An Incidental Lovestyle Read online

  ‘For Jeff ’

  xx

  And So It Begins…

  Amber Fisher walked over to the fridge in the corner of the large, family kitchen. She paused, with her fingers on the handle, to look at the photograph stuck to the front of the pale blue door.

  One small piece of paper…

  So many memories…

  There had been an argument between her mum and dad when her dad had put it there, held in place by two fridge magnets – one in the shape of a bottle of champagne, the other a party hat. Both were mementoes from the evening the photograph had been taken – her parents’ joint fiftieth birthday party. With barely a week between them, it had been an obvious decision for any celebration to be a joint one.

  The brand-new, pale blue, fridge-freezer had been her mother’s pride and joy and she’d still been in the honeymoon period when her dad had placed the photograph on it. She didn’t want anything to mar its pristine exterior but her dad had simply smiled, turned up the song on the radio and had whisked her away from the cooker and into his arms, crooning the love song in her ear as they’d danced around the room.

  Amber smiled now, as she had smiled then. Her parents had been childhood sweethearts who’d met on their first day of school and had gotten married as soon as they’d turned sixteen. Their elopement to Scotland, in the school holidays, had become a family legend. Everyone thought her mother was pregnant but they couldn’t have been further from the truth. They didn’t have Amber until they were twenty-five and her sister, Saffy, hadn’t appeared for another ten years after that. No, it was a very simple case of being in love and it was a love that had grown deeper every year since.

  The thought of the thirty-fifth wedding anniversary they would no longer see, made Amber’s fingers tighten on the fridge handle. She took a deep breath to steady the emotions rocking through her and the photograph blurred as her eyes welled up again. She wiped them angrily and wondered how it was possible to still have tears left. The days and nights she’d spent crying should surely have emptied the well inside her, but it seemed to be bottomless for still they came.

  She pulled the door open and grabbed the bottle of chardonnay from the shelf. The initial plan had been to have just one glass but, upon reflection, she figured even the whole bottle wasn’t going to be enough. Not for what she had to do.

  She picked up the glass from the work top and carried both it and the bottle up the stairs. The house was quiet. Saffy had had a New Year sleepover with her best friend, Brioney, and wasn’t due home until later that night.

  Amber walked along the corridor until she came to her parents’ bedroom. She’d only been in there once in the last nine months and that had been the day she’d chosen their outfits for the undertakers.

  With a deep breath, she pushed the door open and walked in. Today was the day she had to begin moving on with her life. Saffy needed emotional stability and keeping this room as some kind of shrine wasn’t good for her. Now that her parents had been repatriated from Vietnam – the combined birthday and wedding anniversary “holiday of a lifetime” had turned out to be the last holiday of their life when the helicopter pleasure trip had ended with the aircraft crashing down in the Vietnamese jungle. There had been no survivors.

  It had taken nine long months to get them back home. Everything from the time it had taken to locate the crash site, retrieve the bodies and identify them plus the local coroner investigations and getting the insurance company to pay up until finally their funeral just before Christmas had been a constant strain and Amber was worn out. The last thing on the list now was to sort out their clothes and empty their bedroom. Saffy needed more space for her chums to come round and Amber planned to surprise her by turning the large master bedroom into a small studio flat where she could have more privacy.

  Two hours later, she’d made good inroads in her mammoth task. Both wardrobes had been emptied and several black bags were now in the garage, ready to go to the charity shop when they re-opened after the holiday. Amber moved onto the built-in cupboard which her parents called the shoe box because it was where they kept their footwear. Shoes had been her mum’s weak spot and she’d acquired many pairs over the years. Amber knew that while most of her dad’s shoes would end up in the PDSA shop, most of her mum’s would not. Amber was the same shoe size as her mum, and Saffy would be too, in another year or two, so she’d be keeping them. For now anyway…

  First of all, however, she needed to move the rowing machine that had been bought with good intentions and had lasted barely two weeks when it had given her father a back injury. Not from exercising though – no, he’d fallen over it in the dark one night and twisted his back as he’d landed. He’d never used it again and it had been dumped in the cupboard out of the way.

