Between Friends

by Jenny Harper

Genres: Women's Fiction

Synopsis

Love, secrets and loyalty in contemporary Edinburgh. Marta, Carrie and Jane have been friends since they were at school. Now one is bringing up her family, another is desperately trying for children of her own, while the third is focused on her career - and each takes the support of the others as a given. But when generous Marta bumps into old friend Tom at the height of the Edinburgh festival, she finds he's an actor out-of-luck. Her kind offer of temporary shelter sets in motion a tsunami of destruction. Marta's marriage comes under threat. Timid Jane is haunted by the secret she has been hiding since she last saw Tom. And ambitious Carrie finds herself at the mercy of a man who can ruin her career. Only by pulling together can the friends rid themselves of this menace. But is Tom too clever at sowing mistrust?

Release date: February 11, 2016

Publisher: Accent Press Ltd

Print pages: 300

Sample

Chapter One

Sometimes Marta wondered how different her days might be if they were a family rather than a couple. If, instead of putting on a business suit at the sound of the alarm, she were to wake to the snuffling cries of a baby and pad across the carpet in the bedroom she shared with Jake to a cot in the corner. She imagined the feeling of picking it up, this squalling infant, of holding it to her breast and hushing it with love and milk.

She picked up her coffee from the counter of the small café, filled with a disappointment so profound that for a moment she thought it might set her weeping. This morning, again, her hopes had been dashed.

Still – she placed the cup on the table in the window and dropped her briefcase on the floor – it was a day of rare promise. She could see it in the slant of the morning light hitting the chiselled stone of the Georgian tenements across the road, and feel it in the warmth of the sun already beating through the window. It was going to be hot, a day for walking the beaches from Silverknowes to Cramond Island or strolling up the Pentland Hills with a flask of tea and a pack of sandwiches. A day not to be wasted.

By nature cheerful, she allowed her spirits to lift.

Across the road, sun hit glass as a door opened, reflecting low rays of light sharply into her eyes. A man emerged and stood, undecided, as the door swung to behind him. Was he a celebrity? It was August, and Edinburgh was teeming with personalities and stars, real and wannabe. Authors were here for the Book Festival, jazz musicians were opening their souls for the world’s inspection, dancers, actors, comedians and television personalities were vying with each other for attention and audiences.

She watched as the lights changed and the man crossed the road. He was tall and slim, stylishly dressed with well-cut jeans, brown loafers, a crisp white shirt and a grey sweater tied loosely round his neck. A battered brown fedora sat jauntily on his head and he carried a brown leather holdall over one shoulder. He was heading straight towards her.

Surely she knew him? The café door opened and she tried not to stare as she scanned her memory bank. Maybe she had just seen him on television. It was rude to stare. She dropped her gaze, dipped into her briefcase, spread notes on the table in front of her.

‘Americano, please.’

The two words did what Marta’s eyes had failed to do – now she knew. ‘Hello, Tom,’ she said.

The hat spun round and a pair of quicksilver eyes regarded her questioningly.

‘It is Tom Vallely, isn’t it?’

The man threw down some coins, picked up his coffee and crossed the floor to where she was sitting.

‘I’m afraid I can’t quite—’

‘Marta Davidson.’ She stuck out her hand. He took it and held it. ‘I was still Marta Henkel when we met, though.’

‘Remind me?’

‘We met in London a few times. You were living with my friend, Jane. Jane Porter?’

He swung the leather holdall from his shoulder and let it slide to the floor, then removed his hat, revealing the floppy black hair she now remembered – perhaps just a shade thinner? And maybe with a strand of grey? Marta wondered how she could ever have forgotten the beautiful symmetrical features or the mercury eyes.

‘You do remember Jane, I suppose?’ she teased. Jane and Tom had been together for years, a pairing she and Carrie had always found odd, but which had nevertheless seemed set to last.

He smiled, a flash of brilliance that illuminated his face.

‘Dear Janie. How could I forget? Are you still in touch?’

‘Of course.’

‘How is she? Is she happy?’

As he pulled out a chair and sank onto it, Marta was thrown back into her past by Tom’s unexpected appearance.

Jane, Carrie and Marta. Marta, Jane and Carrie. Put them in any order, they’d always been inseparable – an unlikely trio, but always close. Carrie was ambitious, materialistic, driven: Jane family-focused and budget-conscious. As for herself – Marta liked to think that she slotted comfortably in the middle, relating to career on the one side and family on the other. She thought of Jane, always so busy – secretary of her local choir, keeping an eye on her aging mother, walking the dog, supervising the many activities of her three lively children. Was she happy? Marta had always assumed so.

