Chapter 9
9
Jade wholeheartedly approved of Finn’s plans to see Dorrie and Ray. ‘I do feel guilty that I stole you away from them,’ she told him as they got ready to go to Sarah and Callum’s for supper the following evening.
‘You didn’t steal me away. We’re hardly in another country.’
‘I know but we might as well be, what with me being so tied to this place. If you still lived in Nottingham you could see more of them.’
‘To be honest, even if I was there, I wouldn’t see Dad that much. He’s always had an active social life and now Dorrie’s on the scene he’s even busier. It would be me who’d be sitting around twiddling my thumbs. You don’t fancy closing up this place and coming with me, do you?’ He raised an eyebrow.
‘No. Not unless you want me to come.’ Jade felt a jolt of indecision. ‘I mean, it’s possible. I’m sure I could get a couple of days’ cover. Sarah and Dawn might do it between them.’
‘No, it’s fine. Really I just wanted to check in with you.’
Jade thought she saw a fleeting look of relief in his eyes. ‘Finn, if I ask you something, do you promise to tell me the truth?’
‘Of course.’ Now he definitely looked worried.
‘Do you really want a double wedding? You’ve been a bit quiet lately and I wondered if you’d been having second thoughts.’
‘I haven’t.’
‘You would tell me, wouldn’t you? It’s not too late to say we’ve changed our minds.’
‘Of course I’d tell you.’
Finn hoped she wouldn’t ask if anything else was bothering him because he couldn’t lie to her and say it wasn’t.
Then in the next breath she did ask. ‘Finn, you’d tell me if anything else was bothering you, wouldn’t you?’ She had her back to him. She was applying lippie in the mirror. She rarely wore lipstick.
Finn took a breath. He needed to tell her the real reason he was going to see his father. He couldn’t keep putting it off. He hesitated and at that exact moment, a text came through on her phone, and she reached for it and got sidetracked.
‘That was Sarah.’ She turned from the mirror. ‘Just asking if we could pick up a pint of milk on the way. Callum used it all for the custard he was making and didn’t tell her.’
Saved by the bell, Finn thought as she went on without a pause. ‘I’ll tell her it’s no trouble. We need to stop on the way and pick up some wine anyway. Who’s driving? Or shall we get a taxi back?’
‘I’ll drive. I think one of us needs to keep our wits about us. I don’t want us waking up tomorrow and finding we’ve agreed to have our wedding ten metres under water or on a roller coaster at Thorpe Park.’
‘I can’t see Sarah wanting to get married underwater, but a roller coaster, yes. That would be right up her street. You’re right. One of us definitely needs to be stone cold sober. Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘I don’t mind one bit. Did you say Callum’s cooking? What’s he making?’
‘Thai curries. Don’t worry, he’s making a meat one as well as a vegetarian one for me.’
Finn felt his mouth water. Callum’s dad was a top Scottish chef with his own restaurant in Dundee and although Callum hadn’t taken it up as a profession, he was equally talented. His food was wonderful.
Finn had been wary that Callum might object to him being on the scene when he’d first met him, but the guy was really nice. He was totally OK with the fact that Finn was in Sarah’s life only because of Ben, and Ben got on really well with Callum too.
Half an hour later they were walking up Sarah’s crazy paving path. The back door was open and the heady scents of lemongrass, chilli, garlic and ginger drifted out into the summer evening.
‘Come in, come in.’ Sarah, effusive as always, ushered them in to the lounge and took the wine and milk Jade was holding out.
‘Thanks so much. What do I owe you for the milk?’
‘Don’t be daft. Something smells amazing.’
As she spoke, Callum popped his head around the kitchen door. ‘Hey, guys. I’ll come and be sociable in a tick. But I’m at a critical stage.’
‘Do you need a hand?’ Sarah asked.
‘Och, no. Might need a beer though.’
‘Coming up.’ She blew him a kiss and turned back to Jade and Finn. ‘Guinness and wine, you two?’
‘I’m driving,’ Finn said, ‘so something soft for me.’
‘Keeping a clear head so you don’t agree to anything too crazy on the wedding front?’ Sarah guessed correctly, and they all laughed.
While Sarah organised the drinks, Jade and Finn sat on the old comfy sofa.
Jade had been surprised when she’d first met the flame-haired giant that was Callum. He wasn’t Sarah’s usual type, but now she’d got to know him she really liked him. He was gentle and unassuming with a dry understated sense of humour, and he and Sarah clearly adored each other.
