Something About You (Something Borrowed Series Book 2) Page 11

  ‘Running? In this?’ Anjini swished her beautiful emerald green sari skirts.

  ‘No. You can wear a track suit. Mum, you too. Saskia can lead because she’s the healthy one.’

  ‘Honey,’ Saskia purred in her lilting, soft zen voice. ‘I know yoga but not running. I’m the person you’ll all have to come to after the run because your hamstrings have locked and you can’t move.’

  Jenna knew exactly how that felt. But more, this was the in she needed with Chloe. ‘Right, yes. Yoga definitely helps post exercise. At your studio. Yes, yoga classes at your studio. Running and yoga? A new fitness regime. Chloe, sound good?’

  Chloe shrugged, looking a little scared at the prospect of exercise. It was something they talked about often but never did. One day, when we run the London Marathon…. One day, when we play netball for England…. It was about time one day became this day.

  Jenna continued undeterred, finding her shiny happy and smiling, ‘We can start with walking. Everyone knows how to walk, right? I can put Evie in her buggy and we can all go, nice and early in the morning, before the day starts.’

  ‘I think I’d rather we just did it on our own, instead of in that group.’ Faith seemed reluctantly enthusiastic, which was a start. ‘There might be someone who can actually, you know, run. And then we’d all look stupid.’

  But Chloe was not listening. ‘He was at your house? Nick came round? Did you invite him in after he’d given you the flyer?’

  Shut up.

  But sisterly telepathy wasn’t working today as Chloe leaned forward and stared at her, like something from the Spanish Inquisition. ‘Jenna?’

  ‘Yes, of course she invited him in.’ Mrs Singh again. One day they’d all find out how she knew their inner most secrets. But not today.

  ‘How do you know I invited him in?’ Oh, God, please don’t say she saw us kissing.

  ‘Because he wouldn’t have been leaving if he hadn’t been inside in the first place.’ Anjini tapped her temple and smiled. ‘Logic, my dear Jenna.’

  Oh, yes. Right.

  ‘And you’re all red faced, so what happened?’ Bridget was smiling. It clearly mattered to her that her daughter spent her days dreaming about a man she couldn’t have and a kiss she should be regretting, but didn’t.

  ‘Nothing happened.’

  I can see it in your eyes.

  Nick had seen right through her. Ugh. She hoped her eyes were a big mass of mirk right now. Had he seen how much she’d wanted him too? God, how embarrassing. No wonder he wanted to get out of her house so quickly.

  Bridget tutted. ‘If Saskia had popped round, you’d have said and we had a right laugh about XYZ and a wine or three and watched Bake Off. But this Nick boy? Why can’t you tell us about that?’

  Boy? Oh, dear God, no. He definitely was no boy. ‘Wow, you’re worse than that Marnie journalist with your questions. Do you want me to sit in the middle of the room, under the lightbulb, and you can all take it in turns to interrogate me?’

  ‘Yes.’ They all answered together. Traitors.

  ‘Well, tough. I can’t tell you about something that didn’t happen.’

  ‘But you wanted something to happen? Didn’t you? That’s why you’re blushing.’ This time it was Faith; she was tapping her fingers together and looking all Poirot at her. Beady eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Any minute now she’d be talking about her little grey cells or something. But she didn’t. She smiled and actually looked quite excited. ‘Oh, that’s so good to hear, Jen. We’ve all been so worried that you’re destined to be on your own forever. Now you just might not be. You don’t deserve to be lonely.’

  ‘I’m not lonely. I have you guys. And Evie. I have enough memories to keep me warm at night.’ Although the memories of the kiss were fanning a heat threatening to burn out of control.

  Faith’s eyes twinkled and she grinned. ‘Memories don’t give you stubble rash on your cheeks and your… thighs.’

  ‘I beg your pardon? I didn’t… We didn’t…’ But she’d wanted to. God, how she’d wanted to. Jenna put her cool palm to her hot cheek. ‘We’re friends. That’s all.’

  ‘You’re blushing again.’ Faith put her hand on Jenna’s shoulder. ‘We all just want you to have a happy ever after. Yay. At least someone’s getting some action.’

  Jenna shrugged away from her friend’s hand. ‘I am not getting any action. Okay? Chloe is. Ask her about that.’

