Sugar Secrets…& Luck Read online

  Sugar

  SECRETS…

  …& Luck

  Mel Sparke

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  CHAPTER 1 TRAINSPOTTING

  CHAPTER 2 HE LIKES ME, HE LIKES ME NOT…

  CHAPTER 3 SIZE MATTERS…

  CHAPTER 4 BEAUTIFUL STRANGER

  CHAPTER 5 BACK IN TOWN

  CHAPTER 6 NOT SO HAPPY FAMILIES

  CHAPTER 7 ANNA TO THE RESCUE

  CHAPTER 8 ZAC ON HOLD

  CHAPTER 9 GETTING TO KNOW YOU (AGAIN…)

  CHAPTER 10 MAYA SMELLS A RAT

  CHAPTER 11 SONJA AND THE SOFT SELL

  CHAPTER 12 UNDERCURRENTS

  CHAPTER 13 SLEEPLESS NIGHT

  CHAPTER 14 VERA’S LITTLE THANK YOU

  CHAPTER 15 MATT TRIES-AND FAILS

  CHAPTER 16 ANNA’S AMAZING SHRINKING FLAT

  CHAPTER 17 CAT’S GLOOM, MATT FUMES…

  CHAPTER 18 PHOTO FINISHS

  CHAPTER 19 THE FINAL CURTAIN

  CHAPTER 20 KNIGHT IN SHINING LADA…

  CHAPTER 21 EVERYTHING’S COMING UP PALM TREES

  SOME SECRETS ARE JUST TOO GOOD TO KEEP TO YOURSELF

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  CHAPTER 1

  TRAINSPOTTING

  Kerry Bellamy stared off down the track, willing the train to come into view.

  “Come on…” she muttered, staring up at the station clock.

  The 7.20 from the city should have been in by now, but it was a Sunday evening, so there might, Kerry reasoned, be hold-ups due to engineering works or wrongly-shaped leaves or whatever else seemed to make trains run like tortoises these days.

  The plan had been that Sonja Harvey would phone Kerry the minute she got home, but Kerry had found herself increasingly fidgety and restless as the afternoon dragged by. She couldn’t wait to hear what had gone on in Sonja’s life over the last three days and so, after tea, she’d decided to surprise her best friend by meeting her at the railway station.

  Sonja had had an interview on Friday at her first-choice university for a place on their Public Relations course and Kerry was desperate to hear how she’d got on. But, more importantly, Kerry wanted to know how things had gone with Owen…

  Sonja was crazy about Owen Michaels, but he lived so far away that she only saw him once in a while when he came to Winstead. Other than that, the only thing she had to show for their relationship was a huge phone bill.

  “It’s so romantic!” Kerry had sighed over her beans on toast at the End-of-the-Line café that morning. “To think Sonja might get a place at uni so near Owen!”

  She’d noticed her boyfriend Ollie Stanton frown slightly when she’d said that, but before she could ask him why, Catrina Osgood began to talk. “Stuff the uni place-I just want to hear the gossip. I mean, staying over with Owen for the whole weekend!” Cat arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow suggestively.

  “I have to say I’m jealous,” commented Maya Joshi, ignoring Cat’s remark. She found that it was often the best way to deal with their mouthy friend. “Jealous? Of Owen?” asked Joe Gladwin, confused. Maya was very happily dating Alex McKay, her tutor from the photography club she attended every Wednesday night.

  “No!” laughed Maya. “I’m not jealous of her choice of boyfriend-I’m jealous of her having such laid-back parents, who don’t give her a hard time about going to stay over with her boyfriend. If I ever suggested that to my mum and dad, I’d be grounded till I was at least thirty-five!”

  “Still, it’ll be weird if she moves so far away…” said Kerry thoughtfully.

  “Well, good luck to her,” muttered Matt Ryan through a mouthful of scrambled egg. “I mean, everything changes, doesn’t it?”

  “Not for some of us!” Ollie laughed as his break finished and he got up to get back to work in the kitchen. “I’m stuck here at the End; Matt, you’re still DJing locally; Cat’s at college five minutes away—”

  “Until I get my big break and move to London!” she interrupted brightly. Once her Beauty Therapy course was finished, Cat planned to head for the bright lights of the first TV company she could interest, starting out as a make-up artist and then wheedling her way in front of the cameras.

