The Back Road

11

Since Ellie’s surprise announcement about Pat and Georgia, the two woman had said little and just worked side by side to finish the preparations for dinner - Ellie dishing out the orders and Leo trying her best to work to her sister’s exacting standards. She had been wondering how to broach the subject of Ellie’s mysterious behaviour the previous night, and as Ellie was busily transferring some tiny canapés onto a baking tray to pop in the oven, Leo decided this was probably the best chance she was going to get.

‘Ellie - there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. It’s about last night. I heard you go out just after midnight. I assumed you’d gone to pick Max up, but he says not.’

Ellie spun round with a look of alarm on her face.

‘You asked him? You told him I’d been out?’

‘Calm down, sis. He mentioned that he’d been brought home by a mate. So I realised that wasn’t why you went out. So what was it?’

Ellie had bent her head over the canapés again, her dark hair swinging down to hide her face, but Leo could hear the stress in her voice as she replied.

‘Nothing. It was nothing. Just a friend in trouble, that’s all. Please - don’t mention it to Max, Leo.’

Leo was excused from responding by the ringing of Ellie’s mobile. She watched her sister walk over to where she’d left it charging and pick it up. But she took one look at the name on the screen and rejected the call, throwing the mobile back onto the worktop.

Leo was puzzled but said nothing, observing her sister carefully. The phone rang again immediately, and Leo was amazed to see her sister’s eyes narrow as she switched her phone off and pushed it as far away from her as the worktop would allow. Ellie’s mouth was drawn in a hard, straight line of irritation.

‘What’s going on? Who was that on the phone? Is there a problem?’

There was no time for Ellie to respond as just then they heard the ringing of the doorbell. To Leo, it was almost as if Ellie sagged with relief as she turned round.

‘Forget it, Leo. Just forget it, please? That will be Fiona and Charles. I’d better let them in.’

Wiping her hands on a tea towel, Ellie headed off to welcome the first of her guests, and a puzzled Leo made a hasty exit before she could be trapped into making polite conversation with Fiona.

* * *

Ellie was glad to have been saved from further interrogation by Leo, although she suspected it was a temporary reprieve. But Max had come down from reading to the twins and the moment had been avoided. Thank goodness.

Fiona had breezed in on a whiff of very expensive perfume in a dress that Ellie guessed must have cost thousands. It was gorgeous, but for God’s sake, she was only coming round for dinner, not attending the Queen’s Jubilee garden party. She handed Ellie a tastefully gift wrapped box.

Ellie was still stressed by the events of the last half hour but forced herself to calm down. Her phone was off so she was safe, and Leo would keep quiet. She took a deep breath and painted a smile on her face as she unwrapped the present.

‘It’s good to see you both and thanks for the gift. It’s very generous of you.’

‘I sent Charles for it,’ Fiona said, waving the back of her hand rather dismissively. ‘He’s quite good at that sort of thing.’

Ellie looked at the beautiful glass bottle of Pomegranate Noir bath oil. Much as she loved it, she thought she might put it in Leo’s bathroom as an apology for being such a grumpy guts earlier.

‘We’ve got a few minutes before I need to make any progress with the food. Perhaps Max could show Charles round. You’ve already had the tour, Fee - so do you want to have a drink in here, or go out into the garden?’

Fiona walked over to the window, no doubt to check the garden paths. Clearly finding them wanting, she took a seat on a chair by the window.

‘Here’s fine, darling. We don’t need to go outside yet, do we? If that’s fizz in the ice bucket, I wouldn’t say no to a glass.’

‘Of course. We can toast the house. I know I shouldn’t say so myself, but it does look pretty amazing, doesn’t it?’ Ellie said, pouring two glasses of the delicious sparkling liquid. ‘It’s taking some getting used to. We’ve been here three weeks already, but it still all feels very new.’

‘Your builder was quite a guy, wasn’t he?’ Fiona took the drink from Ellie’s outstretched hand. ‘Not only did he make a great job of the house, he had a hell of a body too. Especially when he was working without his T-shirt. I know you think I came round to offer moral support and ‘ooh and aah’ over progress, but it was actually primarily to look at him. Don’t you just love a man with wide shoulders and narrow hips?’

Ellie’s reaction was instinctive.

‘God, Fee. I wasn’t looking at his body. He was here to do a job, that’s all. For somebody who has no time for men, you’re pretty observant all of a sudden.’

Fiona studied her glass for a few seconds. She didn’t respond to Ellie’s tone, and it was clear that she had another agenda entirely.

‘Actually, Ellie, I’m not one hundred per cent sworn off men any more.’ She looked up and straight into Ellie’s eyes, a sly smile playing around her lips. ‘I’m thinking of taking a lover.’

