More to Life Than This Read online

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘It’s for the best,’ Kate said kindly.

  Sonia looked extremely miserable. ‘He’s probably gay,’ she said.

  ‘He’s about to get married.’

  ‘It’s a well-known fact that ninety-five per cent of gay men are married.’

  ‘I think you’re getting mixed up with it’s a well-known fact that household bleach kills ninety-five per cent of all known germs.’

  Sonia’s head sank towards her chest. ‘I knew it was something like that.’

  ‘Come on.’ Kate helped Sonia up, heaving the dead weight of her friend’s arm over her slender shoulders.

  ‘Why does no one fancy me, Katie?’ Sonia asked tearfully. ‘Not even my own husband. I can smoulder along with the rest of them, can’t I?’

  ‘It’s actually the carpet that’s smouldering,’ Kate said with alarm as she bent to retrieve a glowing cigarette butt from the floor. Stubbing it out in the ashtray, she added it to the pile of dog ends with a wrinkle of her nose.

  Sonia began to cry. ‘He’s never going to love me now,’ she sniffed. ‘I’ve made a complete fool of myself.’

  ‘No, you haven’t. You would never have been compatible. Sam said he was a wood element.’

  ‘You mean he’s a complete blockhead?’

  ‘Probably.’

  Sonia brightened considerably. ‘What element do you think I am?’ she asked as they lurched towards her bedroom.

  ‘Quite possibly putty,’ Kate said.

  ‘I’m going to change,’ Sonia swore. ‘I’m only going to love Tim from now on. I know he wouldn’t win a Fabio look-alike competition, and he may be a boring old fart sometimes, but I could do a lot worse. He is the mother of my children, after all, a good provider and he makes a mean chicken curry when the occasion warrants it.’ She burped at the thought of it.

  ‘I think it’s a wise decision.’

  If it was so damn wise, why couldn’t she feel the same about Jeffrey? Why did she lie awake at night tormented by feelings of darkest longing for Ben Mahler? All that Sonia had needed was the oblivion of Sambuca to find the answer. Why couldn’t life be as simple for her, poor confused Kate Lewis?

  chapter 28

  There was a limit to how many fish fingers one could reasonably consume in a lifetime, Tim decided, and he was fast approaching it. And, by the expression on the boys’ faces, so were they.

  ‘Can’t we go to McDonald’s?’ Andrew pleaded.

  ‘No,’ Tim replied, juggling the fish fingers onto a plate while trying not to burn his own fingers. ‘You’ll be late for school. ‘It was Thursday morning and his cupboard was bare.

  ‘But I don’t want fish fingers for breakfast,’ Daniel joined in the rebellion. ‘We had them for tea last night and they were horrible then. You don’t even cook them right like Mummy does. She doesn’t do them with black bits round the edges.’

  ‘Look,’ Tim ran his hand through his hair. ‘The cereal’ s run out, there’s no bread and I can’t find anything else vaguely edible, unless you count dried pasta. So fish fingers it is.’

  ‘What are we having with them?’

  ‘Beans.’

  They both grimaced. ‘Can’t we just have the beans without the fish fingers?’

  Tim thought for a moment. ‘No,’ he said decisively. ‘I’ve cooked them now. If you want to eat off the à la carte menu, you have to order beforehand.’

  ‘Can’t we go to the supermarket?’ Andrew ventured. ‘It’s very easy. You just fill a trolley up with things you like and then pay the lady at the end. Mummy does it all the time.’

  ‘I do know what supermarket shopping entails,’ Tim snapped. ‘I have been once or twice.’ But he had to admit to himself he couldn’t quite recall the last time he had graced Safeway’s with his manly presence.

  Daniel’s lip started to quiver. ‘I want Mummy to come home now,’ he said, sounding sniffly. ‘I don’t like her being away doing tea cup anymore.’

  ‘T’ai Chi,’ his brother corrected.

  ‘I don’t care what it is,’ Daniel wailed.

  ’I miss her.’

  Tim agreed with Daniel’s sentiments wholeheartedly. He too was missing Sonia desperately. The dishwasher was full and so was the sink. These were the last clean plates and there were no mugs left, except the prissy ones with geraniums on that her mother had bought them and they were always the last resort. The laundry basket in the bathroom was stuffed fit to burst and was reeking of little boys’ socks. He had even lain awake in bed last night missing the feel of her ice-cold feet tickling against the back of his legs in an effort to get warm.

