Sugar Secrets…& Luck Read online

  “Call the police!” Anna bellowed to a young mum who was sitting at a table next to the cafe’s wall phone.

  The woman gawped for a second in shock then, bundling her baby into the arms of the friend she had been chatting to, reached up and grabbed the receiver, punching in 999 as her eyes strained after Anna’s disappearing back.

  Adrenaline pumped through Anna’s body, sending her weaving through the traffic on the road and closer to the launderette. Above the sound of the blood thundering in her ears, Anna could clearly hear the deafening clatter of a hammer on metal-and Vera’s cries of alarm.

  “The police are coming! The police are coming!” she yelled at the top of her voice as the doorway loomed into view.

  Two figures instantly barged from the launderette, crashing into Anna and sending her spinning to the cold, hard pavement. For a second, her eyes met those of one of the would-be robbers. Even with a scarf pulled up over his mouth and nose, he looked disturbingly young and surprisingly terrified. To Anna, it almost seemed as if he was about to hesitate, as if his natural instinct was to stop and help.

  “C’mon!” she heard the other bloke growl angrily at his accomplice and the young lad was gone. She heard a clatter by her side as the footsteps hurried off and turned to see the hammer discarded a few feet away.

  “Arghhhh!” She gasped at the sharp pain suddenly jarring her leg. Trying her best to ignore it-and the dark-red stain seeping across the scuffed knee of her jeans-she hobbled to her feet and hurried into the launderette, rushing over to where the old lady sat stunned and dishevelled on the cracked lino floor, her blue nylon overall torn at the shoulder.

  “Cowards!” Vera shouted. “They wait till they see I’m on my own in here, then they try to rob the place!”

  “Can you get up?” said Anna, crouching down.

  “If you give me a hand, dear,” said the pensioner, shakily letting go of the mop she’d been clutching.

  “Come on, Vera-sit down over here,” said Anna, slowly helping her to her feet and leading elderly woman over to one of the line of plastic chairs in the middle of the room. “Someone’s called the police-they should be here soon.”

  “Think they’re big, tough lads, do they? Taking on a defenceless pensioner?! Cowards, the lot of them!” ranted Vera angrily, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?” Anna asked, aware of running footsteps approaching.

  Vera shook her head and rooted round in her overall pocket for a paper tissue. Instantly, she winced as pain shot through her arm at the sudden movement.

  “Anna! Are you OK?” Matt panted wide-eyed as he flew in the door. Nick and Matt had come rushing out of the café kitchen when they’d heard the customers’ agitation at what was going on and had belted across the road, just moments too late to be of much help.

  “Yes, I’m all right-it’s Vera that’s hurt. Did that woman in the café call the police?”

  “They’re on their way,” said Nick breathlessly, catching her question as he arrived. “What the hell happened?”

  “A couple of lads tried to break into the coin slots to rob them,” Anna explained, nodding over to the battered metal on one of the washing machines.

  “Did they hit her?” asked Nick, bending down to look anxiously at the old lady.

  “No, no, I’m fine…” Vera protested feebly.

  “I think she’s hurt her arm or shoulder,” Anna frowned, her own arm wrapped protectively around Vera.

  “Little shits,” cursed Nick, throwing a dark look towards the entrance to the launderette as if he could send bad luck chasing after the would-be thieves. “Hurting someone like Vera for the sake of a few quid, if they were lucky…”

  “Listen-that’s a siren.” Anna tilted her head towards the distant sound.

  “They’ll get those lads sorted, don’t worry, Vera,” Matt tried to reassure her.

  The older woman looked noticeably frailer all of a sudden, now that shock had overtaken her initial anger.

  “You’re a real hero, running over here and scaring them off like that, Anna dear.”

  Anna shook her head. “It was nothing, Vera. If they hadn’t run off, I don’t know what I’d have done!”

  “You should have shouted for us in the café, Anna-we’d have come over with you,” Nick said, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.

  “I didn’t think,” Anna shrugged. “I just… ran.”

