The Harbinger Page 13

  He waited a few moments before answering. “I’ll tell you what. Why not let me take you to dinner on Friday evening, and then you can tell me the news and give me your answer. Fair enough?”

  Ellie was dumbfounded and awestruck. He’d caught her well and truly off guard. “Yes, yes of course. Why not?” She couldn’t believe those words had come from her mouth. What was she thinking? Dinner? Get a grip!

  After a pasta ready meal and a small glass of white wine, Ellie tried to concentrate on the twenty-four-hour news channel, but couldn’t. Instead, she mulled over the answer she’d given Michael Devlin, wondering if she’d made the right decision. She was contemplating his motive as her eyelids began to droop, her busy day finally catching up with her. Her last thought was phoning Holly with the news before the lids closed completely.

  On Wednesday afternoon, her mother dropped by unexpectedly. Ellie had an early start and was trawling the internet gathering any increased prices of fabric, soft furnishings, and wall coverings. Although there was no great hurry to do this particular job, she felt a little irked by the intrusion into her work time. She certainly didn’t want to discuss the committee job with her mother.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re working, darling,” said Dee Hanray, wringing her hands in front of her. “Michael has called an emergency committee meeting for three o’clock on Thursday, so I’m afraid I’ll have to duck out of our usual coffee date. Unless you can make it earlier, that is.”

  Ellie shook her head and wondered why a text message from her mother wouldn’t have sufficed. “Sorry, Mum, but I have a big job coming up quite soon, so I need to trawl the shops in the city on Thursday. I have to have some new ideas when I meet the client on Friday. I don’t think I’ll even make it myself.” Ellie gulped. Her task was more a matter of re-pricing, and she hated to tell fibs, but it made her argument more reasonable.

  “Is this the complicated one you were telling me about from a while ago?” asked Dee, her interest piqued.

  “Yes, it is. I was going to phone you with the news when I’d finished what I’m doing on the internet. I only found out late yesterday. You will tell Dad the good news, won’t you?”

  Dee nodded as Ellie paused, but then she continued. “Apparently the woman had been waiting for some specialist work to be done. I thought she was just messing about. That will teach me to judge.”

  Dee looked as though she was about to reply, but Ellie cut her off. “Not to worry, there’s always next week.” Ellie looked sad, but she shrugged her shoulders, knowing, once the work started at Rochford Manor, she would have to give Thursdays a miss completely—for a while at least. She wouldn’t see her mum or Holly much while working on this project. Both were upsetting in different ways, but she had to make a living.

  She found it strange, however, that her mother hadn’t mentioned the committee member who is leaving. Perhaps that’s what the meeting on Thursday would be addressing, and her mum didn’t know anything about Michael Devlin approaching her. Alternatively, had he expected Ellie to mention the given offer to her mother, thereby doing his dirty work for him? He had better think again if that were the case.

  “Well, it doesn’t stop us having a drink of tea, now does it?” Dee said, surprisingly brightly and hurried off to the kitchen.

  Ellie closed her laptop. It would be impossible to do any more for the duration of her mother’s visit.

  14

  Ellie made it to the library just after three o’clock on Thursday. She felt like a drowned rat. Although she’d checked the weather forecast, and it mentioned being cloudy all day, it did not mention the intermittent cloudbursts. The heavens seemed to open every time she left one shop to go to another. Then, as soon as she crossed the threshold, it would stop. Perhaps she was just paranoid. Or perhaps the rain gods really were out to get her.

  She was grateful for the heating in the library, although she felt as though the water in her clothes and hair would turn to steam any minute. She hated everything about the city and the inevitable smelly journey on the local sprinter train. Stale sweat and the faint acid tang of urine invaded her nostrils. How commuters faced it day after day, she didn’t know. She liked to travel in her own car when she could, but there was no way she would drive in the vast urbanisation, with its awful one-way system that didn’t make any sense and the penchant the planners had for making you follow their instructions, leaving you stuck in the wrong lane. Then, of course, there was the road rage of the locals as they would indicate none too politely that you were in the wrong place. Smelly train it was.

