Perching on the edge of her bed, she reached for a comb and began to drag it through her damp hair. It was then that her eye was drawn to the jewellery box. It was a beautiful thing, made of rosewood carved with an intricate elephant motif, which Kasumi had bought for her whilst on holiday in Bali the previous year. Placing the comb back on the dressing table, she pulled it onto the bed beside her and opened the lid. The interior of the box was separated into two parts – the first a tray that lay directly beneath the lid, split into smaller compartments that were now filled with trinkets and keepsakes. Ellie lifted this out to reveal a large space underneath. At the bottom, alongside Ellie’s birth certificate and passport, lay Hazel’s letter.
The words were already inked into Ellie’s memory, but she read it again, slowly, pausing to reflect on every sentence. What had Hazel been trying to tell her? She wasn’t being deliberately obtuse – her aunt’s literal meaning was explicit enough – but Ellie couldn’t help a growing conviction that a deeper message lay between the lines. Was Ellie afraid of love? It wasn’t a problem she’d ever thought she had before. But her mind went back to Ben, and to conversations shared with Patrick and Fiona and Kasumi and Jethro and even her dad, in his advice imparted to her in his own ham-fisted way, and she kept coming back to the same conclusion. Ben had shown great courage to admit he had been wrong about Gemma, to bare his soul to Ellie in the way he had done, especially when the mistake would be such a public one. Perhaps he deserved a chance. Ellie certainly hadn’t given him one.
It was all too late now, of course. Ellie folded the letter away and placed it back in the box. There was a bottle of white wine in the fridge and a problem that did not seem to right itself no matter how many different ways Ellie turned it over in her mind. It seemed like a pretty good partnership, all things considered. She pulled the belt to her bathrobe tight and went to find the corkscrew.
It was a Saturday morning when Ellie found herself alone – her mum and dad on a weekend away to Buxton to cement their newly-mended relationship, Kasumi in Paris, Jethro presumably in bed with Claudia, and Ellie figured Patrick and Fiona had seen enough of her recently to last a lifetime. She had woken in the early hours for no reason at all, unable to go back to sleep. Later in the morning, rattling around, alone and restless in the house, the pull of Ben’s corner was just too strong to ignore. Before she could stop herself, she was in her car and on the way there.
Ellie had never seen Constance Street so quiet. Other than the occasional car passing by and the chatter of the sparrows on rooftops there was little else to suggest that she was not the last person on earth. The lively group of women who had greeted her at most of her visits, back when this whole episode in her life had begun, had disappeared back to their lives. It was as if the last few weeks had been some strange dream. It was still early – perhaps Ben was spooned around Gemma in bed right now. Gemma would be breathing in his scent, content in the warmth of his strong embrace. It was Gemma who would wake him with a gentle kiss and nudge him playfully out of bed to make her coffee and toast. Gemma would creep behind him as he showered and kiss every inch of his broad, perfectly sculpted back. And it was her fault. She, Ellie, was the one who had walked away.
The new wave of despair at her loss was almost more than Ellie could bear; an ache that seemed to pierce her very soul. There were plenty of fish in the sea, as people had so often told her, but suddenly faced with the reality of it, the thought of that was terrifying. Ellie hadn’t meant to fall in love, but now that she had, she didn’t want to give her heart to anyone else. It was more than that; she didn’t feel capable of giving it to anyone else. Ben had stolen it completely, and now she faced a future without him.
Taking a deep breath, Ellie took one last look up and down the street. There was no point in staying here now and it was too painful anyway. Head down, she started to walk back towards her car.
‘I thought it was you,’ Annette called as she crossed the road. Ellie swung around at the sound of her voice. ‘What brings you round these parts? I’d have thought a quiet street like ours would be terribly boring now that Ben has moved on.’
Ellie painted on a bright smile. ‘I was just passing, you know.’
‘An odd place to just pass and get out of your car. Didn’t you stop by the other day too? I could have sworn it was your car but by the time I’d got my slippers on to come out it had gone.’
‘How have you been?’ Ellie asked in a bid to steer Annette away from a potentially awkward conversation. ‘Are the men of the street happier now that everything is quiet?’
Annette laughed. ‘Just a bit. They can be slobbish and lazy again with nobody making them look bad.’ She rested her hands on her hips as she squinted at Ellie in the sun that was now skimming the rooftops in a golden blaze. ‘Have you heard from Ben since Gemma came back?’
‘I’ve seen as much of him as you have on TV,’ Ellie lied.
Annette studied her for a moment. ‘You know, I thought at the time he was a little bit sweet on you. If she hadn’t come back… well, who knows?’
‘Me? Don’t be daft.’
