Page 131 of Escape to the Country

Chapter 46

The peace and quiet of the countryside in summertime was somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of Hazy Memory later that week.

Tom knew that they were the first band that Sam had ever managed and had been apparently named after a wild weekend in the early seventies which none of them could remember.

Annie told him that they had all met the band at Christmas. ‘They’re lovely,’ she said. ‘Not at all what you would think.’

But when Tom watched them clamber out of a silver Bentley, he realised that the band looked exactly as he had thought. Five leather-clad rockers with long hair and wrinkles that showed a wild social life.

The driver was Mick, the infamous womaniser and scratchy-voiced lead singer.

‘What happened to your old jag?’ asked Sam, walking across the driveway to shake his hand.

‘Broke down on the Kings Road,’ said Mick. ‘Now gone to the big scrapheap in the sky. But this is the replacement.’

‘Nice,’ said Sam. ‘But couldn’t you get anything more reliable? You know, perhaps something built in this century?’

Mick scoffed. ‘Leave off. It’s a classic. Besides, are you kidding? I could barely afford this with our royalties.’

Hazy Memoryhad the dubious honour of recording the most annoying Christmas single of all time. They all hated their one big hit song but knew it was the only way to make a living.

As they were enthusiastically shaking each other’s hands, Tom glanced over to see Eleanor making her way across to greet them. She was wearing a vest top and denim shorts. Nothing special but his insides still lurched as the lust unexpectedly slammed into him. He had thought of little else since their so-called fake kiss by the river. For him it had been anything but. And then there was the gentle, kind Eleanor who had come with him to his gran’s flat. He was falling for her in a big way.

So he watched in irritation as Mick turned his gleaming eyes towards her.

‘Hello, gorgeous,’ he said. ‘And what might your name be?’ He was a well-known ladies’ man and Tom desperately didn’t need him turning his attention towards Eleanor.

‘This is my friend Eleanor,’ Annie told him.

‘Gotta love that song,’ said Mick, breaking into a tune. ‘Elenore, gee I think you’re swell,’ he sang.

The rest of the band joined in for the chorus and Tom was surprised that they actually had decent singing voices, although that didn’t make him feel any easier about how he was leering at Eleanor

When they stopped singing, Annie asked, ‘So how are you Mick?’

‘Wondering how you ended up with my manager as always, beautiful,’ he told her.

Tom found himself relaxing somewhat. It appeared that Mick flirted with absolutely everybody.

‘Leave off,’ said Annie, blushing.

‘I agree,’ said Sam, putting an arm around his fiancée’s shoulders. ‘Definitely leave well alone.’

‘Anyway, I thought your new girlfriend was joining us this weekend,’ said Annie, looking around.

‘Oh. Yeah,’ said Mick, apparently having temporarily forgotten her. ‘Raquel’s coming here tomorrow if that’s okay?’

‘Sure,’ said Annie, with a shrug. ‘All the guest bedrooms are more or less finished.’

‘Are you sure you can’t put this lot up in the barn instead? With all the other animals?’ drawled Sam.

‘That’s no way to talk about our guests,’ said Arthur, heading across to join them.

‘Hello, Your Lordship,’ said Mick, shaking Arthur’s hand. ‘Good to see you back on your feet.’

‘Thank you, Mick. Lovely to have the pleasure of your company once more.’

‘Hello, gorgeous!’ said Mick, the lead singer, heading across the gravel. ‘Oh, and you too, Alex!’