  ‘No chance. All I’m prepared to say is that I’m satisfied. Very. Satisfied.’ Chloe had one of those smug looks that said she was going to stay very happy and very tight-lipped about everything.

  But they’d all been worried about her? Jenna’s heart bloomed a little. They’d kept her going when she’d barely had the energy to breathe. They’d stood with her, holding her up, as Ollie had been buried, and visited her with gifts and care when Evie had been born, supporting her through the long struggle of learning how to be a mother, when all she’d wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cry. They were good people, underneath it all. She loved them dearly.

  She just wished they didn’t want to talk about things she didn’t want to talk about.

  Now she was sounding like Nick.

  Jenna picked up the book on top of one of the piles. It had a picture of a woman looking out of a train window. She was on her own. Nice. How lovely that would be right now—on a train, staring out of the window with nothing and no one to bother her. ‘Okay, let’s talk about books. Anyone read this one?’

  Silence.

  Anjini sighed, sat back in her chair and clasped her hands in her lap. ‘Jenna, please don’t make us talk about books. We never talk about books. We always talk about food or Married At First Sight or everyone’s love lives.’

  ‘Well, we’re not talking about my non-existent one.’

  ‘Spoilsport.’ Chloe stuck her tongue out, then added another pakora to her plate.

  ‘Why don’t we talk about Faith’s love life then?’ Again, Jenna refused the offer of food. She was getting grumpy, she knew that. Lack of food and interrogation made her tetchy. ‘Or Kat’s? Saskia, help me out here?’

  ‘I’m in between relationships. Just temporarily.’ Kat beamed. She had an unerring faith in a happy ever after with Mr Right, whenever the hell he decided to show up. Unfortunately for Kat, he was proving to be elusive.

  ‘And I’m over men completely.’ Saskia’s voice turned a little less soft. Her track record with men was poor. She always went for the academic types who treated her badly and scorned what they called her pseudo-intellectualism. The last one to break her heart had been her lecturer. Married—but she hadn’t known until it had been too late. A father—she hadn’t known that either. Untangling herself from that had torn her apart, not least because she’d unwittingly undermined her own values.

  Faith winced. As a child of a mother who was a serial husband chaser, she’d always kept quiet on the dating front. ‘Don’t even go there. No chance.’

  Chloe’s eyes widened as they all turned to her. ‘Hey, back off. Vaughn and I are, well, very happy. And we intend to stay that way, thank you. Telling you all our bedroom secrets isn’t going to help.’

  ‘Not getting married any time soon, then?’ Faith couldn’t help herself, clearly. ‘You and Vaughn?’

  They all whipped round to look at Jenna and then her sister. It was like being at a tennis match, with the ball—Jenna’s secret wedding idea— being batted from one side to the other.

  Chloe visibly shuddered. ‘No, thank you. You know we agreed to stay un-married forever. That way I think we’ll actually last as a couple.’ She pointed her finger first at Faith, then at each of them in turn. ‘Never say the M word to me again.’

  For a moment, the room went completely silent. Jenna’s stomach contracted into a tight knot. Okay, so the secret squirrel wedding idea was probably the worst idea ever.

  But it was going to happen. Because whatever she said, Chloe was a wedding planner. She believed in happy ever afters; she b
elieved in commitment and promises. She believed in the whole kit and caboodle. Otherwise, why the hell was she even doing the job she was doing? And loving it?

  Because she was scared that Vaughn would leave her at the altar. If there was no altar and no preconceived ideas, no pre-wedding nerves, no Bridezilla… how bad could it get?

  The silence was broken by Bridget. ‘I wouldn’t mind a man. If he was house trained. Don’t look at me like that, girls. We all have itches we need to scratch every now and then.’

  ‘Ugh. I so do not want to think about that, Mother.’ Jenna winced.

  ‘Well, don’t think about it. Think about how you’re going to be on your own and lonely forever.’

  Jenna folded her arms and harrumphed. ‘Good, because that’s exactly how I like it.’

  But she could tell by the way they were all looking at her that they didn’t believe her either.

  Chapter 10

  ‘Right, are we ready?’ Jenna extended her right leg forward and bent her left leg, hoping to stretch out her hamstrings before she started running or walking or however best the wobbly, ungraceful forward movement could be described. She’d made sure she’d emptied her bladder and pulled on a newer, well-fitting T-shirt and thick knee-length running tights that held her wobbly bits in place as much as possible, just in case Nick was out there somewhere doing his fifty-mile run or whatever he did.