Ellie mused on Annette’s observations. No wonder Gemma had gone out of her way to stake her claim over him. Annette didn’t seem like the most tactful of women – it was likely that she had said something very similar to this in passing to Gemma that had sparked the whole campaign of lies in the first place.
‘I was just about to make a cup of tea if you wanted to pop in for one,’ Annette said, angling her head at the house across the road.
Ellie gave her watch a theatrical examination. ‘I really have to get on. Thanks anyway, though.’
‘Shame… I keep hoping that Ben and Gemma will pop round. They said they would keep in touch, but you know what youngsters are like.’
Ellie bit back a smile. ‘I’m sure they will when they get a moment.’
Annette looked doubtful but nodded.
‘It was lovely to see you again, Annette. Perhaps next time I can get that drink.’
‘Oooh, that would be lovely.’ Annette clapped her hands together. ‘I’ll keep a look out for you.’ She turned with an airy wave and made her way back across the street. Ellie watched her go, took one last look around, and started back to her car.
When Annette had asserted she had seen Ellie’s distinctive Mini parked on Constance Street before that day, she had been right. In fact, Ellie had been back there half a dozen times since her last disastrous meeting with Ben. She wasn’t even sure why. Perhaps she was searching for answers, and Constance Street seemed as good a place as any to start. A small part of her wanted to see him, sitting on his corner, flask at the ready, a smile and a song on his lips. If she closed her eyes and wished really hard, she could almost smell his scent on the breeze, but it only seemed to happen in this spot.
Then, she spun around as she heard her name called.
Ben was jogging towards her, weighed down with a rucksack and a pair of folded seats.
‘Wait!’
Ellie began to walk back to him, her heart pounding madly and barely able to breathe. Here he was, just when she felt at her most vulnerable, just when she felt that the slightest thing might break her. Even with all the uncertainty, despite everything she had said to him and promised herself, she still needed him like she needed air.
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, glancing at his paraphernalia as he drew near.
‘I was just about to set up camp.’
‘Here?’ Ellie asked more sharply than she had meant to. ‘What’s happened?’
Ben smiled tensely. ‘I thought I might have to wait for someone.’
‘Gemma’s moved out again?’ she asked in confusion.
‘Yes…’ he said quietly, ‘but this time I asked her to.’
‘Then what…’ Ellie’s sentence trailed off. She frowned as she looked at the chairs and the rucksack again. Poking out from between the folded seats was a piece of card. ‘If you’ve asked her to move out, then why ar
e you here?’
Ben pulled out the card and turned it to show her.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GIRL? PLEASE TELL HER BEN IS WAITING HERE FOR HER.
Next to the message, the photo of them that Ben had taken on his phone had been cropped so that only Ellie’s image remained.
Ellie looked up at him. ‘I don’t understand.’
Ben shrugged. ‘Neither do I. Since I last saw you I’ve done nothing but think about everything you said. I asked myself time and time again what I was doing, why I was making such a bloody mess of everything. But every time I looked at Gemma, sitting on our sofa watching TV or lying in our bed asleep, I wanted it to be you. That has to mean something… right?’
‘I don’t know…’
‘I can’t give up on you. I can’t spend the rest of my life regretting how I let you go without a fight. I can’t just throw away something that could be so special.’
‘Something special?’ Ellie repeated in a daze.
‘Ellie… I don’t know that I deserve this and I don’t know how you feel since we last spoke but… ever since Gemma came back….’ He paused, as if uncertain of how to choose his next words. ‘Being with you…’ Ben said slowly, ‘it made me feel something new, something I had never felt before. It was exciting and new and terrifying but familiar and comfortable and the only place I want to be. All at the same time. I know I didn’t explain my feelings properly last time we met. I don’t know if I’ll do a much better job this time. I only know that I have to try again. I’m going to be honest with you, I have no idea if it’s love but… it feels right, more right than anything I’ve ever felt. All I can think about is being near you, all the time. I can’t concentrate on anything knowing that we’re under the same sky but not together. You have to believe me, I would never have asked Gemma to marry me feeling like this; I swear it on the souls of my parents.’
He paused, studying her.
‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Say you feel the same.’
Ellie suddenly felt as if the world was spinning so fast it would tip her off. She stared at him.
‘I need to think.’
He started again, breathless, his words tumbling out. ‘You left the pub that day and it felt like my whole world had come crashing down around me. I didn’t know what to do. I handled things badly and I knew I’d hurt you and I never want to do that. I thought that staying out of your life was the best thing… that it was what you wanted. So I forced myself to do that, but I can’t anymore.’
Ellie shook her head. ‘What about Gemma?’
‘I was never what she wanted. She will be pissed off, and she might kick up a stink for a while, but this is for the best.’