‘Oh yes, very happy,’ she said at length, in reply to Tom’s question.

‘I suppose she’s still in London? Still playing the cello?’

‘No, she’s right here. In Edinburgh. And she gave up the cello years ago. Oh, sorry—’ in her handbag, her mobile was shrilling for attention, ‘I’d better take this. Hello? Mr Morrison, hello... you can’t? – but everything’s ready for you... What? ...Well, when can you? ... Oh. I see. No, I suppose we’ll have to manage... yes, yes, I understand. You will call when... Yes... yes, thank you. Yes, goodbye.’

She ended the call and dropped the phone back into her bag with a tut of exasperation.

‘A problem?’

‘My plumber. Our washing machine is leaking. He promised to come today to fix it, but his wife’s mother’s had a turn, apparently, and he’s got to drive up to Inverness.’

‘Can you get another one?’

‘Washing machine?’

‘Plumber.’

‘Oh. No, well Mr Morrison’s been our man for ages. I think we’ll just have to wait.’ Marta glanced at her watch.

‘Are you in a hurry?’

‘I’ve got a meeting in twenty minutes.’

‘Are you still in tourism?’

‘You remembered! Yes, I work for a small company, Tartan Ribbon Tours. I’ve moved around a fair bit but I’ve been back in Edinburgh a few years now. I went to school here,’ she added, by way of explanation.

‘So that’s how you know Jane.’

‘Yes. And Carrie, of course. Did you ever meet Carrie Edwards?’

Tom’s smile was a lesson in engagement.

‘Now who could forget Caroline? I expect she’s still in London?’

‘Oh no. Carrie’s here too. We’re all here.’

Tom looked surprised. ‘She was so ambitious.’

‘She still is. She hasn’t changed a bit.’

‘Really?’ Tom looked thoughtful. ‘Now that is good to know. Married?’

‘Nope. Career woman, that’s our Carrie. I keep telling her what she needs is a good man, but she just laughs. Listen, what about you, Tom? What are you doing these days?’

Tom drained his coffee.

‘Still acting. I’m doing a play on the Fringe – you must come and see it, it’s only on for another week. My agent told me there are some big scouts in town. Theatre’s fine, but I’d really like a big film or television role again.’

‘I’d love to come. I’ll tell Jake – my husband – but he works late most nights. Where are you staying?’

‘Actually, that’s a bit of a problem.’ He gestured at the brown holdall on the floor. ‘Just got thrown out.’

‘For misbehaving?’ Marta teased.

‘Friend’s mother landed on her unexpectedly. She needed the room.’ He looked rueful. ‘Bit of a problem, though, I hadn’t budgeted on a hotel. You know what it’s like for us actors – always juggling things between jobs. The Festival’s terrific, but it hardly pays the bills.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Make a few calls, I guess. See if I can fix something else up. I haven’t got a lot of time, though, the play’s on at five thirty.’

‘We’ve got a spare room,’ Marta blurted out, surprising herself because Jake, teetering on the edge of depression since losing his job, had become something of a hermit.

Tom’s eyebrows rose a fraction.

Thinking of Jake, Marta’s generosity wavered before her irrepressible good nature won.

‘You won’t be here for long, I guess?’

‘A week at most.’

‘Well, I don’t see why you couldn’t stay with us, then. In fact, I can even give you a key.’ Marta picked up her handbag again. ‘This was obviously meant, Tom. The plumber not being able to come, I mean, and meeting you like this. Here,’ she held out a set of keys, ‘I don’t normally carry spares, but I was going to give them to Mr Morrison.’

She dropped them into Tom’s outstretched hand.

‘Darling. This is extraordinarily generous. Are you sure? What will your husband say about a complete stranger landing on you?’

‘Jake’ll be fine,’ Marta said with conviction. ‘He’s used to me and my good deeds. I’m just pleased to be able to help. You can go there right away to drop your bag. The spare room’s upstairs, at the front. Jake will probably still be asleep, but I’ll call and let him know you’re coming.’

Tom bent forward and kissed her cheek, making Marta blush. ‘Are you an angel sent from heaven?’

‘That’s me. Now, here’s how you get to my place—’

Five minutes later, Marta shoved her unread notes in her briefcase and said a hurried goodbye.

