A copy of the free Three Ports News dropped onto the doormat of the vicarage and for once Noah was too quick for Pablo, otherwise the newspaper would have been in shreds before he’d even got to it.
The last thing Noah had expected to see was his photo staring back at him from the front page, next to a picture of Henry and a group of other volunteers from the homeless charity. Scanning the article, it was obvious that Henry had got in touch with the paper after their conversation. The journalist had picked up on Noah’s so-called fame as one of the ‘stars’ of the Fit Vic Instagram account. So any chance he had of backing down from his promise to Izzy to exploit that for all it was worth, for the sake of raising money for Gracie’s Place, had all but disappeared.
‘We could always run away again, Pabs.’ Noah almost wished he’d let the little dog shred the paper, but it would all be worth it if they could raise enough money to give Gracie the legacy she deserved. Izzy had already set up an Instagram account for him too and he was going to have to get started with it. She’d shown him her own account and he couldn’t understand why she wasn’t the one everyone wanted to follow. There were photos of her laughing with her friends, taking her grandparents on little adventures, and curled up on the sofa on the houseboat with Franny. There were also some pictures of her she had reposted with babies she had delivered, where she’d been tagged by their parents, and in every single one, who she was shone through. She wasn’t just beautiful – that was a given and she took his breath away every time he looked at her – there was such an authenticity about her too, which made her so much more than just her looks. She was why he couldn’t just cut and run again.
‘Uh oh, here we go.’ The Zoom call that came up on his mobile wasn’t scheduled, but it was from Jeremy, which probably meant he’d heard about the campaign. He seemed to have spies everywhere, so it was no surprise to Noah to hear from him, he just had no idea how it was going to go. As much as he’d joked with Izzy about getting the sack, he could hardly cash in on the Fit Vic ridiculousness if he wasn’t a vicar any more.
‘Jeremy.’ Noah couldn’t control the reflex that twisted his face into a grimace at the realisation that it wasn’t just his godfather on the call. ‘Dad.’
‘What’s all this nonsense you’re involved with, putting pictures of yourself on the internet like you’re some sort of rock star?’ His father was straight out of the gate, not even bothering with the niceties of a greeting.
‘Rodney, we talked about how to handle this.’ Jeremy rolled his eyes and, for about the thousandth time, Noah wondered how his godfather had ended up being such good friends with someone like his dad. Having Rodney Andrews thrust upon you by a twist of genetic fate was one thing, but choosing to have him in your life… that was something else. Jeremy had probably decided it was one of his missions in life to try to help Noah’s father become a better man. But then he couldn’t succeed at everything, he was only human after all.
‘You’re on the TV at least once a month, on that Songs and Psalms show.’ Before his father even responded, Noah knew he was clutching at straws. His father’s appearances on the Sunday afternoon TV show, showcasing Christian services and hymns, weren’t anything like the Instagram account. But there was no denying his father enjoyed being the centre of attention and that was where they differed all over again.
‘You’re just being ridiculous now and if this nonsense doesn’t stop—’
‘Rodney, I think I should handle this.’ Jeremy had cut his father off again, but Noah had something to say too.
‘Before Dad launches into another monologue about my responsibilities as a representative of the church, the internet stuff was set up by someone else. I’ve spent most of the last few years ignoring it and I’m only getting involved now to raise money for a charity set up in the name of my verger’s daughter.’
‘The stillbirth?’ The baldness of Rodney’s question made the hairs on the back of Noah’s neck stand up.
‘Her name is Gracie and she was a longed-for baby, not a stillbirth.’ A muscle was twitching in Noah’s cheek and the urge to shut down the video call and punch a wall was almost overwhelming. He’d spent most of his life trying to live up to his father’s expectations and he’d realised a while back that he never would. But what he’d only realised since Robbie’s death was that he didn’t want to live up to his father’s expectations, because he didn’t want to be anything like him. The sense of superiority and piousness that his father exuded wasn’t something he’d learned along the way. He must have been born with it and it was one of Noah’s greatest fears that he might have inherited even a shred of that. It was partly why the whole Instagram thing freaked him out so much. If he bought into even a tiny bit of all that hype that he was somehow something special, it would make him his father’s son and that was a label he really didn’t want.