  She ambled passed the queue at the desk and wiggled her fingers at Holly, in the vain hope she might see her amidst the melee of adults and children all vying for the librarian’s attention. Holly gave no indication she had seen her. Therefore, Ellie made her way into Sue’s Place, feeling a little disconsolate. It looked as though there would be no chance to have a chat with Holly today—the whole place heaving. She sighed at the thought, but was in desperate need of coffee and lots of it, so her good news would have to be in the form of a phone call later if she couldn’t catch her on the way out. She needed something to lift her spirits. She was plum tuckered out.

  Sue greeted her with a smile. “The usual?” she asked, grabbing for a mug.

  Ellie shook her head quickly. “No, not today. I’ll have a double Americano with cold milk, please. I need a boost.”

  Sue laughed. “Well, with one of those, I’ll be surprised if you don’t end up on the ceiling. However, the customer is always right. You go sit yourself down, and I’ll bring it over. Anything else?” she asked hopefully.

  As Ellie eyed the glass chiller cabinet, she said, “Well, no, because mother won’t be joining me today, but I will have a piece of hot double chocolate fudge cake with cream, thanks.”

  Sue’s eyes widened. “Blimey, things must be bad… or good,” she said, “depending on how you look at it. Your mother, by the way, has been sending her orders from the committee room, so I haven’t escaped her attention. I had to miss today’s meeting. I’m sure she’ll be pining.”

  Ellie tittered as she made her way to a recently vacated table at the back of the room, avoiding the old people with hacking coughs, plus the rucksacks and children crawling on the floor. Her mother surely wasn’t missing anything.

  The thought of going out to dinner, even a working one, with Michael Devlin still played on Ellie’s mind, giving her a queasy feeling. She knew he was essentially a private person, so she assumed he was more interested in filling the vacancy and her professional life than he was about her personally. As long as it stayed that way, she would be happy.

  Now, it was time for dinner. She was starving.

  Ellie stared down at her empty plate… well, empty apart from some tiny crumbs. She couldn’t believe she had eaten a medium-sized pizza all to herself, on top of the cake she’d eaten at Sue’s Place earlier. She’d bought the meat-feast pizza to share with her mum sometime… That wasn’t going to happen now. She smiled and ahh’d as she rubbed her tummy. She felt completely sated and wondered if she had room to finish off her red wine. She decided to sip it during the evening if she could manage it.

  She picked up her phone and called Holly’s number. It rang for some time without an answer, and then it went to voicemail, so she ended the call immediately. Ellie could feel the telltale signs of disappointment creeping through her body as she gulped. She had no right to think Holly should be at her disposal. The woman led a busy life of her own.

  Within seconds, her mobile rang. A smile appeared on Ellie’s face as she read Holly’s name. “Holly,” she said brightly. “How are you and Leah?” she said, easing her way into the conversation.

  Holly chuckled. “We’re fine. Back to normal, in fact. The child’s voice has returned, seemingly twice as loud as it was before it vanished. Even my ex is behaving himself. Actually, I was upstairs packing Leah’s bag for the weekend, and my mobile was downstairs. I only heard it ringing when I re
ached the bottom of the stairs. Are you okay to talk now?” she enquired.

  “Yes,” said Ellie. “Nothing on at all now that I’ve had dinner. How about you?”

  “Give me five minutes, and I’ll call you back. I desperately need a cuppa.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” said Ellie. “I have some news.” She closed down her phone with a flourish. For a split second, everything in her world seemed good. Then she thought about Alex and felt guilty.

  True to her word, the phone rang five minutes later.

  “Okay,” opened Holly. “I have a mug of tea, legs on the settee, and phone on loudspeaker… go!”

  Ellie could see the scene in her mind, and a feeling of longing ran through her, like a babbling brook. It wasn’t like a tsunami or a raging torrent, just a gentle ripple that spoke of knowing and contentment.

