by Hannah Ellis
“I hope so.” Josie rolled her eyes. “I have to ask someone what they want to drink. Let’s hope I don’t mess up! Ooh, if you stand at the bar, I can ask you. That’d be exciting.”
He laughed as they filed onto set with everyone else.
As it turned out, Jack did manage to scoot into position across the bar from her, and she couldn’t help but grin as she turned to him to deliver her line.
“What can I get for you?”
“A shot of whatever’s convenient,” he replied loudly.
Her eyes went wide and she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “I don’t think you’re supposed to talk.”
“It’s a bar,” he said loudly. “And I want a drink.”
She bit her lip in an effort not to laugh at him. “Jack!” she hissed, trying to sound stern.
“Quick,” he said, breaking into a grin. “We’ll get thrown off set any second now. Get me a drink!”
“You’re an idiot.” She reached for the nearest bottle and poured clear liquid into two glasses. She glanced up as the director called “cut” and started shouting something in their direction.
Jack knocked the drink back and she did the same. “Sambuca,” he coughed. “Thanks a lot. I think it’s time we ran!”
“I think you’ve just got us both fired,” she said, as the crowd parted and an assistant director headed over to them.
“That was the plan. Come on!”
She hurried round the bar and grabbed Jack’s hand. He led her quickly through the throng while the director shouted after them. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he didn’t sound happy.
“You’re such an idiot.” She kicked her shoes off in the hallway and ran up the stairs with Jack as though they were fugitives. No one followed them, but they raced back to the dressing room anyway and hastily changed back into their own clothes. They were still running and laughing as they burst out of the building onto the street behind.
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
“You said you were quitting anyway. I thought we might as well have some fun.”
“I think I need another drink!”
***
It felt like a weight had been lifted as she sat in the dingy corner pub down the road from the TV studios. It was too early to be drinking, really, but it seemed like one of those days, and she felt the need to celebrate the end of her job.
“So what’s your plan now?” Jack asked.
She took a long swig of her beer and then set the glass on the stained beer mat. “I think I want to do something with animals.”
“Go back to the kennels?”
She shook her head. “I’ve been looking into doing some courses. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but I was thinking about dog grooming. I could be a mobile dog groomer and offer it as a service to boarding kennels. I could run some obedience classes … Are you laughing at me? It’s stupid, isn’t it?”
“I’m not laughing.” He was definitely laughing. “Sorry. I just had an image of you tying ribbons in a poodle’s hair!”
She gave him a friendly slap on the arm and let out a sigh.
“I’m only teasing.” Jack’s features turned serious. “If that’s what you want to do then do it. Why not?”
Since she couldn’t think of a reason why not, she decided that’s exactly what she would do.
Chapter 45
Once she’d made some decisions she felt much better. She was going to continue working for Brenda but take some courses too. With some training under her belt, she could start her own small business offering obedience classes and dog grooming. It wasn’t the most ambitious of plans, but she was sure it would be good for her. She’d also started looking for a new place to live with renewed vigour. She’d found a few possibilities for flat-shares and had lined up appointments to view them.
Lizzie had called a couple of days after Josie had left the acting job. Apparently Lizzie and Annette had been discussing Josie’s birthday and were insisting she go down to Oakbrook for the last weekend in August so they could celebrate with her. Josie was turning twenty-nine and wasn’t convinced it was something she wanted to celebrate but agreed nonetheless.
Sam still popped into her head with annoying regularity. The phone calls didn’t help. Her willpower seemed to be diminishing, and she was sure she’d break down and answer if he kept at it. Surely his persistence would wane soon.
It didn’t, though. On Saturday, Josie was busy unloading the dishwasher at the café when Brenda shouted through that she had a visitor.
She was wiping her hands on her apron as she walked out and then stopped dead at the sight of Sam.
“I tried calling.” He looked at her woefully. All she could do was stare.
“How did you know where I’d be?”
“I spoke to your friend, Emily. She said you worked here on the weekends.”
Josie silently thanked Emily for not mentioning that the café was now the only place she worked. She’d not got round to telling many people that news.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
Brenda placed a hand on Josie’s shoulder. “Take a break if you need to.”
“Thanks.” She untied her apron and beckoned for Sam to follow her out of the café.
Up in Emily’s apartment, she switched the kettle on and turned to find Sam looking around the place. “So this is where you live?”
“Not for much longer. I’ll be moving out soon. Somewhere bigger.” Or so she hoped.
“I miss you,” he said flatly.
She hated the way her stomach went all fluttery. It took a lot of self-control not to tell him she missed him too.
“I’ve moved on,” she said instead. “I have a life here. And you were right – long-distance would never have worked for us. There’s no point dwelling on it.”
He stared at her like he was some sort of human lie detector. Her heart rate increased and she looked away, moving to gaze out of the window onto the busy street below.
“I wasn’t right,” he said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever been so wrong about anything in my life.” He paused and she felt him moving nearer to her. “But I really want to fix it.”
