‘More stories from his youth? Oh, are you going to make a bride’s speech at the wedding and you want some ammunition?’
Erin shook her head. ‘I’m leaving all that to Kam as best man. I’m sure he’ll manage to be suitably rude and embarrassing. No, actually I just wanted to say that I think you were way out of line when you told me that you would have married Jay if he asked you, and that you loved him. That’s all.’
Nalisha gazed at her across the table. ‘Why?’
‘Because Jay and I are together now, we’re millimetres away from our wedding day, and it really wasn’t what I wanted to hear.’
‘But it was true.’
‘Yes.’ Erin stared at the gold tooling on the law book. It sparkled in the dappled sunlight. ‘I know. I asked Jay. He said it happened when you were eight years old. You conveniently forgot to mention that bit.’
Nalisha laughed softly and tickled Florence’s ears. ‘Yes, sorry. I must have forgotten that part of the story.’
‘No you didn’t.’ Erin
was determined to stay calm. ‘You did it on purpose. I have no idea why, but I just want you to know that I know now and that you can’t do or say anything at all to make me doubt Jay, if that’s what you were trying to do.’
Nalisha stroked Florence’s head. ‘I know, Erin. And I apologise. I was being a bit of a bitch. I am a bit of a bitch, you see. No, actually, I’m a lot of a bitch. That’s why I’ve been such a complete cow. That’s why I came to Nook Green. I wanted to hurt you. I’m very, very jealous of you.’
‘Jealous of
me
? Bloody hell – why? You’re supermodel stunning, you’ve got a ball-breaking career, you’ve got a car to die for, and designer clothes and –’
‘I’d give up all those things to be in your shoes, even if they’re about as far from Louboutins as it’s possible to get.’ Nalisha looked across the table. ‘Because you’ve got Jay. And Jay loves you insanely. Jay can’t wait to marry you. Jay can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with you.’
Erin frowned. ‘But you said …’
‘The incident I told you about was at a party when we were kids, yes. But it’s how I’ve always felt. Always. I’d have married Jay like a shot at any time. I’ve loved him all my life. But he does think of me as a sister, as a friend. He’s never been interested in me in any other way.’
Erin stared. The birds seemed to have stopped singing. Florence had stopped purring. Nook Green was very, very quiet.
‘You mean …’
‘That you’re the luckiest lady on the planet and that I really wanted to hate you, but I don’t. I wanted to hurt you, and I tried but I can’t because you’re lovely – although I’ll envy you for ever.’
Erin exhaled. ‘But Jay
has no idea how you feel, does he?’
‘No. But even if he did, it would make no difference. He’d never love me. He’d never want to marry me. I came here to see if I could make him change his mind.’
Dear God. Erin blinked. ‘And?’
‘And I realised that it was absolutely pointless. As soon as I met you, as soon as I saw you and Jay together, I knew it was a complete waste of time. Jay’s totally, absolutely head over heels in love with you, as you are with him. But as well as that, you’re close friends and partners. You understand and like each other. You’re perfect together.’
Erin nodded. They were.
‘And,’ Nalisha said quietly, ‘because he’s the only man I want then I’ll probably never marry. Anyone else would be second best.’
They stared at one another.
Nalisha smiled. ‘And I’d rather you didn’t tell him, OK? I’d like to retain some dignity and let him carry on thinking that the little jokey childish declaration at the party all those years ago was all there is to it.’
‘Er, yes … OK. Of course. Whatever you want.’
Nalisha put Florence gently on the grass and stood up. ‘Erin – thank you. And we’ve never had this conversation, have we?’
‘What conversation?’ Erin pushed her chair back. ‘I don’t remember talking to you at all.’
‘You’re lovely. I don’t deserve you to forgive me. Jay’s so lucky. And I’ll see you for lunch in a little while? If you still want me to be there, of course.’
‘I’ll see you for lunch.’
Erin stroked Florence, smiled again at Nalisha and hurried out of the garden.
Then she scampered across the green
and grinned and giggled and did a little happy dance.
The children playing in the shallows of the Nook all looked at her doubtfully.
She laughed at them. Because Jay, the most fabulous man in the world, loved her. And was marrying her. Very, very soon. Her – not the gorgeous, massively qualified, designer-clad, corporately employed Nalisha. Erin Boswell, in her Topshop shorts and T-shirts, in her scruffy jeans and vests. Erin Boswell with her three so-so A levels and her junk-shop job.
