CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I met Danny’s eyes for a brief second.
‘I need the loo,’ I muttered to Clare and I bolted from the bar.
I’d thought today would just be about Clare’s family, and perhaps her brother Brian’s fiancée, Daisy, and her family. Clare hadn’t mentioned that people from our joint past would be converging on Sunnybrook for the wedding!
I suppose I hadn’t exactly given her time to explain when she’d shouted brief details through my letterbox the previous night. But if I’d known I’d come face to face with Danny again, it would have been a definite no...
Hurrying out of the hotel, I was already forming an apologetic text in my mind telling Clare I wasn’t feeling well. But just as I reached the bus stop, a familiar voice called my name.
My heart felt heavy in my chest as I took a deep breath and turned.
‘Hello, Danny.’ My smile felt stiff.
‘Rosie.’ His eyes were warm but there was a flash of uncertainty in them, as if he wasn’t sure how I was going to react at seeing him again.
I dropped my gaze to the pavement, a whole range of emotions rushing through me at once – mostly negative ones. I liked Danny. I always had. But events had blurred the edges of our friendship and were the main reason I’d fled from Brighton, thinking I really had no choice.
‘How are you?’ he asked softly.
I drew in a breath and blew it out slowly before I looked up. ‘I’m all right. Thank you.’
‘Good.’
‘I... didn’t realise you and Jackie would be here.’
His face relaxed and he smiled. ‘We both know Brian. Well, you do, too, of course,’ he acknowledged, and I nodded.
‘So he invited a few of Clare’s friends to the evening do, including me and Jackie.
She’d love to see you, I’m sure. Jackie, I mean.
She’s been living and working in Devon ever since she and her boyfriend returned from their backpacking trip.
Haven’t seen her at all since you left Brighton last year.
’ He gave a sad little smile. ‘The days of the Famous Five seem a long time ago now.’
I nodded silently, feeling a stab of emotion as I recalled the amazing vibe from that period in our lives.
I’d always thought that in my absence, Danny, Jackie and Clare would continue to get together for a night out fairly regularly, the way we always used to, and I’d pictured them discussing why I could have just taken off without a word the way I did.
I hadn’t realised the whole group had gone their separate ways after Mark’s funeral.
I’d had a long time to reflect since I’d left Brighton, and my view of events had mellowed a little as time had passed.
Life had been shrouded in almost unbearable emotion as I’d moved through the days after Mark’s death, organising his funeral.
But now, a year later, I was starting to see what had happened in a more clear-sighted way.
‘Won’t you come back inside?’ Danny asked softly.
As I hesitated, he looked up and smiled. ‘There’s Jackie.’
‘Where?’
I looked over and there she was – my once best friend – getting out of a car parked outside the hotel.
She saw us and paused, and I wondered what she was thinking. We’d barely been in touch and I knew it was all my fault.
But then Danny waved and she smiled and gave us a cheery wave back.
‘Coming?’ There was a pleading look in Danny’s green eyes and I knew it would mean a lot to him if I was to join them.
Swallowing, I nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
I felt his hand at my back as we waited for the traffic to clear so we could cross the road. It felt comforting. Perhaps my old friends weren’t angry at me, after all. Or if they had been at the time, maybe their resentment had cooled and melted away.
We’d never be as close as we used to be, back in our uni days.
But maybe we could at least be friends again?
*****
I plastered on a smile and crossed the road with Danny, wondering what kind of a reception I’d get from Jackie.
But thankfully, she seemed really pleased to see me.
‘Rosie. Wow, how long has it been?’ She beamed at me.
‘Much too long,’ I replied with a rueful smile.
We hugged right there in the middle of the street, blocking the way for passers-by, and I felt a flood of emotion as I held her tightly. We’d been such good friends for so long. I really hoped that this was the start of a new stage in our relationship...
Laughing, we drew apart and looked over at Danny, who was watching us with mild amusement, leaning against the wall by the hotel entrance.
Grinning, he pushed back his hair in the familiar gesture I remembered so well, then he looked pointedly at his watch, pretending he’d been waiting there for ages.
We joined him, laughing, and when we went in, Clare stood up and rushed over, embracing us all one by one as we stood at the bar ordering drinks.
‘I didn’t know what was going on when you suddenly rushed out, Rosie.’ She gave me an appraising look. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes, yes. I’m fine.’ I glance quickly at Danny but he was busy chatting to Jackie. ‘I... just felt a bit weird all of a sudden.’ I wasn’t lying there! ‘But I’m okay now. A bit of fresh air and running into Jackie did the trick.’
‘Good.’ She beamed. ‘Golly, it’s just like it used to be with everyone here. Next thing you know, Danny will be telling me off for not taking the bin out when it was my turn!’
Danny heard his name and turned. ‘What was that?’
Clare’s eyes sparkled up at him. ‘I’m saying it’s just like old times and you joking that I never took the bin out the night before because I fancied one of the binmen and only took it out when they arrived so I could chat him up.’