  “She’s my guardian angel, honest she is!” insisted Vera. “I was petrified, what with that one lad having a hammer…”

  “A hammer?! One of them had a hammer?” said Matt, falling down into a crouch beside the two seated women. His eyes were immediately drawn to the unmissable dark-red stain on his friend’s trousers.

  “Anna-your knee! That’s blood!”

  “I’m fine, really. They didn’t hurt me; I just fell. My knee’s only scuffed,” Anna nodded and smiled, turning her attention back to the old lady.

  It was Matt’s turn to feel shaken. Anna had been hurt and that was bad enough. Those lads had had a weapon. It could have been much, much worse.

  What if they’d turned on Anna? he panicked, the whole, appalling scene playing out in a millisecond in his mind. The idea that Anna had been so close to danger sent a chill through his heart. He felt almost sick.

  If they’d deliberately harmed one hair on her head, the thought pounded through his mind, I couldn’t be held responsible for what I’d do to them…

  If Anna hadn’t been busy comforting Mad Vera, Matt would have scooped her up in his arms right there and then.

  CHAPTER 8

  ZAC ON HOLD

  “God, I wish it had been my shift today like it was supposed to be!” frowned Ollie, watching Anna bustle about on the other side of the café as if nothing had happened. “I can’t believe poor Anna had to go through all that!”

  “But you couldn’t have done any better than Anna did,” Kerry pointed out. “I mean, Anna managed to scare them off and no one got hurt. If you’d barged in, being another lad and all, they might have had a go at you.”

  Kerry gave a shudder. The idea of Anna getting caught up in something so terrifying as a robbery was bad enough; the idea that Ollie might have come out worse if he’d tried to be the have-a-go hero made her feel positively sick.

  “Maybe,” Ollie shrugged. “But that doesn’t make me feel any better that she got involved in an attempted robbery while I was sitting strumming my guitar in front of Richard and Judy this morning.”

  “Was that the shop over there?”

  Kerry glanced across the table at Zac, who was peering out of the window and over at the darkened launderette. She’d practically forgotten all about him in her anxiety. But Zac was so quiet, it was alarmingly easy to forget he was there.

  Cat had taken her new boyfriend along to the End several times now, as well as to see a couple of The Loud’s gigs at the Railway Tavern. On each occasion, he’d stayed resolutely quiet, chipping in with the briefest of comments if he was pushed to talk, and spending most of his time smiling, laughing and nodding at every one of Cat’s supposed witticisms.

  But Zac’s lack of chat didn’t bother the others. Something about him didn’t make them feel uncomfortable with his silences; he smiled a lot and seemed to enjoy their company, even if he was too shy to contribute much. There was also the not insignificant point that he’d saved Cat from being overcome by smoke in the fire at Matt’s and that was something that naturally made everyone feel positive towards him.

  “The launderette? Yes, that’s it. It’s been closed all day since the attack apparently,” said Kerry. “I feel terrible for the woman who runs it. We always just called her Mad Vera because she’s, well, pretty barking really. But sweet. I can’t believe something like this happened to her.”

  Zac nodded seriously, pushing his sleek new Converse glasses up on his nose, a gesture Kerry herself did when she was nervous and wearing her own trusty wire-rimmed spe
cs. There was something about Zac’s quiet, calm demeanour that reminded Kerry of a friendly family doctor, listening intently and nodding a lot. If, at any point, he whipped out a notepad and started jotting things down when he was with them all, she was sure she wouldn’t be surprised.

  “Maybe you could have a whip-round among your regular customers,” Zac suggested. “Send flowers from everyone in the café to the old lady.”

  “Hey, Zac-brilliant idea! I’ll suggest that to Anna when she’s over this way,” said Ollie enthusiastically.

  That’s what’s nice about Zac, Kerry decided. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, it’s always something worth hearing.

  “What time were you meant to be meeting Cat then, Zac?” she asked. The lad looked up at the wonky clock on the wall of the café and frowned.

  “Oh, don’t believe what that thing says,” said Ollie, following his gaze. “It’s got a life of its own-just like the jukebox. It only ever tells the right time about once a year and that’s a fluke.”

