Chapter 7
Leo watched Mab emerge from the bathroom ten minutes later, looking pink and contented.
She had woven her newly washed hair into a thick plait and was dressed in the collection of borrowed clothes, which he thought suited her very well.
She had rolled up the sleeves of her shirt loosely and tied the sweater around her shoulders.
The trousers fell in soft folds, being designed for someone larger.
Leo glanced down as Mab wriggled her bare toes luxuriously, somehow surprised to see that she was wearing pearly pink nail varnish.
She caught him looking at her and grinned.
‘Sorry I was so long, Leo. When I live here, I’m going to have to ration the time I spend lying in that huge bath reading my book, or I’ll never get anything done.’
‘I know, I’m the same. Soaking in the bath’s the best way to keep sane, I reckon.’
‘True. Who needs a man when you can have hot water and bubbles? The only problem the bath’s ever given me was that time with the library book. That was an expensive mistake.’
‘I don’t know about that… men can be quite useful sometimes, pet.’
Mab laughed. ‘You’re probably right. If there were no men here, who’d be making that wonderful smell of supper?’
The meeting was already underway when Mab came in, with everyone except Sophie gathered round the table.
Leo’s spirits rose as he looked at his extended family – good progress had been made, largely because of Alex’s practical leadership and Den’s growing enthusiasm for The Chocolate Cake Bookstore.
As Mab joined them, Leo, Alex and Den were just finishing drawing up a final action plan, while Sophie, having moaned for a good ten minutes that there was no Netflix available, hunted through a varied collection of DVDs in Angelica’s ancient TV cabinet for something to keep herself amused.
After trying one or two for a few minutes, she settled for Gone Girl – and slotted it into the machine with a happy sigh.
‘You’ll like this one, Mabel. The heroine’s a bit like you,’ she said.
‘In what way?’ asked Mab, frowning.
‘Oh, just kind of different… no offense…’ Sophie giggled, and Leo shot her a warning glare, which she ignored.
It was dark outside now, and Leo had switched on a selection of Annie’s lights, creating a warm, homely glow that made him miss his godmother intensely.
She had been such a big part of his life.
Annie had encouraged his passion for books, buying shiny new ones, scouring charity shops for good-quality second-hand stories and reading to him for hours when they visited each other.
As a small boy, Leo remembered travelling alone on the train to see Annie, his small lunchbox packed with treats, including the bar of very expensive chocolate that she always sent him for the journey.
When he arrived, Annie would have a fabulous tea waiting for him, and the crowning glory of the tea table would be a deep, heavily frosted chocolate sponge.
Annie’s recipe was moist and squidgy, studded with surprising nuggets of ginger, cherries or whole toasted almonds.
Leo sighed. He knew Annie would be proud of his new venture, but he really wished she was here to see it coming together.
‘It’s so cosy in here,’ said Mab, looking round with shining eyes.
There were small, brightly coloured table lamps on every available surface, and some very fancy art deco wall fittings, but the crowning glory was an elegant Tiffany lamp with a multi-coloured glass shade featuring three large dragonflies.
The general effect was stunning, and Leo wondered if they’d be able to translate Annie’s style and flair into a workable decor for the shop.
In this light, the general seediness of the flat faded into insignificance and the eclectic group of chairs and sofas looked inviting rather than random.
Leo’s warm feeling increased as he noticed Mab snuggling into one of the largest settees with a sigh of relief.
Harry and Josh had disappeared into the kitchen and soon began to rattle serving dishes and plates.
They seemed to be creating some sort of pasta dish, involving lots of butter, cheese and garlic, and the smell was tantalising.
The radio played softly in the background.
Harry had tuned it to a station featuring hits of the sixties and was happily humming along to an old Beach Boys song about it being nice if he was older.
How old did his dad want to be, for goodness’ sake?
Harry sang along merrily, stopping mid-word as the peace was shattered by a series of loud raps at the downstairs door.
‘Get that, someone,’ said Alex, looking over Den’s shoulder at the new plan. ‘It’ll be the others. Hopefully they’ve brought more beer.’
Leo bounded down the stairs two at a time and found Jess and Stan waiting impatiently on the step, each clutching six packs of Newcastle Brown. Jess was also trying not to drop a large pottery bowl of salad.
‘Hey, good to see you, guys. Have you two come here together?’
‘You are joking, aren’t you?’ said Jess.
‘I did offer her a lift, but she said she wanted to be sure of getting here tonight, rather than next week.’ Leo opened the door wide and Stan headed up the stairs. Jess shrugged and followed.
‘Have you come to help with the planning meeting?’ asked Leo, glad of Jess’s support.
‘Well, yes, but I’ve also got some bad news. I need to talk to Mab as soon as possible. It’s OK,’ she said, seeing Leo’s face fall, ‘it’s nothing to do with the business.’
As they came up the stairs into the living room, Harry emerged from the kitchen with a tea towel tucked into his trousers.
‘Right, you lot, supper’s almost ready so whatever needs to be said, make it snappy.’ Josh followed him out and they both sat on the edge of their chairs, making it obvious that the important part of the evening was the food.
The living area now had someone sitting in every available space, so Stan and Leo sank down to sit cross-legged on the floor. More beers were passed round, and Leo waved a hand at Den and Alex.