Ellie felt a wave of irritation at Fiona’s flippant manner.

‘What? Come on Fiona, this is me you’re talking to. You don’t do sex. Not since…’ Ellie glanced over her shoulder to make sure nobody else was in the room. ‘Well, you know when. What’s all this about? And if you’ve decided it’s sex that you want, why not Charles?’

‘Now who’s being ridiculous? I chose Charles precisely because he isn’t remotely interested in sex. But I want to know, before it’s too late, whether I really am frigid or whether what I have is… curable. Look nobody else knows what happened to me. I haven’t even told Charles. He thinks sex isn’t my thing, and I’ve never explained. At least you believed me - which is more than can be said for my marvellously supportive parents,’ Fiona said sourly. ‘Is it so wrong to want to know for sure?’

Ellie sat down on the chair facing Fiona. She knew she’d been a bit sharp, and it wasn’t Fiona’s fault that she was so stressed. Leaning forward, she looked at her friend and tried her best to show some sympathy.

‘No, it’s not wrong. But why now? What’s happened to make you change your mind? I think it would be great for you to be having regular sex. There’s nothing like a mind-blowing orgasm to make the world seem a better place.’ She gave Fiona what she hoped was a supportive smile. ‘But don’t take a lover. Honestly, Fee, it’s so much better when it’s with somebody you love. And it could go horribly wrong. Look what happened to Pat and Georgia.’

‘First of all, Charles and I are nothing like Pat and Georgia,’ Fiona scoffed. ‘I don’t think he’d be too impressed if he found out that I’d been unfaithful, but as long as nobody discovered at work or at the golf club so that he could be labelled a cuckold, Charles would be fine. And what makes you think that I don’t have orgasms?’

Ellie nearly choked on her drink. ‘Okay, I get it. Spare me the details, please! I don’t want to know. But it’s not the same, you know. Not even close.’

‘Well you’re right about that,’ Fiona said, with a self-satisfied smile. ‘It takes less than thirty seconds and it’s a good deal less messy.’

In spite of everything, Ellie chuckled. For somebody who tried to be so posh, Fiona was after all just a girl from the village - and from the rough end at that. She might behave as if she was the queen of Cheshire, but her sense of the vaguely ridiculous had never left her. Except for that moment long ago that altered her life forever. Fiona may have alluded to it, but Ellie knew better than to mention it herself.

‘So, do you have a candidate for this aberration of yours then?’

‘Well, obviously it’s nobody you know, but I’ve been stalking a man for a while. I’m not sure if he’s going to deliver the goods yet, but I’m taking it slowly.’

The smile left Ellie’s face.

‘Don’t use the word stalking, Fee. It’s not funny, and if that’s what you’re doing then you need to stop it. Right now.’

She was relieved that at that moment Leo appeared in the doorway. It seemed her sister had been raiding her jewellery box, but frankly Leo deserved a whole lot more than a red necklace.

Fiona gave a small shout of surprise.

‘Leo! I had no idea you were here. Ellie didn’t tell me. What brings you to Cheshire? I thought you’d never darken this doorstep again.’

‘Hi Fiona. You’re looking well - and looking expensive too, if I may say so. It seems your marriage turned out exactly the way you wanted it to.’

Fiona gave her most supercilious smile.

‘How very cynical of you. But you are, of course, absolutely correct. Charles and I are perfect for each other.’

Ellie glared at her sister. So much for her being on her best behaviour. Fortunately, Leo appeared to pick up Ellie’s thoughts and belatedly managed to force a smile on her face.

‘As far as returning to this house goes, it’s not recognisable is it? And I don’t believe in ghosts,’ Leo said, shrugging with a feigned indifference that may have fooled Fiona, but not Ellie.

‘I’m not sure that I would want to be haunted by your mother if she was a ghost, Ellie,’ Fiona said. ‘What does Max call her? The Old Witch? She was such an embittered woman. She spent twenty years of her life hating people. I think that’s rather sad.’

‘Not when you’re the one that’s hated, it’s not,’ said Leo, with feeling.

‘Well, she’s gone now and left a bucket load of money so that you can all celebrate her passing in style.’

Ellie looked sadly at Leo, knowing how hard any conversation about The Old Witch was for her. So much so that Leo had refused every single penny that Ellie had offered her from the vast sum that her mother had been secretly amassing.

Once more, though, they were saved by the bell. Fifteen minutes early, so now they had to face the joys of bloody Mimi.

