It was flaming June and Claire Andrews was in love and she was very happy about it, she never imagined she would fall in love again especially with someone who loved her too, and the love making wasn’t at all bad either.
The practice was
going from strength to strength and everything in the garden was lovely.
But when Olivia
knocked on her front door before work on the morning of the last day of the
month she feared the worst.
She took a breath
and then opened it.
“Hi Liv” she said
“Hey Claire can I
come in a minute, I have something to tell you” she said
“Sure” Claire
replied definitely fearing the worst
“The thing is” she
began
“What?” Claire
said with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach
“I’m dating the
vicar” she blurted
“Thank God” Claire
said and laughed “I thought you were going to leave”
“What do you
think?” she asked ignoring Claire’s comment
“I think I
couldn’t be happier” Claire said and kissed her
Then as Olivia was
going out the door she stopped and asked
“Why would I be
leaving?”
“It was just the
way you said it” Claire said and laughed
Flaming June
turned into a humid and oppressive July but still everything in Claire’s garden
was lovely.
Even her stubborn
broken soldier Paul Spreadborough was making good progress under the diligent supervision
of India Harris.
One night at the
end of July there was a knock on the cottage door and when she opened it Olivia
was standing there
“Hey Claire I have
something else to tell you” she said
“Sure” Claire
replied definitely really fearing the worst this time “are you sure you’re not
leaving?”
“No, I’m
definitely not leaving” Olivia said with a smile “What is your obsession with
me leaving?”
“Nothing Hun” Claire
said “Carry on”
“I’m engaged”
“You’re what?”
Claire said unsure of what she had heard
“I’m engaged to
the Vicar” she blurted
“Good God woman
you work fast” Claire said and laughed before the two friends hugged
“I’m so pleased”
Claire said and then they both cried
Two days later
Claire and Olivia went on an all-day shopping trip to Abbottsford including a
long leisurely lunch in the Phoenix Centre.
The lunch was to
celebrate Liv’s engagement and the shopping trip was for them both to buy
wedding outfits.
Not for Olivia’s
nuptials but for the wedding of a mutual friend that they were attending a
couple of weeks later.
They had a
wonderful girlie day out, something they hadn’t done for an age and both of
them found perfect outfits complete with hats and Olivia saw something that
would serve for another occasion.
A week later Paul Spreadborough,
the wounded soldier, had a bit of a setback.
It was the day
after he had completed his first complete circuit of the perimeter road around
Teardrop Lake with his minder, India Harris.
He had a slight
muscle strain in his repaired hip and Claire had no choice but to ban him from any
high impact exercise for a while, he wasn’t happy about it to say the least, he
was getting so close to turning the corner and then wham a major setback.
But India Harris
came up with the solution and got him swimming in the lake.
And Paul and India
swam in the lake every day for the next week until Claire passed him fit to
resume heavy exercise.
Claire spotted India
when she called into the surgery one day to pick up a repeat prescription of
her mums migraine tablets.
She approached her
from behind and then tapped her on the shoulder and made India jump.
“Hello Indie” she
said
“Hi doc” India
replied
“Well done for
what you’re doing with Paul” she said “He’s coming on in leaps and bounds”
“That’s ok” India
replied a little embarrassed
“And getting him
to swim was pure genius” she continued
“I wish I’d
thought of that”
Then she went back
into her room.
Three weeks into
August bright and early on Saturday morning Claire and Olivia set off when
Evangeline left a warm bed and a hot girlfriend to drive them to the station.
They were
travelling back to Bushy Down for the wedding at St Lucy’s Church of their
friends Harry Beaumont and Pandora Parkinson-Brown.
Pandy was only
able to marry in church by virtue of the fact her husband died of a heart
attack before she could divorce him.
Claire was
disappointed that Peter couldn’t make it as it was the first social event she
had been invited to since they got together and it would have been nice to have
her boyfriend at her side.
She liked the way
that sounded “her boyfriend” so she repeated it her head several times.
Unfortunately,
Peter was going to be working in Abbottsford overseeing production on a
location shoot.
Ben couldn’t
accompany Olivia either as he was already attending three weddings that day in Shallowfield.
It was not a
direct journey but they thought the train would be more relaxing than driving.
They got the slow
train from Shallowfield to Abbottsford then a fast train to Kiddingstone and
then another slow one to Bushy Down.
When they arrived
in the village they paused as they left the station and took in the view that
was so familiar view to them.
Claire liked Bushy
Down, she always had, and she had some very happy memories there and some sad
ones too and quite a considerable amount of dirty ones too thanks to the local
lothario, Simon Fisher.
They looked across
the car park to the general store, once called Mahajak’s
after the widow’s old husband Omid, now named Zunguzah’s after her new one,
Alois.
Olivia looked at Claire and smiled and then
they both walked to the Cross Keys where they were going to get changed and
spend the night after the reception.
Eric Wilson was
still the Landlord and his wife Carol still ran the B&B.
The moment they walked through the door they
were warmly welcomed and it was like they had never been away.
