Chapter 8
MADDIE
‘Wow, where did she learn to fight like that?’ Maddie asked, staring at the screen, as Ginny Canavan, the actress who played Lady Fiora McDouglas in The Clansman, took down two would-be kidnappers with just a rattan basket and her bare hands.
‘Weirbridge Primary,’ Val said. ‘I’ve never known a lass to get in more punch-ups at school than Ginny Canavan. Hugo was never away from the headmistress’s office. It was always in self-defence or sticking up for someone though, so she got away with it.’
Now that Val said it, Maddie did vaguely remember a couple of incidents, but she’d been a few years above Ginny in school, so she’d only known the mini-Rocky as her classmate, Alyssa’s little sister.
Talking of which… Alyssa chose that moment to arrive, letting herself in the back door.
Maddie had come to learn that Val quite literally had an open-door policy in the house, and there was an endless stream of people who came in and out.
For tonight’s episode of The Clansman, there was Val, Maddie, Jessie, Nancy from Next Door (she always got that full title) and now Alyssa was here too.
Moira Chiles had just left because she was going off on holiday with her son, Ollie, and his family tomorrow morning and she needed to wash off her spray tan.
Although, she’d been sitting here for the last two hours in her rollers turning an ever-darkening shade of walnut, so Maddie was slightly concerned about the outcome.
‘Evening, ladies, how are we all tonight?’ Alyssa greeted them, plonking down on the arm of the sofa.
‘Your sister is battering the lights out of that bloke that used to be in the shortbread adverts,’ Val said, nodding to the screen.
‘Aye, he deserves it,’ Alyssa said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. ‘His shortbread was rubbish.’
Maddie’s cheeks began to ache from yet another bizarre but brilliant night in this house.
If there was a literal description for the expression ‘good for the soul’, this would be it – Val’s house, on any given evening, whether there was a crowd of people or just the two of them, chatting over a cup of tea before bed.
So many things reminded Maddie of her mum, that if she were being deep and meaningful, she’d say that being here was healing her heart a little more every day.
The chat and a glass or two of wine flowed until the show was over, and for an hour or so afterwards, when Jessie and Nancy From Next Door decided it was time to leave. The two of them went off, out the back door the same way that they’d come in.
‘Do you want a cup of tea, Alyssa? Or another wine?’
Alyssa had graduated from the arm of the sofa to the chair that Jessie had vacated when she left.
‘I’d love a tea, please, Val. I’ll make it myself. Feels weird sitting in the living room.’
Maddie knew exactly what Alyssa meant. Since she’d moved in here, she’d learned that Val’s kitchen table was the hub of all conversations, with three or four women parked around it at pretty much any given time.
‘Anyway, I won’t stay long because I’m in the café at six in the morning. I just came to organise our trip to London,’ Alyssa said, and Maddie’s grin made her cheeks hurt even more.
There had been many good things that had happened to her in recent months, and rekindling her teenage friendship with Alyssa was definitely one of them.
Although, it had been a surprise to find out that Alyssa had discovered her biological father was actually Jessie’s husband, Stan.
That secret had only come out a couple of years ago.
Jessie had long forgiven Stan, and Alyssa adored having Jessie as a stepmother, which was handy, given that they worked in the same building every day.
It also meant that Alyssa was the half-sister of Grant and Georgie, Jessie’s adult children who both lived in London.
The London trip had two purposes. The first was that it would be a much-needed light-hearted, fun getaway with a girlfriend – something that she hadn’t done since before her mum got sick.
They’d already booked tickets for two stage shows and Alyssa had a list of trendy rooftop bars that she wanted to visit.
The second was that Grant owned a swanky, very trendy hair salon in Kensington, and when he’d been up visiting Jessie the week before, Jessie had told him that Maddie might be interested in moving down there.
He’d immediately invited Maddie and Alyssa down to see it.
‘I could always use a great stylist, and Mum said you’re the best she’s worked with.
Although, she did also say that if I tried to poach you, she’d cut me out of her will, but the way she’s spending money at the bingo, there’ll be nothing left anyway. ’
At that point, Jessie had playfully elbowed him in the ribs and informed him she was stopping his pocket money.
When Alyssa had called Georgie to let her know that they were venturing south, her sister had insisted that they stay at her house, so now they just had to get their flights booked.
Maddie had just pushed herself up off the couch to adjourn to the kitchen, when her phone rang and Dylan’s name flashed up on the screen.
‘It’s Dylan,’ she told Val and Alyssa, who were already on their way to the door. ‘I’ll be with you in two minutes.’
She ignored the knowing looks and the nudging that went on between them and took the call.
Clicking on the FaceTime button, she greeted the grinning face that appeared on the screen. ‘Hiya, friend, how are you doing over there?’
They’d slipped into a fairly regular schedule of occasional texts and one catch-up phone or video call a week, where he’d fill her in on the latest news from Nashville.
Tonight was no different. ‘Pretty good. Actually, better than good, Maddie. The bar was sold out again every night this week and the boss has heard that there are a couple of scouts who are interested and might be coming down to see me. Or he might just be bullshitting me so that I’ll continue to work here in return for a tiny hotel room and crap wages. ’
Even as he said it, Maddie could hear the happiness in his voice and she knew he was joking.
