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Lauren was still smiling when she let herself in. As she absentmindedly tidied up toys in the lounge before going to bed, she thought to herself how much she had enjoyed Kezzie’s company. She realized with a jolt that apart from Eileen, she didn’t have many girlfriends. Those she’d made at uni had faded away after the twins were born, and her friends from home had all moved on. Despite the age difference between them, Claire had been a fantastic friend to her in the short time they’d known each other. It wasn’t just that they’d bonded over their children, Claire had been like the big sister Lauren had never had. But Claire was gone and had left a huge hole in Lauren’s life. No one could replace Claire of course, but Lauren hoped that she could become mates with Kezzie. It would be nice to have someone to share things with again.

Though it was late when Lauren went to bed, she felt unable to sleep. It felt strange without the twins in the house. It didn’t happen very often, but when her mum had the girls overnight Lauren missed them dreadfully. Added to which, whenever she shut her eyes a picture of Troy swam before her. To her annoyance, she realized half-forgotten desires were stirring. She’d put Troy firmly out of her mind for so long now, she’d convinced herself she was over him. But, dammit, there was a residual – who was she kidding – a strong attraction still. They had chemistry, always had. And it was that whole free-spirit nonsense that had attracted her in the first place. Of course, Lauren thought she’d be the one to tame him. And of course she’d been wrong. But maybe this time he really had changed. He did seem more grown up somehow. But then again, did the leopard change its spots?

She slept late in the morning, luxuriating in a rare opportunity to lie in, and enjoying the comfort of her double bed with its fresh linen and bright flowery bedspread. One of the luxuries of living without a man was that Lauren revelled in having a girlie bedroom, which made her feel relaxed and homely. The rest of the house was the same. Though there was the inevitable clutter that came from having small children in the house, Lauren had paid a lot of attention to having the house decorated brightly, with cheerful curtains and comfy rugs on the floors. Even though it was a rented house, and she didn’t have much money, Lauren wanted her home to be bright and homely, and for the most part she felt it was.

Lauren made herself a cup of tea, and went upstairs to have a shower. She had just turned it on, when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was her mum bringing the girls home, she threw a towel around her and leapt down the stairs.

‘Hi, Mum,’ she said, flinging the door wide open. Then, ‘Oh––’

On the doorstep stood Troy with a bunch of flowers, and closely following behind, walking up the garden path, was Joel with Sam under one arm, and another bunch of flowers under the other.

‘Blimey. You wait all your life for men to bring you bunches of flowers, then two arrive at once,’ she said weakly.

‘Who’s he?’ they said simultaneously.

‘Joel, this is Troy, the girls’ dad. Troy, this is Joel, I look after his son, Sam,’ said Lauren, feeling surreal. And then because she couldn’t think of anything else to say, added, ‘Would you both like a cup of tea?’

‘No, I’d best be off,’ said Joel, looking awkward. ‘I don’t want to disturb you when you’ve got guests.’

‘Troy’s not a guest,’ said Lauren automatically.

‘I just wanted to say sorry for being such a selfish sod yesterday. Here, take these, I hope you like them.’

Lauren leant forward to take the flowers. She was slightly staggered but pleasantly surprised that Joel had at least acknowledged he’d been a twat. As she did so, her towel came undone.

‘Oh, shit!’ she said, as she exposed herself to everyone in the Lane.

‘Nothing I haven’t seen before,’ said Troy, with a familiar look in his eye.

‘Now I really had better go,’ said Joel, looking mortified. Lauren pulled the towel tightly around herself again in confusion.

‘I knew you couldn’t resist me,’ continued Troy, as Joel walked away. ‘Is that cup of tea still on?’

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ said Lauren. ‘But I really am only offering tea.’

Joel, feeling like a total idiot after his botched attempt at apologizing to Lauren, went round to see Kezzie. She opened the door looking bleary eyed.

‘Mind if we come in?’ he said. ‘I just called on Lauren, only it seems she’s got – er – company.’

‘Who would that be, then?’ said Kezzie, frowning. ‘I saw her at the pub last night and we walked home together. She didn’t mention that anyone was coming round today. I didn’t think Lauren had a boyfriend.’

‘I don’t think she does,’ said Joel. ‘It was her ex.’

