6 January
Laurie had been totally charmed by Reid at the bonfire party. He had been witty and attentive and she had fancied him a little – how could she not? So when he had suggested they meet up for dinner, she’d said yes. Pat Morrison’s suggestion that she give a chance to the person connected with fireworks couldn’t have sounded a louder klaxon, so she had heeded it. Reid had been a total gentleman, took her to a Michelin-starred restaurant, insisted on paying for her, opened doors, helped her on and off with her coat, kissed her hand when he dropped her off home and the next morning, a very beautiful bouquet of flowers had arrived with a card that said ‘Thank you for a glorious evening and can I see you again’ tucked among them.
She was wowed off her feet and she did see him again. And again. Except . . . all the pieces fitted but something still wasn’t quite right. Bella’s explanation was that Laurie had been messed about so much that her compass was wrong; she had trusted people she shouldn’t, she wasn’t trusting people she should. She did have a point, thought Laurie; however, she didn’t dismiss her own misgivings outright. So far, her compass had helped her negotiate a whole minefield of lies and crap.
She and Bella met up at the Blue Duck after work on the first Monday of the new year. Laurie hated January with a passion. There was always such a long build-up to Christmas and yet the festive season ended like a rug whipped from under the feet, leaving a feeling of drabness and depression. A comedian had made her laugh once talking about January:
Thirty days hath September, April, June and November.
All except February which has twenty-eight days clear and twenty-nine in leap year.
And January which has a hundred and ninety-seven.
At least that’s what it had always felt like to her. She took her Christmas decorations down on 2 January. It hadn’t taken her long; there was just a tree, as opposed to filling her house with a Santa’s grotto’s-worth of sparkle and glitz as she had done before. Meredith and Brendan had sent her a card almost as if protocol demanded. A very ordinary charity-supporting one signed only with their names, Meredith, Brendan, Naomi, curt and cold. Laurie hadn’t written any. Not this year.
‘Well? How was your Christmas and New Year?’ said Bella, with emphasis, hungrier for details than she was for food.
‘It was—’
‘It’s what you deserve,’ enthused Bella, not letting her finish. ‘After what Alex did to you, and that bloody fireman.’
Reid was polished and sophisticated, generous and affectionate. Masterful, Bella called him. She was already looking at hats for the wedding.
They’d swapped Christmas presents after making a pact to keep them small. Laurie had given him a scarf; Reid had presented her with an envelope containing details of an evening for two: dinner at the Ritz in London, a pair of theatre tickets and then back to the Ritz for an overnight stay there. It must have cost a fortune.
‘How was the Ritz?’ Bella grinned. ‘Well, actually I mean how was your first shag together in the Ritz? How smooth is that – buying you a luxury night away?’
‘It was certainly a surprise.’ She’d been slightly put out and a lot embarrassed that he’d ignored the arrangement and he’d laughed and told her to enjoy and not even think about it. Bella had said the same. ‘I’m not sure it’s going to work with Reid, though,’ said Laurie.
‘Eh?’ shrieked Bella. ‘How can it not?’
Because Laurie couldn’t forget Pete Moore, that’s why. She didn’t say it because Bella would have told her to get a grip of herself and Bella would probably have been right. On paper Reid was perfect for her. Then again, on paper she had been perfect for Alex.
‘He wants to move too fast,’ said Laurie. ‘I’m not ready for it.’
‘Tell him to slow down, then,’ said Bella.
She already had. Then Reid had presented her with that Christmas present and she’d felt railroaded into spending the night with him. She’d even found herself hoping to catch the winter virus bug that everyone at work had, but she’d managed to dodge it – annoyingly.
She’d presumed she was just being stupidly nervous about sleeping with someone again after being dumped straight after last time. Bella told her not to judge everyone by Alex’s and Pete’s very low standards and just go, relish being spoiled. So she had eaten a fantastic dinner, seen an amazing show and then returned to the hotel. She suggested a drink in the bar – Fabian tactics, delaying the inevitable like a frigid virgin bride – but Reid said he wanted her stone cold sober for the rest of the night. And she had gone to bed with him. He had been attentive to her body but she had faked because she wished she were home alone instead, watching TV in a fluffy robe with a bowl of nachos and getting horribly drunk on red wine. Outside she could hear London cheering, the deep clang of twelve horrible bells that sounded more like a death knell than a celebration, sealing up a year that had been the worst ever . . . but which had also brought someone into it who had given her a tantalising glimpse into a new chapter, a happier one, a love that made her soul sing. When she had finally got back into her house the next day, she’d shut the door on the world and had fought very hard against shedding a single tear over the hungry Pete Moore-shaped hole in her heart.
‘The trouble with you,’ said Bella, ‘is that you’ve been steamrollered so much that you couldn’t spot a decent man if he had a written testimonial from God. These are just tiny teething problems, Laurie, they’ll sort themselves out. Reid is such a catch. He’s absolutely minted as well. One day you’ll come home and there will be a gift-wrapped Maserati on your drive.’
‘Money isn’t everything, I have enough of that myself,’ said Laurie, with a rare snap in her voice.
‘I know,’ replied Bella, with a small smile of apology for overstepping the crass mark. ‘I only want you to have someone who looks after you. You’re scared, Laurie. And who could blame you? Just give him a chance. Isn’t that what Pat Morrison said?’
‘The fortune teller woman you said was rubbish?’
‘Well, that was before she started talking sense. Please don’t do anything rash like finish with Reid. Your heart doesn’t know what to do with someone like him, that’s the problem, someone strong and romantic who knows how to treat a woman. Listen to your head for a change, Laurie and give him a chance.’
Bella, she supposed, had a point. Her heart had made some incredibly dodgy choices in the past. Maybe it was the turn of her brain to take the wheel.