Time After Time (25 page)

Before she opened her eyes, Hayley smiled. She
had
to be back home, in bed with Rick, and she couldn’t wait to see him. She rolled over and reached for him. But the other side of the bed was empty.

Eyes open, she sat up and it took her a few seconds to realise she wasn’t back home, at least not in the home she shared with Rick in Chiswick.

Where am I? What …? Hang on – it’s my flat in Hammersmith.

There was no mistaking it, the décor had hardly changed. She stumbled out of bed, looking around, barely registering her turquoise silk pyjamas. Her heart started to pound and she sat back down on the bed to stop herself from falling.

No, no, no, no, no. This isn’t where I’m supposed to wake up!

She wiped a clammy hand over her face and as her breathing became more rapid, she tried to calm herself by taking a few deep breaths. It didn’t help, her heart continued to pound and she still felt dizzy.

There must be an explanation. There wasn’t anybody significant after Sean. Only Rick.

A shiver crept down her spine.

Then what am I doing in my old flat?

Hayley wondered if she’d gone back in time and almost laughed out loud.

Don’t be daft. That’s impossible.

Then again, a few days ago she’d have thought reliving the same Saturday in an alternate life with a different boyfriend was absurd.

The latest iPhone lay on her bedside table. She picked it up, pressed the home button and the phone sprang to life. The time and date twinkled brightly on the display, taunting Hayley with a clarity that meant nothing but obscurity to her.

Five minutes to nine. Saturday.

‘What the fuck is happening to me?’ Hayley shouted as she threw the phone across the room as hard as she could. It hit the side of the door with a crunch and clattered to the floor in pieces.

Hayley ran into the living room and her eyes darted around, deftly surveying the details. It looked almost the same as when she’d moved back from Chicago over a decade earlier. A couple of different pictures hung on the walls – some of the pieces definitely looked like they were originals. The old, battered pine coffee table had been replaced by a modern one made of pale, reclaimed wood. In the place of the comfy sofa now was a new, light beige one with silver legs, but other than that the place looked remarkably unchanged.

Half expecting Rick and the children to jump out, she searched the rest of the flat but it was empty, so she walked to the kitchen in a daze. It had been redone from top to bottom: gleaming black granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, a twin sink almost as big as a bath and a built-in coffee machine that Starbucks would have envied.

Hayley gulped in a lungful of air. She tried to slow her breathing but couldn’t, so she pressed the heels of her hands over her eyes until all she could see were stars. After a few seconds she dropped her hands and started looking around again for clues –
anything
that could explain why she was there.

A gas bill on the counter caught her eye. She looked at it more closely and her hands shook even harder when she saw the addressee. Hayley Adams. Not Cooper.
Adams
.

Knots growing in her stomach, Hayley grabbed the home phone off the counter and dialled Ellen’s number. It took ages for anyone to pick up and Hayley felt as if she was going to explode.

‘Hi, Hayley,’ Ellen said cheerfully.

‘Ellen, thank goodness,’ Hayley said breathlessly. ‘You’re okay.’

‘I’ll live.’ Ellen said. ‘How’s your head?’

‘Wh-what do you mean?’

‘We got a bit pissed last night, didn’t we? Oops. I hope you’ve stopped worrying about that deal going tits up. Isamu will come through with another job soon, I’m sure of it. Stuff Charles Simpson, am I right?’ She laughed. ‘Why are you up so early? Couldn’t sleep? I could’ve but Little Miss Morgan jumped on our bed at seven o’clock and I was a bit of a grumpy shit to say the least.’

‘Morgan? As in … your daughter.’

‘Ye-
es
,’ Ellen said. ‘Anyway, I thought you’d be lying in until lunchti– Oh shit! She just spilled a pint of milk. I’ll call you back.’

The line went dead and Hayley slammed the phone back down on the counter, then ran to the bedroom, pulling her pyjamas off as she went.

Four weeks had passed since Hayley’s return to London and she was hating every minute. Her parents had thrown her a Welcome Home party and she’d plastered a fake smile on her face all evening, hoping nobody would notice. Feeling this low was unexpected to say the least.

She sat at her desk in her office, trying to concentrate on the latest merger she wanted to finalise before the weekend, when her phone rang.

‘Hayley, it’s Ellen.’

‘Hi.’

‘Good grief, you sound like Ross from
Friends
. Bad day?’

Hayley sighed. ‘Christmas is still five months away.’

‘Oh dear.’

‘Actually it’s a hundred and forty-seven days.’ She paused. ‘I counted.’

