Chapter 6
Chapter Six
I ’d spent the whole time he was in my shower trying not to think about the fact that he was in my shower; trying to avoid the glaring fact that Teddy Fraser was naked in my bathroom. Totally naked. But when he appeared, dark hair damp and curling slightly, freshly washed in a checked shirt and dark blue jeans, it was all for nought, because my filthy mind just jumped straight back to the imaginings that I’d tried so desperately to tamp down. This was highly unacceptable and would only lead to more disgruntlement on my behalf.
Teddy Fraser fantasies are not on the agenda, horny Hannah, wind your neck in.
“Ready?” Teddy smiled, oblivious to my internal chastisement.
“Yes, as I’ll ever be.”
He laughed and put his arm around my shoulders, and I was engulfed in his spicy citrus scent, which was disturbingly evocative. I was suddenly imagining sun-kissed orange groves in Valencia and sipping on cool margaritas by the pool. Teddy Fraser no longer smelled of Lynx Africa. No, this was far more potent, far more masculine, far more delicious than that.
Bugger.
“That’s the spirit, Hannah. Nothing like going out of your way to make a guy feel special.”
“I think you feel special enough without my input,” I said, raising an eyebrow and extricating myself from his grip. “I’ll drive. Come on.”
* * *
The Three Crowns was old, the ceilings so low that Teddy actually had to duck in places, with wobbly mismatched tables and chairs, and rustic stone-flagged floors. It was a place I was familiar with, having regularly attended many family dos here because it was a favourite of my parents. While Teddy got the drinks, I found somewhere near the bar to sit and perused the blackboard, which was awash with delicious, mouth-watering offerings, and I realised just how hungry I was.
“Chosen what you want?” Teddy asked as he sat back down opposite.
“You’re paying, right?”
“Yep,” he replied, taking a sip of his pint and eyeing me with amusement over the rim of the glass.
“I’ll have a burger and chips then,” I said, knowing that I could easily get them to put this in a box for me to take away and eat on the hoof if I got called out.
“Good choice. I’ll have the same.”
I had expected an uncomfortable silence while we waited for the waitress to take our food order but Teddy seemed relaxed, and my usual twitching and discomfort around people began to ebb away. We chatted a bit about our experiences at university – me at Bristol, him at Edinburgh – and how things had been since we’d left school. He seemed impressed that I’d got a PhD and pursued an academic fellowship, but I decided to leave out the disastrous last few months. It was still pretty raw and humiliating and I was trying not to think about Jonathan on a regular basis.
“Why did you come back here, Hannah?”
Teddy looked at me speculatively, fiddling with his cutlery, long fingers turning over the stainless steel fork hypnotically.
“To be near my parents. The job at the surgery came up and it seemed like a good choice as Giles is looking to retire in a few years.”
This was all true. Well, mostly. I hadn’t at all wanted to move nearer to my parents because I found them difficult and overbearing, particularly my mother, but inside I was craving some sort of comfort and familiarity. Plus, after reporting Jonathan to the Dean of the Veterinary School, my options had become somewhat limited. True to his word, he had made my position untenable and then thwarted all my attempts at getting another research fellowship at any of the UK vet schools, so I was left with finding a job somewhere he had no influence. Daisy, as predicted, had not complained about his behaviour, and the dean had seemingly ignored my emails, so Jonathan’s life had remained entirely unaltered.
Why is it that crap always seems to float to the top?
The door to the bar opened with a creak and I heard a group of people enter, their soft laughter and chatter adding to the already cosy atmosphere of the pub. I had my back to them but I watched Teddy’s face go from recognition to horror, and I turned in my seat to see the unmistakeable figure of Henry Fraser enter the bar, accompanied by an extraordinarily beautiful blonde, and Mr and Mrs Fraser following behind.
“Shit.” Teddy turned to me with a look of panic in his eyes, then whispered, “Should we make a run for it?”
“Ted?” Henry’s deep voice called out, puzzled, glancing quizzically to me and back to Teddy.
“Too late,” Teddy groaned.