  “It’s to do with work,” said Ellie. “A client I have been sucking-up to for months has finally come through with an offer. It’s a prestigious job on a renovated grade-listed building. It promises to be important as far as my career is concerned, but it will be hard work. I’ll be on the job nearly the entire time until completion, although we do occasionally have a day off. Still, you have to make sacrifices to get anywhere in this work. I’m not sure commuting will be an option, either. It’s quite far away.”

  Holly’s voice had gone quiet. “What, no weekends at home?” she sounded disappointed.

  “Well, some, maybe. I won’t know until Mick and I come up with a work schedule. However, the daily commute will definitely be a problem, so that won’t be an option. I don’t fancy adding an extra five hours to my working day. Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see how the situation progresses. I haven’t got things worked out just yet.”

  “No, of course. Still a little early, but you must be delighted. You deserve to go a long way in your career, Ellie. You’re clearly a very talented lady.”

  Ellie felt on the verge of tears. She knew she was going through some emotional times, but she was just about managing to keep herself under control. Although she loved hearing comments like Holly’s, emotionally they upset the apple cart. She swallowed a lump in her throat. “Thank you for saying that. It means a great deal. I have some more news, too.” Ellie paused for dramatic effect.

  Holly laughed aloud. “Come on then. Let’s have it.”

  “You know they are losing a committee member at the library?” Ellie enquired.

  “Yes, only on the grapevine, though. So what’s that to do with you?” Holly’s thoughts were tumbling. “No, they haven’t, have they? Have they offered you the place? Oh, good heavens above. Whatever next? Your mother will be spitting blood and feathers.” Holly laughed even louder.

  “I haven’t heard my mother’s opinion on the matter yet. Michael Devlin called late Tuesday. My mum, of course, will have told him today I have a lot on at the moment, which, of course, isn’t a lie. I told him I wouldn’t know one way or the other until tomorrow, after the meeting with the client. Once I get time, I’ll have to check details with Mick and the team and sort it out from there. Everything is up in the air right now. Michael said he’d like to discuss the matter personally, and would I let him wine and dine me tomorrow evening. I’ll listen to what he has to say, of course.”

  Holly seemed a little disappointed. Her voice was unusually quiet when she asked, “You agreed to go then?”

  “Yes, I did. There may be things I haven’t considered. There are two things I do know. One, its time consuming, and two, it’s unpaid. Both I have to consider carefully. If I were working from home, it wouldn’t be as much of a problem. But for the foreseeable future, I won’t be at home.” Ellie became pensive at the thought.

  “It knocks my offer into a tin hat, then.” Holly tried not to load her statement with angst.

  Ellie was puzzled. “Which offer?”

  “I thought you and I could get together this weekend, as Leah’s away at her dad’s. I was thinking only a slobby weekend with takeaways and wine, but that could be revised.” Holly was lying through her teeth. She could strangle Michael Devlin. Jealousy was a new emotion for her. She wasn’t dealing with it very well.

  “I don’t like it better. It’s just necessary. Now, your place or mine?”

  The silence on the other end of the line was palpable. “Sorry?” asked Holly, obviously confused.

  “Holly, it’s three or four hours on a Friday night. That doesn’t constitute a whole weekend. I’ll drop a bag off at yours on the way to the meeting in the morning. I won’t be drinking because I’ll be driving, of course, so I’ll come straight back to your house. However, you must promise chilled Prosecco and popcorn if we’re watching DVDs. I’ll be grown up and refuse dessert at the restaurant.” Ellie smiled, knowing Holly was smiling too. “I’ll text you when I’m setting off.”

  “Okay, it’s a deal. I’ll be ready and waiting.”

  Ellie laughed aloud before she ended the call with an, “Oh, I believe you.”

  15

  Friday for Ellie was manic. She really wanted the meeting with her prospective client to go well, so before she’d even had breakfast, she rechecked her figure work, making sure it would be fair all around. Then she’d put a call into Mick the builder and all-around good egg, and told him to be on standby once she had the necessary details from Mrs Cowdrey. Ellie panicked a little at the thought of the driving and the timing, especially getting back in time for her dinner date with Michael Devlin.