‘That’s it,’ said Ellen. ‘I’m bringing a pregnancy test round tomorrow. You’re so moody, I reckon you’ve come back with extra baggage.’

Hayley sighed again. ‘Don’t bother. I did one this morning. It was negative.’

Ellen clicked her tongue. ‘Sounds like you were hoping for the opposite.’

‘No … but …’

‘What?’

‘Rick’s the first man I can really picture myself having children with. Does that sound crazy? I’ve only know him five minutes.’

‘Nope,’ Ellen said and Hayley heard the excitement in her voice. ‘He sounds like The One …’

‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ Hayley said quietly. ‘I can’t wait until I call him later.’

‘You still phone him every morning?’

‘Yep. Half-past twelve, on the dot.’

‘Bet that’s the best wake-up call he’s ever had.’ Ellen laughed.

‘So he says,’ Hayley said. ‘And thank god for ICQ. That chat site is a bloody godsend. BT would be sending the bailiffs round if we spoke that much on the phone.’

‘Have you had phone sex yet?’ Ellen said. ‘What was it like?’

Hayley laughed. ‘Mind your own business.’

‘Spoil-sport. So what do you do for hours on end?’

‘Talk,’ Hayley said. ‘I know more about Rick in the six weeks we’ve been together than I knew about all my exes combined.’ She thought about how Rick had described the Rockies and the Calgary Stampede. She imagined him lying on his sofa, sipping a Becks or an Old Milwaukee while talking to her. ‘The more we chat the more I fall in love with him.’

‘Ahhh … so sweet. So have you changed your mind about coming out tonight?’ Ellen said. ‘We’re going to Mulligan’s. Being in the real world with real people might do you some good.’

‘No,’ Hayley replied. ‘Not tonight. I’m knackered. But I’ll pop over tomorrow after lunch, okay? Will you have the results by then?’

‘I should do,’ Ellen said. ‘Cross your fingers. If this round doesn’t work, we’re on our own and I’ll have to make Mark sell one of his kidneys.’

Hayley spent the rest of the afternoon working on the merger, carefully crafting an earn-out plan for the current shareholders that would make them very rich, providing they hit their targets. She loved the complexity, but her attention kept drifting back to her conversations with Rick.

‘I can’t wait to come over,’ he’d said the day before. ‘I went to the library to get some books about London. It looks amazing. Completely different to anywhere I’ve been in Canada or the U.S.’ She heard him flick the pages. ‘Did you know it was founded by the Romans over two thousand years ago? They called it Londominium like condominium?’

‘Londinium,’ Hayley said, and smiled. ‘You’ll love it here at Christmas. I know you will. It won’t be nearly as cold as Chicago or Calgary but I bet it will rain a lot more. I can’t wait to show you the city.’

He’d laughed and told her again how much he missed her and couldn’t wait to see her.

Hayley sighed as she used another Post-it note to mark a section of a clause she wanted to revise, then started packing away her things before changing her mind again, thinking that another late night would help pass the time.

It was almost ten o’clock when she got home. She shoved a frozen lasagne in the micro-wave and watched the plate spin as the machine hummed.

Are we going round and round in circles too? Can long-distance relationships work?

The phone rang. She picked it up, thinking it was late for anyone to be calling and hoping it was Rick although he’d told her he’d be travelling most of the day.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, princess,’ Rick said.

‘Hey.’ She went to the living room, flopped down on her comfy red sofa and hung her legs over one side. ‘I thought you were travelling today?’

‘I arrived safe and sound. It was a long day but it’ll be worth it.’

‘I’m sure you’ll be great.’

‘Thanks,’ Rick said. ‘Hayley, I need to ask you something.’

She heard a loud knock on her door.

‘Hold on,’ she said into the phone as she got up. ‘I think my neighbour’s at the door. I didn’t get home until late and the postman leaves my stuff with her. I still can’t believe I forgot my Filofax in Chicago. Sorry, did you want to ask me something?’ She walked over to the door and as she opened it, the phone slid out of her hands and clattered to the floor.

‘Yes.’ Rick was down on one knee with a mobile phone in his right hand and a solitaire engagement ring in his left. ‘Will you marry me?’

Three minutes after Ellen had hung up to salvage the milk spill, Hayley had pulled on some clothes, grabbed the bag she’d spotted in the kitchen and raced to Hammersmith tube station. She jumped on the Piccadilly line, on her way to Acton Town. When she arrived at Ellen and Mark’s flat, she stood with her finger firmly pressed on the buzzer.

