Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
‘ I ’m sorry, Laura, but I’ve got to say this. I want you to cancel the Christmas tree arrangement. In fact, I don’t want you to have any more to do with Clayton Masters.’
Laura spun round and stared at Spencer, hardly able to believe what she’d heard. It was Saturday evening and they were in Spencer’s over-designed kitchen. He’d been stirring the sauce for their pasta supper when suddenly he’d dropped the spoon into the pan and turned to her.
‘What on earth are you talking about?’ Laura put her hands to her mouth, and instinctively stepped further back from Spencer. ‘You know I can’t cancel. The trees are being delivered on Monday, ready to be sold from Tuesday on. And why shouldn’t I have anything to do with Clayton? You’re not making any sense.’
It was one thing, Spencer not getting on with Clayton, but to tell her – no, order her – to cut away from him altogether was beyond ridiculous. What had got into him?
They’d had a lovely day. They’d driven to Ashdown Forest and walked on springy turf amongst the heather in bright sunshine, well wrapped up in coats and scarves against the cold. They’d eaten a delicious lunch in a pub with a roaring fire in the inglenook and a Christmas tree in the corner, and now they were back at Spencer’s mock-Georgian house, all set for a relaxing evening in front of the TV.
Or so she’d thought.
Spencer let out a sigh that stopped just short of impatient. ‘I’ve been wanting to say something all day but I didn’t want to spoil things.’
Laura threw him a challenging look. ‘You knew how I’d react then? Well, I’m sorry for being so predictable.’
‘Laura, I do wish you’d try to understand my feelings in all of this.’
His feelings? What about hers?
‘All of what ? Spence, how can I understand when I’ve got no idea why you feel so strongly about Clayton? What’s he done to you, apart from oppose the plans for the housing development? That was just business, you said so yourself. I was surprised it got so out of hand in the pub that night…’
‘You weren’t there, Laura. Nothing got out of hand. You know what the village gossips are like for exaggerating.’
‘Well, according to Emily, you put on quite a show. I must say I was surprised at both of you.’
Spencer’s eyes blazed. ‘Oh well, if Emily said so, then it must be true.’
What ?
‘Spencer, stop this, please .’ Laura’s hands had curled themselves into tight fists. She moved a few steps nearer to him. He was worrying her now. She toned down her voice, speaking more gently. ‘What’s wrong? Is work stressing you out or something?’
‘I’m fine. Work’s not the problem.’
Ah, so there was a problem, one she was so far unaware of. Laura thought back to the other day when she’d decided she’d been trying too hard to please Spencer. Problem or not, he wasn’t getting his own way this time.
‘If you won’t tell me what it is, I can’t help, can I?’ she said.
Spencer pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked tired, but a shadow of anger still darkened his features. Anger that she had no idea how to deal with. Edging past him, she switched off the hotplate; the sauce had started to congeal. Turning back to him, she tentatively held out her hand. He ignored it.
‘Spence, this has all got out of proportion. Okay, so you fell out with Clayton over the site development, and besides that, it’s obvious you don’t particularly like him. Goodness knows why, but fair enough – we can’t like everybody, all of the time. But he happens to be my gardener, and he’s a damn good one at that. The Christmas tree thing is simply another bit of business between us. I’ve let him have the use of a slice of my garden – for which he is paying me, in case you were wondering – but it’s only for three weeks. And then it’ll be Christmas, and that will be lovely, won’t it? Aren’t you looking forward to Christmas, my party and everything? I know I am.’
To her own ears, Laura sounded as if she was talking to a child, but Spencer deserved that because he was being childish. He looked at her for a long moment, then turned and walked out of the kitchen. She followed him through to the living room. Perhaps if they sat down, and Spencer relaxed, they could sort this out quickly and move on. But he didn’t sit down. Instead he paced to the front window and pulled the cord to close the curtains, then stood in the bay, facing the room. He seemed stiff, ill at ease with himself. Again, Laura worried about what it might mean, never mind the demands he was making of her. A dragging sense of déjà vu suffused her, from the night she’d run out on their dinner date.
‘If you must know,’ he said heavily, ‘Clayton Masters and I have got history. And please don’t ask me what it is because it’s private.’