* * *

Much as Leo had liked Georgia and enjoyed her company, she had to say that she was intrigued to meet Pat’s new woman. Max seemed somewhat relieved when he showed them both into the kitchen, no doubt because he wouldn’t have to search for yet another topic of conversation with Charles, whose sole interest appeared to be money and all that it could buy.

Leo might not be a fan of parties, but she loved watching people and their reactions to each other, and tonight was one of those occasions when it felt as if people were not entirely comfortable. Bringing this new woman into the equation forced everything out of kilter somehow. Max had coped with Charles for years, and Fiona and Leo tolerated each other for Ellie’s sake, while finding every possible opportunity to wind each other up. They both enjoyed it, although Ellie had never appreciated that. But the minute Pat walked through the door with Georgia’s usurper, tension rippled through the room.

Pat didn’t seem to have changed much, as far as Leo could see. His wheat-coloured hair always came as a bit of a shock because it looked like the colour came from a bottle although Leo was positive that it didn’t. Besides, it was cut so short that you’d see regrowth within a matter of days. He was what she would call Mr Regular. He was about average height, not skinny, but not much in terms of a physique. Insubstantial, she would say. Nice features, and a quiet but friendly voice, she’d always found him a bit bland next to Georgia’s vivacious personality and dynamic style. But nice enough. Strange that this inoffensive man could now be causing such a stir.

Ellie tried to ease things, as she always did. She walked over to Pat and gave him a hug.

‘It’s good to see you, Pat. Have you recovered from last night? Max was decidedly ropey this morning, but he seems to have just about got over it. For a couple of teachers, you’re a pair of reprobates if you ask me!’ She kissed him on his cheek and gave him a grin, turning to greet his partner with a smile that looked forced to Leo.

‘Max told me that Pat left early, though - obviously keen to get home to you, Mimi.’

Mimi? Leo thought. What sort of a bloody name was Mimi? Pat was looking a bit flustered.

‘No, I didn’t leave early. Not at all. Max has got that wrong, Ellie. He must have seen me pop out for a breath of fresh air. It gets very hot in that rugby club. Then I got lumbered with the serious folk at the other end of the bar. That’s what comes of drinking orange juice all night, I suppose. Max probably thought I’d left, but I hadn’t.’

‘Oh well, I don’t think he could see straight anyway. Come on Mimi - come and meet everybody.’

Leo watched as Mimi’s eyes flicked around the room, first to Fiona who was lounging in a comfortable chair, then to Leo, then quickly back to Pat - as if he might come to her rescue. But he had already turned towards Max and Charles, and was deep in conversation.

Ellie guided Mimi across the vast expanse of kitchen towards Fiona.

Mimi was nothing like Leo was expecting. A barmaid who had lured Pat away from Georgia had to be something special, surely? And yet this woman who was probably a couple of years younger than Leo was nothing out of the ordinary. She was taller than average, but stooped slightly as if she wasn’t entirely comfortable with her height. Slim and rather flat chested, with fine blonde hair which hung limply in waves around a face thickly covered in foundation at least two shades too dark as if to hide poor skin, she was pretty in an insipid kind of way. But there was nothing particularly interesting about her, and not a hint of a smile on her face. Perhaps Pat had become tired of living in the shadow of Georgia’s radiance.

She could tell from where she was standing leaning against the fridge that Fiona was at her condescending best - or worst. Poor Mimi. It was pretty clear that there was no common ground for conversation, so Ellie steered Mimi back towards Leo.

‘And this is my sister, Leo.’

Leo was not a great one for a handshake, so just smiled and said hi. But Mimi had a puzzled frown on her face.

‘Half-sister, surely?’ she said, darting glances from one to the other. ‘Have I got that wrong?’

She went pink under the orange makeup, and her neck a blotchy red. It was clear to Leo that she had spoken without thinking.

‘We’re sisters,’ Ellie said.

Mimi turned to Ellie.

‘But Patrick told me that’s why you got all the money, and she didn’t get any.’ Mimi was digging herself in deeper and Leo was trying to think of a way of letting her off lightly. But she hadn’t allowed for a slightly sozzled Fiona, who had come for yet another refill.

She leaned across in front of Leo and spoke to Mimi. ‘I rather think the details of this family’s finances and fortunes are their business, and theirs alone, don’t you?’

Oh God, thought Leo. Now the poor girl’s going to feel even more stupid.

‘I’m sorry, but Patrick tells me everything. I didn’t realise it was a sensitive subject.’

‘It’s okay,’ Leo said. ‘Take no notice of Fiona - she’s pissed.’

Ellie obviously decided that this had to be nipped in the bud before it got out of hand.

‘Well, right now I have some canapés to finish off. Everybody else will be here soon, so can I have some volunteers to help. Not you, Fee. You might splash something on that dress.’