‘James and Nicole have set up a charity in Gracie’s name?’ Just the fact that Jeremy used James and Nicole’s names alongside Gracie’s made so much difference. Noah had told both of them about what had happened, but it was clearly only Jeremy who’d thought it was worth remembering the details of the people at the centre of the story. Which meant it was only Jeremy’s expectations that Noah cared about living up to. ‘Is it the charity from the article?’
‘Not exactly, but they’re linked. James and Nicole wanted to make sure that Gracie is never forgotten and they used to volunteer at Domusamare. So when I spoke to the charity’s director, he came up with the idea of naming the new advice centre after her. They’re going to call it Gracie’s Place, but they need to raise a lot of money to make it happen and that’s where the Instagram stuff comes in.’
‘How can making a show of yourself, and me, help anything?’ It was telling that his father had put himself at the forefront of his concerns, but Jeremy cut across him once again.
‘I’m guessing it will help a lot with raising the profile of the charity?’
‘Definitely, but there’s a chance that if my own account gets enough followers and we put some content on YouTube or TikTok that we can raise some money from that too.’
‘You’re going to make videos of yourself?’ His father was incredulous now. ‘Doing what? And why would anyone want to watch that anyway?’
‘I’ve got no idea why anyone would be interested in me, but the Instagram account already has half a million followers, five times what it had a few months ago. So if I can tap into even a bit of that, we’ll definitely be able to raise some money. As for content, I’ll be filming at the fundraisers, chatting to the people at the charity and some of the midwives who were involved with Nicole and James during the pregnancy.’
‘Well that all sounds great to me.’ Jeremy responded before Rodney had a chance. ‘And will there be any Christian content?’
‘When we talked about the charity in church before, I linked it to some relevant verses from the bible, so if any others fit, I might reference them too.’ Noah fixed his gaze on the part of the screen where Jeremy was looking back at him. ‘But I don’t have any plans to make this specifically about Christianity or the church. After all, I’m hardly qualified to be a poster boy for all of that, but people who’ve chosen to follow a vicar’s social media accounts – for whatever reason – will expect to see something linked to my role.’
‘I can’t believe you haven’t got over all that nonsense yet. Just focus on your faith and stop questioning it.’ Rodney made it sound so easy, but Jeremy’s resulting sigh would have sucked the air out of the room if he hadn’t only been there by virtue of a video call.
‘We should be encouraging people to ask questions, it’s part of the journey, and not having the space to ask them is more likely to make Noah turn his back on his faith.’ With the tone Jeremy had taken, Noah wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d been wagging his finger at Rodney, but his message was crystal clear all the same. ‘As long as there’s nothing that brings the church into disrepute and all the revenue raised from these accounts goes to charity, I don’t have any issue with it and you’ll have the support of the diocese. We can do our bit too, to spread the word across our parishes.’
‘You’re really going to let him do this?’ Rodney’s eyes were bulging. The fact that this was infuriating him as much as it was had made Noah’s day.
‘It’s a great cause and advice centres can prevent so much hardship in the communities we oversee. You should be telling Noah how proud you are of him for getting involved. I know I am.’
‘Thanks Jeremy, but don’t hold your breath waiting for my father to agree with you.’ Noah shrugged off the disappointment that he’d worn for so many years. He wasn’t going to give his father that power over him any more. ‘But James and Nicole are the ones who deserve all the praise. Not to mention Izzy, Nicole’s midwife, because it was her idea for me to get involved in the way I have.’
‘I wondered when her name was going to come up.’ Jeremy smiled. ‘Because it’s come up in every conversation we’ve had for the past few weeks.’
‘You’re just lucky he calls you at all.’ His father seemed genuinely non-plussed that Noah would choose to speak to his godfather instead of him.
‘I’ve got the go-ahead to push on with this then?’ Ignoring his father and his godfather’s comment about Izzy, Noah looked directly at Jeremy again.
‘Absolutely and like I said, if there’s anything we can do within the diocese to help you spread the word, just let me know.’ Jeremy laughed. ‘Although I’ve got no idea about all that TikTok stuff.’