Private ? Laura had thought they were close, close enough to confide in one another, surely? How could he keep something like that a secret from her, especially when it directly involved her?
She stood behind a red leather armchair, resting her hands on its back, facing Spencer.
‘But that’s ridiculous. How can you expect me to do as you ask when you won’t tell me why? It’s not on, Spence. Surely you can see that.’
‘Laura, I said don’t ask me, and I meant it. It’s not something I want to talk about, ever.’ Spencer sounded exasperated now, on the point of losing it completely. ‘Can’t you just trust me on this and tell Clayton the deal’s off? The bloody Christmas trees are not your problem.’
‘No,’ Laura said. ‘I can’t and I won’t. Whatever it is, you’ll have to get over it. Sorry.’
Sorry ? She had nothing to apologise for. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, was chalking up unspent apologies by the minute.
Spencer took a step towards her. ‘He isn’t just your gardener, though, is he?’
‘What do you mean?’ Laura’s insides quaked. Please God she wasn’t blushing, because something deep inside was edging her towards it, as if she had something to feel guilty about.
‘I saw the pair of you sitting in the window of the Ginger Cat last Saturday morning. You were having a very cosy chat by the looks of it.’
Laura almost laughed. ‘So, you saw us having coffee. Well, so what? I’m not going to tell you how that came about because, quite honestly, it’s none of your business.’
Hang on, he’d said he’d seen them inside the Ginger Cat, when she had only seen Spencer driving by once they’d come outside. Which meant he must have driven past twice, at least.
‘Were you checking up on me?’ she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
‘No, of course I wasn’t. I happened to be passing. But seeing you socialising with him underlines what I’m saying now. Clayton is not the kind of man you should be associating with, and I’m telling you that for your own good. If you loved me, you’d do what I ask.’
Laura’s fingers dug into the leather of the chair. Waves of heat undulated through her body, setting her face on fire. ‘If I loved you, I’d do anything for you without question? Is that it?’
‘No, not anything . Just this one thing. You’re twisting my words.’
Laura stayed silent, looking down at the chair back that now had a series of dents in it from the pressure of her fingernails. Was she being unreasonable, expecting Spencer to explain what he meant about there being history between him and Clayton? Shouldn’t she simply trust him, as he said? Give him the benefit of the doubt, the same as she hoped he would do for her?
She looked up at him. He’d relaxed his stance, lowered his shoulders. But the firm set of his chin and his unwavering gaze told her he wasn’t going to relent. Well, neither was she. It would be wrong, let alone impossible. They’d reached an impasse. So, now what? It seemed it was up to her to try and smooth things over. Either that or pick up the argument and watch their relationship spiral out of control, as it almost had done already.
She rounded the chair and made a move towards him. To her relief, he met her halfway. His arms went around her. She kept her arms by her side but let him hold her. He kissed her forehead.
‘Laura, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ve so enjoyed being with you today. It’s been great, hasn’t it?’
His voice held a note of appeal. But she had to stay strong. She sighed. ‘I had a lovely day too, and I wish you hadn’t…’ She’d been going to say she wished he hadn’t ruined it, but that wouldn’t have been helpful.
‘Spence, I have to stand by what I believe is right. And what is right, for me, is that I carry on employing Clayton to do the garden and let him sell the trees from Spindlewood. So yes, I will be seeing more of him than usual for those few weeks, and I’m truly sorry if that offends you but there really isn’t anything I can do about that.’
She almost added, ‘and if you don’t like it you can stay away,’ but she didn’t. Instead, she smiled to temper her words. And then, after a moment, she kissed him, and his return kiss spoke of normality. They broke apart.
‘Let’s drop the subject for now,’ Spencer said.
No, not for now , Laura, thought. Let that be an end to it once and for all. But she said nothing more, except to ask him to run her home, because at that moment, home was where she wanted to be. Alone.
‘I can’t imagine how he had the nerve to ask you that. I mean, why , for heaven’s sake?’
Emily gazed around her in disbelief, as if the answer would jump out of the bushes at any moment. Laura wished it would, because it certainly wasn’t coming from anywhere else.
‘I know. It’s crazy, isn’t it? I don’t know what to do.’
Emily shot Laura a sideways look. ‘Surely you aren’t considering giving in to Spencer? He has to know he can’t run your life, and he definitely has no right to tell you who you can or can’t see.’