  ‘How many more getting-ups is it before she comes home?’

  ‘Only two,’ Tim said brusquely. ‘She’ll be home on Saturday.’

  ‘But that’s ages away,’ Daniel whined.

  ‘I want her to come home now.’

  ‘Well, she can’t,’ his father said. He eyed the fish fingers and a spark lit up in his brain. A slow sneaky smile spread across his lips. ‘Unless…’

  They were in McDonald’s fortifying themselves for the master plan with Big Macs, chips and solidified banana milk shakes. It was 8:30 a.m.

  ‘Now,’ Tim said. They all leaned their elbows on the table and the boys listened attentively. ‘Which one of you is going to stay at home and which one of you is going to school? Shall we toss for it?’

  ‘Why can’t we both stay at home? That way she’s more likely to rush back,’ Andrew reasoned. ‘If she gets a move on, she could be back in time to cook our lunch.’

  Tim considered this carefully. It was very true. And if they were both at home it was less likely that sibling rivalry would come into play and also less likely that one of them would spill the beans. And if the beans were spilled, blood would also follow.

  ‘Remember,’ he warned, with a severe pointing of his finger, ‘we are all dead men if your mother so much as gets the slightest whiff of a rat. Are you with me?’

  ‘Yes, Dad.’ They both nodded their heads.

  ‘I mean it,’ he said sternly.

  The nodding reached epidemic proportions.

  ‘Just do it,’ Daniel said solemnly.

  ‘Okay,’ Tim said. ‘Step one of Operation Mummy Come Home. Countdown.’

  ‘Five, four, three, two, one,’ they all said together. ‘Go!’

  Tim pulled his mobile phone out of his pocket.

  chapter 29

  ‘I’m not very well,’ Sonia wailed.

  ‘I’m not very surprised,’ Kate said.

  Her friend was kneeling on her bathroom floor with her head in the toilet bowl, making alarming noises and revisiting her Sambuca experience from the inside out.

  She pulled her hair back from her face and eyed Kate groggily. ‘I can’t believe it took just one little drink to get me so plastered.’

  ‘Yes, but I think it was the ninth or tenth of those little drinks that tipped you over the edge.’

  ‘Are there many calories in Sambuca?’ Sonia asked queasily. ‘I wouldn’t worry, most of the ones you consumed are heading out of Buckinghamshire’s main sewer and towards the North Sea by now.’

  ‘I’ll never drink again,’ she said, panting heavily.

  ‘Oh, I expect you will.’ Kate sat on the edge of the bath and ran the dampened face-cloth over her friend’s forehead.

  ‘Never,’ Sonia groaned. ‘Never again will that poisonous stuff pass my lips.’ She looked at Kate with red-rimmed eyes. ‘How ever am I going to face Sam? He’ll think I’m such an idiot. Why didn’t you stop me? You’re supposed to be my friend.’

  Sonia sagged to the floor and Kate lifted her gently up again.

  ‘I’m not enjoying this T’ai Chi business,’ Sonia told her miserably. ‘I knew all along it wasn’t my thing. I’m much better with something that involves loud disco music and mirrors. I don’t think I’m cut out for meditation. I hate being a bloody white crane.’ Sonia started to cry. ‘And I miss my lovely boys,’ she waile
d.’ and I miss my lovely Tim.’

  Kate was wishing she could make her friend feel better when the bedroom telephone started to ring. ‘I’ll get that,’ she said, gratefully slipping out of the bathroom.

  After a moment, she popped her head back round the door. Sonia was now lying slumped against the bath. ‘It’s Tim,’ she said. ‘Are you in a fit state to speak to him?’

  Sonia grabbed the receiver. ‘Sweetie,’ she cooed. ‘How are you? How are the boys?’ Her face was suddenly ashen. She turned to Kate. ‘My babies are ill,’ she whispered.

  Kate sat down next to her friend. ‘What’s wrong with them?’ she asked.

  ‘What’s wrong with them?’ Sonia asked Tim. She turned back to Kate. ‘They’re spotty!’

  ‘Spotty?’ Kate said. ‘They’ve had chickenpox and measles, haven’t they?’

  ‘Both.’

  Kate scratched her chin. ‘It could be an allergy.’

  ‘Kate thinks it might be an allergy.’ Sonia held her hand over the receiver. ‘He thinks it’s worse than an allergy.’