‘That makes two of us then! But luckily I know someone who can help.’ Noah didn’t miss the wink that Jeremy dropped in response and he knew only too well from their recent conversations what his godfather was hoping; that Izzy might be the one thing that would persuade him to stay in Port Agnes. As unlikely as that seemed, Noah was gradually coming to the conclusion that if anyone could make that happen, it really would be her. But then Jeremy had always been the wisest man Noah knew, and it seemed his godfather’s latest prediction was one Noah was increasingly hoping might come true.
Frankie took another tray of salted caramel brownies out of the oven. That would make eighty individual slices, which should be enough. Izzy had been like a whirlwind, whipping up support for the fundraising drive for Gracie’s Place. Today it was the fete that Izzy and Noah had organised in record time, and Frankie had agreed to run the cake stall with Gwen. She was nowhere near as adept at cake making as Gwen was, but she had a few signature bakes up her sleeve that she’d pulled out for the occasion and her salted caramel brownies always went down a storm.
Nadia was on shift, but Anna and Brae had offered to take Mo and Remi to the fete, along with their own twins, so that Frankie could concentrate on running the stall. What was even better was that her son, Hari, and his fiancée, Uma, would be coming down and taking over aunt and uncle duties, before spending the rest of the weekend with Frankie and Nadia. The little two-bed flat was already crammed to capacity since Nadia and the children had moved in, but it would be lovely to have the whole family together for a couple of days. It was the first time that Hari would have seen his sister since Nadia had come home from New Zealand, and Frankie couldn’t wait to be surrounded by all her favourite people. It might not be for long, but if twenty-four hours was all they had, she was determined to make the most of every single one.
An hour later, Frankie was at the fete, with the cake stall all set up, and over the next two hours they did a roaring trade. Despite the fact that she might have sampled a couple of pieces of brownie that didn’t cut evenly, and a piece of flapjack that had broken in half, her stomach was still rumbling at the sight of the last of Gwen’s famous lemon cakes when she set it out on the table for sale.
‘I’m going to buy that before someone else does.’ Frankie whipped a ten pound note out of her purse. ‘I’ve got the whole family to feed tonight and this will make the perfect dessert.’
‘If you’d said, I would have made you one anyway.’ Gwen grinned. ‘It would have given me the chance to pop by and see if I can wangle an invite to Hari’s wedding.’
‘I’ve already put you on my list, but Uma’s parents are organising it all and Advik seems to have got more involved than me from Hari’s side.’
‘I’ve got no chance then, if it’s down to Advik.’ Gwen pulled a face. ‘He still hasn’t forgiven me and Barry for giving you somewhere to stay when you first decided to leave him.’
‘I’d have gone either way and he knows that.’ Frankie sighed. ‘We might be fairly amicable, but he still likes to keep the upper hand by deliberately withholding information from me. Don’t worry, though, I’ll have a word with Hari and make sure you don’t get left off the list.’
‘I’d hate to miss it. I was the one to deliver him after all.’
‘I’ll be reminding him of that and guilt-tripping him into an invite if needs be!’
‘And what about you? Are you getting a plus-one for the wedding?’ Gwen might have calmed down a little bit when it came to pushing Frankie to start dating again, but she clearly hadn’t given up altogether.
‘I haven’t even thought about that, and who am I supposed to take if you and Barry both get invited? Which I’m sure you will.’
‘You’ve got months to find someone who’ll make Advik wish he’d done everything differently.’
‘I don’t care what Advik wishes, it’s all ancient history.’
‘What if he turns up with a plus-one?’ Gwen raised her eyebrows. ‘You need to be ready for that at least. You should get poured into a slinky dress with the aid of industrial strength Spanx that mean you can’t even sit down.’
‘That sounds like a nightmare.’ Frankie’s stomach gave another rumble; the way she was drawn to cakes just lately, she’d need corrugated iron and a scaffolding rig just to hold her stomach in.
‘Not as much of a nightmare as being outshone at your son’s wedding by your ex’s new woman.’
‘I was the one who left Advik, so I’ve hardly got the right to feel that way, even if he turns up with Claudia Schiffer.’ Frankie turned to look at her friend. ‘If you left Barry, you wouldn’t expect him stay single forever, would you?’