Erin Boswell, she thought gleefully, as she danced and skipped towards the veterinary surgery, was the luckiest girl in the whole wide world.
Still grinning from ear to ear, Erin
waved at Sophie and went through into the tiny waiting room, determined to keep as far away from the hunched figure with the cat-carrying-box as possible.
Her euphoria melted instantly away, the ear-to-ear grin faded, replaced by a wave of sympathy. She knew it was wimpy, but she couldn’t bear it if the cat and the owner were about to be parted for ever. When the time came for it to happen to Florence she knew she’d never, ever recover.
Then she saw that the hunched figure was Callum, the Old Curiosity Shop’s Saturday boy. And that he was crying.
Oh God.
‘Callum?’ Erin walked across the waiting room and spoke softly. ‘Callum, are you OK?’
He looked up at her with swollen, bloodshot eyes.
Erin sat beside him. ‘Can I help at all?’
‘No. Thanks, though.’ Callum swallowed and nodded towards the cat-carrier on his lap. ‘It’s Tootsie.’
Erin peered at the box. She
could just see bits of ginger fur peeping through the slats. ‘Oh, Callum, that’s awful. I’m really sorry.’ She slid her arm round his skinny shoulders, feeling him shaking. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
Callum dashed away the tears. ‘I think she’s broken her leg. I dunno if Jay can fix it. What if he can’t?’ He turned huge eyes to Erin. ‘What if he …?’
Erin clenched her lips tightly together. It would be useless if she burst into tears now too. What sort of vet’s wife would she be if she howled broken-heartedly with all the patients?
‘I’m sure Jay will be able to fix it if it’s only a broken leg.’
‘What if it isn’t? What if he can’t?’
‘Jay’s a brilliant vet – you know that. He can work miracles.’ She patted Callum’s shoulder. She could feel the bones through his T-shirt. ‘That’s how we first met – me and Jay – when I thought my cat Florence was going to die.’
‘And he sorted her out?’ Callum looked hopeful.
‘Completely. And she’s still going strong. And will be around for years yet. I’m sure poor Tootsie will be fine as well. Don’t worry.’
‘I really love her,’ Callum mumbled. ‘I can say that to you, ’cause you understand. Some people would laugh, but I really, really love her. She’s like my friend – she understands me when other people don’t. And she’s always there. I just can’t face it if she … well, you know …’
‘Oh, you don’t need to tell me. I’m just the same with Florence.’ Erin’s heart went out to him as she sniffed back her tears and leaned forwards. ‘I don’t want to hurt her, but can I stroke her? Just gently? Sometimes it helps animals to be comforted and reassured when they’re scared and in pain.’
‘Yeah, course.’ Callum brushed the tears away leaving a grubby streak across his cheek. ‘Just don’t touch her bad leg, OK?’
‘No, I won’t. You just
open the box a bit … She’s very quiet. That’s a good sign – she can’t be in too much pain. She’d be crying if she was in pain.’
Callum frowned but obediently opened the top of the box.
Erin gently peered inside.
Oh shit. Holy shit.
Every inch of her froze.
Tootsie was a tarantula.
A ten-inch wide tarantula.
A massive ginger and brown furred tarantula with seven equally massive ginger-striped, furred, hinged legs – and one that dragged behind her.
Erin whimpered.
‘What?’ Callum looked at her anxiously. ‘Is it really bad? Do you think she’s gonna die?’
No, but I might at any minute, Erin thought, feeling very sick and fighting the urge to stand up and run screaming out of the surgery and across the green and never, ever stop.
She averted her eyes from the carrier. ‘No, er, I’m sure Jay will be able to, er, well, whatever.’
‘Touch her, then,’ Callum urged, fresh tears welling in his eyes. ‘If you think it’ll help her. I stroke her a lot. She likes it. But I don’t want to hurt her. You, being like getting married to Jay, you’ll know how to do it properly.’
Oh, pulease, nooo.
Erin exhaled and tried to control the mounting panic attack.
Callum was watching her with large fearful eyes. One, two, three, Erin counted her breaths. Deep breathing helped, didn’t it?
No, it
didn’t.
She held herself rigid and inched closer to the carrier box. Somehow, she willed herself to put one hand forwards and extend one finger. OK. Then she inched the finger closer to the opening in the carrier.
Tootsie waved one of her healthy legs. Erin whimpered.
Callum jumped. ‘You know she’s gonna die, don’t you?’