  Zac smiled and consulted his watch instead. “She said she’d meet me at five…”

  Ollie looked at his own watch. “And it’s half-five already. Still, that’s Cat for you-probably running late ‘cause she’s busy making herself beautiful for you…”

  “We were only going to Burger King,” Zac shrugged.

  “Ah, but you’ve got a lot to learn about our Catrina, Zac,” joked Ollie. “Getting ready for anything, even Burger King, is like an art form with her. She won’t leave the house till she’s sure she’s got it absolutely right, even if it means keeping you waiting!”

  Zac knew he was being teased and grinned.

  “Anyway, if it’s half-five already,” Ollie carried on, “I’d better think about getting a move on. It’s rehearsals tonight and there was a birthday party in the function room last night. It’ll need some tidying before the rest of the lads arrive.”

  Ollie was lucky enough to have parents who didn’t mind having their son’s band rehearse in the back room of their pub-The Swan-which tended to lie unused during the week.

  “OK,” smiled Kerry. “I’d better head off too.”

  “Hi, guys!” called Sonja, above the tinkle of the bell in the doorway of the End. “Ooh, it’s nippy out there, isn’t it?”

  She hauled off her black fluffy gloves and blew on her fingers as she took her place next to Kerry on the banquette.

  Kerry gave her a knowing smile. The news about Owen and Sonja moving in together was still their secret-Sonja wanted it to stay that way till she knew if she’d been accepted at the university-and they hadn’t had a chance, what with Peter’s arrival, to talk about it again.

  “Hi, Zac. Waiting for my darling cousin, are you?”

  Zac nodded. “She’s a bit late,” he mumbled.

  “Well, give her a call! She’s always late for everything, trust me. I bet if you phone her at home, she’ll still be trying to draw her eyeliner on straight.”

  “Yeah…” said Zac, pulling a handful of coins out of his pocket. ‘“Scuse.”

  Ollie stood up to let him pass, then flopped back down.

  “Hey, Son—” he began, about to tell her what had happened at the launderette earlier on.

  “Kez! I have to tell you!” said Sonja over the top of his words. “Peter just can’t believe the change in you! He kept saying when we were in the Chinese restaurant last night that he just couldn’t get over how gorgeous you’ve got since he last saw you!”

  Kerry felt herself blush furiously. She didn’t know what to say.

  “Nice to know someone else appreciates my girlfriend,” Ollie laughed dryly, grabbing and squeezing Kerry’s hand.

  “Oh, yes!” enthused Sonja, missing the edgy tone in her friend’s voice. “He said it was so funny to think that Kerry used to hang around him like lovesick puppy and—”

  “Listen, I’ll see you later, OK?” Ollie interrupted, smiling briefly at the girls, leaving Sonja looking bemused and Kerry feeling mortified. He’d given up totally on the idea of telling Sonja the news about Anna and what had happened at the launderette. Kerry could do that once Sonja had stopped going on about her precious brother for five minutes. “I’ll just say bye to Anna…”

  “Bye, 01…” said Kerry, stretching over the table to exchange a kiss with her boyfriend.

  “Is it my imagination or did Ollie get a bit weird then?” Sonja hissed under her breath once Ollie was out of earshot.

  “I think,” Kerry whispered back, having just read the signs herself, “that he’s jealous!”

  “What of?” asked Sonja a little too loudly, her blonde eyebrows furrowed into a frown.

  “Shh! Of Peter, of course! Giving me all those compliments!”

  “Well, he doesn’t mean anything by it. Not that way,” shrugged Sonja. “In fact—”

  Sonja stopped short then glanced around the room to check that the coast was clear.

  “What?” asked Kerry, feeling unsettled now. She hated realising that OIlie was miffed by Peter’s flattery, and hated realising that she quite liked Ollie’s jealousy and Peter’s flattery.

  “In fact,” Sonja continued, lowering her voice, “I’m going to try to set him up with… Anna!”

  “Anna?”

  “Yes! Don’t you think it would be perfect?” enthused Sonja. “I’m going out with Anna’s brother, so I just thought it would be so cool if my brother ended up going out with her! What do you think?!”