‘I’d expect him to pine away and miss me until the day he died.’ Gwen pulled a strip of pink fabric above her waistband. ‘Anyway, no one can compete with a wife who wears a thong after more than forty years of marriage!’
‘That’s clearly where I went wrong. I was already wearing granny pants by the time I hit twenty-five.’ Frankie laughed. ‘Although it might have ended things with Advik even sooner, if I’d subjected him to the sight of me in a thong.’
‘You’d be surprised. When Barry sees all of this jiggle, he doesn’t even notice the cellulite, although I think the young lad who used to mow our lawns might need therapy after he caught me wiggling at Barry through the French windows. Put it this way, we haven’t seen him since.’
‘Oh God, poor kid.’ Frankie couldn’t help laughing and by the time Gwen had given her another re-enactment of the performance, she had tears streaming down her face.
‘Does the floor show come free with every slice of cake, or do we have to pay extra?’ Jess was laughing too, as Frankie turned around to face her. Her partner, Dexter, looked as though he wasn’t sure whether to laugh too or avert his eyes altogether.
‘I think Gwen is willing to perform for anyone in exchange for a donation to Gracie’s Place.’ Frankie grinned. ‘But luckily for you I just take the money.’
‘I think we might settle for some cake for now and postpone the show until later. We need to keep it PG as Dad’s on his way over from the lucky dip stall with Riley.’ Jess gestured towards her father, who was heading across the green with the little boy riding piggyback.
‘Mummy, Daddy, look, I got a kite!’ Riley called out as they got closer to the cake stall. Jess had told Frankie and the other midwives that he’d taken to calling her and Dexter Mummy and Daddy over the last few weeks. It wasn’t something they’d pushed, but Jess had clearly been delighted when she’d recounted the story. When Jess and Dexter had got together, they’d quickly become a family unit, but they’d let Riley adjust in his own time. Jess had said that Riley’s decision was probably linked to his class at school making Father’s Day cards, but whatever the trigger, it warmed Frankie’s heart to witness it. Nadia might not be ready to dive back into the world of dating any more than her mother was, but Frankie hated the idea of her daughter giving up on the prospect of finding love again forever. So seeing a blended family come together made Frankie really happy, even more so as it was Jess.
‘That’s amazing. It must have been the biggest parcel in the lucky dip!’ Jess held out her arms and lifted Riley off her father’s back.
‘There are no flies on my grandson, that’s for sure.’ Jess’s dad had clearly taken to life as part of a blended family too.
‘I don’t think you’ve met Frankie and Gwen before, have you?’ Jess turned towards her father and he shook his head. ‘This is my dad, Guy, and that’s Gwen, on the right, and Frankie on the left.’
‘We all work together at the midwifery unit.’ Frankie suddenly felt the need to explain her existence, with Guy’s gaze fixed on her. He had bright blue eyes, a jawline that someone half his age would have envied, and a full head of hair. Advik would definitely have been jealous of that if she had been looking to follow Gwen’s suggestion of turning up to Hari’s wedding with someone new. What a ridiculous thought to have about Jess’s father, but somehow she couldn’t stop picturing it.
‘I know and I’ve heard loads about you both.’ He was still keeping his eyes fixed on Frankie and heat was rising up her neck.
‘All good I hope, or at least entertaining?’ Gwen interjected, which was just as well, as Frankie seemed to have frozen. She hadn’t been like this since her fourth-form school disco, when Ian Watson had asked her to dance after she’d secretly been in love with him since starting secondary school. It had taken her so long to answer, that in the end he’d asked her best friend instead and the two of them had ended up going out for nearly three years.
‘Very entertaining.’ Guy turned to answer Gwen, and Frankie felt exactly like she had back at that school dance – as if she’d missed her chance by hesitating for too long. That was completely ridiculous; it wasn’t as if Guy had been about to ask her to dance.
‘You just missed one of Gwen’s performances.’ Jess laughed again. ‘But one thing you don’t want to miss is one of Frankie’s salted caramel brownies.’