  There was a stifled muttering from the other end of the phone.

  ‘Much worse,’ Sonia stressed.

  ‘Has he called out the doctor?’

  ‘Have you called out the doctor?’ she demanded. ‘He says they’re asking for me.’ Sonia’s eyes filled with tears. ‘They need me.’

  ‘Then I think we’d better get your bag packed.’

  ‘I’m coming home,’ she cried down the phone. ‘Tell them Mummy’s coming.’ Sonia replaced the receiver and sniffed into a piece of toilet roll. ‘He’s going to leave them with Mrs Shaw while he comes to get me.’

  ‘I could have taken you,’ Kate insisted.

  ‘No, no, it’s fine. But I feel really bad leaving you,’ Sonia said, flinging clothes into her case so fast that her hands were blurred. ‘I know how much you wanted me to come.’

  ‘I’ll be okay. It’s only another two days.’ Only another two days with Ben.

  Sonia stopped the unending river of clothes midstream. ‘A lot can happen in two days.’

  ‘Look,’ Kate reasoned, ‘I’ve been on this planet for thirty-five years and not a lot has happened. I think I’ll be safe on my own.’ Will I?

  Her friend continued her packing, her hangover getting better by the minute. ‘Go and have some breakfast. Tim will be here by the time you’ve finished.’

  ‘I couldn’t leave you,’ Kate said. ‘I’ll wait here.’

  ‘Aren’t you starving?’

  ‘No. I’m fine.’

  ‘Couldn’t you just eat a nice juicy fat sausage?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You might see Ben.’

  Kate leaned back on the bed and regarded her friend.

  ‘Does this mean, by any chance, that you want a nice juicy fat sausage?’

  Sonia looked up. ‘Well, now you come to mention it, I am a bit peckish.’

  Regurgitated Sambuca obviously didn’t spoil the appetite. But then with Sonia, not a lot did.

  ‘Why don’t I go and get us both some breakfast and bring it back here?’ she offered.

  Sonia grinned. ‘What a jolly splendid idea.’

  Kate was leaving the dining room with a tray piled high with toast, sausages and a pot of tea, when Ben appeared round the corner. His hair was still wet from the shower and his skin had that just-shaved glow. He was so unbearably handsome he made her legs go all quivery.

  His smile was warm and friendly again and she was relieved that the coolness which had sprung up yesterday seemed to have disappeared just as quickly. She wanted to touch his damp skin, his smooth cheek, and run her fingers along the firm contour of his jaw.

  ‘Breakfast in bed?’ he asked chirpily.

  ‘Room service for Sonia.’ Kate nodded at the sausages. ‘Apparently they’re the best cure for a Sambuca hangover.’

  ‘Sambuca?’

  ‘Yes.’ She gave him a look that said, ‘You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.’ ‘Last night she took it upon herself to try to make The Cloisters a little less cloistered.’

  ‘Did she succeed?’

  ‘Admirably.’

  Ben chuckled. ‘I can believe it. I was going to come into the bar last night. When I got back.’

  ‘I wish you had.’ She looked up at him and his eyes answered hers.

  ‘I wasn’t late,’ he said.

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I thought it was better if I went straight to bed. Alone,’ he added.

  ‘Oh.’ Kate shifted the weight of the tray to her hip.

  ‘Shall I carry that for you?’

  ‘No, thanks. I can manage.’ Kate laughed. ‘If you had come back into the bar last night, you could have helped me to carry Sonia.’ She shuffled uncomfortably. ‘She’ll be wondering where I am.’

  ‘I take it she won’t be at the first session this morning.’

  ‘She’s leaving,’ Kate said. ‘Her husband has just phoned to say the boys aren’t very well.’

  Ben’s face creased with concern. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  ‘I’m not entirely sure Sonia was,’ Kate answered. ‘I doubt it’s anything serious. You see, our Sam was an unwitting part of the Sambuca experience and I don’t think she knew quite how she was going to face him this morning. It only sounds like the kids have got a bit of a rash, but Sonia took it as a perfect excuse to hightail it out of here.’

  ‘Now she’ll never know the meaning of life.’

  ‘I actually think she does,’ Kate said. Or, at least, she’s a darn sight closer to it than I am. and she’s lucky to have found out so soon. Kate shuffled on the stone floor. ‘Did your business go well?’

  ‘My what?’