  With the weighty contraption shifted, Amber had a good view of all the boxes on the shelves. As she turned to look around behind her, her eyes fell upon a large, old-fashioned suitcase on the floor which she hadn’t seen before. She tried opening it but it was locked so she hauled it into the middle of the bedroom before having a quick shuffle in her mother’s jewellery box where she hoped there would be a key. She was in luck for there was a small one hidden underneath the ring tray and, when she tried it, the locks sprang open.

  Amber lifted the lid back and immediately saw that it was a memory box. She smiled as she pulled out a pile of cards tied with red ribbon. They were all the cards Saffy, her dad and Amber had given her mum over the years – birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Easter and Get Well Soon were all there. Some hand-made from days at school to shop-bought when they’d gotten older. Another pile of cards, this time tied up with a green ribbon, revealed the same for her dad. As she went through the box, out came pressed flowers, old dolls and teddy bears from Amber and Saffy’s childhood. There were small pebbles and seashells in little plastic bags, all meticulously recorded with dates and locations. Some also bore the name of who’d found the item. It seemed her mother had recorded every day and event of their life together. Amber had pretty much emptied the suitcase and the last remaining item, lying on the bottom, was an old, brown, A4 envelope. She took it out and opened it up, letting the contents slide out onto her lap. She picked up her glass of wine and took a sip while reading the paperwork in front of her.

  Suddenly she froze! Her eyes widened as the wine glass slipped from her hand and landed with a muffled thud on the pale carpet.

  Amber dragged her gaze away from the words swimming in front of her and caught sight of her reflection in the mirror on the wardrobe door. Her ashen face looked back at her, unrecognisable, as the realisation slowly sunk in that her whole life had been a lie.

  Chapter One

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

  ‘Oh, you stupid hunk of junk! Start, damn you! Start!’ Jenny Marshall slammed her palm on the steering wheel, pumped the accelerator a couple of times with her foot and turned the ignition again.

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

  ‘Brian, please…. Not today! There’s a good boy.’

  SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!

  ‘Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!’

  She hit the steering wheel of her 1960’s Volkswagen Beetle once more before stepping out to have a look at his insides. Sadie, her elderly neighbour, came out as she leant over for a look. ‘Sounds like the alternator to me, love,’ she said.

  ‘I think so too, Sadie. I was looking in the hope it might have been something else that would be a quick fix but I reckon I’m out of luck on that one.’ Jenny brushed away a strand of hair from her face and blinked rapidly as the cold wind blew into her eyes.

  ‘Well, if you
insist on driving something this old, it’s to be expected, dear.’

  ‘I know, Sadie, but it’s still better than the cars you get today. Have you seen them? You need a degree in rocket science and that’s just to put the oil in!’ Jenny grimaced as she spoke.

  ‘Tell me about it, love! My old mum, God rest her soul, would have kittens if she saw how engines look today. She always said the war was won on the back of the Land Girls and their ability to fix anything mechanical. If they’d had today’s engines back then… Well, Hitler would’ve had it a lot easier, I can tell you!’

  Jenny slammed the boot closed. ‘Looks like I’ll have to phone Sukie and cancel my visit. I was so looking forward to seeing her and the twins.’

  ‘Why don’t you get the bus? It’s a decent enough service and it only takes about an hour. You also get to see some lovely countryside. I do enjoy that bus ride.’

  ‘Sadie, it’s the middle of January, I have no desire to stand and freeze to death waiting for a bus.’ She leant inside the car to retrieve her handbag and the bag of gifts for the twins she’d put on the back seat.

  When she straightened up, Sadie replied, ‘There’s a bus stop just a five-minute walk from here and the bus for Lower Ditchley stops there in ten minutes. See!’ She held her smart phone in front of Jenny’s face.

  ‘And…’ she began swiping again, her fingers moving rapidly over the screen, ‘the last one home picks up at 4.30pm. You’ll have plenty of time for a good natter.’