“Edward!” Mrs Fraser had always been impossibly sophisticated and glamorous, and today was no exception. Her diminutive frame was clad in designer clothes, her beautiful, lyrical French accent soft and subtle as she continued to speak, while looking curiously at me. “And who is this?”
“This is Hannah Havens. We used to go to school together,” Teddy said uncomfortably. He was clearly as upset as I was that his family might think we were a couple.
“Oh, how lovely!” Mrs Fraser was clearly more delighted than us about this encounter.
“Hannah?” Henry’s voice was all surprise. “Oh my God.”
“Hi, Henry, how are you?”
Well, wasn’t this bloody awkward? I could see exactly what this must look like to Teddy’s family and I was both mortified and annoyed to be thought of as his latest conquest. Where was an emergency cow caesarean when you needed one?
“Wow! It’s been such a long time. How are you? And why are you sitting with Ted in the pub?” Henry was genuinely disconcerted. He rubbed a hand up the back of his neck uncomfortably and shook his head slightly. “You hated him when we were at school, as I recall?”
“We accidentally bumped into each other again recently and he’s trying to buy my silence,” I replied, shifting in my seat and glancing at Teddy, who narrowed his eyes.
“Is he?” Henry laughed delightedly.
“Are you eating?” Mrs Fraser asked, before adding, “We could all eat together?”
“Er, well, Mum, no, Hannah and I were just grabbing a quick bite,” Teddy tried desperately, and I noticed Henry seemed to be enjoying his discomfort, before wincing as the beautiful blonde pinched his arm sharply and tutted at him. I liked her already.
“Nonsense. I’ll ask Bob if he can put two more places at our table,” Mrs Fraser declared, marching over to the barman in a no-nonsense way.
“I’m Clara, by the way,” the woman at Henry’s side said, reaching out and shaking my hand warmly as I stood. “Nice to meet you, Hannah.”
“Henry’s fiancée,” Teddy added helpfully.
“Right. Nice to meet you too. Congratulations,” I murmured, carefully watching Henry, who was gazing at Clara with slightly nauseating eyes, his arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him. They were a poster couple for being in love, if ever I saw one. I briefly wondered how it would feel to have someone look at me like that, before swallowing such a ridiculous notion away.
The Frasers began to mill around while we waited for the table to be readied. It was getting crowded in the bar, and we were already pushed quite closely together when another couple entered. And I felt my body begin to shut down, system by system.
There was no way we could hide because the presence of both Fraser twins had always drawn the eye. This latest couple was no exception, turning as one to gape at the film star looks of this small gathering and then catching me in the midst, looking like a blob fish caught in a net of mermaids.
“Hannah?” My father’s voice was like the foghorn on the QE2 coming out of the mist, and all the Frasers turned as one to look at him. Meanwhile, my mother was running an appraising glance over the cast in front of her, eyes lingering on Teddy, who was standing really quite close to me.
I gave a small, feeble wave as they strode over to us.
“Hello, darling, what are you doing here?” my mother asked. Her voice sounded sickly sweet but I knew it was dripping in accusation because she hated to be caught on the back foot in any situation. She gave me the look , the one that had withered the soul right out of me as a child, the one she always gave when she was displeased with me, as she so often was.
“I-I-I…”
Shit, why do I always become such a stuttering mess around her?
“I asked her to dinner, as a thank you for treating an injured cat I found,” Teddy said, stepping forwards and getting a comedy double-take from his whole family at that little revelation. “I’m Ted Fraser. We went to school together.”
“Oh.” My mother studied him carefully, eyes briefly flitting back to the rest of the beautiful people that had now assumed a protective circle at his back.
“Yes, and my family happened to drop by unexpectedly. My brother, Henry, and his fiancée, Clara. My parents, Fiona and Jim Fraser.” Teddy did the introductions swiftly and politely and then looked expectantly at me.
I stared back at him over my shoulder, and he raised his eyebrows, clearly wanting me to do something. But I was out of ideas, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, dry and immobile. In reality, I was unable to see my way out of this horror show, wishing that someone would just put me out of my misery. What I wouldn’t do right now for an injection of phenobarbital to end things quickly, a kindness that we offered to suffering animals. And I was definitely experiencing some extreme suffering right now.