After a typical Cross Keys lunch and some
congenial conversation Carol settled them into their rooms so they could get
changed for the wedding.
The Church was more than half full by the time
Claire and Olivia arrived in their brand new outfits and they sat down in the
first vacant seats they came to and found themselves sitting next to the vicar
Robert Hunter and his wife Tilly.
Tilly had married
her vicar, Robert, and the beneficial side effect of that marriage, was that it
finally rid of her birth name Ophelia Bushe which was a source of great
embarrassment to her especially in her youth.
They exchanged
greetings, hugs, kisses and polite small talk before Olivia asked
“Are you not
performing today Robert?”
“No” he said “it’s
my day off”
“You get a day
off?” Olivia asked
“Yes I have a
curate” said Robert “so we divide the workload which is great and he’s very
keen so it allows me to spend more time with my lovely wife”
“Oh how sweet”
Tilly said
And Olivia said something
to herself that Claire didn’t quite catch.
Looking around the
pews there were a sea of familiar faces, many of them old friends and acquaintances
plus there was an odd adversary.
The Bridegrooms
brother Mortimer and soon to be wife Judith Hunt were the first two who caught
their eye.
Then Geoffrey and
Laura Gregory, Victoria Braithwaite, India Carrington and her girlfriend Maisie
Stewart and India’s parent’s Cecil and Clemence.
The Zunguzah’s, from the shop, who had already
started on the next generation of little shopkeepers with two small children in
tow.
Dakota Browning
and fiancé Tristan Bushe, Beryl Beamish, The Conway sisters and last but by no
means least Simon Fisher.
The man with whom
both Claire and Olivia had previously had congress.
Not that either
one knew the others secret.
A lot of very
salacious thoughts passed through her mind as Claire’s gaze fell on her ex-lover
Simon, who was there with his young wife Georgia and her eyes stayed on him for
longer than was necessary and the pictures in her head grew more and more
lurid.
She snapped out of
her trance and chastised herself for having such lustful thought in Gods house.
And she felt Katie
Olivia’s gaze from above and she smiled.
As she averted her
gaze she noticed Olivia was still watching Simon intently and all of a sudden
she blushed beetroot red, so goodness knows what she was thinking.
“Are you alright?”
Claire asked
“Yes it’s just
very warm in here” she lied
Claire didn’t
think it was particularly warm but thought no more of it.
The ceremony was
wonderful and Pandora looked stunning, she always was a beautiful woman, and
there were many tears before, during and after.
More tears
followed at the reception as old friendships were rekindled.
After the meal,
speeches and toasts Claire and Olivia hardly saw each other as they headed in
opposite directions around the ballroom to mingle.
As they chatted
their separate routes around the busy room at the Golf Club, they renewed
acquaintances and drank a liberally.
Even Agnes Snipe,
the snooty and aloof commercial manager of the club, took time to exchange
pleasantries.
On her way around
during the reception Claire spent some little while in deep conversation with
Tilly while her husband Robert Hunter was being interrogated by Olivia on the
opposite side of the room.
She must have
spoken to the entire population of Bushy Down that afternoon, in fact the only
person she didn’t speak with was Simon.
By the end of the
night she and Olivia were quite tiddly.
The next morning
they were up bright and early and although a little jaded from the night before
they still took full advantage of one of Carol Wilsons world renowned full
English breakfasts.
After breakfast
they packed for the trip home but they left their bags at the pub while they
attended the Sunday service.
As they walked
across the road they saw Judith Hunt coming along the path.
She was a small
woman with disproportionately large breasts and a heart and personality to match,
Judith Hunt was one of the angels.
“Hello you two”
she said “I thought you’d gone already”
“Hi Jude” Claire
said “No we’re getting the train after church”
“Oh it’s a rotten
service on a Sunday” she said
“What, at St
Lucy’s?” Claire said
“No, I meant the
trains” Jude said and laughed
“I’ll drive you
over to Kiddingstone”
“Are you sure?”
Olivia said
“That’s very kind”
Claire added
“Not at all” she
insisted
After the service
they said their goodbyes at the Church and walked over to the pub while Judith returned
home to get the car.
On the journey
over they laughed as they reminisced about the good old days.
At Kiddingstone
station they stood on the pavement and she said
“It’s been so
lovely to see you both again”
“You too Jude”
Claire said and kissed her
Then Olivia did
the same
“I hope you will
come next year when Morty and I tie the knot” she said
“We wouldn’t miss
it for the world” Liv said
They left Judith
on the pavement dabbing her eyes with a hankie and went straight through to the
platform.
Almost to the
second that the Abbottsford train pulled out of the station Claire fell asleep.
She was exhausted
thanks to a late night and a great deal of wine.
Claire woke up
with a start the second the train came to a stop at the buffers and was as
fresh as a daisy.
They disembarked
and Olivia stood on the concourse with the bags while Claire went to spend a
penny and then they swapped places.
