This Is Your Life (25 page)

             
But he didn’t.

             
‘It’s timing,’ Julia had told her.  ‘There’s something in his life he’s holding on to… All you can do is let him go, Lizzie.  If it’s meant to be, he’ll find you.’

             
‘But it just seemed so…right,’ said a baffled Lizzie, struggling to find the right word.

             
‘Oh Lizzie… not if it isn’t for Tom…’

Life was definitely back to normal again, Lizzie thought to herself. Well, almost…She still felt let down – she couldn’t help it.  What she thought she’d sensed between her and Tom was unresolved, but the last thing she needed was another screwed up man. 
Get over him,
she told herself,
he’s no different. They’re all the same...
And actually, amazingly, it seemed she had.

Work
had very briefly quietened, but not for very long. No sooner was one party over, than the next one loomed. Edward’s.  Ginny had been on the phone, double checking that the garden was on schedule. Lizzie had hastened to reassure her, hiding the sudden sense of panic because actually, the party was next weekend.  Since finding Ginny an emotional wreck, Lizzie had become quietly admiring of her stoical brightness, and the smiling, if botoxed, face that she always presented to the world. So many women simply couldn’t do that, thought Lizzie, though somehow she suspected that Edward hadn’t heard the end of this.

              After Miriam’s anxious phone-call, Lizzie had driven up to Hethecote to see her.  Even mid-week the farm was busy and Miriam was looking flustered.

             
‘Oh Lizzie, it’s awfully good of you to come, but I’m afraid I can’t stop.’

             
‘Don’t worry – I’ll help for a bit.  What would you like me to do?’

             
Despatched to a distant field to catch Hairy Mary and another small pony, as Lizzie wandered back she was thinking.  Supervising loads of people interacting with the animals just wasn’t practical – there weren’t the staff.  But they badly needed the income… they had to think of something.

              ‘Gin, Lizzie?’ asked Miriam when they’d closed and pouring herself a double.

             
‘Just a small one,’ said Lizzie, who knew Miriam’s gins.  ‘You see, I’ve been thinking…’

             
Miriam listened carefully as Lizzie outlined her idea.  Her suggestion was that Miriam should keep two or three days a week where people had to book and offer unlimited, escorted access to the animals.  That way she could plan the number of helpers available.  The rest of the time anyone could just turn up and wander around the farm on their own like before, gardens included.  

At the end
Miriam sounded doubtful.  ‘I just don’t know… It’s quite a change… We’d have to make sure everyone knew… Would we charge more for the bookings?’

Lizzie nodded.
‘But you could still offer discounts to your special cases…’

‘
I don’t know…I’ll think about it.’

Lizzie called in on Antonia to run the idea past her, and noticed not only Tim’s but Leo’s cars, parked outside on the lane.  And as she walked into Antonia’s kitchen it became clear it was the fateful day. 

‘Darling!  Everyone’s here, isn’t it marvellous?  Have a glass of wine and come and watch!’
  Antonia was full of enthusiasm.

Tim was washing his hands.  ‘Hi Lizzie!’

Leo stood in the corner of the kitchen and winked at her, as sexy as ever, even in filthy jeans and smelling like a farmyard. He gave Lizzie one of his self-effacing smiles which utterly failed to impress. And in another corner stood Dave, glaring suspiciously at all of them.

‘Um Antonia,
I can’t believe this is really happening in your kitchen…’ said a disbelieving Lizzie.

‘Why the devil not?’ said Antonia utterly perplexed.

‘Anyway, this isn’t why I came round,’ said Lizzie.  ‘Look, it’s Miriam.  There’s been an influx of visitors at the farm!  She’s worried about coping with them all.  I had this idea that she could open for two days the way she used to – you know, showing people around and helping the children handle the animals, and the rest of the time, anyone can just turn up.  What do you think?’

‘Golly darling… is she really that busy?
’

‘It’s a good idea, Lizzie,’ called Tim across the kitchen.  ‘If she wants to make more money, something’s got to change. 
‘I’ll call in tomorrow and have a chat with her.’

‘Antonia…what’s this?’  Lizzie had spied what looked like a manuscript spread across the end of the table.

‘Oh darling, you absolutely have to read it!  It’s Cindy’s book!  It’s a thriller – frightfully exciting!  About a serial murderer called Kevin.  Her ex-husband’s Kevin! I bet it’s about him!  It’s really quite deliciously scandalous…’

After it was all over, Dave came too, lying groggily in a corner of the kitchen on an old blanket, minus two rather impressive attributes.

‘I may as well have
them for the dogs,’ said Antonia casually. ‘They’d love them. No point in them going to waste...’

Leo obediently fished them out of a bucket and passed them to her
as if they were apples, as Lizzie looked on appalled.

‘
Thanks awfully,’ said Antonia, taking them and putting them in the fridge. ‘Gosh, jolly big aren’t they?’ she added.

‘
Now, shall we all go to the pub?  I’m meeting Tobes….Shall I see you all down there?’

              ‘Leo? Any plans?’

‘No.
Just been stood up actually...’ He looked up from his mobile, puzzled.  Lizzie and Tim laughed.

‘It
’s something that happens to us mere mortals, mate,’ said Tim.  ‘Though judging from your face, I guess not to you?’

Leo’s face was indeed a picture. ‘Her husband got home early. Oh well, plenty more fish in the sea.’

Lizzie gasped, just as Leo winked at her. ‘Don’t look so shocked!  Actually I’m worth the trouble… as you’d find out if you gave me half a chance...’ he added, his meaning adequately clear.

‘Look, I think I better stay and keep an eye on Da
ve for a bit,’ said Tim. ‘Just until Cassie gets home.  I’ll see you down there in a while.’