Tom Vallely.

Amazing.

At the door to the street she half turned, waved, and was rewarded with another of his life-affirming smiles.

Good deed for the day.

Tick.

Some hours later, her hands full of shopping bags, Marta barged open the gate to their cottage in the seaside suburb of Portobello. Inviting Jane and Carrie for supper had seemed a good idea earlier, but now...

‘Hi!’

She paused at the foot of the stairs and called up to Jake. He’d be in his study going over job applications. Shifts in the bar at the Assembly Rooms brought in some cash but was hardly what he was qualified for.

‘Hi, Jake?’

There was no reply. He must be plugged into some music.

Marta unpacked her shopping methodically, leaving the ingredients for the main course by the sink, and those for the dessert on the worktop by the mixer. Absorbed in her preparations, she didn’t hear Jake come downstairs.

‘I broke a plate.’

‘What?’ Marta, concentrating on dicing lamb, jumped at the sound of Jake’s voice. ‘Which one?’

‘One of the kitchen set.’

‘Oh. Not so bad then.’

Jake leant against the sink and crossed his arms. ‘I don’t know what’s got into me.’

‘It really doesn’t matter, love.’

‘It’s not like me to be so bloody careless.’

Marta stopped chopping and glanced at him sympathetically. ‘Bad day, sweetheart?’

‘The plumber never arrived. I broke a plate. And I came down half an hour later to find a complete stranger making himself a sandwich and raiding my beer. Oh, and there were two more rejections in the post. Thanks, Mr Davidson, but no thanks. Bad day?’ His lips tightened. ‘You could say, yes.’

‘Christ.’ She dropped the knife with a clatter and clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘I forgot to call you about Tom. No wonder you’re cross. Oh Jake, sorry.’

‘Tom. Let me see. Tom.’ He ran a hand through his short brown hair and scratched his head. ‘Could he be the sandwich-making, beer-drinking, key-holding thespian?’

Marta wiped her hands on her apron and crossed the kitchen to smooth down his hair. ‘I said sorry. I meant to call. Honest.’ She kissed him gently. ‘He’s an old friend of Jane’s. I bumped into him and he needs somewhere to stay for a few days. The plumber had to call off so I gave Tom the key.’

‘So I understand.’ His arms, still crossed, excluded her.

‘Don’t be cross, love, it’s only for a few days. He’s in something in the Festival.’

There was a small sigh, then his arms came around her, his head buried itself into her hair, and his body slotted into comfortable, familiar places.

‘Forgiven?’ she mumbled into the warm flatness of his chest.

‘Always forgiven, Pollyanna.’

She loved Jake for many things, but his unwavering love was top of the list.

‘What are you cooking?’ he asked as he released her.

‘Oh God, I’d better get on! Nigella’s lamb. I’ve asked Carrie round, and the Harvies. It’s a surprise. I thought they’d like to see Tom again.’

‘Really? Didn’t he used to live with Jane? I seem to remember you telling me he left her for some actress.’

Marta threw the last of the lamb into the casserole and opened a jar of caramelised onion. ‘Serena Swift. It didn’t last long. But the breakup with Jane was all very amicable. I was in South Africa at the time, but Jane wrote to me about it.’

‘You mean, there were no hard feelings?’

‘She was cool about everything.’

‘So she’s going to be delighted to see this man again tonight, is she?’

‘Yes. Don’t be such a cynic.’

‘You always look on the bright side.’

‘And you’re always pessimistic. It was seventeen years ago, for heaven’s sake. We’ve all moved on.’

She opened the oven door and put the casserole inside, then poured the cream into a bowl and started beating it, watching as the pale liquid began to froth and thicken.

‘Are you expecting me to join you?’

‘Aren’t you working tonight?’

‘Nope. Andrew messed up the rota.’

‘Fantastic! I mean, I’m sorry about that, but I’m pleased you’ll be here.’

Jake grunted.

Marta glanced at him sharply. ‘What? It’s lamb and cheesecake.’

‘It means I’ll have to be sociable.’

‘Oh Jake, don’t be grumpy. You like Neal, you know you do. And you’ve always adored Jane and Carrie. What’s the problem?’

A small smile softened his mouth and he held out his hand.

‘Give me the scrapings and I promise I’ll be nice.’

Marta laughed, pleased. ‘Here. A cheap victory.’ She grew serious. ‘I forgot to say, I got the curse this morning.’