‘You can’t call them binmen anymore,’ pointed out Jackie with a grin. ‘They’re waste management co-ordinators.’
We all chuckled and Clare said, ‘By the way, it wasn’t true at all about me fancying that binma – er, waste management co-ordinator . I just always forgot.’
‘Great excuse,’ I said with a grin and Clare nudged me in the ribs, amused. Then she grabbed my arm and snuggled her cheek into my shoulder. ‘Oh, this is so lovely, seeing you all! Why on earth did we leave it so long to get together again?’
‘Why, indeed,’ remarked Danny, his eyes briefly finding mine.
‘So you haven’t seen anyone either since Rosie left Brighton?’ asked Jackie looking at Danny.
‘No. Why?’
Jackie shrugged. ‘I suppose I thought that I’d be missing out on lots of lovely social meet-ups, having moved hundreds of miles away to Devon. But apparently none of us have been properly in touch?’
‘We’re all doing different things now,’ said Clare sadly. ‘I guess it’s only natural that uni friends should drift apart – or at least lose the closeness that comes with sharing a house together and living such a unique, cloistered sort of existence for a while.’
I nodded. ‘Cloistered. That’s a great way to describe it. For those few years, our whole world was the university campus.’
‘Yeah, being thrust out into the real world of work and bills at the end of it was a bit of a shock,’ agreed Danny. ‘And then losing Mark...’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Sorry, Rosie. I shouldn’t have mentioned...’ He trailed off.
‘No, of course you should!’ I protested.
‘Mark was my everything and I don’t want him to be forgotten.
We should talk about him. He... well, he should be here, shouldn’t he?
’ I could feel the tears threatening, even more so when Danny put his arm around me.
I looked sadly at Jackie, the twin sister Mark adored.
She must miss him just as much as I did. ..
Tears sprang to Jackie’s eyes. But she quickly turned away from me and picked up her drink. ‘Yes, well, I guess we all have slightly different ways of dealing with it, don’t we? And I for one would rather raise a glass to Mark’s memory than cry into my beer.’ She forced a cheerful smile. ‘To Mark!’
‘Mark!’ we echoed, raising our glasses.
Then Jackie headed over to the table where Brian and Daisy were sitting, and we all followed.
For the next few hours, we laughed and bantered over lunch just as we’d always done, and it really felt as if we’d slipped back in time.
What was it they said about true friends?
You might not see them for days, months or even years, but when you did, you could pick up right where you left off. ..
Later, standing at the bar with Jackie, I mentioned that I hadn’t expected to see her and Danny and it was such a lovely surprise.
She smiled. ‘Danny wasn’t on the original guest list for the wedding.’
‘He wasn’t?’ I looked at her in surprise.
‘Clare bumped into him when she was back in Brighton visiting her parents – she lives in London now – and she told him where you were living. She also told him a few of us were booking the glamping site in Sunnybrook to attend the wedding and she said she was sure Danny would be more than welcome to join us, which of course he was.’
‘Oh, right. So he’s not going to the wedding?’
‘No, he is. Clare asked Brian if she could bring Danny to the evening do, and Brian was more than happy to agree. He and Danny always got on well.’
I smiled. ‘We always thought Clare had a soft spot for Danny, didn’t we?’
I’d discussed this with Jackie many times (Clare always denied it) but today Jackie’s reply surprised me.
‘Just a shame Danny didn’t reciprocate her feelings, isn’t it?’
I caught a sharp glint in her eye. Then she smiled. ‘Still, I doubt they would have worked as a couple.’
I swallowed hard. ‘Probably not.’
‘Anyway, what are you having?’
‘Sorry?’ I gazed at her, distracted, still thinking about Clare and Danny.
‘Drink?’ Jackie laughed. ‘Or have you had too much alcohol already? You always said you were a cheap date!’
I groaned. ‘Nothing changes, I can assure you. My head feels woozy after just a glass and a half of wine. But I’m not drinking today. I’ve got to pick up Amelie later. You’ll have to come and see her while you’re here.’
‘I’d love to. I’ve... missed her.’ She smiled wistfully. ‘Danny’s driving as well. He’s on the non-alcoholic beer.’ She nodded over at him. He was laughing at something Brian was saying. ‘Another orange juice, then? I’ll get them this time.’
‘Okay. Thanks. Are you staying longer than the actual wedding? It would be good to have a catch-up, just you, me and Amelie?’
She nodded. ‘We’re here until early Monday morning so there’s plenty of time.’
‘Great!’
As we walked back to the table, I was smiling to myself, thinking I hadn’t felt this happy for a long time.
I’d missed having these people in my life more than I’d realised. But now that we’d reunited, I was determined to stay in touch this time.
We were all getting on really well. Even Clare was being super warm and friendly towards me.
My sinister intruder couldn’t possibly be her and I found myself feeling very relieved indeed about that...