As they walked outside,
Leo turned to Lizzie, grinned lasciviously and waggled his eyebrows at her. She gave him a stern look. Now that she no longer harboured obscene fantasies about him, she refused to put up with his nonsense.

‘No funny stuff. Or I’ll tell everybody about your escapades with Matilda
Blenkinsopp. Oh yes, I know who stood you up. I’ve been doing her garden for the last six months and you’re not exactly discrete... Ha! You didn’t know that did you...’

Leo held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Some girls were no fun at all, he thought, but
actually Lizzie was alright. Rather like one of his sisters.

‘In that case, if you’re really not going to succumb to my manly charms,
can I at least buy you a drink?’

He
wasn’t all bad, thought Lizzie.  At least he seemed a good vet.  Then she had an idea. 

‘Leo? Are you free next weekend?’ Leo’s ears pricked up.
  Had she changed her mind? But any licentious thoughts were soon crushed, as Lizzie continued. 

‘Saturday night? To come to a party with me?
As my guest? It’s a client of mine, so you would have to promise to be on your absolutely very best behaviour...’

Famous last words.
And Leo never could resist a party.

Dave was very quiet for a couple of days
, barely baa-ing at all. And walking with his back legs spread very wide apart, he looked like a cowboy from an old John Wayne film, which Antonia found hilarious.

Ginny’s
awful mother had thankfully long since departed and thanks to some assistance from Alice, Lizzie had nearly finished the planting.  Ginny, however had gone missing.

‘I’m not sure where she
is,’ said Alice.  ‘She was being quite mysterious.  I think she’s up to something – Mummy doesn’t do mysterious very well.’

Ginny rushed back in due course, the highlighted hair slightly dishevelled and with what looked like a damp patch on her lilac jeans. Her face was looking a lot less taut, noticed Lizzie and she was carrying a small, ginger bundle which she held out to her daughter.

‘Oh Mummy…’

‘It’s yours, my dear little Alice…’

‘Oh…’ 
Alice gently stroked the little creature which stared back at her out of the widest eyes. ‘Thank you Mummy!  So much!  I’ve always wanted a kitten…’  She frowned.  ‘But what will Daddy say? Isn’t he allergic to cats?’

‘Nonsense,’ squeaked Ginny dismissively. ‘Complete poppycock.  All that
twaddle about allergies is nothing but a load of old codswallop.  He doesn’t like the hairs on his trousers, that’s all.’

So the gloves were off then
.  Edward better be watching his back...  

‘She’s all yours darling,’ said Ginny, practically purring herself.
‘She was bred by a woman with a funny sounding name… Mrs…’

‘Einstein?’ said Lizzie.  Her cats seemed to be
all over the place.

‘That’s it! 
Now how did you know that! You’ll have to think of a name for her...’ she said to Alice.

But
Alice had a grin on her face. ‘Tom’, she said, giggling. ‘I’m going to call her Tom.’

‘Don’t be silly darling, that’s a boy’s name,’ Ginny looked confused.

But Lizzie got it. Alice was about to drive those annoying sisters of hers completely up the wall.

Much later that afternoon, Lizzie called in
on Bella Woodleigh. The marquee had been dismantled and there was little to indicate the wedding had ever happened, except for the missing delphiniums.

Lizzie found
her in the garden, looking more lady of the manor than she usually did in a long linen skirt and battered floppy hat, wandering around slightly distractedly as she did the last bit of tidying up.

‘Lizzie!
How lovely! Honestly, if I’d known how tiring this would all be, I might just have thought twice…Come and have a drink. I have the first photos from the wedding. Would you like to see them?’

Bella couldn’t help but notice how Lizzie's cheeks flushed with pink as she handed her the pictures of Tom.  How handsome he looked in that morning suit… but then he was her son. She'd also with great interest noticed them together at the wedding. With surprise too, given Tom’s usual type of girlfriend. But perhaps now was not the time to mention anything, so instead, ever diplomatic, she got onto the subject of her next project.

‘Now Lizzie dear, what I’d really like you to do is come and look at
my favourite corner of garden.  No-one else in the family takes any notice of it, but I think that perhaps you might understand…’

They wandered
back outside and through an arch in the wall that Lizzie hadn’t seen before. ‘It’s in here. Horribly neglected, I’m ashamed to say, but please tell me honestly what you think...’

Lizzie took a deep breath
as her eyes took it all in. It was beautiful - and crumbling. But an air of derelict grandeur had remained, with a small pond built of stone in the centre, its walls collapsed in places, but careful planting would both draw the eye and compliment the decay. It needed to stay a bit wild, thought Lizzie. Perhaps Bella was right when she had imagined making it look a bit like her own garden at home.

‘I absolutely love it, and I think I know exactly what to do…’
 

Bella nodded. She
’d guessed Lizzie would feel the magic of her own favourite corner of these enormous gardens. Listening enthralled as Lizzie outlined how she’d plant this rose here, and that particular one over there because it was low growing and would thrive where the wall was tumbling down. How she’d throw wildflower seeds to flourish where it suited them and place a bench in the furthest corner where it would catch the evening sun.

As they walked back to the house,
something was puzzling Bella. 

‘
It’s none of my business Lizzie, but how did you end up living in Littleton? It’s barely on the map and you have to admit, it is a little odd…’ She broke off and looked at Lizzie.

Hesitating only briefly,
Lizzie told Bella about Jamie. It seemed ridiculous now to think they’d been a couple. She even told her about her mother, and Bella’s heart went out to her. She described how she’d decided on a career change, and uncannily, how she’d stumbled across Littleton completely by accident before she knew she even needed somewhere.