  Please don’t let Nick be out there somewhere. Please be at work.

  The last thing she needed was to bump into him again. Although, if they did, she could at least hide behind her friends.

  Surprisingly, the book group were all there in various stages of just-woken-up. Mrs Singh and Bridget wore matching burnt orange velour tracksuits, and sleep lines on their faces. Saskia, Faith, Kat and Chloe were all decked out in super, sporty Lycra, and frowns. None of them seemed remotely happy to be here. Evie was strapped tight into her buggy and had been asked not to wriggle, but wriggling was happening. ‘We need to get going before Missy here gets bored.’

  ‘Ugh.’ Faith lifted her sunglasses and peered out of bloodshot eyes. She had dark circles and smudged mascara and her short, platinum blonde, pixie-cut hair was sticking up in weird places. ‘How can she be so wriggly so early in the morning? All I want to do is lie down flat and not move an inch.’

  ‘Well, she wasn’t working until the early hours. Or drinking until late. Which was it?’

  ‘Both.’ Faith grimaced and slid her glasses back onto her nose as she crouched to talk to the toddler. ‘Don’t ever be an adult, Evie. You have to get a job and be responsible. Adulting sucks.’

  ‘Sucks.’ Evie giggled. ‘Sucks. Ducks. F—’

  ‘Okay!’ Jenna frowned at her daughter. Did she even know that word? How? ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Mamma?’ Evie lifted her feet and kicked them in the air. ‘Foots. Look.’

  For a moment there, she’d thought her daughter had learnt something she’d prefer her not to. ‘Ah. Feet. The word is feet, love.’

  ‘No. One foots.’ Evie pointed to first her left and then her right foot. ‘Two foots.’

  Faith laughed loudly. ‘Excellent, Evie. I don’t give two foots about running, but sometimes you’ve gotta just join right in. Remember that, sweetie. Girlfriends are the best thing in the world to have, so when one of them has a hare-brained idea, you have to be positive and join in.’ Faith thought for a moment. ‘Actually, two hare-brained ideas.’

  ‘Two?’ Chloe bent her right leg up behind her and grabbed her foot, stretching out her thigh muscle. ‘Two hare-brained ideas? What’s the other one?’

  Getting you to the yoga studio on time. Hopefully Chloe wouldn’t remember to ask that question again, especially as her brain was likely to be starved of oxygen given her lungs wouldn’t be working very efficiently. The last time her sister had run had been in school. Nursery school. ‘Right. We’ll walk to that lamppost first. Come on. Come on! Fast walking!’

  There was a general moan and mumblings, ‘Wait for me.’

  ‘Whose bright idea was this?’

  ‘I hate exercise.’

  ‘What the foot are we doing?’

  They were off.

  Saskia and Kat gazelled in front, lithe legs eating up the metres. Faith, Anjini and Bridget started a grumpy slow shuffle behind, stopping to look in shop windows instead of concentrating on the job at hand, which left Chloe and Jenna alone in the middle.

  ‘This is fun.’ Jenna decided that, if she said it enough, she’d believe it. It was a little easier than the last time; she’d chosen the right clothing at least.

  ‘No, it isn’t.’ There were beads of sweat gathering already on Chloe’s forehead. ‘Don’t ever ask me to do it again.’

  ‘Oh, Chloe. We’ve just started. You’ll be glad you did it—’

  ‘At the end, yes I know.’

  ‘And when we’re done, we need to remember stretching.’ Jenna determined her agenda, sounding her sister out about details for the wedding—which she still hadn’t got a celebrant for. Her heart gave a little jolt. She was running out of time. Definitely this morning, she would phone round—again—and find a celebrant. She would. And plan the flowers. And find a music system. And… so much needed organising, and all she could think about was Nick Welsh’s mouth. And the delicious way he kissed, and the look in his eyes when… Aargh. Right. Focus. Wedding. ‘I’m going to book us into some of Saskia’s yoga classes at her studio. It’s about time we looked after our mental wellbeing as well as our bodies.’

  Chloe looked at her and frowned. ‘No it isn’t. I’m happy as I am. I’m happy with my life as it is. I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Not getting married was the best thing that ever happened to me. I didn’t think I’d ever say that.’