‘Which is what I told him last night, more or less. Em, I’ve no intention of giving in to him, and even if I had, it’s too late to stop the Christmas trees being delivered to my house. What I mean is, I don’t know what to do about Spencer, our relationship. How to bring this back.’
Emily blew out air. ‘I’d have thought that was up to him. It’s his fault. He’s the one who has to make the running, not you. How was it when you left him last night?’
Laura thought for a moment. ‘It was okay – on the surface anyway. He didn’t ask to come in when he dropped me home but we had a goodnight kiss. He didn’t mention Clayton again, not on the way home or when we got there, and neither did I. He said he’d call me today. I didn’t have the heart to tell him not to bother.’
They’d followed the public footpath that ran alongside Cloud Cottage, Emily’s home, and were now at the gate which opened onto Charnley Common. Emily stooped to detach Wilf’s lead from his harness. The dog sniffed the air and loped off across the grass, heading straight for a small white terrier which was bouncing around on the end of a long lead. The terrier’s owner, a grey-haired woman in a pink anorak, gave a wave. Emily waved back.
They strolled on a little way before Emily resumed the conversation. ‘Spencer’s the one in the wrong and he knows it.’
‘But that’s just it,’ Laura said. ‘He’s got no idea he’s in the wrong. He thinks I’m the one who’s being unreasonable, he made that pretty clear. For all I know he may have a point. Perhaps I should have taken it at face value and trusted him. Whatever’s gone on between him and Clayton in the past, it must be pretty serious for him to make all this fuss, mustn’t it?’
‘Not so serious that he can’t share it with you, Laura. You say you should have trusted him. Well, what about him trusting you? Share and share alike. Isn’t that what relationships are all about?’
Emily darted off to peel Wilf away from the terrier. Laura stood still, gazing across the common into the distance where the mist threw a gauze shroud over the bare black branches of the trees. She’d puzzled half the night over Spencer’s revelation that he and Clayton had ‘history’. She couldn’t even begin to guess what it might be about. It proved one thing, though; she’d been right about there being more to their disagreement than the development plans. But, as Emily said, why make a mystery out of it? If Spencer wanted to win her over, then why not bolster his case by telling her the whole story?
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and looked at the screen. Spencer. He’d called her half an hour ago; she hadn’t heard it. Now there was a text: Where are you? Can we talk please? I love you x . He must have called the landline at the house too, then.
Emily was back, and saw Laura looking at her phone.
‘Is that him?’
‘Yep.’ Laura switched the phone off and slid it back into her pocket, walking on to catch up with her friend. ‘Well, he can wait. I’m not in the mood to talk to him.’
‘Neither would I be,’ Emily said. ‘He doesn’t deserve you if he’s going to behave like that.’
Laura laughed. ‘Or, looking at it another way, maybe he does. I can be a stroppy mare at times.’
Emily laughed too. ‘This is true, but only when you’re pushed. Seriously though, Laura, is Spencer the one , the one after lovely James, I mean?’
‘I thought so, I really did. He’s gorgeous and sexy, and he’s kind and thoughtful,’ – she pulled a face – ‘well, usually.’
‘And you are still in love with him?’ Emily’s golden-brown eyes narrowed, the way they did when she wanted a serious answer to a serious question.
‘Yes, of course I am,’ Laura said quickly.
It felt like an automatic response, which alarmed her slightly. She trod down hard on the feeling before it could take hold.
Emily gave her a long look before she said, ‘You know, there might be a way to find out what’s gone on between Spencer and Clayton. If Spencer’s not playing the game, then ask Clayton what it’s all about.’
‘I couldn’t do that! We’re not on those kind of terms. It would be like prying into his personal affairs. Anyway, he’d know Spencer hadn’t told me and he’d wonder why.’
‘Yeah, I guess. Talking of affairs, though, who’s he seeing? Clayton, I mean. I won’t believe it if you tell me he hasn’t been snapped up.’
Laura laughed again. She might not be any further forward, but Emily was such a tonic. She’d been right to seek her out this morning. She felt so much better already.
‘If you must know, he hasn’t. Clayton is single. At least that’s what he told me.’
‘You asked him? So you are on those kinds of terms then.’ Emily was triumphant.