  ‘Your business meeting. Last night.’

  ‘Oh, that.’ Ben looked guilty. ‘Yes, fine.’

  ‘I’d better be going,’ Kate said. ‘There’s nothing worse than cold tea.’

  ‘Cold toast?’ Ben suggested.

  She grinned. ‘We’ll have both in a minute, if I don’t get a move on.’

  It was Ben’s turn to scuff the floor. ‘Are you going to be on your own tonight then?’ he asked and she thought she saw him blush faintly.

  ‘Well,’ she hesitated. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Perhaps we can escape,’ he said in a slightly shaky voice. ‘Leave the fur fabric-ers behind and be by ourselves for a while.’

  ‘Mmm,’ she said and hoped that he’d heard it because it barely came out.

  ‘I’ll see you later then.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Ben winked at her and went into the dining room.

  Her hands were trembling so much that the teacups were rattling in their saucers. What did ‘a while’ mean? An hour? Two hours? The whole night?

  Kate set off back to the bedroom with the tray. Sonia might have the constitution of an ox, but the way Kate’s insides were lurching, there was no way that these sausages were ever going to pass her lips. She looked at the mountainous tray of congealing food. Oh well, all the more for Sonia to take to Weight Watchers the minute she got home.

  chapter 30

  They watched Tim’s car pull up outside the bedroom annexe and Sonia wiped a smear of sausage grease from her mouth.

  ‘He’s here,’ she said excitedly as she clunked her suitcase closed.

  ‘Are you sure you’ve got everything?’ Kate asked. ‘The lilo and the bikini?’

  Sonia nodded confidently.

  ‘The evening dress and the hiking boots?’

  ‘I think so.’ Frowning, her friend checked round her room. ‘Are you going to be all right on your own?’

  ‘I’ll be fine.’

  Sonia grinned. ‘I’m sure Ben will look after you.’

  Kate felt herself flush. ‘Don’t keep Tim waiting.’

  There was a knock at the door and one very harassed-looking husband stood on the other side of it.

  ‘Are they okay?’ Sonia said, her voice high with worry.

  Tim’s face had anxiety writte
n all over it. ‘They’re fine,’ he said breathlessly. ‘They need you. We all need you.’

  Sonia fell into his arms and he held her tightly, squeezing her as if he never wanted to let her go. Over his wife’s shoulder Tim’s face broke into a cheeky grin and he winked wickedly at Kate.

  ‘Rotter!’ Kate mouthed.

  ‘Desperate!’ Tim mouthed back. He tenderly wiped a tear from Sonia’s cheek. ‘Let’s get you home,’ he said.

  Sonia and Kate trailed after him as he carried her cases to the car and loaded them into the boot. It was another glorious morning. Outside in the courtyard the ornate fountain tinkled merrily into the large pond in front of the bedrooms, encouraged by the gentle breeze. Kate kicked aimlessly at the gravel that spilled over the edge of the path.

  ‘Have you seen Jeffrey this week?’ she asked casually.

  ‘We went to the golf club for a drink on Tuesday.’

  So that’s where he was. ‘Did he seem okay?’

  Tim flushed guiltily. ‘You know Jeffrey.’

  Kate’s brow creased to a frown. I thought I did. ‘Is he missing me?’

  ‘Like the desert misses the rain.’

  She smirked reluctantly. ‘Charmer.’

  Tim fluttered his eyelashes. Sonia was wringing her hands together and fidgeting from foot to foot.

  ‘I hope the boys are better soon,’ Kate said. Personally, she thought they’d be recovered beyond recognition, given an hour or two.

  Sonia squeezed her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry,’ she advised. ‘You’ll crack that white crane thing. It’s easy. Just relax.’

  Relax. It’s easy. Since the minute she’d clapped eyes on Ben Mahler, every fibre of Kate’s body had been on red alert. Relaxation, like cellulite-free thighs, appeared to be a thing of the past.

  ‘Well, I’ve got plenty more chances to practise today,’ she said. ‘Speaking of which,’ Kate glanced at her watch, ‘I’d better get a wiggle on. Class is about to start.’

  ‘Which of the five elephants are you trying to harness today?’

  Kate searched her brain. ‘Wood.’

  ‘I won’t miss much then, I’m already as thick as two short planks!’

  ‘Apparently, it’s to do with blossoming and growing.’

  Sonia looked at her earnestly. ‘I hope it helps then.’