Teddy coughed and angled his head at my parents and finally my one functioning brain cell kicked in.
“Sorry, these are my parents, Linea and Peter Havens.”
When all the handshaking was done, a weird, cold-eyed stand-off began. My mother had a lot of questions burning a hole in her skull, obviously. I knew my father was trying to work out if he could get any business out of the men in the room and that he was also itching for a drink. Jim and Fiona were glancing awkwardly around the pub, while Henry and Clara were wrapped up in gazing at each other. Teddy had stepped closer, his body just a hair’s breadth from mine, warmth radiating from him. My fingers twitched involuntarily, accidentally brushing his, but he didn’t flinch or pull away. He kept them close – it was the briefest of touches, barely a touch at all really, yet it was there, like lightning up my arm.
Finally Fiona broke the silence and addressed my parents. “Are you planning to eat? We’re all having dinner and I’m sure we could squeeze two more on the end.”
No. No. No.
This was turning into an absolute disaster. My head whipped around to look pleadingly at my mother, but she was already smiling and wandering away with Fiona, her lithe figure disappearing into the crowd. My father and Jim Fraser, who had struck up a conversation and were laughing good-naturedly, also headed for the bar. Henry and Clara were still drowning in each other’s eyes. Teddy seemed like a beaten man, and I just looked at the floor, dread and the inescapable feeling of doom swamping my whole being.
When the mothers came back with Bob, the cheerful bearded barman, and ushered us to the table, I sat heavily, sandwiched between my own mother and Teddy.
“If you’re going on a date with such an attractive man, Hannah, the least you can do is dress up a little,” my mother hissed at me, her mouth so pouty with disapproval that I couldn’t help but compare it with a cat’s anus. A snigger escaped from me and her eyes narrowed to slits, looking with disdain at my polo shirt and jeans, before sighing dramatically at her lost cause of a daughter.
“I’m on call tonight, Mum, and this is not a date,” I muttered back.
“Well it should be. His mother says he’s an architect, so a good match for you.”
“What does his profession have to do with anything?”
“Everything, Hannah, everything, especially since you blew it with Jonathan who was a professor ,” she murmured, enunciating “professor” as if she were announcing that he was the actual King of the Universe, and not a slimy two-timing sleazebag.
But my mother was big on social standing. She was an inveterate climber of the society ladder and a complete and utter hypocrite. My grandparents had come over from Sweden in the 1960s, liberal and hippy, living a nomadic life and selling their Viking-inspired art and jewellery to get by. My mother had been home-schooled and given an amazingly free and wonderful childhood – my grandparents were avid nature lovers, with keen, intelligent minds. But she shunned all this, and while I was away at university had placed my ailing mormor in a home when my morfar died, her once free spirit encased in a soulless pink bedroom with a view of a car park, her memories and her mind slowly rotting, until she too had died, alone, a few months later.
“So, are you going to tell us about this cat of yours, Ted?” Henry asked from across the table, making Teddy shift uncomfortably in his seat next to me.
“Oh yes, tell us about your cat!” Clara agreed excitedly.
“It’s not my cat. She’s a stray and is at Hannah’s place now.” Teddy shifted a glance in my direction, before taking a sip of his drink. “She’s excellent with animals.”
“She’s a vet,” my dad said loudly from across the table, so that everyone turned to look at him, as he nodded and necked the red wine. “Always been excellent with animals. Really understands what makes them tick.”
My mother hissed a low sound, the universal family signal to shut up and not embarrass her. She knew, as did I, where this would go, and for once I was in complete and utter agreement with her. But my father was oblivious, pouring more wine into his glass and smiling around at the rapt attention of the Frasers.
“A vet. How marvellous,” Mrs Fraser said with a genuine smile.
“Oh yes, she’s extraordinarily in tune with animals, particularly horses.” My dad was already in his element.