Laura suppressed a grin. ‘If you’ll shut up a minute…’ She recounted her conversation with Clayton, when she’d invited him to her Christmas Eve party.
Actually, he’d been pretty evasive about that, she remembered. Well, of course he would have been, because he knew Spencer would be there. It all made sense now. Pity though. She’d have loved Clayton to come to her party. A thought struck her.
‘Are you planning on seducing my gardener?’ she said to Emily.
‘Nope. Sorry to disappoint. I can see the attraction for others but he does nothing for me, not in that way.’
For some reason, Laura was pleased to hear it.
Emily suddenly gave a piercing, two-fingered whistle that had Laura backing away in protest.
‘Wilf’s getting deafer,’ Emily said. ‘Which is why my whistle’s getting louder. Wilf !’
The dog raised his head from the rabbit hole he’d been sniffing around and cantered obediently back to Emily.
‘I need coffee,’ she said, reattaching Wilf’s lead.
As they reached Cloud Cottage and passed through the wrought-iron gate into Emily’s small front garden, Laura remembered something. She put a hand on Emily’s arm.
‘Hey, you haven’t told me how the date went?’
‘It never happened. That’s why.’
Emily took her keys out of her pocket and Laura followed her round to the back door; the front one was hardly ever used.
‘What d’you mean, it never happened?’ Laura said, pausing to use the rusty boot-scraper before following Emily into the kitchen.
Emily filled the kettle and switched it on. She let out a sigh, a regretful one, Laura thought. Her heart went out to her friend. She so deserved to meet somebody nice.
‘I drove all the way to Worthing to meet him halfway from where he lives, only to get a ruddy text message saying he’d met somebody else online and decided to pursue that contact instead. Honestly, “pursue that contact”! What a way to put it!’ Emily sighed again. ‘Pity though. He was one of the few men over forty-five who don’t expect to hook up with a twenty-one-year-old.’
‘Even so…’ Laura said, thinking that her friend was well out of that one.
‘Not my type? No, I don’t suppose he would’ve been. I might have another crack at the site tonight.’
‘He’s out there somewhere, your perfect man.’
‘I’d settle for semi-perfect,’ Emily said. Then, with a twinkle in her eye, she added, ‘Even semi-detached.’
Laura laughed. ‘You don’t mean that.’
‘Don’t I?’
Emily’s oak-beamed, yellow-painted kitchen was warm and cosy and inviting. Laura sank into a chair at the oilcloth-covered table and realised how tired she was, not just from her restless night but from the constant niggling worries about the Spencer-Clayton thing. She rubbed at her gritty eyes.
‘You look knackered,’ Emily observed.
‘Cheers for that.’
‘You’re welcome. I would say stay for the rest of the day but I’m going ice skating with the guys.’
She meant her colleagues at Cliffhaven News , Laura knew. She also knew they weren’t all guys, but, unfortunately for Emily, those who were either had wives or girlfriends, or were too young, even for her.
‘It’s okay, I’ve got things to do. I’ll toddle off in a minute. I want to make my food list for the Christmas Eve party, then sort out the tree decorations. And Cynthia awaits her new outfit. I bought some bits and bobs for her from Veronica.’
Not long afterwards, Laura jumped into her car, waving back at Emily who was standing in the doorway of her pretty thatched cottage, mouthing silent words and gesticulating like mad. Laura interpreted all this to mean she was to text Emily later with an update on the Spencer situation. She was laughing as she drove off.
But as she turned the car into the high street and drove past the Ginger Cat, her mood dipped again. She didn’t want Spencer to be miserable because of her, and if she had unwittingly caused that, then she was truly sorry. All this was casting a shadow over Christmas. The coming weeks should be exciting and festive. Holly was coming home. There were preparations to be made for the party, and for Christmas Day, when her mum, Rachael, Rachael’s husband, Paul, and their two daughters, would make up the usual family gathering. There was the Christmas pageant at school to look forward to, which was hard work but always lovely. And this year, there would be the added fun of the Christmas trees in her garden, and half the village turning up to buy them.
Laura slammed the gears unintentionally hard. Damn Spencer . Emily was right; this was all down to him – she’d done nothing wrong. How could he even think of spoiling this special time of year when he knew how much it meant to her? It was too bad of him, it really was.