  Jenna really, really wished her sister would stop saying things like that. ‘Talking of which… has Vaughn ever been married, do you know?’ If Nick wasn’t going to ask, then it was up to her.

  ‘No. Not that I’m aware of.’

  ‘I know he was involved with someone a long time ago, but he didn’t actually sign on the line or do the ring thing?’

  ‘No, no. They were just lovers. Man, this is hard. I thought I’d be able to run easily. I’m so unfit.’ Chloe’s right hand rubbed her right side and she winced. ‘What’s with the sudden interest in Vaughn’s marital status?’

  ‘Just conversation. Never mind. Not important. Right. Light jogging. Now.’ Jenna shrugged as best she could while trying to stay coordinated and breathe and scheme and talk and push the buggy while jogging. Chloe was always easily distracted with work chat. Here was a good ploy. ‘I’ve got a meeting about a wedding today. Lara’s coming in to chat about the flowers.’

  ‘Lara? Oh, yes. Lara and Cameron. Halloween wedding at the Old Operating Theatre. Fun! I’ve ordered all the cute ghost favours and bulk loads of cobweb spray. Mum’s made first pass on the dress. Getting married in black. Interesting.’

  Almost as good as getting married in active wear. Maybe. ‘Excellent. I was wondering what to suggest for flowers.’

  ‘Something spooky and autumnal. Dramatic, like gloriosa. Oranges and greens and browns. Or black roses—’

  ‘Oooh, I have taught you well, young padawan. But I was thinking something more classic. What would you have in your bouquet, if you did it again?’

  Chloe’s eyes narrowed as she gave her sister a sideways grimace. ‘I’m not doing it again.’

  Jenna had a funny feeling in her gut. Would Chloe kill her when she found out about the wedding? ‘But if you did, what would you pick? Sunflowers… or cascading white phalaenopsis orchids. I love those.’

  ‘Then have them at your wedding. Why are you asking all these weird questions?’

  ‘I’m trying to take your mind off running. Look, you managed five lampposts before holding your side. You’re doing well. A bit more training and you’ll knock that five kilometres in the fun run off no problem.’ She was starting to sound like Nick.

  Bam.
There he was again. Right in the front of her head.

  It had been that look in his eyes that had been the final temptation. The struggle that was so obvious, the push-pull of attraction, the fight to ignore it, the heat, the desire. For her.

  For her.

  Bloody hell.

  She felt a shiver run down her spine and a sudden chill in the breeze. Ollie? Again, already? She looked round for white feathers, listened for unidentified car horns. Nothing.

  She hadn’t thought about him for days. That had never happened. Never. Her life had been so full of him and now… now it wasn’t. Not anymore. She was losing him. Or, he was leaving her.

  Or maybe it was time to let go.

  She twisted her wedding ring round and round. Not yet. Not yet.

  Never.

  This thing with Nick wasn’t going anywhere. The kiss had been an aberration, a one-off. Never again.

  ‘Wait.’ Chloe forced words out between breaths as she started to slow. ‘Did you say I’m… doing… the… fun… run?’

  ‘Oh yes.’ And a whole lot more.

  ‘But—’

  ‘But nothing. It’s for Evie’s sake. So you’ll come along to the training… and the yoga.’

  ‘For Evie? Yes. Okay. You’re right. If I don’t die first.’

  ‘You won’t, you’re doing fine.’ God forgive her for using her daughter as a reason, but she needed something concrete to get Chloe into the running and yoga frame of mind. That way she wouldn’t think it odd to be going to a stretching session on a Saturday afternoon.

  ‘It’s not that hot yoga, is it? I heard it makes you faint.’

  ‘I don’t know. It’s Saturday afternoon yoga is all I know. You’ll be fine. I’ll have to get someone to look after the shop.’ Oh yes, another thing to add to her list. None of her friends would be able to do it, seeing as they were on the guest list and bringing food.

  Damn and blast. Why the hell had she decided to do this?

  For a little while, neither of them had the energy to speak.

  Having done a circuit of about two blocks and back, Chloe came to a stop outside Something Fragrant. She grabbed a bottle of water from the tray underneath the buggy seat and gulped. ‘Wow. That’s better. I’m never going to make five kilometres.’