44. The measure of her – 2000
Anton was in Miami for a week. He hadn’t required her to go with him this time.
There was every chance this was the start of another new development in their marriage.
There’d been a couple since that night Samuel had seen her home.
The first had been the sex. Or the lack of it.
Anton had stopped having sex with her. They hadn’t had it once in the last three years.
That didn’t actually bother Ursula. It had been good in the early days but, if she was honest, it had become boring and stale by the time he’d decided to take it away.
The second development had seen him move to working almost entirely from home.
He might not have wanted her anymore, but he still wanted to monitor her every move.
And now this. A trip away without her. Did he think he was punishing her?
Did he actually think she’d have wanted to go?
If she’d have been Andi she’d have told him: ‘Newsflash! I’m happy to see the back of you.
’ But she wasn’t Andi. So she packed his bag neatly, drove him to the airport, and promised to do all the jobs on his extremely long list.
From his chair, Samuel nudged her arm. ‘There he is. Mr Fox.’
She leaned forward to get a better look. On the furthest plot, a fox’s head poked out from under a hedge. Samuel had promised he’d come and they’d been waiting for over an hour. ‘How do you know it’s a mister?’
‘Because him such a big handsome boy. Much like meself.’
Ursula laughed. ‘I had no idea you held yourself in such high regard.’
‘Not just me. When I was a young buck, all the girls wanted a piece of me. Priscilla had to fight them off just to get a look in.’
‘Poor Priscilla. It must have been awful for her.’
‘Not Priscilla. She a tough little woman. One o’ them pocket rockets, you know what I’m saying?’ His laugh sent the fox dashing off to find a quieter place to hunt.
‘Tell me about Priscilla. How did you meet her?’ She was curious about the woman Samuel seemed to hide from and yet still have the greatest affection for.
‘It was at a house party, back in Kingston. I saw her bottom first, jiggling around the floor. It was the most heavenly bottom I’d ever seen.
Like a beautiful round peach. I went right up to her and told her.
She called me a fool. But all night, she kept on jiggling that bottom and fluttering them big eyes at me.
I knew she wanted more. She was some woman.
’ He shook his head and smiled. ‘She still calls me a fool.’
She thought of Anton who had never called her a fool but made it clear in so many other ways that she was one. ‘My husband’s away all week, so I’ll be spending longer here.’
He nodded. ‘I won’t be here tomorrow. The pastor’s coming round. If I’m not there, Priscilla says she’ll divorce me.’
‘Oh. Is it…? Sorry, I shouldn’t pry.’ Even so, her heart was fluttering with excitement.
‘It’s our boy. He’s got in with some troublemekkers. The pastor’s coming to talk to him.’
‘Have you talked to him yourself?’
‘He don’t listen to me. Come now, Ursula. Let’s have some quiet and watch the sun going down. Maybe Mr Fox will come back.’
Knowing she wasn’t going to see Samuel today, Ursula was in no rush to go to the allotment.
She spent the morning tackling Anton’s list and doing some food shopping.
It was while she was in the middle of the supermarket that her mobile phone rang.
Anton had quickly embraced this new fad, but she’d only just had one forced upon her by him.
Most likely so he could keep tabs on her.
But it wasn’t Anton calling this time. It was her mum. ‘Ursula, can you come over?’
Ursula looked at the trolley, half full with shopping. ‘Is it urgent?’
‘Kind of. Cassandra’s here. Will you come? Oh, and don’t mention this to anyone. Not even Anton.’
She left the trolley in the aisle and drove straight over. Andi pulled up just as she got out of the car. She waited for her to catch up. ‘Mum called you too?’
‘Well, it is a momentous occasion, Cass’s return. Two momentous occasions if you count Gillian letting her into the flat.’
Cass was sitting next to her mum on the sofa.
They were turned slightly towards each other, holding hands.
It shot Ursula straight back to those times when seeing them with their heads together was a daily occurrence.
Except that this time, they both looked as if they’d been through the wringer.
Especially Cass. Her eyes were red raw. And then another thought occurred to Ursula.
Perhaps Cass was here to tell them Bernard Fry was dead.
Andi was already opening her arms for Cass to fall into. ‘Talk about a shock.’
Cass stood up and hugged her. ‘Gill’s been telling me how well you’re doing. I always knew you had it in you.’ She held out her hand to Ursula. ‘Hello, Ursula.’
‘Is he dead? My father, he’s dead isn’t he?’
Cass frowned. ‘No. Still going strong as far as I know. I haven’t spoken to him since I left Birmingham. You’re wondering why I’m here after so long away? It’s simple really. I wanted to come home.’
‘But where have you been?’ said Ursula. ‘I looked for you at the shop and at your house. I tried calling you, but you just disappeared.’