  It was a stupid idea, as far as her friends were concerned, but that was Cat for you. At least all her mad plans kept everyone entertained.

  “Yeah, yeah, Cat,” said Ollie with a wry laugh, retying his short white apron around his waist. “And Kerry’s still going to be around, with her place at teacher training college.”

  Kerry beamed with pleasure. Her place was conditional, of course, but with the incentive of staying close to home-and also close to Ollie-she was determined to do really well in her exams.

  “What about you, Joe? Where’re you going to end up?” asked Matt.

  Joe watched in fascination as his friend splodged a gallon of tomato sauce over what remained of his Sunday breakfast.

  “Dunno,” he replied, wincing at the sight of Matt shovelling the forkful of red goo into his mouth. “Nobody’s got back to me yet so I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.”

  “As long as it’s not too far away,” said Ollie, walking backwards towards the counter. “We’ve got the band, remember!”

  Ollie gave Kerry a quick wink and then disappeared through the opening into the kitchen where Nick Stanton, the owner and Ollie’s uncle, could be heard bellowing along to the old Status Quo track playing on the cafe’s aged jukebox.

  But the wink aside, Kerry was still puzzled by her boyfriend’s earlier reaction to the mention of Sonja’s weekend. Later, at teatime, she’d got the chance to ask him about it when he’d phoned her.

  “Listen, 01, I’ve decided to go and meet Sonja’s train,” she’d told him.

  “Cool! She’ll be well pleased,” he’d responded enthusiastically.

  “Yeah?” said Kerry, glad to hear him sound so positive. “Do you want to come?”

  “Nah-you go. I’m sure you two’ll want to have a girly chat,” he teased.

  “Ollie! That sounds so sexist and patronising!” she laughed.

  “And you know I don’t mean it that way. But you know what I do mean, don’t you? Son’ll want to tell you everything—”

  “So?” Kerry stepped in. “Don’t tell me you’re not curious.”

  “Well, yeah, of course I am, but I don’t think I want to hear all the gory details, thanks very much!”

  “Ollie!” gasped Kerry, feeling herself flush at his insinuation.

  “Aw, come on, Kez-I’m kidding!” he chuckled. “But I still think it’d be better if you went on your own.”

  Sitting on the floor in her hallway at home, Kerry twizzled a long, reddy-brown curl round her finger. It seemed the perfect point to jump in with her question.

  “01, you seemed a bit odd today, when I was talking about Sonja and Owen. How come?”

  “Well… I guess I’m just kind of worried about Sonny getting disappointed.”

  “Disappointed?”

  “Yeah… if it doesn’t work out the way she wants it to.”

  “What, you mean if she doesn’t get offered the place at uni? But she seems to think it went really well and—”

  “No, Kez,” Ollie interrupted, “I didn’t mean that. It’s more that I can’t help wondering if Owen might let her down.”

  “But why would he do that?” protested Kerry, her curl-entangled finger hovering in mid-air at Ollie’s surprising suggestion.

  “Well, I know they’re all lovey-dovey when they’re together—”

  “Oh, 01-they’re more than lovey-dovey!” Kerry broke in. “They’re both crazy about each other; it’s totally obvious!”

  �
�I know, I know…” Ollie agreed. “All I’m saying is that, from Owen’s point of view, there’s a big difference between having a long-distance fling, and having the girl suddenly announce

  she’s trying to move to be closer to you. It’s like a really big responsibility, isn’t it?”

  Kerry didn’t say anything for a moment. That stuff hadn’t occurred to her before; she’d just been caught up in the grand romance of the idea. But Ollie had a point. What if Sonja’s plans scared Owen off?

  “He’s such a nice guy, 01. Do you honestly think he could be that mean?”

  “There’s nothing mean about it, Kez. But they’ve never spent long stretches of time together, have they? And to go from that to Sonja giving up her friends and family, and any other uni places she might have been considering, all for him… well, it’s a pretty huge commitment.”