“We can’t fix it. You couldn’t be supportive and I don’t want to be with someone who asks me to give up my dreams. I need someone who’ll push me to take chances.” Tears welled in her eyes and she turned away from him.
“Sit down for a minute.” He took her hand and pulled her gently to the couch. She didn’t have the energy to protest. “I loved you from the moment I met you at the wedding.”
A smile flashed onto her face and disappeared again. She opened her mouth to speak but he talked over her. “When we got together I thought that was it for me. I planned a whole life for us in my head. Then you said you wanted to take the job in London and I realised you wanted something completely different. I didn’t know what to do, and I stupidly thought a clean break would be the best thing.”
“I never wanted to lose you,” she said.
“I know. And I should never have let you go.”
“What were your plans?” she asked seriously. “You said you planned a whole life for us …”
He leaned back into the couch, biting his lip. “Marriage, kids, dogs, old age.” His eyes finally met hers. “But I always planned on living in Averton. London was never in my plans.” He paused briefly. “Now I don’t really care where I live as long as I’m with you. I’ve been asking around and I think I can get a job in London—”
“What?” She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.
“I’ll move to London,” he said. “We can get a place together.”
“You can’t move to London.” The idea of it almost made her laugh. “You’ve got your lovely house and your life. You can’t just leave.”
“Of course I can. You need to be in London, and I don’t want to hold you back from your career. It makes sense for me to move. Just say you still love me and we’ll figure the rest out.”<
br />
“It’s so expensive here,” she mused. “We’d have to live in a tiny apartment.”
“I don’t care.” He reached for her hand and looked at her hopefully.
“I don’t know if it’s what I want,” she said slowly. His grip loosened on her hand and she grabbed onto him, not wanting to let go. She hadn’t meant that she didn’t want to live with him, just that she didn’t know if she wanted to live with him in London. It didn’t make any sense. What she really wanted was to live in Averton again, but that meant admitting what a huge mistake she’d made. She was embarrassed that her dreams of an acting career had vanished after all she’d talked about it.
“I need time to think,” she said. “This is all so out of the blue. I’m supposed to be at work and you’ve just sprung this on me.” Part of her wanted to jump into his arms and go back to how things had been between them, but after so long trying to get over him, it felt like a step in the wrong direction.
“Okay.” He squeezed her hand and stood up. “I’ll leave you to get back to work.”
She was aware of how far he’d driven to see her and was tempted to say he should hang around and she’d meet him after work. That didn’t give her much time to think, though. And if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she needed to start taking more time to think things through properly instead of making rushed decisions.
“I’m visiting Annette next weekend.” Her birthday celebration. “We could get together then and talk things through.”
He paused at the door and nodded. “That sounds good.”
She lifted onto her toes and gently kissed his cheek before telling him to drive safely.
Chapter 46
Max and Lizzie were sitting on the patio at Oakbrook when Josie arrived on Saturday lunchtime. She looked Lizzie up and down. “You’re massive!”
“Careful,” Max said. “The last person to say that almost ended up with a black eye.”
Lizzie frowned. “It’s not a very nice thing to say!” She hugged Josie regardless and wished her a happy birthday.
“Good thing she’s so slow these days.” Max flashed a boyish grin. “Black eyes don’t suit me at all!”
Josie chuckled and bent to stroke the dogs.
“There you are!” Annette stepped outside. She had an apron on and flour smudged on her cheek. “Happy birthday!”
“Thank you.” She didn’t sit down, feeling the need to stretch her legs after so long in the car. When Charlie brought her a tennis ball she threw it across the lawn for him to chase.
“How’s city life?” Max asked.
“It’s okay,” she said without enthusiasm.
“We saw your TV show,” Lizzie said excitedly. “We found it on some random channel.” Josie had told her a couple of weeks ago that it was now being aired. She hadn’t quite got round to mentioning that she no longer worked there. No time like the present, she decided.
Max spoke before Josie had a chance. “We think we saw the back of you. I thought it looked too tall to be you and the hair was funny, but Lizzie thought it was you.”
“I’m sure it was,” Lizzie said.
“Sounds like it. I had to wear shoes with three-inch heels.”
“Wow!” Lizzie laughed. “I’m surprised you lasted more than a day.”
“Not much more.” Josie finally took a seat with them. “I quit a couple of weeks ago.” She felt tearful and hoped she wasn’t about to start blubbering.
“What happened?” Lizzie asked, putting her hand over Josie’s.
“It didn’t turn out how I thought it would. I’ve been working at a café.” She smiled sadly when no one said anything. “Did you have bets on how long I’d last at this job?”
Lizzie shook her head. “I thought this one would last. It seemed like you were finally doing what you loved. And nobody’s judging you for changing jobs.”
“I’m not sure that’s true.”
“I think it’s very brave,” Annette put in. “Most people stick at jobs they hate because they’re too scared to take a chance.”
