The Surprise Party

‘Oh, come off it. Liz always looks like she’s just stepped off the front cover of a magazine,’ said Sam. ‘Never a hair out of place . . .’

He didn’t add, ‘unlike you,’ although Suzie suspected she could hear it in his voice. She glanced down at her outfit – faded, world-weary jeans and an equally faded long sleeve tee-shirt worn with a pair of cowboy boots that had seen far better days. Suzie knew without looking in a mirror that her hair was a bird’s nest and there hadn’t been time to put on so much as a lick of make-up because the whole day had been manic since the moment she’d opened her eyes.

‘To be honest, I don’t know how she does it,’ Sam said, his gaze fixed on the front door through which Lizzie had so recently vanished.

Suzie stared at him and laughed. ‘You are joking, aren’t you? A professional stylist, twice weekly trips to the beautician, the manicurist and the hairdresser, a personal trainer, Botox and a grooming budget that would make your eyes water. Not to mention the fact that she hasn’t got a husband, two children, two dogs, two cats, a rabbit and a business to run, which probably gives her a bit of a head start,’ growled Suzie sarcastically, snatching up the boxes of table decorations that she had been taking to the marquee before life got in the way.

‘Do I detect a modicum of jealousy there?’ Sam said as he headed off back towards the car.

Suzie swung round to say something but he was too quick for her.

Jealous of Liz? As if, although even as she thought it, Suzie knew that the thought came too quickly to ring completely true. There were days when Liz’s life looked like a total breeze in contrast to her own.

Chapter Two

‘My feet are absolutely killing me,’ said Rose with a groan, prising off her shoes and wriggling unhappy toes. She and Jack had managed to find a table outside the café in the shade and Rose had no plans to walk a step further. ‘That is just so much better,’ she sighed, stretching her feet. ‘I don’t think I can walk another step. What do you think Fleur’s up to?’

‘She said that she was going to get a pot of tea and some cake,’ said Jack, glancing towards the dark interior of the tearooms.

Rose looked at him and laughed. ‘That isn’t what I meant and you know it,’ she said. ‘All this—’ she waved a hand to encompass the day – ‘out by ten, slap-up breakfast on the way here, God knows how many hours spent trudging around a stately home and gardens. This from a woman who usually wants to stay put and be waited on hand and foot while she’s staying with us. Can you remember the fuss she made last time she was over and we suggested a day out at the seaside?’

‘Maybe she’s had a change of heart.’

Rose sniffed. ‘Fleur’s never had a heart, Jack, she’s got a calculator.’

Jack raised his eyebrows. ‘Play nicely. You have to admit she’s been all right while she’s been over here this time. Maybe she’s mellowing in her old age. Maybe she’s beginning to realise what she’s missing. And like she said, she’s only over here for a couple of weeks this time around and the gardens are only open to the public for a month every year.’

‘Fleur hates gardening.’

‘Yes, but she knows that you like it,’ said Jack.

Rose looked sceptical. ‘That’s exactly what I mean. When was the last time Fleur thought about anyone but herself? When she gets back I’m going to ask her what she’s done with my sister.’

Jack laughed and then, changing the subject, said, ‘Actually it’s been a really nice day all round, hasn’t it? I’m really looking forward to a pot of tea and some cake.’

‘And that’s another thing – buying us tea and cakes,’ said Rose. ‘Fleur’s purse is usually welded shut. So far she’s insisted on paying for us to get in and fought like a tiger when we offered to buy her lunch.’ As she spoke Rose counted the things off on her fingers. ‘And now she’s gone trotting off to go and get the teas. I don’t understand it at all. There’s something up. You don’t think she’s ill, do you?’

‘What?’

‘There’s bound to be something more to this. I’ve been trying to work it out all day. Maybe she’s softening us up so she can break the bad news.’

‘What bad news?’ asked Jack anxiously.

‘Well, I don’t know, do I? Maybe she’s coming home for good. Maybe she’s finally outgrown Australia. Oh my Lord, you don’t think she wants to come and live with us, do you?’

Jack shook his head. ‘No, of course not. Maybe she’s just . . .’ he began, obviously struggling to come up with some explanation, while fiddling with a sugar packet, tipping it end over end so it made a sound like waves breaking on the beach. After the tide had rolled in and out half a dozen times, he shook his head. ‘No, actually, Rose, you’re right. I have no idea what Fleur’s up to, but to be honest it makes a nice change. In all the years I’ve known her she’s never so much as offered to buy a cup of tea, let alone treat us to a day out. And you have to admit she’s been really cheerful and good company today. I’m really rather enjoying myself.’

As if to underline the point, Fleur reappeared from inside the teashop carrying a huge tray. Jack leapt to his feet to rescue her. Rose smiled. Jack was always the perfect gentleman even when it came to her grumpy sister.

‘Here, let me have that,’ he said, taking it out of her hands. ‘Bloody hell, that looks amazing, you must have bought half the shop. Are you trying to feed us up?’

‘Thanks, Jack,’ said Fleur with relief. ‘I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a selection of little sandwiches and cakes. There’s salmon and cucumber, egg and cress, Victoria sponge, and a lemon drizzle cake. Oh, and Danish pastries.’

Rose looked at them in astonishment. ‘We haven’t long had lunch, we’ll never eat this lot.’

‘I know, I got the boy behind the counter to give me a box so we could take home what we don’t eat. Waste not want not.’ Fleur settled herself down at the table. ‘So have you enjoyed your day so far?’ she said, in a tone that suggested it was a leading question.

‘Yes, we were just saying that it’s been lovely,’ said Rose, watching her sister’s face for clues. ‘I was going to talk to you about that.’

‘The thing is,’ said Fleur, leaning forward to unpack the cups and pour the tea. ‘Coming here today. To the gardens. It wasn’t really my idea.’

‘Now there’s a surprise,’ said Rose, shooting Jack a knowing look.

‘Actually it was Suzie’s. She said that you’d always wanted to come here and as it’s your fortieth wedding anniversary she thought it would be a nice gesture—’

‘If you brought us?’ asked Rose sceptically. ‘Why didn’t she bring us herself?’

‘Well, the thing is, Liz is taking us all out to dinner tonight and Suzie got you those lovely olive trees and to be perfectly honest I couldn’t think of anything else to buy you. So I thought this would be the perfect present – a nice day out. Just the three of us.’

‘I don’t know why you bothered. You never bought us anything before,’ Rose said, the words out before she could stop herself.

‘That’s hardly fair,’ said Fleur. ‘I gave you that lovely cut-glass decanter, remember?’

‘Which someone gave you,’ Rose fired straight back.

‘Only because I thought it was more your sort of thing than mine and how was I to know that you knew the man at the garage?’

‘They were giving them away with petrol tokens,’ said Rose to a bemused-looking Jack by way of explanation.

‘Yes, but the promotion was over,’ protested Fleur.

‘I know,’ said Rose. ‘The man in the garage told me they were throwing the rest of them out and asked if I wanted one to match the one I’d already got.’

‘You said you liked it.’

‘I was being polite,’ growled Rose, ignoring the sandwiches and helping herself to the chocolate éclair from the selection of cakes on the plate.

‘I was going to have that one,’ Fleur said, sounding hurt.

‘I know,’ said Rose, biting off the end.

Jack, who had been watching the exchange, looked from one sister to the other. ‘When did we ever have a cut-glass decanter?’ he asked.

‘Fleur gave it to us as a wedding present,’ said Rose, through a mouthful of éclair. ‘I gave it to your mum for Christmas.’

Jack sighed and made a start on the sandwiches.

Chapter Three