“Peter Havens.” My mother said, bringing forth the warning use of his full name, a deadly calm to her voice. It was the voice that still, to this day, struck fear into my heart, even if it wasn’t my full name she was uttering.
“Very, very in tune…” he said, followed by a wink and a smirk and another mouthful of wine.
“All right, Dad,” I muttered, feeling the blush start to creep up my neck.
Please let him shut up, now.
Because when he started on this topic, it only went one way. And it never ended well for me.
“In fact,” he carried on, loudly, my prayers clearly going unanswered, “she spent most of her formative years being a horse.”
And there was his punchline, the cork of the bottle of fizzy confessions from my youth violently unstoppered, ready to spew forth with significant mortification for me. Excellent.
“Oh yes?” Teddy was staring at me with undisguised amusement.
“Yes, from about three to twelve years of age, wasn’t it, Linea?”
“I don’t remember.” My mother was so tight-lipped now that it was a wonder any sound came out of her mouth at all. This was as embarrassing for her as for me – I knew this for a fact. How she hated for anyone to see anything other than the vision of the perfect family unit she had so carefully constructed. I remember at the time how she used to shake me, ordering me to stop playing, to behave, to be a “normal” little girl and dress up the endless string of dolls she’d bought for me. She begged me to stop humiliating her with my unbridled (pun intended) imagination.
“Do you remember when you were in the supermarket, Linea, and an old lady tried to cut in front of you at the till and Hannah kicked her, hard, in the leg, then neighed and ran off?” My dad was actually guffawing now. “That took some explaining, didn’t it?”
My mother had gone impossibly still next to me, whereas I was shrinking into my seat, hoping the world would open up in a big fiery chasm and kill me now. I didn’t care if it was painful as long as it was quick. Eternal flaming damnation would be better than this. I didn’t look at anyone, but felt an awkward chuckle reverberate around the table.
“We even had to take her to the hospital once when she was seven and we caught her eating grass, just in case she’d consumed anything poisonous from the garden.” He raised his glass to me. “How many times did we have to take you to A&E to have your stomach pumped, darling?”
I held up three fingers while continuing to look down at the table. The ensuing silence was excruciating. Despite being someone who rarely drank, and who got pissed on a thimbleful of alcohol, I had the sudden urge to grab the half-drunk bottle of red wine and down the lot.
Teddy picked up the menu that was lying between us on the table and said, ever so casually, “Do you remember that time in that posh hotel when we were seven, Henry, and you stuck those balloons down your T-shirt and pretended to have an enormous pair of boobs?”
“Actually, Ted, you put some down your T-shirt first, but you fondled yours so hard they burst,” Henry answered smoothly.
Teddy smiled at me, waggling his eyebrows, and then said, “I always was the best at fondling boobs.”
I choked a little as I swallowed a mouthful of lemonade, while my mother gasped in shock and my father slapped Henry on the back with a roar of laughter.
“Oh, boys, stop it, please. We’re in company!” Mrs Fraser admonished, and both Henry and Teddy had the grace to look a little contrite. For a moment, anyway.
“Do you remember that time at our eighteenth birthday party when I found you two outside, alone, by that bench? What were you up to?” Henry said, giving Teddy a challenging look.
Teddy opened his mouth, and the fear of what he was about to say consumed my brain in such a fiery haze that I panicked and gripped his thigh under the table like a bird of prey capturing a rabbit, talons digging into flesh.
“Owww! What the hell, Hannah?!”
“Teddy nearly passed out in my consulting room today because of a stinky cat abscess,” I blurted out desperately, practically screeching this information and flapping my free hand wildly so that the nearby bottle of wine was flipped onto its side, spraying the ruby liquid all over the table and turning it into a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre .
Frozen to the spot, my death grip on Teddy’s quadriceps still in full swing, I stared in horror at the slow motion scene of devastation unfolding across the table. My mother dropped her head into her hands with an audible groan as Mr and Mrs Fraser jumped to their feet to avoid being splattered. Meanwhile, my father remained seated, staring forlornly at the lost wine as it dripped onto the floor.
Well, at least no one was thinking about me and Teddy alone and kissing anymore, right?