Read Online One Step Closer to You by Alice Peterson - Free Book Online Page B

to his flat two weeks ago we’ve met again, twice. Slowly I’m discovering more about his past. His stepfather runs a men’s fashion shop in central London. When I’d asked what he was like Ben said, ‘Well, at my mum’s funeral he called me a bastard, so that should give you an idea.’ Ben’s eyes didn’t give anything away. Perhaps it’s buried too deep, just like Emily’s grief. I discovered Grace had lived in Hampshire, in a village called Crawley. ‘I called her the village witch,’ Ben had said with a small smile when describing how she’d tried to cure his smoking habits with acupuncture. It was Grace who had urged him to seek help, get out of the City and stop drinking. ‘She was the only one brave enough to tell me that I was ruining my life.’ Ben told me that he’d stayed with her for almost six months after his stint in rehab and during that time he’d helped her to get going with her acupuncture business, managing her finances and accounts. At that time Grace was alone and pregnant, so in manyways they both needed support. Ben certainly needed the distraction and Grace’s failed relationship – her boyfriend disappearing the moment she’d told him she was pregnant – had left her heartbroken. Yet she was determined to make a success of working from home, plus it would give her flexibility when her baby was born. ‘She encouraged me to think about managing other people’s finances professionally. After Emily was born I moved back to London and went on a three-year training course. I qualified as a chartered accountant. Not very rock ’n’ roll but to my surprise I enjoyed it.’
    I make a well in the centre of my bowl and add the sunflower oil, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, yoghurt and cooled chocolate, inhaling the sweet smell. When Mary-Jane isn’t looking I dip my finger into the gooey mixture. ‘Saw that,’ she says.
    While Ben and I were making pancakes with the children, laughing as Ben had tossed one into the air and onto the floor, he’d asked me how I came to work here, saying he must pop by sometime and sample one of my cakes.
    I told him I’d found the job through my Aunt Vivienne, who goes out with my boss, Jean. ‘Nothing like a bit of nepotism.’
    He detected there was more to this. I’m learning Ben is sharp and naturally curious. ‘And?’ he pressed.
    ‘You know I said our family was plagued by secrets?’ I inhaled deeply. ‘I didn’t get to know about my Aunt Vivienne until I was fourteen.’
    ‘How come?’
    ‘Long story.’
    Ben had looked at Louis and Emily, now engrossed in eating their pancakes. He turned to me and shrugged. ‘We’ve got time.’

10
1994
    ‘I feel ill, Mum,’ I say when she asks me why I’m not dressed for school.
    ‘What kind of ill?’ She stands at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in her navy jacket, matching skirt and heels, dark hair pinned back from her face.
    ‘Sick.’
    Mum comes upstairs and touches my forehead. ‘Do you think you’re coming down with something?’
    I nod.
    She feels my glands before glancing at her watch. Normally Mum drives me to school and then goes to work. She is a part-time fundraiser for a charity for the blind and partially sighted in Norwich.
    ‘You don’t look great,’ she admits reluctantly. ‘I’ll call the office.’
    ‘No! I mean, no Mum, you go to work, I’ll be fine on my own.’
    The thermometer reads normal. Mum leaves a plastic bowl and for a second I panic, thinking she might find the empty wine bottles under my bed. She says she’ll be home at lunchtime. She looks at me, almost with affection. ‘But promise to call if there’s any problem, darling,’ she says.
    *
    Later that morning, I’m enjoying a toasted cheese sandwich in front of
Friends
. I wonder if Janey made it to school? I’ll call her later. Last night we pretended to be upstairs doing our French homework, but instead we were smoking out of her bedroom window and drinking Baileys. I ran home giggling,