‘And you’re sure that we’re right for each other?’
He nodded. ‘As sure as I can be about anything in this life.’
Ellie glanced across the street. She thought she saw a curtain twitch over in Annette’s house but she couldn’t be certain.
‘But I didn’t know what to do about it,’ Ben continued. ‘So I thought I’d wait for you, back at the place where we first met. I knew if you felt the same, you’d find your way back to me.’
Ellie remained silent as he held her in a pleading gaze. Against her will, a lone tear tracked her cheek. Ben reached with a gentle thumb to wipe it away.
‘Don’t cry… I never meant to upset you…’
Ellie shook her head. She knew she was supposed to say something but nothing would come out. Her tears only began to fall faster now and there was nothing she could do to stop them. Ben let his chairs fall to the floor with a clatter and pulled her into his arms.
‘Oh Ellie… I never want to see you cry.’
His warm embrace was something she had dreamed of. Finally, things felt right. Finally, she knew what she had to do. And she sure as hell wouldn’t lose him again. She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. He stroked a hand over her hair.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, ‘I shouldn’t have come here like this. I thought…’ His sentence trailed to nothing.
Ellie looked up at him. ‘I know,’ she smiled through her tears. ‘But I’m glad you came.’
‘You are?’
‘Yes.’
‘So you’re willing to give me a chance?’
‘Yes.’
His smile was so wide Ellie thought it would burst from his face. He pulled her into the kiss she felt she had been waiting her whole life for.
‘You have no idea how happy that makes me… I don’t know what I would have done if you’d said no.’
Ellie gazed up at him. ‘Me neither.’
They kissed again, and then she leaned against his chest and closed her eyes with a contented sigh, knowing, after all, that this was where she belonged.
Did you fall head over heels for Ben and Ellie’s unlikely love story? Then don’t miss The Little Village Bakery another charming story about love, life and new beginnings from Tilly Tennant!
Get it here!
The Little Village Bakery
Honeybourne Series Book 1
Get it here!
Help yourself to a generous slice of Victoria sponge, a perfect cup of tea and a big dollop of romance. Welcome to The Little Village Bakery.
Meet Millie. Heartbreak has forced her to make a new start and when she arrives at the old bakery in the little village of Honeybourne she is determined that this will be her home sweet home. Her imagination has been captured by the tumbledown bakery but with no running water and dust everywhere, her cosy idea of making cakes in a rural idyll quickly crumbles.
Luckily the locals are a friendly bunch and step in to help Millie. One in particular, Dylan, a laid-back lothario, soon captures her attention.
But just as Millie is beginning to settle in, an unexpected visitor from her past suddenly turns up determined to ruin everything for her. It’s time for Millie to face the skeletons in her closest if she’s going to live the dream of running her little village bakery, and her blossoming romance with Dylan.
Get it here!
A charming heartwarming novel about love, life and new beginnings perfect for fans of Milly Johnson and Debbie Johnson.
Tilly’s Email Sign-Up
Want to keep up to date with Tilly’s latest releases?
Sign up here!
We promise to never share your email with anyone else, and we’ll only contact you when there’s a new book out.
Books by Tilly Tennant
Worth Waiting For
The Waffle House on the Pier
The Break Up
The Garden on Sparrow Street
Hattie’s Home for Broken Hearts
The Mill on Magnolia Lane
The Christmas Wish
The Summer Getaway
The Summer of Secrets
An Unforgettable Christmas Series
A Very Vintage Christmas
A Cosy Candlelit Christmas
From Italy with Love Series
Rome is Where the Heart is
A Wedding in Italy
Honeybourne Series
The Little Village Bakery
Christmas at the Little Village Bakery
Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn
Mishaps and Mistletoe
Mishaps in Millrise Series
Little Acts of Love
Just Like Rebecca
The Parent Trap
And Baby Makes Four
Once Upon a Winter Series
The Accidental Guest
I’m Not in Love
Ways to Say Goodbye
One Starry Night
A Letter from Tilly
I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read Worth Waiting For. If you enjoyed it and want to keep up to date with all my latest releases, just sign up at the following link. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Sign up here!
I’m so excited to share Ellie and Ben’s story with you.
Some of you may know that it had a previous life as The Man Who Can’t be Moved. It’s been wonderful to immerse myself in their world once more, making the story better than ever and seeing it transformed with a new cover and title for new readers. I’m so proud to share this new version with you.
I hope you loved Worth Waiting For as much as I loved writing it, and if so I would be very grateful if you could write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it makes such a difference helping new readers to discover one of my books for the first time.
Worth Waiting For: A heart-warming and feel-good romantic comedy Page 25