  “I s’pose…” Kerry agreed reluctantly.

  “Listen, I could be totally wrong. In fact, I probably am,” Ollie tried to backtrack, hearing the disappointment and concern in his girlfriend’s voice. “All I’m saying is, if you go along and meet her, just be prepared to be a shoulder to cry on. It’s just that after spending the weekend together and talking about everything properly for the first time face to face, I wouldn’t be surprised if Owen ended up having second thoughts.”

  Oh, Sonja, what if Ollie’s right? fretted Kerry, finally spotting the lights of the approaching train. She stood up, pushing the bridge of her glasses further up her nose-the traditional give-away that she was feeling tense.

  Whatever the news, I’ve got to be ready. I can’t look upset or it’ll just upset Sonja more, Kerry prepared herself for the worst as the train drew up to the platform, its brakes squeaking torturously.

  Kerry’s eyes darted back and forth among the crowds of disembarking passengers. Wasn’t Sonja on this train? Maybe she’d decided to get a later one…

  “Kez!” she heard her name yelped, then saw Sonja rushing towards her, her honey-blonde hair flying, her arms outstretched.

  Kerry’s heart was pounding as she returned her friend’s hug.

  Is she happy to see me because she’s had such a good time or because she’s so miserable? Kerry worried, before Sonja broke free and stared into her friend’s questioning eyes.

  “Oh, Kez!” Sonja said in a shaky voice. “You’ll never believe what’s happened!”

  Kerry was finding it hard to read Sonja’s expression: her skin was flushed unusually pink and her eyes were blinking rapidly.

  “What?” asked Kerry, unable to bear the suspense.

  “Owen’s only gone and—”

  A boisterous kid carrying a heavy bag for his mother bashed into Sonja at this critical moment.

  “What’s he done?!” Kerry practically yelled. “Tell me!”

  “He’s-he’s asked me to move in with him! Am I the luckiest girl in the world or what!”

  Kerry gave a little scream and clasped her hands to her mouth. But even through her shock, she couldn’t help thinking that Ollie’s prediction couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  And for Sonja’s sake, she was very, very glad.

  CHAPTER 2

  HE LIKES ME, HE LIKES ME NOT…

  “What do think? You’ve not said much…”

  “It’s great. If getting a flat together is what you and Sonja want to do, then I’m really pleased for you,” said Anna Michaels, aware that she’d hesitated for a microsecond before she’d answered her brother’s question.

  She hoped he hadn’t noticed.

  “Aw, listen, I’ve got to go, Anna-my flatmate’s yelling at me. We’re late for the Sunday night quiz at the pub down the road.”

  “No worries,” said Anna, glad, for once, to cut short a phone call to her big brother. “I’ll maybe catch you later in the week?”

  “Yeah, brilliant. Bye, Anna!”

  “Bye, Owen…” she replied as she heard the line go dead.

  I feel so mean! she thought to herself, walking away from the phone and flopping down on the sofa in her cosy-but-tiny living room. But I wish I didn’t have this nagging doubt that they’re rushing things…

  That was the trouble with living so far apart, Anna knew. Instead of a relationship pootling along at a gradual pace, having miles and miles between you tended to make love fizzle out really quickly or speed up very fast. And the trouble with the very fast option was that it could make you jump into things when you weren’t really ready. And for all the good vibes she felt about her brother and her friend going out together, Anna couldn’t shake the feeling that moving in together might put terrible pressures on their love for each other.

  Owen’s only just finished university, is in his first job and first flat that’s not a grotty student flophouse. Isn’t it a bit too soon for him to be moving in with a girlfriend? Anna considered. And what about Sonja? If she gets into that university, she’ll be moving from her home and family straight into living with a bloke, even if that bloke is my brother. Shouldn’t she just get into student halls and have a laugh, instead of taking on the responsibilities of a flat and a live-in boyfriend?

  Anna suddenly found herself smiling.

  God, listen to me-I sound like someone’s mum! she giggled to herself. And like I’m really in control of my own love-life…

  Anna winced at that last thought, then reluctantly let her mind drift to Matt and the kiss at Christmas. It had been a mistake, they’d both admitted. A one-off that would never happen again.