His hand, half way to his mouth with a spoon laden with cheesecake mix, froze in mid-air. ‘Oh.’

‘I know. We just need to keep trying.’ Again that gnawing emptiness inside her. Every month she had to battle it, every month came the struggle to remain optimistic. ‘Don’t be down about it, Jake, I’m trying not to be.’

He handed her the bowl. He hadn’t eaten a mouthful.

Chapter Two

In her stylishly minimalist flat in the Quartermile, Carrie Edwards opened her sports bag and threw her kit into the washing machine. Her face was still scarlet after forty minutes on the treadmill and a further twenty on the rowing machine, but she felt virtuous. Carrie never did anything by halves. Work hard, play hard was her motto.

A flick of the dial and the load started to turn. Another click on her docked iPod and music filled the large open-plan living space, filtering through the eight cream micro-speakers placed discreetly near ceiling height and pointing at a space right in the centre of the room. Sometimes Carrie just threw herself on the thick pile rug right at the heart of the sound, lay back, closed her eyes and let it all wash over her. Tonight there was no time for such luxury. She had precisely fifteen minutes to change and get out. Thank goodness she’d showered at the gym because the traffic on the way home had been knuckle-chewingly slow.

Why had she agreed to Marta’s invitation? It had already been a long day because she was intent on proving herself at her law firm, and with a partnership review coming up in the next month or two, that meant getting in before the boss and leaving after him. But Marta had been insistent. Anyway, who was the ‘mystery guest’ she’d said would be there?

She stepped into a Ted Baker silk shift in bright colours, teamed with Marc Jacobs satin peep toes. Keep it simple. This was supper with Marta, not dinner at the Balmoral.

Carrie pulled a sheaf of papers out of her briefcase, shuffled through them to check that everything was in order for the morning, and fired up her personal laptop. She clicked on to her favourite site and watched the icon – a red satin sheet, silky and sensual – float and settle into place. Just seeing the fabric swirling made her shiver with pleasurable anticipation. Another click of the mouse and the sheet was drawn back, allowing her to log in.

Bed Buddies welcomes D.A. Delight

This was Carrie’s secret indulgence – a site for commitment-free sex. Many subscribers were married and looking for excitement, others were lonely or sexually unfulfilled within marriage or without. Whatever ... Carrie took the view that it wasn’t up to her to judge them. She was single and owed no-one anything, and she chose her companions with care.

She clicked into her space and scrolled down the messages. Seven today, the usual suspects.







And so it went on. Seven messages, all from buddies she knew and trusted. High Five was a father of two from Livingston. His wife had lost her libido after the birth of their second child and he was desperate, poor guy – but loyal to his wife. The Big Man was a director of a FTSE 100 business, always under pressure, often away from his family, very much in need of trustworthy company.

Carrie never discussed Bed Buddies with anyone, not even with Jane and Marta – particularly not with Jane and Marta. What would earnest Jane with her serious man and her precious kids say if she knew Carrie’s secret? Would she be shocked? Judgmental? Condemnatory? Marta might be more understanding, but under the happy-go-lucky exterior she suspected that Marta was rather proper and Carrie wasn’t prepared to risk a confidence.

She clicked on the message from Jury Service, an eminent judge. The first time Carrie met him, he’d been very nervous at the risk he was taking. Bed Buddies relied heavily on trust and it worked because that was the basis of membership for all parties. Jury Service was a kind and honest man, but a widower and lonely. He was undemanding, uncomplicated, and surprisingly good company.



Click. The message was sent. Something to look forward to. She sent brief responses to the others, putting them on hold. It was nice to be popular. Bed Buddies had been the safe, reliable basis of her sex life for some years now and it suited her fine – no names, safety in anonymity. A long time ago, Carrie had taken the decision that relationships, with all their complications and heartaches, were not for her. But she enjoyed sex, and by using the bed-buddies.net site she could get it whenever she wanted it, in the certain knowledge that the other members were as concerned to keep their business as private as she was.

Log off.

Follow the red sheet as it floats into the darkness.

Watch the site close down.

Time to go.

Chapter Three

At Jane Harvie’s small semi near Blackford Hill, her husband Neal was producing order out of the trail of chaos that always followed their family while, in the kitchen, Jane concentrated on getting a meal together and directing from the sidelines.

‘Come on, Ian,’ she urged her youngest, ‘you know you have to wash up the pans you use when you’re baking. Here, get these rinsed.’

