duel. There was going to be no Mivvis at a hundred paces at dawn. We’re old friends. We belong to the same club.’

Oh, I bet you do, Ella thought crossly. The one where Onyx undulates in a state of undress and sad blokes like you leer.

She shrugged. ‘Really? Which club’s that, then? The Peppermint Rhino?’

‘Spearmint,’ Ash corrected, ‘and no. Mike and I are actually fellow reptile owners.’

‘Oh.’

‘We were comparing notes on Roy and his Burmese python, Linda.’

‘
Linda
?’

‘After me ex-wife,’ Mike explained. ‘Mind, the ex-wife was a lot more vicious than the python.’

Despite her deep embarrassment, Ella chuckled.

‘So, you can see there was no turf war breaking out. Still, now you’re here,’ Ash said, ‘you could make yourself useful – if you wanted to. Unless you’ve got to dash back to Hideaway for any reason?’

Oooh, let me think. Time spent in the sun with Ash or
alone in Hideaway Farm with a mountain of someone else’s letters?

Ella tried not to look too keen. ‘No, just the glories of sorting out Poll’s desk. As it’s probably all been there for months, I’m sure it can wait for another hour or so.’

‘Brilliant – then if you could help me out for a while I’d be eternally grateful.’ Ash indicated the growing knot of people sweltering in the sun. ‘I’ve got quite a queue here and I’m still not quite up to speed on the new soft ice-cream machine. Mike’s had a look but it’s even got him flummoxed.’

‘Good luck with it then, mate.’ Mike Sparrow grinned. ‘And like I say, Angel Meadows is one weird place. And –’ he smiled at Ella ‘– it was lovely to meet you at last. Ash is always talking about you.’

‘Is he?’ Ella tried not to do a little happy dance inside. ‘All good I hope?’

‘Oh, yes. Down at the Snakes, Lizards and Dragons club we’re getting pretty jealous of him being on such, um, close… terms with an exotic dancer.’

Bugger.

As Mike trundled away in his blue and white van, tantalisingly playing a tinny version of ‘O Sole Mio’ to the perspiring crowd, Ash smiled at her. ‘If you just climb up into the back here and put that jacket on – oh, and wash your hands – got to be careful about Elfin Safety these days.’

‘Now you sound like Trixie,’ Ella giggled, squeezing into the ice-cream van, and trying to do up the jacket and rinse her hands at the same time. ‘Oooh, sorry, it’s a bit snug in here.’

‘Don’t mind me,’ Ash said cheerfully as she brushed against him, ‘I’m more than happy.’

Ella exhaled. Goodness, it was hot in here…

‘Right.’ Ash leaned over her shoulder, tantalisingly close to her. So close that she could smell the warm, lemony scent of him, and see the freckles dusted beneath his skin. ‘There’s a list of what’s what up there with all the prices – some of the ice creams have odd names so you’ll probably need to look them up. The till is manual and bad-tempered so mind your fingers. The lollies and ready-made ices are in this freezer here… and the wafers, cones and flakes are all in here… and if anyone wants a Maxi’s Swirler – which is the soft ice cream – you have to use the new machine, which tends to have a mind of its own and takes ages to get right and therefore leads to a bit of a snarl-up with customers and then they all turn nasty. Which, in turn, is why I need you.’

Delighted to be needed by Ash – even if it was only to operate a recalcitrant ice-cream machine – Ella smiled happily.

Ash pushed the silly hat to the back of his head. He still managed to look heart-stoppingly sexy. ‘So, you’re OK for an hour?’

Very, very OK, Ella thought. ‘Um, yes, fine. I’m really glad I can help out, but is it allowed? Won’t you get into trouble having me serving? Aren’t we breaking all the EU employment laws?’

‘Probably, but who’s to know? I’m not telling if you’re not. And I really could do with some help – just until I get to grips with that machine. I need this job – and my sales
targets are massively high and I’ll never reach them if I don’t get my full quota of Swirlers.’

‘Oh, sales targets,’ Ella groaned. ‘Don’t talk to me about sales targets. Doesn’t matter if it’s advertising space or ice cream there’s always going to be some Suit scanning your figures and saying, “Must do better.” Been there, failed dismally, ran away from it.’

Ash laughed. ‘Can’t imagine you running away from anything, somehow.’

Ooh. Ella hugged herself. Was that a compliment?

‘OK, walked very, very quickly.’ Ella looked out at the Angel Meadows crowd which, now restless, had somehow organised itself into a ragged queue. ‘Er, I suppose we ought to start dishing up ice cream before your sales targets melt completely. OK, here goes…’

Leaning from the little window, with Ash only inches away, Ella beamed at the first person peering into the van.

‘Don’t I know you?’ The woman with the extravagantly bouffant hair squinted upwards. ‘You from Fiddlesticks?’

Ella shook her head at Roller Woman – now without the rollers or her embryo rappers – and continued beaming. ‘No, we met outside the Miracle Mart. When, um, there was the hoo-ha with the lady in labour… You told me how to get to Fiddlesticks.’

‘Ah, yes! Found it, did you? Good. Mind, you never said you was selling ice creams that day. My kiddies would have loved an ice cream. And oooh –’ she eyed Ash lasciviously ‘– he’s pretty damn sexy, isn’t he? I wouldn’t kick him out of bed anytime soon. In fact, I’d leave my Pete tomorrow to
work in a little van with him. Blimey, love, you’re not so daft, are you?’

Ella giggled. ‘Um, what can I get you?’

‘Well, if it’s not him naked on a plate covered with chocolate and cream,’ Roller Woman continued to stare at Ash, ‘I’ll have three Bazoomas, two Splashy Scoffs and a Swirler cone with double flakes and strawberry sauce – no nuts. The kids are all allergic.’

Squeezing past Ash who was chuckling and serving the next person in the queue – a very old woman wearing a sun hat tied with mismatched ribbons under her whiskery chin – Ella added up in her head as she went, diving into the freezers, consulting the list – blimey, it was harder than she’d thought it would be.