‘Right, guys, you two are the organised ones. Let’s run through the plan so far. Turn the TV off, please, Soph. We need to concentrate.’
Alex stood up, ignoring Sophie’s disgusted sniff.
‘OK, here goes. I’ve put down the jobs in order and also listed which of us might be involved with each one. I’ll read it to you for quickness.’
Clearing out everything that we don’t need, including carpets, and taking it to the charity shop or tip (we’ve got two vans available, so all of us can make a start on that one first thing tomorrow)
Plastering over the wall damage between kitchen and pantry, and the tatty bits downstairs (Leo and Dad)
Finding a chimney sweep who can come immediately (Sophie)
Hiring two industrial sanders for the floors and getting paint and varnish etc. (me and Stan)
Cleaning the flat thoroughly before we decorate (everyone else)
Repairing the damage in the shop – new glass in the door and so on (anyone who has the know-how)
Sanding all the floors (all of us taking turns)
Painting the whole place through and varnishing the floors (ditto)
Planning menus and sourcing local suppliers (Jess)
Alex sat down, and everyone except Sophie looked impressed. She flipped her shining hair back over her shoulders and said, ‘But what about me, Leo? This is going to be really boring for me. What am I going to do while all this stuff’s going on? And how do I know where the chimney sweeps live?’
‘You’ll be busy with the rest of us, won’t you?
’ said Leo, smiling down at Sophie in what even he could tell was a pleading way.
Why did she always make him feel so needy?
She was stunningly beautiful in the lamplight, but her eyes were steely, and if she wasn’t careful she would soon have frown lines.
He made his voice even more encouraging.
‘I can lend you some overalls. It’ll be a laugh. ’
‘You are joking, aren’t you? Cleaning? Going to the “tip”, whatever that is?
I don’t think so. I thought you and me were going to have some quality time together, Leokins?
I haven’t come all this way to break my nails.
’ She admired her long fingernails, with their extensions and thick coating of frosty blue, and gave Leo another of her special ‘under the eyelashes’ looks. He felt a pang of irritation.
‘Well, it’s going to be your home, love, so I thought you’d want to…’ He ran out of words as Den stood up.
‘Of course she wants to help, don’t you, Sophie? She’s just kidding. We’ll all muck in tomorrow. Anyway, let’s eat. I’m starving.’
The dinner party increased Leo’s sense of coming home.
Annie’s big dining table could fit all nine of them around it easily, so they sat, elbows on its scarred surface, sharing the two massive dishes of bubbling, cheesy pasta and tearing chunks of bread from the baguettes that Den had thrown into his trolley on the supermarket dash earlier.
The rest of the ingredients seemed to have been brought down from the North.
‘You guys are very self-sufficient,’ said Mab, ‘you’ve thought of everything.
’ Her dip in the lake seemed to have made her ravenous, and the others were attacking the food with gusto too, apart from Sophie, who toyed with a small plate of Jess’s salad.
Finally, when the dish was scraped clean of everything, even the little burnt bits around the edges, Den stood up and pushed his chair back.
‘I reckon it’s high time we got some beds sorted out, before we all doze off in our chairs. Leo, why don’t you take Sophie down to the hotel and we’ll all get the sleeping arrangements sorted.’
Leo tried to keep the note of disappointment out of his voice. He’d completely forgotten that he’d got to leave this cosy place. ‘Oh, OK then – come on, Soph. You’ll like the hotel. It’s like something out of an Agatha Christie novel. I’ll be back soon, guys – make yourselves at home.’
Sophie opened her eyes wide in astonishment. ‘But Leokins, aren’t you staying with me at the hotel tonight? You know I get lonely if I have to sleep on my own.’
‘Yes, I’d heard that…’ muttered Den to Mab loudly, and she giggled, gaining herself a filthy glare from Sophie.
Den continued out loud. ‘Go on, Leo, you stay at the hotel. Then Dad can have your bed – he’s way too old to sleep on the floor.’
‘Cheek!’ said Harry, looking relieved all the same.
Leo looked down at Sophie. It didn’t seem five minutes since just the sight of her pert little bottom would have made an offer like this irresistible.
Now, all he could think of was that he didn’t want to leave the warmth and friendliness of this place and these people.
And Mab was flatly refusing to catch his eye.
The interlude with Sophie back at the flat earlier, which he’d been looking forward to, had been disappointing to say the least. Oh, yes, they’d made love, but she had seemed cool and detached, disentangling herself soon afterwards to have a shower and reapply her make-up.
The only thing that Sophie had been passionate about was her new hair straighteners.
‘Leo, these are wicked! I got them off eBay and they only cost ￡200,’ she’d said, demonstrating their cleverness as she perched on the bed wrapped in a miniscule towel.
Leo had felt unutterably weary. Sex with Sophie had always been more of an athletic exercise than a loving experience, but usually exciting and unpredictable. Today it had left him strangely chilled.
He shrugged. ‘Fair enough. Come on then, Soph, let’s hit the sack.’
‘Charming,’ she said, pouting prettily, ‘can’t you raise up a bit more enthusiasm than that? I bet Stan would be a bit more eager, wouldn’t you, honey?’
Stan blushed an unbecoming brick red, and Jess glared at Sophie. The atmosphere in here was getting frostier by the minute, thought Leo. He held out a hand to Sophie, waved a reluctant goodbye to the others and headed for the stairs.