‘Who the hell?’ Mark asked, pulling the door open. His eyes widened as soon as he saw Hayley. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Where’s Ellen?’

‘Out with Morgan to get some milk. What’s going on?’

‘She said I was here last night.’ Hayley said quickly, walking past Mark and into the kitchen.

He followed her. ‘Yeah. You were.’

‘Why?’

Mark frowned. ‘Why what?’

‘Why was I here?’ Hayley said. ‘Stop wasting time.’

Mark raised his eyebrows. ‘Okay, okay. Keep your hair on. You vented about work. That new job fell through and a deal went tits-up.’ He looked at her. ‘You sure you’re okay?’

‘Who am I with?’ Hayley asked as she grabbed hold of Mark’s shoulders, trying hard not to shake him.

‘What do you mean?’ Mark shrugged her off and backed away. ‘What’s up with you?’

‘Who am I married to?’ The words echoed around the kitchen and Hayley took a step towards Mark. ‘
Who
?’

‘Nobody,’ Mark said, shaking his head. ‘You’ve never
been
married. Maybe you should wait for Ellen to come back.’

But Hayley started to sob, quietly at first, then increasingly loud. She sank down onto a chair. ‘What … what’s happening to me? I … I … can’t do this … anymore. I want to go home.’ She put her head in her hands and her body shook as she wept. ‘Why can’t I go home?’

Mark knelt down beside Hayley and put his arms around her. ‘What the hell is going on?’ he said quietly, then muttered, ‘And where the hell is my wife?’

Hayley leaned against him. ‘I thought I’d wake up with Rick but I didn’t. Why didn’t I wake up with him?’

‘Maybe you dreamt you married him after all, could that be it?’ Mark said, holding out a tissue.

‘What?’ Hayley looked up, her eyes feeling puffy and swollen. ‘What do you mean,
after all
? You know him?’

Mark frowned. ‘Of course we do. Well, not that well, but we met him when he came over,’ he said. ‘After he proposed. Remember?’

‘But I’m alone,’ Hayley stammered through her tears. ‘I’m not with him.’

‘Well … of course not,’ Mark said quietly. ‘You said no. You said it was too fast. We didn’t really get it but …’

Hayley closed her eyes. She remembered those few seconds, looking at Rick kneeling in front of her, those few moments during which she’d had her doubts. She loved him, of that she was certain, but they’d only just met, they hadn’t even lived together. Committing to spending the rest of her life with him was scary. But being without him terrified her even more.

‘Wh-where did he go?’ she whispered. ‘Back to Chicago? Calgary?’

Mark shook her head. ‘I thought you knew he’s still in London.’

Hayley grabbed hold of him again. ‘What? Where?’

‘I don’t know …’

‘
Mark
.’

‘Oh fuck. Ellen told me I should keep my gob shut.’ Mark shrugged apologetically. ‘I ran into him the other week.’

‘
Tell
me
.’

He sighed. ‘He’s running his own web-design business. Doing really well, too. I think he lives in,’ he scratched his head, ‘Chiswick somewhere. Near Stamford Brook, and …’

But Hayley had stopped listening. She’d already grabbed her bag and charged out of the front door.

‘I can’t believe you quit your job and took one here. What would you have done if I’d said no last night?’ Hayley asked Rick. They were in her bed, basking in the after-glow of morning sex, her legs casually draped over his.

‘I’d move over anyway,’ he said, staring up at the ceiling as he stroked her thigh. ‘I’d stick around until you change your mind,’ he grabbed her hand and kissed it, ‘Mrs.-soon-to-be-Cooper.’

She smiled. ‘I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone,’ she said as she snuggled up closer. ‘We can go over to Ellen and Mark’s in a bit.’ She held out her left hand and admired the large solitaire sparkling in the sunlight that streamed through the windows.

‘Do you like it?’ Rick said.

‘Love it.’

‘A lot?’

‘Too much to put into words.’ Hayley rolled on top of Rick and kissed his chest, her mouth and naked breasts sliding down his stomach. ‘Let me show you instead …’

‘What about your friends and … oh … well … never mind …’ Rick murmured and Hayley laughed.

They finally made it to Ellen and Mark’s flat in the early afternoon. Ellen’s brow furrowed when she opened the door, and her eyes moved quickly from Hayley to Rick and back again.

‘This is Rick,’ Hayley said with a smile as they walked into the flat.

Mark stood up. ‘Not
the
Rick?’ He shook Rick’s hand. ‘Hello, mate. I thought you weren’t coming over until December?’