  Kerry didn’t know what to think. Was it a nice idea or another example of Sonja being just that little bit too pushy? Something else suddenly occurred to Kerry; she hadn’t even had a chance yet to tell Sonja what poor Anna had been through that day.

  “Son, did you know about—”

  “Uh-oh! He doesn’t look too happy!” Sonja interrupted, nodding towards Zac, who was on his way back to the booth.

  “Uh, all right, Zac?” Kerry asked, though from the boy’s expression it was obvious that something definitely wasn’t all right. “Is-is Cat on her way?”

  “Nope…” he replied, looking totally floored.

  “Where is she then?” asked Sonja, trying to speed up the conversation.

  “Out, according to her mum,” he muttered, reaching over for his jacket.

  “Out where?” Kerry quizzed him. Cat seemed too besotted with her knight in shining armour, as she called Zac, to forget a date.

  “With somebody called Eddie…” he said, his voice cracking with disappointment.

  “Eddie?” said Kerry and Sonja to each other as Zac hurried out of the door.

  “Who’s Eddie?” puzzled Kerry.

  “Beats me,” shrugged Sonja, before a dim and distant memory rushed into her head.

  Kerry saw her friend’s expression turn from curiosity to total shock.

  “Son? Who’s Eddie?”

  “Oh, my God, Kez!” whispered Sonja. “Eddie’s her dad!”

  CHAPTER 9

  GETTING TO KNOW YOU (AGAIN…)

  It was quiet in Luigi’s, but then it was only 5.30 on a Tuesday evening-not exactly prime time for the popular little Italian restaurant.

  Cat flicked her eyes across the red-and-white checked tablecloth and looked at her father’s hands holding the laminated menu. Was it a slight tremble of nerves that was making them shake?

  How weird to think that my dad’s got the wobbles about being alone with me! she thought, biting at the inside of her lip.

  She studied his face as he concentrated on the long list of pasta dishes, even though they’d already ordered. When he lost that haunted, apologetic look, he reminded her-ever so slightly-of Harrison Ford. Maybe it was the handsomely craggy face, or maybe it was the laugh-lines that crinkled at the outer corners of his eyes when he smiled. Before he’d become tired-looking, before the years of drink had done their damage, Cat could clearly see how her mother could have fallen for him.

  She was glad that he’d suggested this meal out together, just the two of them, to get to know each ot
her all over again. Their initial meeting the previous night hadn’t exactly been relaxed, especially with her mother being so negative and antagonistic.

  On the one hand, she had every right to be; having your husband disappear for nearly a decade, leaving you and your child with nothing, was reason enough to flip out. But, on the other hand, as far as Cat could see, Sylvia wanted to do a lot of shouting and not much listening to her husband’s attempts to explain why he’d done what he’d done and what he’d been up to ever since.

  “Thank you,” he said, holding out his glass for the waiter to fill with mineral water.

  Turning back to his daughter, Eddie Osgood caught sight of her expression, her eyes glued to his choice of drink.

  “Surprised?” he smiled gently, the laugh lines magically appearing. “I suppose,” she smiled back, aware that he’d read her thoughts. “Didn’t you used to prefer vodka?”

  Her father winced at her words and took a sharp intake of breath between his clenched teeth.

  “Is that what your mother’s told you? Or can you remember for yourself?” he asked her, fixing his eyes on the tablecloth.

  Cat could remember all right. She may only have been a young girl when he left, but she could hardly forget the fights, which always involved her mother accusing him of drinking. There were plenty of other things she couldn’t forget either.

  “‘Course I remember,” she told him. “I remember you coming to kiss me goodnight-on the nights you were home in time-and smelling the booze on your breath.”

  Her father seemed to crumple under her words. Cat didn’t want to hurt him with her memories-she was too pleased, albeit cautiously, to have him back in her life-but she couldn’t not tell him either. She’d bottled up these flashes of recollection for so many years, reluctant to tell anyone because of the stigma surrounding alcoholism.

  “And there was the time I found you putting

  something on the top of my wardrobe. You said it was nothing, but I told Mum the next day and she found a bottle of vodka up there. She said you hid them all over the house.”

  Her father looked crestfallen, dropping his head into his hands.