‘They do look amazing.’ Guy had a deep voice that was almost hypnotic; maybe that would explain why Frankie felt she was having an out-of-body experience. ‘It looks like it would go perfectly with a cup of tea; maybe you can join me for one later if you get a break?’
‘He’s talking to you!’ Before she’d even had the chance to answer, Gwen hissed into her ear, giving her a shove in the side. Although if Gwen hadn’t intervened, there was a good chance she’d have been standing there with her mouth hanging open, and no words coming out, for an embarrassingly long time. ‘She’d love to join you for a cup of tea and I can easily handle the cake stall on my own for a bit.’
‘Or one of us can help out.’ Dexter made the offer and Jess nodded in agreement.
‘We’ve already sold three quarters of the stock, so one more big rush will clear us out.’ Gwen had her hand in the small of Frankie’s back, all but shoving her away from the stall. ‘So you might as well take your break now, while it’s a bit quieter.’
‘I’ll stay and help Gwen out and Dexter can take Riley over to the tombola to see if he can win the teddy bear that’s taller than me!’ Jess was already coming round to the other side of the stall, so Frankie didn’t seem to be getting any say in the matter. She just hoped she’d recover the power of speech by the time she got over to the tea tent with Guy, otherwise the next twenty minutes or so were going to be absolutely excruciating for them both.
Sometimes the things you dreaded the most turned out the best and far from having nothing to say to Guy, the conversation had flowed incredibly easily. He and Frankie had discovered that they had a love of old movies in common, and had compared notes on their favourites, as well as those they still wanted to get around to watching. It wasn’t until Frankie’s tea had gone cold from spending so much time chatting that she’d realised how long she’d been away from the cake stall.
‘Oh wow, it’s two-thirty already. I’d better go and take over so Gwen can have a break, otherwise I’ll never hear the last of it!’
‘It’s been really nice chatting to you. Maybe we could do it again some time?’ Guy’s tone was casual, but there was a sparkle in his eyes that even Frankie could tell signified that he meant what he said.
‘That would be really nice. I’ll get Jess to pass on my number.’ Frankie felt almost brazen; it was about as blatant as she was ever likely to get anyway.
‘I’ll look forward to it.’ Guy smiled and as she turned away from him to walk back towards the cake stall, she tried not to think about what she looked like from the back. Barry might not notice Gwen’s cellulite when she was prancing about in a thong and scaring the young lad who’d mowed their lawns half to death, but if all Guy had to focus on was Frankie’s denim-clad bottom, he couldn’t fail to notice that it sagged in all the wrong places.
‘Well, that looked like it went well.’ Gwen jumped straight in with her size five feet, not considering that Frankie might not want to discuss Guy in front of his daughter.
‘Your dad’s really nice Jess and it was great to talk to someone who loves old movies as much as I do. Everyone else seems to think films are only worth watching if they’ve only just come out.’
‘Maybe the two of you could see a film together some time? I know Dad would love that.’ Jess exchanged a look with Gwen and Frankie had a sudden realisation that this whole thing had almost certainly been engineered. But just this once she might be able to forgive them.
‘I’d really like that too, I thought we might—’
‘Mum!’ A voice cut Frankie off before she could finish and she knew it was Hari before she even turned around.
‘Hello darling, where’s Uma?’ Frankie threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight. He’d only tolerate it for so long, but she wanted to make the most of it.
‘She’s taken Mo and Remi to have a go on the splat the rat stall. I think Anna and Brae were relieved when we turned up. Having to keep an eye on Nadia’s two and looking after the twins was pretty ambitious.’ Hari laughed as he pulled away from her. He’d met Anna a couple of times, when he’d been back to visit, but Frankie didn’t think he’d seen her since she’d had the twins. She’d only seen him twice herself since then. ‘Hi Gwen, how are you?’
‘Getting older every day waiting to receive my invite to your wedding!’
‘Uma’s parents are sending them out next week and don’t worry, I could never leave you off the list.’ Hari blew her a kiss.
‘Because I brought you into the world?’
‘Because you’d never let me hear the last of it otherwise.’ Hari laughed. ‘And because the day wouldn’t be the same without you.’
‘You’ve met Jess before, haven’t you?’ Frankie looked at Hari as she spoke and he nodded.
