Chapter Five
Gabi
The knight in shining armour drove well.
Gabi couldn’t help but like that he drove a manual, and his gear changing was smooth and swift.
Just as she liked it. One of her pleasures in life was driving.
And if she couldn’t do it herself at the moment, it was curiously satisfying to ride passenger to someone who obviously enjoyed it too.
‘Do you think the restaurant will be okay?’ she asked and was reassured by a firm nod as he kept his eyes on the road.
‘I’d say so,’ he replied, in his soft Scottish burr. ‘I’ll pop back later and take another look in the roof space, just to make sure.’
‘Nice car,’ she said, watching his hands expertly turning the wheel. ‘On set, they always ferry us around in the smoothest, quietest electric cars. Sometimes, even driverless ones. But nothing feels like a revving engine.’
‘I know exactly what you mean,’ he said, flashing her a grin. ‘I tried electric. But it wasn’t for me.’
‘Have you known Etienne for long?’ she asked, remembering the easy way they communicated and the hug they exchanged as Walker left.
‘A good few years now,’ he said. ‘I met him when he took over The Bistro. He’s a really good guy, and a changed man since he’s fallen in love with your cousin.’
‘They say love changes everything!’ Gabi laughed. ‘Although I’m probably not best qualified to confirm or deny.’
‘I’m happy to be optimistic,’ Walker said. ‘You never know what’s round the corner.’
Walker was relaxed as he drove, one hand on the wheel, which put her at ease and they chatted freely.
Him telling her about his role as a firefighter and how he’d always wanted to be able to help people.
Gabi reciprocating, explaining how she’d always been drawn to adrenaline and a job in stunts had seemed a great fit.
It felt like only a minute or two before they pulled up outside Amber’s old English cottage.
Walker carried her cases up the garden path as though they were empty. Gabi swung along behind him on her crutches as the front door opened and Amber appeared, just as gorgeous as Gabi remembered her.
‘You’re here!’ Amber said. ‘We’re going to have such a good time.’ She opened the door wide, beckoning them inside. ‘It will be nice for me to have some grown-up conversation in the house.’
Jayden sat at the kitchen table watching something on an iPad. He raised his head when they entered and waved in Walker’s direction before immediately returning his attention to the screen.
The kitchen was wide, and Gabi could navigate easily around the wooden table with her crutches. Walker carried the cases down to the snug that Amber had turned into a spare bedroom, and Gabi sank into a chair.
‘Tea or coffee?’ Amber said and she got busy with the request for coffee, opening kitchen cupboards and picking out what she needed from the assorted jumble that Gabi could see inside.
It was so different to her own kitchen in her London penthouse apartment.
Her shelves were sparse. She wasn’t there that much, so everything in there was long life: jars of sun-dried tomatoes, packets of pasta, coffee and bottles of sparkling water.
Amber’s pantry was stuffed with crisps, nuts, and sticky jars of jam and spreads.
In the fridge, as Amber fetched the milk, Gabi spied jars of half-used pasta sauces.
Chocolate biscuits and bars sat on the countertop in a box marked TREATS.
On the table, a fruit bowl full of apples and grapes and bananas.
Gabi never had fruit in the flat. It went off before she got a chance to eat it.
Walker stuck his head back in the door.
‘Tea, Walker?’ Amber waved a ceramic mug at him with ‘world’s best mum’ painted on the side. He pushed the hair back off his forehead.
‘No thanks, going to run. If I go now, I can still get to the gym before shift.’
‘Thanks again,’ Gabi said, thinking she should get up but suddenly unsure whether to give him a hug or shake his hand. The hand that had held her knickers.
‘Happy to help.’ He grinned, turned and was gone. The two women waited until they heard the front door click shut.
‘That was lucky – Walker to the rescue!’ Amber said, slopping milk into Gabi’s coffee and passing it over.
‘I don’t normally need saving,’ Gabi protested.
‘I’ve no doubt about that. But everyone should have a Walker in their lives.’ Gabi was impressed by the reputation he held with his friends. But then also slightly dubious. Nobody was that perfect. Not in her experience. She blew her coffee and changed the subject.
‘So, last time I saw you,’ Gabi said, ‘was when Tutto Mio opened with such a bang.’
The two women eyed each other. ‘Bang’ was the right word.
A gun had gone off, the restaurant trashed by a criminal gang the day before it was due to open.
Etienne, the then town Romeo, had saved the day and professed his undying love for Isabella – all extraordinary events for Honeybridge.
A day that changed life for Isabella and Etienne for the better and introduced Alex to the gang.
Alex, the twin brother not many people knew that Etienne even had.
Amber was one of those few who knew him from a past life.
Isabella had told Gabi that Alex and Amber recognised each other on sight, and not in a good way, Amber giving him a resounding slap around the face, nobody quite sure why.
‘That was quite a day,’ Amber laughed. ‘And now, look. The restaurant is booming. Isabella has done such a good job.’ She ruffled Jayden’s short afro and Gabi spotted his electric-blue hearing aids.
He shook his head at his mum without looking up and Amber rolled her eyes.
She poked him. Jayden glanced up and signed something to her.
She signed back and he glanced shyly at Gabi.
‘I’ve told Jayden you’re coming to stay with us,’ Amber said. Gabi smiled nervously and lifted a hand. She didn’t know any sign language, apart from ‘thank you’ that she’d seen one year on Strictly Come Dancing when a clip of the winning dance went viral. She faced him directly.
‘Is that okay with you, Jayden?’ Gabi asked. Jayden shrugged. Amber nudged him in the ribs, and he changed the shrug to a nod.
Gabi lifted her four fingers flat to her chin and then extended them towards him, showing off her only move.
He shrugged, rose from the table and took his iPad into the other room.
‘Don’t worry. He doesn’t bite. You’ll be fine,’ Amber said. Gabi nodded and hoped that was true. She had no experience of children. They weren’t high on her wish list.
An hour later, the two women had worked out a plan.
Amber would be home in the mornings to get Jayden out of the door to school on time and then she’d drop Gabi to the gym on her way to work mid-morning.
Gabi assured her she’d be able to make her own way back, ensuring she was home in time for Jayden’s return after three.
Even better, Amber told her the gym was the one near Tutto Mio, so Gabi already had plans to pop in for coffee with her cousin after each session.
Maybe this recuperation lark wouldn’t be too bad after all.
The first week went faster than she’d expected.
They found a routine, and everyone settled into it.
Gabi joined the gym and loved beginning to test her body out again.
She found a physio and started her exercises.
The spring sunshine was gaining warmth, and she sat in Amber’s small back garden to tan.
She loved being able to drop in on Isabella and realised just how much she’d missed her.
She made hot chocolates or ice cream floats for Jayden when he got home from school and then they’d choose an action movie to watch together, her on the sofa, him on the floor.
Childcare was easier than she’d thought.
They didn’t even have to talk! She’d never had a week like it and maybe it was the novelty, but she was enjoying herself.
This was so much better than being stuck on her own in an Australian hospital.
This was homely to the millionth degree.
On Friday evening, Amber collapsed on the sofa beside her, the working week over.
‘Chill day tomorrow. And then Sunday is going to be fun! You coming?’ she said.
‘Coming where?’ Gabi asked, flicking channels to find Amber’s favourite show.
‘Fundraiser at the fire station,’ Amber said. ‘It’s a pole-a-thon. Most distance covered on a fireman’s pole in an hour. They want to beat the world record. It’s for a good cause – but never mind the cause, hot men climbing ladders and sliding down poles? Interested?’
‘Count me in,’ Gabi said. ‘Sounds like the perfect spectator sport.’