  As she sat down with her breakfast muesli, she looked across the dining table to the vacant chair. The last time she’d been here, Holly sat opposite her, tucking into her full English. In her mind, she could still hear the loud crack as Holly cut into her fried bread. She wondered how many times it would happen in the future. How many more meals would they share here before something went wrong? It didn’t matter how much she tried to be optimistic, the glass refused to fill passed halfway. She had no reason to worry about her and Holly being friends forever—if not more than friends. Yet, she knew, to her everlasting cost, life could throw you a curve ball, at any time.

  The thoughts made her develop a lump in her throat and thought she might choke if she tried to swallow the masticated lump of oats, bran, and fruit currently occupying her mouth. She stopped chewing and calmed herself, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths through her nose. Finally, she was able to swallow, but rejected the other half, pushing her bowl towards the middle of the table, out of her eye-line. She held her mug of coffee between her hands and sipped intermittently until her negative thinking began to subside from her memory.

  She flopped her head back as far as it would go and closed her eyes. She was in her safe place now, cuddling Alex as a newly delivered baby, all pink and wrinkly, his hair as white as an albino’s. Not for a few months did his hair show any signs of resembling her own. She smiled at all the early thoughts and felt herself relaxing. Ellie was always grateful when the bombardment of unsettling thoughts ceased.

  The tinkling of her mobile phone indicated the delivery of a new message. She opened her eyes, put down her mug, and then opened the message. It was from Michael Devlin.

  “Table booked 7.30 at Majestic Lodge. Let me know if you would prefer somewhere else. I can always cancel. Do you want me to send my driver for you?”

  Ellie blinked with surprise. Majestic Lodge… she was seriously impressed. The five-star spa hotel about forty minutes away, set deep in woodland. Definitely a get-away-from-it-all, place. She’s looked it up when trying to organise a weekend away with her friends a few years ago. It was too expensive by far for them. Although she knew it had changed hands recently, she also knew its prices wouldn’t have gone down. Unheard of. Well, who was she to argue with the mighty Michael Devlin?

  Ellie replied. “Sounds lovely. No, to the driver though. Thanks, I have plans afterwards. See you there.”

  She looked it over before she hit send and nodded her head. Thankful but not gushing. Straight to the point with no explanations. It
would do. Taking in a big gulp of air, she pressed send… then helped herself to another mug of coffee.

  The bed held neat piles of laundered clothes. Ellie was clearing each rail in her wardrobe methodically, trying to find something suitable to wear. The weather forecast promised clouds, right through to midnight, and then an increase in the wind was bringing with it heavy rain for the next forty-eight hours. She looked at the weekend case she would drop off at Holly’s house that was nearly full—jeans, joggers, a couple of tee shirts, nightwear, slippers, and toiletries.

  Today’s choices were proving more difficult. The only thing suitable that she’d found on a hanger was under a plastic clothes bag supplied by the dry cleaning company. Tears made her eyes prickle. She remembered her mum scooping it up from the bedroom floor, complaining about the dust that kept settling weeks after the completion of her bedroom’s en-suite addition.

  “I’ll drop the suit in at the dry cleaners for you, Eleanor. It’s filthy now that it’s been on the floor. I’ll be in town anyway so it will save you a trip.”

  “Once it’s done, Mum, can you take it down to Oxfam and donate it. I’ll never wear it again.”

  Her mother tutted loudly. “I will do no such thing! It would be such a waste. Not only is it a designer label, but it was also extremely expensive. As much as I support the charities, I just couldn’t do it. You will have the opportunity to wear it again. Give it time.” Dee Hanray’s face had shown concern for her daughter knowing what tough times lay ahead, but she also knew she would get there in the end.

  Ellie had just shaken her head and looked at her mother through red puffy eyes. “I can’t think of another occasion I would want to use it for. If the thought of donation bothers you, I’ll leave it in the wardrobe. It will be there for my own funeral, I suppose.” She had dropped her head onto her chest and wept gently. She felt her mother’s arm around her shoulder but didn’t acknowledge it in any way. “At least then I’ll get to see my son again.”