Kezzie whistled, ‘What, the one who left her in the labour ward?’

‘The very same,’ said Joel, unsure why he felt quite so uneasy about the sudden reappearance of Troy, or why the sight of Lauren’s naked body was making him feel all hot and bothered. From everything Joel had heard about Troy from Lauren, it seemed he could only be bad news, and the thought of him hurting Lauren again made Joel feel strangely uncomfortable.

‘Ouch,’ said Kezzie. ‘I hope she’s careful.’

‘Me too,’ said Joel, with feeling. ‘I went round to apologize for yesterday. You were right, I was out of order – and there he was in front of me. I could see I wasn’t wanted, so I thought I’d better scarper over here. Hope you don’t mind.’

‘No worries,’ said Kezzie. ‘I was just having breakfast. Coffee?’

‘That would be nice,’ said Joel.

He followed her into the small kitchen at the back of the house. It looked out onto a pretty garden with a patio, a small lawn and a greenhouse at the end. Though autumn was turning into winter, the pots were still overflowing with petunias, busy lizzies and pansies.

‘The garden looks great,’ he exclaimed, feeling really pleased that he’d got Kezzie involved in restoring Edward’s. ‘Your handiwork, I presume?’

‘Well, my aunt had the basics here. I’ve just had a go at making it a bit more homely. I’d take you out there, but these autumn mornings are a bit too chilly for sitting out.’

Sam was tottering about in the kitchen, and picked up a bottle of beer.

‘Oops,’ said Kezzie. ‘My house isn’t very toddler proof, sorry.’

‘It doesn’t need to be,’ said Joel, scooping Sam up as his son made a bid for the door and the tantalizing but lethal-looking stairs. ‘Sorry, we’re not going to get much peace and quiet. Sam is a bit too much of a wrigglepot.’

As if to prove his point, Sam wriggled out of Joel’s arms and headed for the vegetable rack. He proceeded to cause chaos by throwing all Kezzie’s weekly veg on the floor. Joel picked him up and took him away and he started to howl loudly. Joel shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He felt that sometimes with toddlers it was just easier to stay at home.

‘I see what you mean,’ said Kezzie. ‘Why don’t we go out for a bit? I’d like to see the Memorial Gardens again. Eileen’s got me involved in their restoration too, and I need to have a look at them again before I get going.’

‘That sounds a great idea,’ said Joel, feeling hugely relieved. ‘I’m sorry, Sam can be a one toddler destruction machine in a small space.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Kezzie. ‘I’m not used to being around small children, and I keep forgetting the cottage isn’t really geared up for kids.’

Joel went to his car to pick up the buggy, and they walked down the hill, chatting away about the garden and the difficulties of dealing with toddlers. It was a cold, clear day, and Heartsease, with its pretty little shops, redbrick buildings and lovely nooks and crannies, spread before them looking so attractive, Joel had a sudden shot of pleasure that he’d chosen to make this his home. When they got to the park, Joel got Sam out of his buggy and he went toddling down the paths, while Kezzie looked around at the scrubby flowers and tried to work out what would be best for the borders.

‘Dadda, Dadda,’ Sam was shouting and laughing with his arms outstretched towards Joel, who ran towards him and swung him up into his arms. His son. His gorgeous son. The best present Claire could have given him.

‘Has no one tried to do anything about this before?’ Kezzie said to Joel as they surveyed the sad ruin of Edward Handford’s vision. The gardens were small, comprising a gated green enclave at the end of the High Street. From her research, Kezzie had learnt that it had originally been intended for the people of Heartsease for recreational purposes, and was only renamed the Memorial Gardens after the First World War. The presence of paths, laid-out borders and lawn were evidence of a previously well-tended garden. Now it looked abandoned and derelict, the empty plinth in the middle standing in lonely defiance.

‘That’s where the war memorial should be,’ said Kezzie. ‘Isn’t it a shame people always feel they have to graffiti things?’

‘I would have thought you’d be into graffiti,’ said Joel, ‘isn’t it art?’

‘Some of it is,’ said Kezzie, ‘but writing rude things about people you don’t like isn’t. And it seems disrespectful too. My granddad was in the war, so I always wear a poppy for him.’