  But it had.

  Her memory flashed back to Matt’s party a couple of weeks before; to the bedroom where she’d stumbled upon her friend sitting alone and depressed. She couldn’t figure out what had happened; one minute she was doling out sensible advice, the next she was comforting him in quite a different way.

  “What on earth am I playing at?” she asked no one but her own conscience, letting her head droop back and her gaze land on the not-very-inspiring ceiling.

  It’s that lost dog look, she decided, remembering Matt’s big, sad brown eyes looking up at her beseechingly. So why didn’t I just give him a hug? Why did I have to go and spoil everything by kissing him, when I don’t even fancy him?

  Pity, she decided. And that awful soft-heartedness that seemed to skew her judgement occasionally. After a tempestuous relationship with David, her ex (one of the reasons she’d left home and ended up in Winstead), maybe it wasn’t a such big surprise that she’d handled the situation with Matt in a way that shocked even herself.

  “I mean, it’s ridiculous,” she argued defensively to the ceiling. “Matt’s good-looking and kind of sweet, but he can be a bit of a berk. He dives into things without thinking and he’s often self-centred and… and… he’s obviously not really interested in me anyway.”

  One of the reasons Matt wasn’t-couldn’t be-interested in her went by the name of Gabrielle. Anna was sure he was still hung up on his ex-he’d never been quite the same since Gaby had finished with him at New Year, never quite bounced back to his old loud and confident self.

  And another reason Anna knew that his interest in her was only platonic was the fact that in the last fortnight since the party-and the fire that had cut it short-Matt had hardly shown his face round the End. She’d seen him at The Loud’s Thursday night gigs, of course, but he’d always appeared busy and preoccupied.

  “Course I’m glad really,” she muttered to herself. “I just want things to be normal and friendly between us again. I’d hate to think he’d read something more into that kiss. Something that just isn’t there…”

  Matt felt another spatter of blue paint land on his face. He wasn’t much cop at this decorating malarkey, he decided. Just as well the other lads had offered to help him do up the den this weekend or it would take him forever to finish it and it’d still look half-done.

  “You’ve missed a huge bit there, Matt, you moron!” Ollie pointed out. “Or is that just your version of the distressed look?”

  Matt stood back and gave
his botched handiwork the once-over. It was fairly late on Sunday night now and he’d hoped to get the vast basement room finished, but, by the look of the wall he was responsible for, it would need another coat of paint.

  “Wish my dad had just got some proper decorators in to do this…” he moaned.

  “Yeah, but the fact that it was your fault the house nearly went up in flames might have had something to do with his decision,” grinned Billy, the guitarist in Ollie and Joe’s band, from his elevated position up a stepladder.

  “It wasn’t my fault some idiots started fighting and knocked the candles over!” Matt protested with a cheeky smile.

  “Watch who you’re calling idiots!” Joe chipped in. “‘Cause these idiots might just down tools and leave you to paint this place by yourself!”

  “OK, OK, it’s all my fault,” said Andy, holding his hands, and paintbrush, up in a jokey posture of surrender. “If those gatecrashers hadn’t wanted to beat my brains to a pulp just ‘cause I’m gay, then the fight wouldn’t have started in the first place and the candles wouldn’t have been sent flying. Sorry, Matt. Sorry!”

  “Apology accepted,” said Matt with a mock stern expression on his face. “But the next time you come to one of my parties, can you please try not to be so gay? It would save my dad having to deal with unhelpful insurance companies.”

  “I’ll do my best,” laughed Andy.

  “So what’s happening with your car then?” Ollie asked, reminded by talk of the fire that Matt was going to have to sell his precious Golf. He needed to pay for the expensive equipment he’d borrowed from Central Sounds for the party. Several of the portable lighting stacks had been damaged beyond repair and weren’t covered by insurance.

  “I’m still selling it,” Matt shrugged. “Just haven’t got around to putting an ad in the paper yet.”

  “That’s ‘cause you’re hoping your dad changes his mind and bails you out, isn’t it?” suggested Ollie, knowing exactly how his mate’s mind worked.

  “No!” protested Matt.

  The other four lads just grinned and stared at him.