‘You are just living your best life out there,’ she said, laughing with him.
‘You know, I still can’t believe I’m here. It’s like my whole life I’ve dreamt of this, being the guy that just sings his heart out for a living, and now it’s happening. I mean, it’s a shite earner and I’m borderline impoverished, but I love it, Maddie. I don’t want it to end.’
‘Maybe it won’t. Maybe you’ll get discovered and become an international superstar, and then I’ll admit to knowing you and sell a story about snogging you on your couch.
’ They both knew there had been so much more than snogging, but there had been an agreement to de-escalate back down to the friend zone and they were happily sticking to it.
It had just been a moment in time that they’d both needed, but that’s all it was and they were good with that.
He clearly liked the sound of that idea. ‘If I become an international superstar, I’ll tell the world about you myself. It’ll be the title of my first album. “The Things I Did With Maddie McShay On A Crappy Couch”.’
She was laughing hard now. ‘I think that’s a hit.
I’ll look out for it on Spotify. Anyway, I need to go.
Alyssa is here and we’re planning our London trip.
You’re not the only one that’s taken to a jet-set lifestyle.
This month I’ve been to… well, Glasgow. And Edinburgh.
And now I’m going to London. So, okay, it’s not quite as glam as Nashville, but don’t gloat.
Maybe next month I’ll go crazy and venture to Aberdeen or Inverness. ’
‘Or Nashville?’ he asked. ‘You know, you could always come over…’
‘Okay, if I win the lottery, then Nashville is on the table. You go start writing that song.’
‘Oh, let me tell you…’ he began to warble, setting the words to an old-fashioned country tune, ‘a story about the things I did…’ He was getting louder now, deliberately singing off-key. ‘…With Maddie McShay on a—’
She let out a mortified yelp. ‘I’m hanging up now,’ she told him, and cut the line dead before she had to listen to any more of it.
She was still grinning, though, when she went into the kitchen and remained so lost in the amusement of it all that it took her a moment to realise that both Val and Alyssa were staring at her, eyebrows raised, smiles on their faces.
‘You heard all that, didn’t you?’ she said, with a tone of inevitability.
‘You shagged him on a couch?’ Alyssa teased, while Val clapped her hands to the side of her head.
‘My ears! Dear Lord, spare me from the talk of such things.’
‘No!’ Maddie replied, with vehemence to Alyssa’s question, before immediately buckling under pressure. ‘Okay, yes. Val, keep your ears covered.’ She went back to Alyssa. ‘But it was only a one-time thing and neither of us even think about it anymore.’
‘Alyssa, I don’t think she wants to discuss it,’ Val piped in sternly, rebuking her friend and drawing a line under it. Until she followed up with, ‘I think we’ll just need to wait until the album comes out to get all the details.’ That set the two of them off again in hoots of laughter.
Maddie shook her head as she took a seat at the table and opened the laptop that was lying there. ‘You two need help, you really do. Right, let’s focus on important stuff, Alyssa Canavan. London. When are we going?’
Maddie would be lying if she said she wasn’t intrigued about the possibility of working in London.
Two months ago, she’d have pretty much ruled it out, still too raw and consumed by grief to think about starting over again in a new city, especially one like London, where she knew no one other than Grant and Georgie, and had only visited once, on a school trip to see Buckingham Palace.
But now that she was beginning to feel her old, indestructible, adventurous spirit come back and knock some of the sadness out of the way, there were definitely some aspects of it that were starting to appeal to her.
When she’d worked in Edinburgh, it had been in an expensive, high-profile salon that had emphasised cutting-edge trends and pioneering creativity.
It was a dramatic switch from that to the cut and blow-dries and occasional kids’ trims that she did at Copper Curls.
Not that she was being patronising or dismissive.
Jessie and the salon had saved her this last year.
But perhaps it was time to challenge herself again and really push the boundaries to make a step up in her career.
And London would definitely be a great way to do that.
Val clearly wasn’t going to be part of the booking process, though.
‘Right, I’ll leave you two to it. I’m away upstairs to bed to watch Silent Witness.
If it terrifies the living daylights out of me, I’ll be back down to check all the doors and windows are locked and look up self-defence classes on the internet. ’
‘Goodnight, Val,’ Alyssa said, as Val gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
‘G’night, ma love. And you too,’ Val said to Maddie, as she blew her a kiss across the table. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
Maddie felt a wave of gratitude and warmth, until Val wandered out of the kitchen, humming the exact tune that Dylan had been singing earlier.
Giggling, she shook her head. ‘That woman should come with a health warning.’
Alyssa reached for the biscuit barrel in the middle of the table. ‘She definitely should. Right, are we doing this then?’
‘We’re doing this,’ Maddie agreed, full of resolve as she clicked on to Skyscanner. ‘Okay, what dates shall we go for?’
Alyssa pulled out her phone and they began comparing calendars, working out the times that were best for them both. A few minutes later, as Maddie clicked the button to confirm their flights, she felt a strange combination of peace and excitement.
She was finally getting her life back on track.
And she couldn’t wait to see where it would lead her.