‘No, no, of course not,’ Erin assured him. ‘I’m just being, er, careful so that I don’t hurt her.’
Oh, she’d just have to tell him that his beloved Tootsie scared her to death. That she was the biggest arachnophobe in the world. That she couldn’t touch his beloved Tootsie without passing out on the spot. That just looking at Tootsie made her skin crawl, her heartbeat rise to danger levels and her entire body shiver with total terror.
Then she looked at Callum’s face. He was absolutely relying on her to reassure him. And she remembered how she’d felt that morning when she’d first rushed in here with Florence.
And how she’d have felt if someone had offered her words of support and then immediately withdrawn them.
And Tootsie wasn’t going to dash at her, or run up her arm, or disappear into her hair, was she?
And she was sort of furry …
‘Er, it feels quite warm in there.’
‘I’ve got a hot water bottle under the blanket. She’s sub-tropical. Has to be kept warm at all times. And she’s been out of her tank for about half an hour and I don’t want her to die of cold, do I?’
Oh, no, of course not, silly me.
Erin knew, in the face of this all-encompassing love and impending heartbreak, she really couldn’t do anything else.
Working some saliva into her
mouth, trying to stop herself from shaking, and not looking, she pushed her finger into the carrier.
And touched Tootsie. Very, very tentatively.
Ohmigod.
The instinctive urge to scream, to be violently sick, to pull her hand out of the carrier and run away gibbering was extremely strong.
But Callum had stopped crying and Tootsie had stopped waving. And after all, Tootsie
wasn’t
like a spider really, was she? Not-a-spider. Not scary.
Think of her as a little furry creature that needs comfort, Erin told herself.
Not
a spider …
Callum smiled. ‘Oh, she likes you.’
How the hell can you tell?
Erin couldn’t quite manage a smile in return but at least she hadn’t been sick on either of them. Bonus.
She moved her finger further into the carrier. And touched Tootsie again.
She felt such a rush of triumph that she actually itched to rush round the vet’s waiting room with her T-shirt over her head and punching the air.
Yessssssss!
The surgery door opened, and a large man with a very small bouncy puppy came out.
Bella beamed, more at the puppy than the man. ‘Sophie will make your next appointment and sort out the payment, Mr Ball. Oh hi, Erin, catch you in a bit, we’re nearly done, and, Callum, Jay will see you and Tootsie now.’
Erin whipped her finger out of the carrier at the speed of light.
Phew.
Callum fastened the
carrier and looked terrified.
‘It’s OK,’ Erin assured him, shaking now. ‘She’ll be fine.’
‘Come in with me?’ Callum stood up, looking as if his legs were about to collapse. ‘Just don’t tell no one I couldn’t do it on my own. Come in with me – please.’
Avoiding meeting Bella’s eyes, Erin smiled confidently and nodded and followed Callum into the surgery.
If Jay had to euthanise Tootsie, Erin knew she’d be a complete emotional heap.
Bella stood back as they passed in the doorway. ‘Are-you-mad?’
‘I-think-I-might-be. And so are you if you think Aiden the Dance King is your Mr Heathcliff.’
‘Mr Darcy, actually. And Aiden is simply amazing. But, you do know that Tootsie is a –’
‘Yes. Shush. I have a vet to see.’
When he saw her, Jay’s eyes widened in total amazement. ‘Er, hi – this is a lovely surprise. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you. Just Callum, and Tootsie.’
‘Mmm, you know me. Always like the element of surprise in a relationship.’
Erin, still swamped by so many recent mixed emotions after the talk with Nalisha, found that actually all she wanted to do was to fling herself into Jay’s arms and kiss him to death.
‘Not that it’s not lovely to see you, but I, er, actually don’t think you’ll want to be in here for this consultation, Erin.’ Jay motioned his head towards the carrier, which Callum had placed lovingly on the examination table. ‘Maybe you’d be better outside?’
‘I asked her to come with me,’ Callum muttered. ‘I need her.’
‘So do I,’ Jay laughed. ‘But she
might have a bit of a problem.’
Erin shook her head. ‘No. I’m OK. I know. About Tootsie.’
Bella, who was standing back in case she was needed, shook her head.
Jay exhaled. ‘OK. You never fail to amaze me, and long may it continue, but –’
‘Callum and I got talking in the waiting room. He told me all about Tootsie,’ Erin said, willing neither Jay nor Bella to mention her spider phobia. ‘Tootsie and I have already become acquainted.’