  As Sadie whisked her way around the mobile phone, Jenny looked on enviously. She’d bought a new smartphone in the January sales and had just about worked out how to send a text on it. Everything else was complete gobbledygook! She wished she still had her old one but its battery had died a final death and couldn’t be replaced. Necessity, rather than desire, had forced the change.

  ‘Okay, I’ll get the bus. You’re sure I don’t need to change anywhere? It’s definitely a straight journey?’

  ‘Jenny, it’s the one I get when I visit Sukie, I can assure you it’s fine. Now get a move on before you miss it. I’ll call Dave from my darts group and ask him if he’d mind taking a look at Brian. I know you’d rather do it yourself,’ she put her hand on Jenny’s arm as Jenny opened her mouth to protest, ‘but you need it to get to work on Monday so we’ll get it sorted while you’re out.’

  ‘Sadie, you’re an angel. Thank you so much. I’ll see you later.’

  Jenny gave her a peck on the cheek before turning to rush off to catch the bus thinking, as she walked, that she hoped she’d be as sharp as Sadie when she hit her eighties.

  Chapter Two

  ‘Are you sure I can’t give you a lift home, Jenny? I feel bad that you’re taking the bus.’

  Jenny smiled at her friend. ‘Sukie, I really don’t mind. As Sadie said, it was a pleasant journey. I enjoyed going through all the tiny villages and hamlets that I don’t normally see when I visit. It was quite pleasant to just sit back and relax. I’m perfectly happy to take the bus back to Oxford, so don’t you worry. Beside, you don’t want the hassle of getting those two monsters all kitted out for a journey do you?’

  She grinned at the twins who were sitting playing with the toy dinosaurs she’d bought for them. They were almost three years of age and were as cute as buttons although she didn’t doubt for a moment that they could also be a right handful at times – especially Poppy! She was a gorgeous little girl but she had a mind of her own and had no qualms about using it. She was going to be a force to be reckoned with in years to come; Jenny had no illusions about that.

  ‘That won’t be a problem. Pete’s downstairs in his studio, I’ll ask him to come up.’

  ‘Pete’s here? I thought he was back out on tour and that’s why I hadn’t seen him.’

  ‘No, he’s holed up with our friend, Jeff Rowland, in the studio. Jeff’s been asked to do a presentation at the Royal Academy of Art and he has to provide a PowerPoint slide show to accompany it. In a blind panic, he asked Pete if he could help because Elsa is up to her eyes at the moment, further to the success of Danny’s exhibition. Jeff thought it would be quite unfair to ask her to do this too. Pete’s a bit of a whizz on the computer so he was happy to help out.’

  ‘I see. Well, tell him I said hello—’

  ‘Its okay, Jenny, you can tell me yourself.’ Pete walked into the hallway and stepped over to give Jenny a kiss and a hug. ‘Sorry I haven’t been up sooner but Jeff’s presentation took longer than expected. By the way, do you know Jeff?’

  Jenny looked up at the tall, sandy-haired, gentleman standing just behind Pete. They’d briefly met at Pete and Sukie’s wedding and it was difficult to forget someone who was the spitting image of Clint Eastwood, the famous Hollywood actor.

  ‘We met at your wedding, Pete. Nice to see you again, Jeff. I hope you’re well.’

  ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you again, Jenny. I’m good, thank you, how about you?’

  Before she could reply, Sukie stepped in. ‘Jenny’s just about to leave as she has a bus to catch. She won’t let me give her a lift home because she’s too damn stubborn.’

  ‘I’m leaving shortly, Jenny, I would be more than happy to take you home. It’s not too far out of the way.’

  Jenny could feel the blush moving up her face as Jeff laid his bright, easy smile on her. ‘Jeff, it is totally out of your way. I’m in Oxford, you’re in London. It would add the best part of an hour to your journey.’

  ‘I don’t mind, I’d be more than happy to be of assistance.’

  ‘Well, I mind, so, if you’ll all excuse me, I need to get my coat and get going otherwise I’ll miss the bus that I really want to catch.’ Jenny smiled before moving towards the coat stand, turning her back to Jeff, and putting her coat on slowly to allow the blush on her face some time to recede. When she was all wrapped up and ready to face the elements once more, she made her last round of goodbyes and stepped out the front door into the biting January wind.