She scoured out the last remains of his baking experiment and consigned them to the bin, then stacked the bowls and whisks, spoons and muffin tins next to the sink. Ian was still only eight and she didn’t know yet how he would develop or where his true passions might lie. One day he wanted to be a pastry chef, the next a marine scientist. She still felt the need to protect him, although if she was honest with herself, Ian was like his father in his general cheerfulness and sailed through life with an ease she envied.

Her middle child, Ross – thirteen and already inhabiting his teenage years as though he owned them – said, ‘Can I nick one?’, reaching to the plate where Ian had stacked his raspberry and fudge muffins.

‘No! They’re for Granny,’ Ian yelped crossly, up to his elbows in suds.

‘So? There’s plenty.’

Ross ignored his small brother and helped himself anyway.

‘Mum! Tell him,’ Ian cried, furious.

Exerting control over Ross was getting ever more difficult. Jane thought, I have to learn to grow with him, he’s no longer my baby. Already he was edging away from her. He was embarrassed if she tried to cuddle him even at home and a hug in public was certainly taboo. She remembered with wistfulness the baby he’d once been – the clarity of his skin and the way his hair had curled in a long, soft strand down the nape of his neck, blond and downy. It was scraped to the skull now, and no longer blond but mousey and brown. He would probably darken further, like her and Neal.

Emily, a week or two short of sixteen and all legs and arms, walked into the kitchen and yanked open the fridge. She had just finished her cello practice, something she never needed to be nagged about. Soon she’d be taking her Grade Eight examination, which Jane was confident she would pass with distinction. Pride bubbled in her head when she thought about Emily’s musicality, but why, why, why the cello? The old question brought with it the familiar counterweight of sheer, desperate panic – controllable now, but still there, even after all these years.

Emily’s voice brought her back.

‘There’s no lemon yoggie, Mum.’

‘You don’t need yogurt now, Emily. Gran’ll be here in a minute and supper’s almost ready.’

Emily was scowling. When she’d started the cello, she’d been such a sweet, docile child.

‘I’ve bagged the strawberry,’ said Ian from the sink. He had learned toughness in the hard school of sibling rivalry.

‘I’m having the strawberry,’ Emily said, extracting it. ‘You can have the toffee.’

‘I hate toffee.’

‘Me too. That’s why I’m having the strawberry.’

‘Mum – tell her she can’t.’

‘Can.’

‘Can’t.’

Jane sighed. ‘Do stop bickering. Emily, put that back in the fridge. Now.’

Neal came in from the hall, sized up the situation, took the yogurt from his daughter and returned it to the fridge, the muffin from Ross and replaced it on the plate, and a saucepan from where Ian was waving the dripping pan uncertainly in the air because the draining rack was full.

‘I’ll dry this one. Emily, get the table set please. Ross, you can get out pasta bowls. No, no arguing.’ He held up a hand in warning. ‘Jane, your mother’s just arrived, we should get going.’

Jane looked around at the untidy kitchen and her bickering children. The prospect of escape was enticing.

‘Hi Mum. Will you be all right?’

‘Fine. You just go and enjoy yourselves.’

One day she would have to take care of her mother, and when she did, Jane hoped she would do it with the same unshakeable willingness her mother showed when taking care of the grandchildren.

‘We won’t be late. Thanks for this, Mum. You’re a star. Supper’s all ready and Ian has baked a treat for afters. Ross has eaten half his share already.’

‘Mum—’

Neal pulled the front door behind them, smiling.

‘Rare to be out like this mid-week.’

‘Yes. Quite fun.’

Looking back later, it seemed an odd thing to say – and, as it turned out, horribly wrong.

Chapter Four

Each of the friends was rooted in her own neighbourhood. Jane was surrounded by other mothers and other young families – a desirable and indispensable support system. Carrie was city girl personified, modern and stylish, at the centre of the action. From her apartment, the city-centre stores were a mere ten-minute stroll, the taxi ride home from the clubs at night was speedy and affordable. Marta loved the freshness of the Portobello air, the quirkiness of the architecture, the feeling of escape from the confines of the city.

One particular benefit Marta enjoyed was easy parking. The city’s swingeing parking restrictions hadn’t yet extended to the street outside the Davidsons’ cottage near the sea, so Carrie – who had to pay extravagantly for a parking space underneath her apartment block – was able to pull up her Mercedes convertible almost right outside. Jane and Neal, arriving at almost the same moment from the other direction in their battered estate car, were less. . .