Chapter 3 #2
A flurry of customers made further conversation impossible for a while.
Rick and Vee eyed each other somewhat warily as Maryam dealt with the queue.
When the last of the people had left the shop, Rick said, ‘Why don’t you come back with me now and take a look at the room?
Maryam can vouch for me, if you’re worried about me being a bit dodgy. ’
There was silence as Vee considered this suggestion. Then she smiled. ‘You don’t look like any kind of villain, to be fair. If you’re sure that’s not putting you out, it sounds like a very good plan. There’s nothing in the kitchen fit to use.’
Vee paid for her purchases, saying that wherever she slept that night, she’d need them.
Rick stood back to let her get on with her task, his mind reeling at what he’d done.
It was one thing talking about getting a lodger but quite another to find one so quickly and for it to be none other than the notorious Venetia Prescott, who had caused such a stir before she left the village when she was in her teens and whose exit with her family was talked about for many months afterwards.
Maryam gave Rick a thoughtful look as he ushered Vee out of the shop.
He expected that she must be wondering why, if he’d recognised the newcomer so easily, Vee seemed to have no clue as to who Rick was.
This was no mystery to him. Back in 1985, when the Prescott family had left Willowbrook so suddenly, Rick hadn’t looked anything like the man he was today.
Now, his image was very different. Reinventing yourself took time and effort.
Cut-off jeans, heavy work boots, a series of funky t-shirts and vests and a healthy outdoor tan were his trademark these days, along with the cropped hair, bleached by the local hairdresser every now and again to hide the greys, and just a touch of stubble.
Rick was fit and strong, with a toned body and a friendly smile that showed off a dimple in one cheek.
He held the door open for Vee, and she thanked him graciously. On the pavement, she paused. ‘I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but can I say one thing?’
Rick nodded, alarmed, but she patted his arm.
‘Never, ever call me babe,’ she said. ‘I’m Vee, and you’re Rick. I’m not sure if I should recognise you from my dark and distant past but for now, that’s all we need to know.’
Rick nodded and led her towards his van which was parked at the kerb a few metres away.
He wasn’t going to tell Vee that calling women babe, sweetheart, doll and a few other equally cringe-making names had been a part of his plan to morph into the character of a tough builder with a heart of gold.
At the time, it had seemed like another layer of his disguise.
Was disguise the right word? He’d certainly needed to make drastic changes in his life after Stacey left.
If Vee had arrived in Willowbrook a few years earlier, there would have been a definite danger that she’d have known him immediately.
He pushed the thought from his mind and opened the van door for her.
‘Is your house far away?’ Vee asked as they drove along Fiddler’s Row, past the village green where an impromptu game of football was taking place.
‘No, barely five minutes’ drive. It’s a semi-detached Victorian villa on the edge of Willowbrook,’ he answered, as they took a turn that would lead them alongside the church and out towards one of the roads that led to Meadowthorpe town.
‘It was a wreck when I bought it, or I’d never have afforded the place, but I’ve gradually done it up.
I’m a builder and a general handyman,’ he added, when she glanced across at him with interest.
Vee was staring out of the window again by the time the church came fully into view.
Rick heard her sharp intake of breath. It came as no surprise.
Some of his own memories probably mirrored hers far too closely for comfort.
He glanced across at his passenger and saw that her hands were tightly clenched in her lap.
‘So anyway,’ he continued breezily. ‘As I was saying, I can tackle most kinds of work. Plumbing, a bit of electrical, renovations. You name it, I’ll take it on board.’
Even to himself, this sounded like a blatant sales pitch, knowing that Vee was in dire need of help in that area, but nothing ventured…
Rick took a couple of left turns and pulled into the narrow drive next to his house and got out to open the door on the passenger side for Vee.
He was relieved to see that she seemed to have recovered from her obvious tension by the church, and he quickly opened up so that he could usher her inside.
Instead of going around to the back of the house and letting himself in through the kitchen door as usual, Rick had deliberately chosen to make this entrance Venetia’s first impression of his home.
It had been his pet project once the rest of the house was liveable.
The hallway had polished terracotta tiles on the floor and the stairs with their ornate banisters that led up to the bedrooms were sanded and varnished with a vintage runner going up the middle.
The lampshade that hung down was made of stained glass in rainbow colours and a large cheese plant with glossy leaves stood in one corner near a row of antique wrought-iron coat pegs.
‘Oh, this is lovely,’ Vee said. ‘Did you do it all yourself?’
Rick nodded proudly. It had taken hours and hours of labour to reach this welcoming stage, but it had been worth every moment.
‘I don’t suppose… I mean, I expect you’re booked up for weeks in advance…
but if you could possibly find time to do some work for me, I’d be so, so grateful,’ Vee said, turning shining eyes on him as she slipped off her coat and slung it over the newel post. ‘It’s so cosy in here, isn’t it?
I feel overdressed now but it’s the first time I’ve felt warm all day. ’
Rick’s heart gave a lurch in his chest. He’d been desperate for a new source of income recently and here was an opportunity to not only charge some rent but to get weeks of work booked in.
How could he refuse? But what if she recognised him?
The past would be sure to get in the way at some point, even if his hair had been dark and greasy in those days and his body shape much rounder.
Vacillating in the few seconds it took to answer, Rick took a decision that had the potential to rock his entire world.
‘I think we can come to some arrangement,’ he said, gesturing to the next floor of his house. ‘Let me show you the room that’s available and then I’ll make us some coffee and we can make a plan.’
Rick followed Vee up the stairs, unable to even begin to admire her long legs in their tight jeans, being so preoccupied with his immediate future.
The financial side of it was looking much more promising but what if Vee began to see past his carefully constructed smokescreen when she got to know him better?
This was madness and could only end in disaster.
Because the Rick who had been very much aware of Venetia Prescott back in 1985 was a very different character to the one that was currently offering her a safe place to stay and a way out of her tricky situation.
And if she rumbled him, any friendly relationship would be totally out of the question.
This whole thing could be a nightmare waiting to happen.