Page 101 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
“Yes.” The answer came before her mind had consciously framed it. All the breath seemed to have left her lungs as he slid the ring onto her third finger. “Oh, yes.”
* * *
“Great party, Vicky.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at Brenda. How things had turned around since the first time they’d met! She’d been a stranger then. Now she had a whole crowd of new friends, all of them here tonight for a combined housewarming party and engagement party and celebration of the sale of Juan-Jorge’s portraits.
The French windows in the sitting room stood open and many people had drifted out into the back garden to enjoy the warm evening. Tom was out there chatting to Arthur Crocombe’s son, Simon; her stepfather and Jack Cullen were discussing wines, and Debbie and Bill were dancing on the lawn to the music pouring out from her stereo.
She had even spotted Bez in the shadows round the corner of the cottage, heavily snogging Wayne, Tom’s apprentice at the farm.
She felt a small glow of satisfaction as she wandered around the room picking up a few empty glasses. The ring on her finger sparkled with green fire every time it caught the light.
She had taken the chance, chased her dreams — whatever the outcome, it had to be worth the risk.
Carrying the glasses through to the kitchen she found her mother at the sink, washing up. “Hey, there’s no need to do that, Mum,” she protested. “They can all go in the dishwasher later.”
“Oh, these few bits won’t take a minute.” She set the glasses down on the draining board in a neat row and wiped her hands on a towel. “You’ve made this very nice.” She glanced approvingly around the kitchen. “Very practical.”
“Thanks.” Vicky managed not to roll her eyes — ‘practical’ was second only to ‘sensible’ in her mother’s lexicon.
“So you’re really going to stay here now?”
“Of course. I love it.”
“Well, you do seem to have made lots of friends.” Her mother still sounded slightly puzzled by it all.
“Yes.” Vicky smiled reassuringly. “They’re really nice people.”
“And your Tom seems to have grown into a very nice young man. Though it’s a shame about Jeremy.”
Vicky laughed dryly. “Not really.”
Her mother sighed. “Well, I suppose you know your own mind.”
Vicky smiled to herself. She had been anticipating the word ‘sensible’ but she suspected that her mother didn’t think she was being sensible at all.
She hadn’t told her mother the whole story of what had happened — she didn’t want to create a problem in the family.
It had been a relief that Jayde hadn’t accompanied their parents on this visit. She had spoken to her only once since that fateful weekend.
She wouldn’t have spoken to her at all, but she had rung on someone else’s phone and Vicky had answered it because she hadn’t recognised the number.
Jayde had been full of indignant self-justification. “You were going to break up with him anyway, so why are you so pissed off?”
“Jayde, you were sleeping with him while I was still engaged to him.”
“Well, I—”
“While I was still engaged to him!”
“So that’s it? I suppose you’re never going to speak to me again, even though we’re sisters?”
“Ah, you remembered that now?” Vicky sighed. “Of course I’m going to speak to you again, but it’s not like borrowing a pair of shoes without asking. He was my fiancé — sisters don’t do that to each other.”
“Even though . . . ?”
“Even though. Goodbye, Jayde. I’ll call you... sometime.”