It was odd being in the house with no Ben, although there were traces of him everywhere. A game was out on the floor next to his school rucksack and there was a dinosaur sock draped across the back of an armchair. A new painting of a colourful parrot that was clearly Mr Spock lay on the dining-room table. Sarah had pointed it out to Finn before she went into the kitchen. ‘Ben’s latest. He was very keen you should see it.’
‘It’s great,’ Finn had said. ‘His art’s really coming on.’
‘So how’s things with you guys?’ Sarah came back with their drinks. ‘Any exciting news to report?’
‘We have actually.’ Jade glanced at Finn and he looked startled. ‘Your contract?’ she added. ‘Or have you forgotten about that already?’
‘Course not.’ He told Sarah about it. ‘I’ve signed with the agent and with a bit of luck she’ll be able to sneak a couple of my paintings into the exhibition. There are some other more established artists there.’
‘She won’t be sneaking them in – she’ll be showing them off proudly,’ Jade contradicted him fiercely. ‘What are you like, Finn? You should be proud of your work.’
He flushed beneath their joint gaze. ‘I am. Of course I am. And I’m delighted about the contract.’
For a while they discussed the pros and cons of having an agent and every now and then, Callum popped in and joined in the conversation.
‘I’ve got some exciting news too, as it happens,’ Jade said on one of the times he was in the room.
‘You’re pregnant,’ Sarah shrieked. ‘I knew there was something different about you. You’re glowing.’
‘I’m not pregnant.’ Jade snapped out a swift denial, although the idea of being pregnant was actually not that unwelcome. ‘Although I am expanding.’
Both Sarah and Callum looked utterly mystified and she left them dangling for a good few seconds before she caved and told them about buying the field next door to Duck Pond Rescue.
‘But that just means you’ll end up with even more flaming animals,’ Sarah said, shaking her head. ‘I thought the idea was to rehome them, not keep them.’
‘It is. But we definitely need more space. The hens used to be in the yard but they’ve taken over half the dog field now and OK, I know I shouldn’t take on so many, but it’s really hard to say no to ex-battery ones when I know they’ll just go for dog food if I don’t. And frankly if you’ve got ten hens, another ten don’t make much difference.’
‘Clearly that’s not true,’ Sarah argued. ‘Or you wouldn’t need more space.’
‘They do help to pay for themselves.’ Finn came to her rescue. ‘Because we sell their eggs.’
Sarah laughed. ‘Good point. Although I bet that field will cost more than a few egg sales.’
Jade told her about the deal she’d got and Sarah nodded slowly. ‘That’s not bad. OK, I’ll stop nagging. I know it’s pointless nagging you when it concerns animals. Besides, it’s a good investment. Land always is. Have you rehomed that crazy parrot yet?’
‘No. It’s not easy to rehome a parrot that swears. You need the right person. I’d hate him to just be a novelty factor in someone’s back room until they got bored and then he’ll be shut in a cage for life and ignored. He likes seeing lots of people.’
‘Sounds like a good excuse to keep him to me.’ Sarah narrowed her eyes. ‘Like you kept that mouse-murdering black cat and that rug on legs, Mickey, you said no one else would want.’
‘That was true in Mickey’s case,’ Jade said, completely unrepentant. ‘Besides, we love Mickey, don’t we, Finn? He’s a character.’
‘He is that. Although he does ruin our TV viewing by barking his head off at inappropriate moments.’
‘I think he improves it.’ Jade smiled and explained. ‘We were watching this crime drama a few weeks ago and Mickey took a dislike to this totally innocent-looking guy on the screen and started barking furiously. We were mystified. Mickey did it every time he appeared. We thought maybe he’d taken a dislike to the bloke’s beard. But then it turned out the guy was the baddie.’
‘It’s true,’ Finn said, backing her up. ‘We thought it was a coincidence at first. But it’s happened four or five times since then. Mickey starts barking when he sees a particular character, and then we find out they’re a master criminal. He always gets it right. We don’t even need to watch the end.’
‘I’m assuming they haven’t got a gun and an evil laugh,’ Sarah asked, intrigued. ‘Or a white cat on their laps like the Bond movies.’
‘No – there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.’
‘How about a black car? Have you noticed that baddies on crime dramas always drive black cars?’
‘Don’t think so,’ Jade said, laughing, ‘but we’ll keep an eye out.’
Callum interrupted the conversation by coming to tell them dinner was ready. They sat outside in the garden to eat it, making the most of the long July evening, with a citronella candle burning on the table to see off the mosquitos. They all helped to carry out dishes of delicious-smelling Thai curries and fragrant rice, with serving spoons so they could help themselves.