‘I think we met at the dinner Gwen put on, before you went away to see Nards.’ That was his pet name for his sister and he very rarely called her anything else.
‘Yes, that’s right; nice to see you again Hari.’ Jess smiled. ‘I’d better shoot off and round up my family before Riley spends all his money on the tombola; I don’t want to create a gambling habit!’
‘Good to see you too, Jess.’ Hari turned back to Frankie and Gwen once Jess had walked away. ‘So come on you two, what’s the gossip?’
‘Your mum’s just been—’
‘Nothing much at all.’ Frankie fired the words in a way she hoped would give Gwen the message. The last thing she wanted her to do was spill the beans to Hari about Guy. There was nothing to tell, but it still wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with her son. ‘Why don’t you go and grab a cuppa now, Gwen. I’m sure I can manage here.’
‘Okay, I know when I’m not wanted, but I’m not one to stand in the way of a mother and son chat either.’ Gwen pinched Hari’s cheek. ‘And now that I know I’m getting an invite to the wedding, I might even buy you a drink too.’
‘I’d love a coffee, thank you, but it’s my treat and put the rest in the collection tin if they’ve got one.’ Hari handed Gwen a twenty-pound note. ‘It sounds like it’s for a great cause.’
‘It is.’ Gwen looked at Frankie. ‘Can I get you a drink too, or have you had enough tea for one afternoon?’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She glared at her friend. The sooner Gwen headed to the tea tent the better.
‘Gwen’s on good form as always.’ Hari turned to look at her. ‘So, come on then, what have you really been up to? Why are you acting like you’ve got some big secret?’
‘I’m not. I’ve just missed you that’s all and I’d much rather talk about what you and Uma have been up to; it’s bound to be far more interesting.’
‘So you haven’t let Gwen persuade you to carry on with online dating? When Nards told me, I thought she was joking and I didn’t dare mention it to Nani when she called. She’s still refusing to even acknowledge that you and Dad aren’t together any more.’
‘It was just Gwen’s idea of cheering me up, that’s all. I was never really interested and whatever you do, don’t mention any of this to Nani.’ Frankie’s mother had made no secret of the fact she thought her daughter was a huge failure for walking out on her marriage. Just the week before, she’d sent Frankie a cutting from a magazine about a couple who’d got back together and remarried after ten years apart. Scrawled on the bottom in her loopy handwriting were the words, ‘It’s never too late to admit you’ve made a mistake.’
‘I’ve got to say I’m relieved to hear that.’ Hari put his arm around her shoulders. ‘It was hard enough dealing with you and Dad splitting up, but I’m definitely not ready for some kind of stepdad to come on the scene.’
‘There’s no chance of that.’ Frankie caught sight of Guy across the other side of the green; all they’d done was have a cuppa, but somehow if felt like the prospect of someone nice coming into her life had been whipped away before it could even happen. ‘Why don’t you go and get Uma and the kids and go over and find Gwen at the tea tent. I’m sure they could all do with a drink.’
‘I thought you wanted a chance to chat with your only son?’
‘We can do that later. I don’t want the kids getting dehydrated in this heat.’ It was the last weekend of August, but the prospect of an Indian summer seemed to be on the cards and it was very warm, even if that wasn’t the real reason why Frankie wanted Hari to go.
‘Okay, we won’t be long. Uma’s dying to see you; she wants to ask your advice about the centre pieces or something.’ Hari kissed her cheek. ‘And please tell me you’ve saved me a salted caramel brownie.’
‘Don’t worry, there’s one here with your name on it.’ A minute or two after Hari had headed off to find his fiancée, Frankie’s mobile pinged.
✉︎ Message from unknown number
Hi Frankie. It’s Guy. Jess gave me your number. I looked online and they’re showing The Philadelphia Story at the movie club in the Embassy Cinema in Port Tremellien next Monday evening. I thought maybe we could go together. Let me know and thanks again for this afternoon X
Frankie let out a long breath after she’d read the message. If she hadn’t just had the conversation she’d had with Hari, she’d have played it gloriously uncool and texted Guy straight back to accept his offer. As it was, she knew she was going to have to turn him down, but that was something she was more than willing to put off until later.