‘I agree with you on that one,’ said Joel. ‘Do you know, I hadn’t even realized there was a war memorial till you mentioned it. I don’t come here that often.’

‘Not even to take Sam to the swings?’ said Kezzie.

Joel shrugged. ‘Have you seen them?’

Kezzie followed him down the furthest path, that led from behind the plinth towards some overgrown bushes. Behind the bushes there was a tatty play area, with an ancient rusty roundabout, two creaky swings and a slide that looked as though it might topple over if anyone actually tried to use it.

‘This is ridiculous,’ said Kezzie. ‘Don’t you guys want somewhere for the kids to come and play?’

‘I hadn’t really given it much thought,’ said Joel. ‘Until recently, Sam’s been a bit small to take to the playground, and I’ve got plenty of room at home. I think Lauren comes down here, though.’

‘I bet she’d like a clean, safe place for the twins to play,’ said Kezzie. ‘Right. That’s it. I’m going to get on to Eileen about this the minute I get back. It’s time we shook this village up.’

Good as her word, once Kezzie was home, had said goodbye to Joel and grabbed a bite to eat, she was straight round to Eileen’s.

‘You’re absolutely right,’ she said, sweeping in. ‘Oh, you’ve got company.’

‘Just my son and family, and you’ve met Tony,’ said Eileen, smiling. ‘You can come and join us if you like.’

Kezzie felt wrongfooted. Until last night, when she’d seen Eileen out with Tony, Kezzie had pictured Eileen as a sad singleton. Here she was having a much livelier time than Kezzie, who spent Sunday evenings on her own.

‘Oh I couldn’t—’

‘Of course you could,’ said Eileen. ‘Pull up a chair, grab a glass of wine. This is my new neighbour, Kezzie. Kezzie, meet my son Niall, his wife, Jan, and my two scamps of grandsons: Harry and Freddy.’

Before long, Kezzie found herself telling them all everything she’d discovered about Edward Handford.

‘That’s fascinating,’ said Eileen. ‘I’ve not been able to find out a lot about Edward’s family, though I do know his son died in the war.’

‘Maybe that’s why Edward paid for the memorial,’ said Kezzie.

‘Could be,’ said Eileen. ‘It’s still sitting locked up in some council warehouse somewhere.’

‘Shocking,’ whistled Niall. ‘Was that the old memorial we used to play on in the park?’

‘The very same. We always used to attend the Remembrance Sunday parade with your dad and granddad. Do you remember?’

‘Yes, I remember,’ said Niall, ‘I can’t believe they’ve not put it back.’

‘Neither can I,’ said Tony. ‘I hadn’t realized it was an issue till Eileen raised it at a Parish Council meeting.’

‘What happens on Remembrance Sunday now?’ Kezzie asked.

‘Everyone goes into Chiverton,’ said Eileen. ‘They’ve still got their memorial. It’s a shame, I’d love us to have our own Remembrance Day parade here again. Particularly with Jamie going to Afghanistan after Christmas.’

‘Jamie?’ Kezzie said. She knew Eileen had a daughter, Christine, but hadn’t realized there was another son.

‘My youngest son, he’s in the marines,’ said Eileen proudly, holding out a picture of a handsome young man in uniform. He looked impossibly young to be going to war.

‘That must be scary,’ said Kezzie.

‘I try not to think about it, if I can,’ said Eileen. ‘Otherwise I’ll go mad with the worry of it. But he’s one of the reasons I want to restore the war memorial, to remind people it still goes on.’

‘Time to get ours back then,’ said Niall.

‘The summer fete next year is all in aid of restoring the garden and play area,’ said Eileen. ‘And we’re trying to pressurize the council to give us our memorial back. They say they haven’t got the money to restore it, so we’re trying to shame them into it.’

‘Surely we don’t have to wait for them to start tidying up the garden though?’ said Kezzie. ‘We should get cracking and dig over the beds before the winter sets in and it’s too cold.’

‘Oh, if I know the Parish Council, they’ll be still debating that next spring, won’t they, Tony?’ said Eileen.

‘Sad, but true,’ said Tony with a grin.

‘Time we took matters into our own hands then, isn’t it?’ said Kezzie, grinning. ‘Just as well I’ve had practice breaking and entering.’