‘I wasn’t. But I couldn’t wait that long to make an honest woman of her.’

Hayley watched as Ellen’s stare flipped from Rick to her and back to Rick again. When her eyes finally dropped to Hayley’s left hand, she grabbed it and yanked it towards Mark. ‘Look, look! What did –? When? How? What?’

‘Congratulations,’ Mark said as he shook Rick’s hand again. ‘I’ve never seen my Missus lost for words. Let’s celebrate. Your engagement, not her silence. Although … hah! I’ll get some champagne. We’ll be as pissed as farts by mid-afternoon.’

The next day, Hayley and Rick went to see her parents. As they walked up the garden path, Rick fiddled with the zipper of his jacket and cleared his throat four times.

Hayley squeezed his hand. ‘They’ll love you,’ she said and opened the front door. ‘I promise.’

She wasn’t mistaken. Stan pumped Rick’s hand up and down and patted him on the back.

‘Have you phoned Jackie yet?’ Karen asked after some of the commotion had subsided. ‘You’ve got to tell her. Here.’ She grabbed the phone and punched in the number. ‘Call her now. She’ll be thrilled.’

Jackie answered the phone and within seconds she shrieked, ‘You’re getting married?’ so loudly everyone in the room could hear. ‘That’s brilliant,’ she said, only a little more quietly. ‘Ray! Hayley’s getting married … yeah, the Canadian bloke …. I know, fabulous, isn’t it?’ Her attention turned back to Hayley. ‘He says congratulations and when can we meet him. My little sister’s getting married. I can’t wait. When?’

‘Soon,’ Hayley said as she looked at Rick, who was laughing at something Karen had said to him. ‘Because I can’t wait either.’

*

It seemed almost magical how everything fell into place. Neither Rick nor Hayley wanted a long engagement or a religious ceremony. It was easy to choose the date – a Saturday in mid-December, six months to the day that they’d met – and they booked Ealing Town Hall. But working out where to have the reception at such short notice proved to be more difficult. Hayley worried the only available place would be McDonald’s and she had images of their guests going home with Happy Meal toys as wedding favours. As she tried to narrow down the flower arrangement choices during her lunch break, Ellen called.

‘Guess what,’ she shouted down the phone, over the noise of the hair-dryers at the salon.

‘You’re pregnant?’ Hayley said. ‘Are you?’

‘Pffft, no. But almost as good as that. Mrs. Patterson, one of my clients, told me her son’s fiancée ditched him for their accountant. They’re cancelling the wedding. Guess where it was going to be?’

‘You’re joking,’ Hayley said and held her breath.

‘Nope. Ealing Golf Club! And guess what date?’

‘Shut up!’

‘Yup, it’s all yours if you want it. Mrs. Patterson knows the golf club’s events coordinator really well and she’s sure she can get the booking transferred into your name.’

‘Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,’ Hayley squealed as she jumped up and down.

A few days later Jackie and Ellen took Hayley shopping for a wedding dress and she fell in love with the third one she tried on. It was strapless, made of floor-length tulle, and had a sweetheart neckline, a dark-blue ruffle sash, and beaded, appliqué flowers.

‘You look beautiful,’ Jackie said as she clutched a hankie. ‘Rick will love it.’

‘He’ll think he’s died and gone to heaven,’ Ellen said, and borrowed Jackie’s hankie to wipe her own eyes. She smoothed the dress down and Hayley felt her tug at the label. ‘Good grief.’

‘Oh no,’ Hayley said. ‘Don’t tell me. It’s over my budget, isn’t it?’

‘No,’ Ellen said and clapped her hands together. ‘It’s under
and
it’s twenty per cent off. You jammy git.’

*

Rick’s parents, Jacob and Marianna Cooper, and his brother Josh arrived a few days before the wedding and Hayley and Rick met them at Heathrow airport.

‘It’s so good to finally meet you, Hayley,’ Jacob said as he hugged her with gigantic hands that reminded her of bear paws. He was a tall, lean man, and Hayley could tell Rick got at least part of his good looks from his father.

‘Thank you, Hayley,’ Marianna said as she wrapped her arms around her. She only reached her husband’s shoulder, had an immaculate blonde bob and a smile that could surely be seen from space.

‘Uh … you’re welcome?’ Hayley said.

Marianna laughed. ‘I meant for bringing Rick to England. I’ve always wanted to visit but Jacob hates travelling. Take him away from the Prairies and he gets claustrophobic. I had to hide his Bailey or he’d be wearing it now.’ She bent over to put the
Lonely Planet
guide in her bag.