  Jeff watched Jenny saying her goodbyes to Sukie and Pete and hoped the disappointment from her refusal of a lift didn’t show on his face. As he’d walked through the basement door behind Pete, he hadn’t been able to believe his eyes when he saw her standing there. He remembered her perfectly well from the wedding for he’d sort of fallen in love with her that day. She’d caught his eye as she’d stood off to one side, away from the other guests, her eyes closed and her face raised up, drinking in the warmth of the sun.

  She’d looked quite beautiful standing there in her deep emerald green dress with a mid-calf length, ballerina skirt and matching shoes. Her dark, auburn hair had been swept up upon her head, lengthening her neck which rose above the fitted, beaded bodice that gave emphasis to her amazing curves. There had been a hint of an almost bare shoulder when her chiffon stole had slipped down to reveal a thin spaghetti strap doing its best to hold up its side of the dress and her pale skin had glowed in the May sunlight. He’d just begun to walk towards her when the photographer had announced he was finished taking his pictures and everyone began to make their way to the marquee for the sit-down meal.

  Jeff had managed to worm his way into the queue beside her and they’d spoken for a few minutes while waiting to be seated. In that short time, she’d made quite an impression on him, for she was both gorgeous and intelligent, and he’d been keen to talk to her some more but, when he’d tried to find her again after the meal, he’d been disappointed to learn she’d left early due to a migraine. This was the first time he’d seen her since the wedding and here she was, about to do a runner on him again, despite his discreet effort to create an opportunity to get to know her better.

  He soaked her in as she donned her coat. Her gloriously vibrant, Titian hair was cut in a long, bob, sitting just past her shoulders. She was every bit as curvaceous as she’d been at the wedding and the ready smile she’d had then was in attendance again when she bent down to say goodbye to the twins. The slight twisting in his gut told him the
feelings he’d felt four years earlier hadn’t diminished with time.

  Jeff snuck a glance in the hall mirror opposite to see how he rated in comparison. He’d had his hair cut only a few days ago so it looked nice and tidy for a change. It was rather thick and needed to be trimmed regularly to prevent him looking like a mad professor due to its tendency to stick out at all angles if left too long to its own devices. It was still sandy in colour although a bit of grey was beginning to show up on his temples. In another few years, he reckoned he could pull off the Albert Einstein look without too much trouble which would make a nice change from his current Clint Eastwood appearance which he’d had to suffer since his mid-twenties. It had been amusing when he was younger but working in London meant he’d been stopped many times by people believing he was the real deal and who wanted either an autograph or a photograph with him. His eyes moved down to check out the outfit he was wearing and he decided the black jeans, white shirt and black waistcoat were tidy and smart even if the shirt sleeves were rolled up and the collar was open. He shuffled his feet but the noise of his cowboy boots on the marble floor quickly made him stop.

  Jenny smiled a farewell in his direction and he felt his insides flip once again. Clearly, however, she didn’t feel the same and he watched helplessly as the only woman he’d felt anything for in years, walked out of the door and out of his life again.

  Chapter Three

  Jenny waved for the last time before the bend in the path hid the house, along with Sukie and the twins, from view.

  ‘Damn, damn, shitting, shitting, damn!’ she muttered under her breath. How was it possible that, today of all days, would be the day she would meet that lovely man from the wedding again? It couldn’t possibly have happened on a day when Brian was running smoothly, her hair hadn’t been blown to bits and her make-up had been perfect because she hadn’t had to run for a bus, could it? Noooooo, she had to bump into Mr Sex-on-Legs when she was wearing the thick, padded coat she kept in the back of the car in case of emergencies because there hadn’t been enough time to go upstairs to her flat and put on her dress coat. The thing she was now sporting was bright orange in colour, almost down to her ankles and padded from top to toe. Truth be told, she looked like a walking continental quilt! When she added in the, more-than-a-few-mince-pies, extra pounds from Christmas, she reckoned she could give the Michelin Man a good run for his money.