‘I’m surprised you’re not expanding yourself if you get fed like this all the time,’ Jade told Sarah a few minutes later. ‘This food is amazing.’
‘We don’t eat like this all the time.’ Sarah beamed at Callum. ‘Although we might once we’re married, eh, love?’
‘I’m happy to cook any time. So long as you don’t mind waiting for your scran some nights.’
‘Yeah, that’s the drawback,’ Sarah said. ‘Cooking food like this takes ages.’ She filled up their wine glasses. ‘Anyway, on the subject of weddings, we should talk shop. Are we on the same page as regards venue – do we want a church or another venue? Summer or winter? Big or small? Joint honeymoon?’
‘Joint honeymoon!’ Finn looked startled.
‘I was joking about the joint honeymoon,’ Sarah quipped. ‘Just to see if anyone was listening.’
‘I haven’t got strong feelings about getting married in a church,’ Jade said. ‘I don’t know about the rest of you.’
They all shook their heads.
‘One-stop wedding venues aren’t bad value, these days,’ Callum said. ‘We went to one not that long ago, didn’t we, pet?’
Sarah nodded thoughtfully. ‘Yes, it was a friend at work. They did everything there, even stayed there the night before. They’re good for guests too. No traipsing about between different places. The ceremony and the reception are all in the same place. You can even stay in them for your first night – before going off on your separate honeymoons afterwards,’ she added hastily. ‘We’re probably going to have a minimoon. Just a weekend somewhere. Then maybe have a longer holiday later with Ben.’
Callum reached across the table to put his hand over hers, nodding in agreement.
‘Minimoon sounds a good idea to me.’ Finn glanced at Jade. ‘But I don’t mind if we spend that at the cottage. Maybe get a bit of cover and just go for days out so we don’t need to leave the animals at night.’
‘Wow, he really loves you, doesn’t he?’ Sarah said, before slapping her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry, did I say that out loud? Too much wine already.’
Jade laughed. ‘It’s OK. And it’s true. You’re spot on. Love me, love my sanctuary.’ She looked at Finn, feeling a deep sense of love welling up in her. ‘It can’t be easy marrying someone who has a blinking great millstone around her neck.’
‘I don’t see it like that at all,’ Finn said quickly. ‘I’m as committed to that collection of waifs and strays as you are,’ and she saw in his eyes that he meant every word. Then he lightened his tone and added, ‘Now, if you had sixteen kids it might be a different story.’
Everyone laughed again and the banter resumed.
By the end of the evening they had thrashed out a lot. They would have an August wedding, which gave them a full year to arrange it. They would look for a wedding venue that was nice but not mega bucks. The first thing to do was to draw up a guest list and decide on a budget.
Jade knew she and Sarah would definitely be on the same page about that. The sky had slowly darkened so they went back inside for coffee. While Finn helped Callum load the dishwasher and clear up the kitchen, Sarah and Jade sat beside each other on the sofa.
‘When we were little I used to dream that one day we might have a double wedding,’ Sarah said, meeting Jade’s gaze.
‘You never said anything.’
‘That’s because you always swore blind you’d never get married. You said you were going to live in the middle of nowhere with a cat and a dog and maybe a goat.’
‘Crikey, did I?’
‘And then it came true,’ Sarah said, ‘to the power of ten. Apart from the goat. I don’t think you’ve got any of them yet, but I bet it’s only a matter of time.’ She widened her eyes. ‘Seriously though, I’m really glad you met Finn. I’m really glad you’re as happy as I am, Jade. And I can’t imagine a more lovely day than us tying the knot together. I really can’t. Ben is going to be over the moon when we tell him.’
‘I know. It’s going to be fabulous. Do you think we can arrange to have some animals there at our wedding?’
‘If you want to.’ Sarah gave her a sweet smile. ‘I’m sure there must be animal-friendly venues if we shop around.’
Jade swallowed a sudden ache of emotion because Sarah wasn’t a mad-crazy animal lover like she was, but she’d have put up with it for her friend’s sake. ‘It’s OK. We don’t need to have animals. It might get too complicated. Anyway, it’ll be nice to have a day off from them all. But thank you. You’re the best friend ever.’
She saw the warmth in Sarah’s summer-blue eyes. ‘You are too, Jade. I’m thrilled to bits you’re up for this. And we’ll make sure our wedding day is the best day of our lives.’
‘I’ll drink to that,’ Jade said, and they clinked glasses.