As Claire stood
there watching all the comings and goings she saw someone she thought she knew
but she dismissed it instantly.
This person was
hugging and kissing goodbye a woman and a child.
The man waved to
them as they passed through the gate and then turned in her direction and
that’s when she knew it was him and all of a sudden everything in the garden
was definitely not lovely.
Olivia returned
and the picked up the bags, if she noticed the fact that Claire had been crying
she didn’t mention it.
They walked to
platform 8, showed their tickets and boarded the waiting train.
Claire was
practically silence all the way back to Shallowfield, and as they passed
through the penultimate station Olivia said
“Do you want me to
ring Eva?”
“What?” Claire
replied
“Do you want me to
ring Eva?” she repeated “Or shall we get a cab?”
“We’ll get a cab”
Claire replied flatly
It was close to
four in the afternoon when they disembarked in Shallowfield and Claire didn’t
say much as they walked to the taxi rank and she said even less in the cab.
Claire was
seething inside at being played for a fool in fact she was even angrier at
herself for allowing it to happen.
They got out of
the cab and Olivia settled the fare and Claire went straight inside without
speaking and once inside she burst into tears.
She lay on her bed
sobbing for the best part of two hours and when she was all cried out she got
up and had a long hot soak in the bath and then she cried some more.
Afterwards she
didn’t bother dressing she just put on her toweling dressing gown and wrapped a
towel around her head.
When she felt like
she was going to cry again she got up and went to the kitchen.
It was as she
stood at the kitchen sink that she saw the swine pull up outside the cottage.
Peter got out of
the passenger seat, she couldn’t see who was driving, and walked towards the
cottage.
And she was ready
for him.
He knocked on the
door and she opened it immediately.
“Hello darling” he
said and leant in to kiss her but she backed away.
“Is everything
alright?” he asked as he stepped in and closed the door.
“Why shouldn’t it
be?” she snapped
“Amanda and I have
just got back and we thought we’d grab a bite at the Brown Windsor” he said
“I’ve been trying
to ring you for hours”
“I turned my phone
off” she replied tartly
“Are you sure
there isn’t something wrong?”
“Of course there’s
nothing wrong you cheating bastard” she shouted and through a cushion at him
which hit him square in the face.
But that just made
her even angrier because she hadn’t thrown something heavier.
“What do you mean,
darling?” he said and ducked as another cushion came his way.
“What is going
on?”
“I should be
asking you that” she shouted
“I really don’t
understand” he said and sat down heavily in a chair
“I saw you” she
said and slumped in the chair opposite
“You saw me what?”
“I saw you with
her”
“With who?”
“I was at
Abbottsford Station and I saw you kissing your family goodbye, I believed you when
you said you couldn’t come with me to the wedding because you had to work and
all the time you were with your family”
He tried to
interject but she was in full flow again
“I’ve been there
before, I’ve been the other woman, and I’m not doing it again”
Technically
speaking she hadn’t been the other woman at all when she had the affair with
Simon Fisher it was her who was being unfaithful, Simon was a dog with women
but she was the one that was married.
“Do you mean
Rachel and Guy?” he asked and relief spread across his face.
“I don’t know
their names” she barked
“Rachel isn’t my
wife or girlfriend and Guy isn’t my son”
“She’s my sister
and Guy is my nephew”
“They live in
London and they just happened to be in Abbottsford for the weekend so Amanda
and I had lunch with them before they went home, it was too good an opportunity
to miss”
Claire was finally
silent
“Your sister?” she
said quietly
“Yes” he replied
“Oh God please
take me now” she said and put her head in her hands
Peter got out of
his chair and knelt on the floor in front of her and gently lifted her head
from her hands.
“I promise I will
never, ever be unfaithful to you” he said “and I don’t want any other
girlfriend or wife than you”
“Wife?” she asked
“Of course wife”
he said
“Do you mean?” she
began
“Yes I mean” he
said “I just never imagined I would be pelted with cushions while I did it”
“I’m sorry” she
said
“You mean you’re
turning me down?” he asked
“Not bloody
likely” Claire said “I’m sorry for throwing cushions at you, but of course I’ll
marry you”
“Good” he
responded and kissed her tenderly.
Then he stopped
abruptly and got up
“Where are you
going?” she said
“I’m going to tell
Amanda we will not be dining together this evening as we have another
engagement” he said and went outside.
When he returned
he found no sign of Claire just a dressing gown and a damp towel on the chair
where she was previously sitting.
He bolted the door
and turned off the light he was pretty sure he knew where to find her.
Later that evening
as they lay in her bed she asked him a question
“Would you mind if
we didn’t tell anyone just yet?”
“Any particular
reason?”
“Well Olivia has
just got engaged to the Vicar and I just don’t want to steal her thunder” she
explained
“It would only be
for a month or so”
“I don’t mind as
long as I can tell Amanda” he said
“I don’t see why
not” she agreed
“Good because I
told her already”
“God, talk about
loose lips” she said
“You can talk” he
replied and planted a kiss on her mouth.
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