‘Did you? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you but I had to get away.
I went abroad. Various places. I met someone and we travelled together until I realised I’d never be happy unless I made amends with Gill.
’ Cass glanced at Ursula’s mum. There was every chance the two of them would burst into tears at any moment.
She turned back to Ursula. ‘You haven’t told Anton I’m here, have you? ’
‘No. He’s in America anyway.’
‘I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want my family knowing I’m back. You know Anton moves in the same circles. I can’t risk him dropping it out.’
‘I’ve never seen any of the Frys at anything I’ve attended.
’ Ursula saw Cass’s reaction and was annoyed with herself for being so defensive.
So what if Anton shielded her from them?
That didn’t mean he didn’t bump into them occasionally on a professional basis.
And it wouldn’t be the first time she’d kept secrets from him.
Her feelings for Samuel in particular. Anyway, she suspected there were many things he didn’t tell her.
Like where he went for sex. ‘I won’t mention it and he hardly ever comes here anymore. ’
‘Make sure he doesn’t then, love,’ said her mum. ‘Because Cass is staying with us for a while.’ Then, before Ursula could ask if she was sure, she added: ‘It’s been a difficult few hours for both of us but we’ve made our peace.’
‘I don’t get it though,’ said Andi. ‘Why are you so scared of your family finding out where you are?’
Cass shook her head. ‘I’m not scared, I just don’t want anything to do with them.
I’m not like them, Andi. I can’t use people and throw them away when a better offer comes along.
I did that once and lived to regret it. And when I tried to put it right, Bernard destroyed me. I won’t let him do that again.’
Ursula remembered the last time she’d seen her father. He’d said something like none of it would have happened if her mum had agreed to let him have her. She’d been the reason Talulah closed down. ‘It was because you took me on.’
Cass gave her a weak smile. ‘The shop was just ticking over with financial support from the family firm but when he found out you were working there, he withdrew it. That New Romantic collection helped me struggle on for a while but the next one didn’t do so well and I went under.
’ It all made sense now. All those fraught phone calls and the mood swings. She must have been under such pressure.
‘But I’d left by then.’
‘Yes, but the damage had already been done. Besides, I thought you’d be coming back. I kept a place for you. To be honest, it was a relief in a way to let it go. It was never the same without Gill.’
Ursula’s mum sighed. ‘I suppose it was my fault for making you take Ursula on. But I don’t regret it, Cass. It got you away from them and it brought us back together again. Although I have to say, you took your bloody time.’
‘I was building up the courage. You have no idea how frightening you are,’ said Cass.
‘That is true,’ said Solly. Everyone turned to look at him. He pulled his mouth into a downward smile and shrugged, and suddenly they were all laughing.
‘I’m not telling Pab,’ said Andi as they walked back to their cars. ‘He doesn’t know Cass anyway but he might say something to Anton.’
‘Good thinking. Things must be bad if she’s worried Anton will say something.’
‘Bit over the top, I thought. Still, it’s nice to see the two old mates back together again.’
‘Yeah. I really thought their friendship was broken beyond repair.’
‘I guess some friendships can never be truly broken.’
‘Do you think ours is like that?’
Andi frowned. ‘You have to ask? Fucking hell, Urs. What are you like? I gotta go. I’ve got a wedding dress to finish before Saturday.’
Ursula got in the car and headed for the allotment.
Maybe she shouldn’t have asked but it was the mention of Pab.
If anyone was going to break their friendship it was him.
And if she really didn’t want it broken she’d have to say nothing to Andi and just hope he grew bored of trying to get a rise out of her.
She parked up and went straight into her shed.
There wasn’t really any work needed to be done so she made some tea and sat on the bench.
It was a glorious August afternoon. There were children running around and the place had a holiday feel to it.
Ursula sat back, enjoying the sunshine. On a day like this there was no better place to be.
She noticed a woman standing by the gate, small, dark-skinned and immaculately dressed. Ursula waited for a while, to see if anyone came for her and when they didn’t, she went to offer help. ‘Hello. Are you waiting for someone? Would you like me to get them?’
The woman lifted her chin. ‘I’m looking for Ursula.’
‘I’m Ursula. Can I help you?’
‘No. I just wanted to see you for meself.’ She looked Ursula over, as if she was examining every inch of her and with one last piercing stare, she walked away.
Ursula watched her go, not realising Clyde was by her side. ‘Was that Priscilla Sweeting?’
‘Yes, I think it was.’
‘What did she want?’
‘I don’t know.’ It was a lie, but she was too ashamed to tell Clyde that Priscilla had come to see her, to get the measure of her. And there was no doubt in Ursula’s mind that she had done exactly that.