Lizzie moved her hand to stroke her swollen belly. “Eventually you’ll find something you love, and you’ll know for definite it’s what you want to do.”
Their kindness made Josie’s eyes fill with tears. She couldn’t believe she’d put off telling them everything because she’d been embarrassed. She’d assumed Lizzie would roll her eyes and tease her. It seemed like it was only Josie who was judging herself harshly.
“I already found something I love.” Josie glanced at Annette. “I want to work with dogs. I found there are all these courses you can do to work with dogs and I thought—”
“You want your job back?” Annette jumped in.
“Well I know you’ve got Heather now, but I thought that maybe I could help out a bit. I know Heather hates all the computer stuff.”
Annette waved a hand in front of her face. “Of course you can have your job back. Heather walks the dogs once a day, that’s all. Sam’s been teaching me to use the computer. It seemed easier than standing over Heather’s shoulder telling her what to write every time.”
“You couldn’t fire Heather. I’d feel terrible.”
“I can keep her as well. I told you, she doesn’t do many hours. And if you’re serious about doing some courses, you’ll only work part-time anyway. I think it’ll work brilliantly.”
“I’m going to learn about dog grooming so we can offer that as part of the stay. I’ve got more ideas too. I’ll earn my keep. I promise.”
“You always do!” Annette said happily. “I suppose I better run a duster over your room.”
Josie reached down to stroke Macy. “I might not live here,” she said as casually as she could.
“Where would you live?” Annette asked, bemused.
Max grinned. “Am I allowed to guess?”
“You’re going to move in with Sam?” Lizzie asked with wide eyes.
“Maybe.” Josie grimaced. “I’ll need to ask him first …”
“Are you going to ask him today?” Max said. “Because that could really put a damper on your birthday if he says no!”
Lizzie and Annette swiped at him at the same time.
“I’m joking,” he said, laughing.
Josie looked at Annette. “You wouldn’t mind if I lived next door instead, would you?”
“Of course not.”
“I should probably go and find Sam then.” Josie stood. “Wish me luck!”
“Just hurry up,” Annette said. “The rest of your guests will be here soon!”
Josie gave a quick salute and hurried in the direction of Sam’s house.
***
He opened the door wearing the same blue shirt he’d worn on their first date, and the smell of his aftershave took Josie straight back to that night.
“I was just about to come up to Annette’s.” A smile spread over his face as he looked at her.
“I thought about everything,” she announced.
He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when she leaned close. Gently, she brushed her lips against his, then closed her eyes as she kissed him. He relaxed into her, his arms snaking around her back and pulling her to him.
When they broke apart he beamed at her. “I take it I’m moving to London then?”
“No!” She pushed the door shut and pulled him into the living room. A gift bag sat on the coffee table, and she was intrigued as to what he’d have chosen for her.
“I’m going to move here,” she said.
“What about your job …”
“It’s a long story. Can I open my present first?”
She reached for the gift. It was a big box, so definitely not jewellery like she was used to getting from Jack. She never even wore jewellery.
“I might have made a huge mistake.” Sam looked suddenly worried. “I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’ll hate it. I should have got you something romantic.”
Even more intrigued, she tore at the wrapping paper. She
stared at a shoebox.
“I’m concerned that this doesn’t say Converse …”
Opening the lid revealed a pair of grey hiking boots.
Sam frowned. “I thought they’d be useful when we come and visit.”
Josie’s eyes filled with tears and she bit her lip to stop her chin trembling. “I love them.”
“Really? Because I won’t be offended if you return them. The receipt’s in the box.”
Shaking her head, she pulled the paper from inside the shoes to try them on. She pushed her feet in, wriggling her toes and then pulling the laces tight. They were sturdy but not uncomfortable. “I really do love them. And I love that you care about my feet being cold and wet.” Her eyes locked on his. “And they’re perfect for my new job!”
“What new job?”
“I’m going to work for Annette again,” she told him happily.
He looked confused. “But I meant what I said about moving to London.”
“I know you did. And I love you for it. But I know you want to be here really, and I do too.”
He still looked sceptical. “What about your career?”
“I’m working on a new career. I have lots of plans to improve the kennels. And I had an idea about doing consultancy work with other kennels. I proved I can build up a business, so I thought I could help other places do the same. I have so many ideas.” She took Sam’s hands in her own. “But I want to be here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Definite.”
“So you’ll move in with Annette again?”
“Probably.” She tilted her head to one side. “Unless I get a better offer …”
“You could live with me,” he said, smiling uncertainly.
She beamed and moved to kiss him. “I was hoping you might say that.”
THE END
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the people who read and gave feedback at the various stages: Anthea Kirk, Nikkita Blake, Sarah-Jane Fraser, Michelle Morgan Salls, Sarah Walker, Sue Oxley, Kathy Robinson, Hazel Baxter, Dua Roberts and Stephen Ellis. You are all amazing!
