Audrey saw something in the corner of her eye. It was her mum beckoning to her from the doorway so nobody else saw.
‘What?’ she said at the foot of the stairs where they couldn’t be seen from the kitchen table.
‘For tonight, for your gran, can we please make an effort? I know you’re not happy I came down here but I had little choice. I did what I thought was best.’ The story of Audrey’s life, probably of her dad’s too, and it had driven him away in the end. ‘I want us to get along. It’s hard living in such close quarters, but you’ll try?’
‘Of course I will; I do know how to behave,’ she answered with an eyeroll.
Her mum had looked exhausted when she first arrived in Mapleberry: no make-up on, her glasses not her contacts, scruffy clothes she rarely wore given her regular attire was usually business suits with perfectly ironed shirts, or jeans and T-shirt on the weekend. But now, she’d made an effort. Freshly washed blonde hair fell in natural waves and settled around her shoulders, she’d done her make-up in a way Audrey approved of with subtle pink lipstick and mascara to widen pale blue eyes, and she had on dark jeans with a purple micro pleat top that fell just above her hips and showed off a slender waist.
‘Thank you, Audrey. Did you hear I found a job?’
‘That was quick.’ When her mum told her she’d be working in a café, Audrey couldn’t have been more surprised. It wasn’t very corporate, was it?
‘I know it’s not ideal,’ said Sam, picking up on what Audrey might be thinking. ‘It’ll do for now while I look for somewhere else for us to live and in the meantime if a different position turns up, I can always apply.’
‘Whatever – it’s your life.’ And she wouldn’t mind staying here with Gran if she was honest, although maybe now with dinner imminent, it wasn’t the time to discuss that little gem.
When they went into the kitchen, Veronica jumped up. ‘Charlie, I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Sam.’
Charlie extended his hand and met Sam’s. ‘It’s lovely to meet you at last. Veronica has told me all about you.’
Sam didn’t look too sure what to make of that. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you too,’ she beamed, doing that flick of her hair away from her face and shoulder.
Audrey might only be fifteen but she’d seen enough soaps and romantic movies to pick up on an undercurrent. And Charlie already looked more interested in her mum than in anyone else, as though her stepping in made him lose all focus. Typical. Divorcee and widower united. It was a match made in heaven, and unfortunately neither Veronica nor Layla seemed at all bothered by the obvious spark.
‘Can I interest you in a glass of wine, Charlie?’ Audrey didn’t miss Sam’s cheeks take on almost the same tinge as her pink lipstick. She wanted to stick her fingers down her throat so she looked away from her mum who was going to embarrass herself in a minute. Okay, so Charlie seemed like a nice guy, but still. There should be an age limit on romantic hook-ups, at least when other people were around.
‘Sure,’ he answered, handing her a couple of glasses from the table so she could do the honours.
Sam poured but as she handed him a glass she was still gawping at him, and not in a subtle way. ‘You look really familiar. I’m not sure why.’ Any minute now she was going to ask, Do you come here often? or something equally cheesy. ‘Have you always lived here in Mapleberry?’
Charlie leaned against the kitchen bench. ‘Not right here in the village, no. I lived about ten miles down the road when I was younger before we moved down to the south coast. I finally headed back this way. I always liked Mapleberry.’
Sam’s mind was ticking over in the way it did when Audrey tried to pull the wool over her eyes. Audrey rarely got away with it because Sam hardly ever gave up. ‘Where did you go to school?’
‘I was at Halverston Primary, then—’
Sam gasped. ‘That’s it!’
‘I’m missing something.’ His killer smile was firmly directed at Sam. Not even Layla could get his attention now. Maybe if Audrey got her to wave a big knife around they’d have a hope of getting in on the conversation.
‘I went to Halverston Primary too,’ Sam gushed.
Veronica managed to get a word in. ‘We couldn’t get her into Mapleberry Primary, oversubscribed, even back then, so we drove her to Halverston every day. Thankfully we got her a place at Mapleberry Middle after that.’
Sam wasn’t really listening to her mum. Wine glass cupped in her palm, she asked Charlie, ‘Do you remember one summer sports day in the worst storms to hit the UK in decades?’
‘If you’re referring to the indoor sports day then I have to say, I remember it very well. Were you there?’ His mega-watt smile was sickening from where Audrey was standing. She’d liked him up until now, but she sensed she’d soon change her mind if he and her mum got any closer.
‘You don’t remember me,’ Sam chuckled.
‘She had white-blonde hair back then,’ Veronica put in, more talkative with Charlie around, ‘and big round glasses.’ But Charlie still shook his head.
‘I’ll mention one event,’ Sam tried, ‘and I bet you’ll