Rick must have seen Hayley’s look. ‘The cowboy hat, not the drink,’ he said. ‘I think Dad even showers in it.’

‘Not always,’ Jacob said and then laughed. ‘Hayley, this is Josh.’

Hayley smiled as she shook Josh’s hand. He was tall too, taller than Rick, and they had the same eyes. ‘Gosh, you look just like your brother,’ Hayley said, ‘without the grey hair though, you’re too young for that.’

He blushed. ‘I love your accent,’ he said. ‘It’s awesome.’

‘I think he’s in love,’ Rick whispered in Hayley’s ear as Josh pushed the trolley with the bags ahead of them. ‘And I don’t blame him.’

*

The evening before the wedding Hayley shooed Rick out of their flat and made him spend the night at Ellen and Mark’s. She didn’t want him to leave. Since he’d arrived in England they hadn’t slept apart. Seeing him first thing in the morning and last thing at night was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. ‘But you can’t see me until tomorrow, it’s bad luck,’ she insisted.

He sighed. ‘Oh if I must,’ and kissed her as if they would never meet again.

Ellen came over to spend the night and after dinner they sat on the sofa with a glass of champagne each and a bowl of strawberries. ‘As your bridesmaid,’ Ellen said in her very best headmistress voice while straightening her back, ‘it is my solemn duty to ask you some very important questions.’

Hayley clicked her tongue. ‘I thought you might. Go on then. Sock it to me.’

‘Are you nervous?’

‘Nope.’

‘A tiny bit?’

‘Nope.’

‘Even though you’ve only been together for six months?’

‘Still nope.’

‘Just checking. Are you ready to only ever have sex with one person for the rest of your, or his, life?’

Hayley laughed. ‘Yep.’

‘Then hearts are breaking all over London tonight, I’m afraid. Right. Bedtime for you, Missy. You’ve got to get your beauty sleep.’

Hayley had to tighten her grip on her father’s arm when they entered the Nelson Room at Ealing Town Hall the next morning. Rick stood at the end of the aisle in a perfectly tailored black suit and waistcoat, with a dark-blue tie that matched the sash on her dress. His eyes sparkled as she walked towards him and when he mouthed, ‘I love you,’ she was sure her feet weren’t even touching the carpet anymore.

Later, as they danced together at Ealing Golf Club, Hayley looked into Rick’s eyes and felt as if she had known him forever, then she vowed that nothing –
nothing
– would ever tear them apart.

*

‘Remember our Chicago to-do lists?’ Rick said over breakfast one morning, six weeks after the wedding. ‘Let’s make another.’

‘A bucket list?’ Hayley said as she munched on her peanut butter and jam toast, a combination Rick had introduced her to, and which she had eaten almost every morning since.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘But without the dying part.’

‘Sounds great,’ Hayley said. Seeing London through Rick’s eyes in recent months had made her feel as if she were visiting for the first time too. He oohed and aahed at the architecture and the history and when she’d taken him to the Tower of London, she thought his eyes were going to pop. She quickly retrieved a pen and a notepad from her old sideboard.

‘So where do you want to go first?’

‘That place with the old stones.’

‘Stonehenge? Check.’ She scribbled it down.

‘And Edinburgh.’

Hayley pulled a face.

‘No good?’

‘Bad memories.’

‘Oh, right. Sorry. Wales then. And Cornwall. Definitely Cornwall. What about you?’

Hayley smiled. ‘Calgary. I want to go to your family’s ranch. Ride some horses, drive some cattle.’

Rick tipped an imaginary hat. ‘Yee-haw. Well that can be arranged, pretty lady.’

And so, whenever they could and their finances permitted, they went to the closest places on their list first, then started going farther afield. In Paris they marvelled at the Louvre and strolled down the Champs-Elysées hand in hand. They took the train to Brussels and washed down plates of
moules frites
with bottles of Duvel. When the summer came, they travelled to Calgary.

‘It’s so flat,’ said Hayley as they flew across the Canadian prairies. ‘Not even a hill.’

‘Just you wait,’ Rick said and grinned as he patted her hand. ‘You’ll see.’

And when they drove all the way from Calgary to Jasper, up through the National Park, stopping in Banff and Lake Louise overnight, she did see. She stared out of the hotel window at the crystal clear, blue glacial lake and up at the sparkling snow-covered peaks in the distance – then her gaze drifted back to Rick, who smiled at her, obviously enjoying every second of seeing her in such awe. He moved towards her and kissed her gently, making Hayley wonder how she would possibly survive if she ever had to be without him.