by Hannah Ellis
“I’m not sure. The TV work pays well, and it’s a pretty steady income. I love taking these,” he indicated the photos, “but I only really think of it as a hobby. It’s taken me years to build up a collection. I find a place that I want to capture and then keep revisiting the same spot until the light is exactly right. I worry that if I was dependent on photography for an income, the pressure would take all the fun out of it.”
“It just seems a shame. You looked so happy today when you were taking photos of Angela and Ben and the kids.”
“I love doing the photo shoots too, but it’s hard to make a living from it. A lot of the work can only be done at the weekends and evenings. That’s the stuff I really enjoy: when I get to be part of people’s lives. Weddings, baby photos, family photos, graduations … I like the thought of taking photos that people will treasure, and kids growing up with my photos on the walls of their home. Plus, it’s just nice work. But it’s sporadic. The TV work isn’t that reliable either, but in the past few years I’ve managed to line up contracts steadily. The money’s good but the contracts are only ever short. A six-month contract is considered a lottery win.”
“But if you sold these as well as doing the photo shoots, can’t you make a living that way?”
“That’s the plan,” he told me. “I guess the TV work is just less of a risk. Once the mortgage is paid off I’ll give it a go. That’s what I keep telling myself: pay the bills and then chase the dream.”
“It’s such a shame that you keep all this hidden away, though.”
“Now you sound like my mum!”
“Well, she’s right. Why can’t you sell them now?”
“I need to set up a website and stuff …”
“Are you worried that they won’t sell? Because they would.” I moved from the table to take a closer look at the rainbow he’d captured arcing over hills, while oblivious ducks swam on a pond in the foreground. “They would definitely sell. You wouldn’t even need a website to start with – just ask a few cafés to display them for you. Anyone would want these hanging on their walls.”
“You and my mother might be biased,” he told me. “Come on, I’d better get you home.”
“I might be biased,” I conceded when he turned off the garage light. “But I’m also right. You’re really talented and they would sell themselves. I would buy one. More, if I could afford it! How much are they?”
“You couldn’t even afford one.” He pulled me to him.
His lips had just brushed mine when a knock interrupted us. I looked towards the house and saw Ruth standing in the kitchen window, peering out at us and holding up a cup. “Tea?” she mouthed.
Adam sighed and led me back to the front door. “Time to say goodbye. Stop laughing,” he ordered. “It’s not funny!”
“It’s a bit funny,” I told him.
We said our goodbyes and headed back down to Adam’s house to pick up the car. I enjoyed the weight of his arm around my shoulder when we walked in silence into the village.
Darkness was falling over the village and a quarter-moon hung over the pub, beckoning me to it. “Do you want to get a drink?” I asked.
“I shouldn’t drink any more,” he told me. “And I’ll probably fall asleep at the wheel if we don’t get going soon.”
“Okay.” I hesitated when we reached his house. “Or we could just stay here tonight and drive back tomorrow …”
“We could do that,” he agreed.
“Okay.” I tried my best to sound confident. “Good.” I walked up the path to the house.
“Thought you wanted to go for a drink?” he said, following me.
“I changed my mind. Do you want to go for a drink?”
“Not really,” he said with a boyish grin. “I’m just hoping that my mum’s been and tidied my bedroom recently!”
I smiled, shaking my head as I followed him over the threshold and inside.
Chapter 38
I woke blissfully happy: my head on Adam’s chest, an arm draped over his torso, and my legs tangled with his. I had to fight the urge to tell him I loved him when he kissed the top of my head and whispered, “Good morning”.
“Can we stay here forever?” I murmured into his chest.
“Yeah,” he said and I lifted my head to look at him, then lowered my lips to his.
Forever didn’t last long. Adam got up to answer the door mid-morning, and was greeted by a gaggle of reporters wanting interviews and obnoxiously snapping photos before he closed the door on them.
“Maybe you should’ve put a T-shirt on,” I told him from the stairs as he pulled the curtains in the living room, dressed only in a pair of jeans.
“It looks better on you,” he said, glancing up at me.
I tugged at his T-shirt which I’d thrown on, and smiled before heading to the shower. Afterwards, I went downstairs, feeling refreshed and back in my own clothes. A mug of coffee waited for me on the table and I picked it up and moved to where Adam was sitting at his corner desk.
“They look great,” I said, when I caught sight of yesterday’s photos on his laptop.
“Yeah, they came out well. I just need to cut eight hundred photos down to thirty or forty now and then make sure they’re perfect.”
“Does it take long?”
“Yeah. Do you mind hanging around here today?” He looked up from the laptop. “I’ve got a job nearby this morning. I could drive you home after that?”
“Fine by me. I might go in search of breakfast.”
“I can run across to the shop,” he told me. “There’s quite a crowd outside.”
“It’s okay.” I peeked out of the curtain and saw that he was right: the street was full of cars and I heard someone shout my name before I hastily replaced the curtain.
“I can’t send you out to the wolves.” Adam stood behind me, circling his arms around my waist as he kissed my neck.
“You’ve got work to do.” I turned to kiss him. “I think I can survive a trip to the shop.”
And I did. I was back five minutes later with a packet of bacon, a loaf of bread and a stack of business cards from reporters, offering to pay for my story.
“How was it?” Adam asked, glancing up at me.
“Mission accomplished,” I told him, holding up my wares. “I love that photo.” I peered over his shoulder to get a better look at little Harry, proudly holding up the frog to show his dad. “I’ll make bacon sandwiches,” I suggested, sensing I was in the way.
“Thanks.” He went back to work and seemed lost in it when I handed him a plate with a sandwich on it five minutes later. I went out into the back garden to eat my breakfast and then lie on a towel in the sun.
“I’m really sorry,” Adam told me, kneeling down beside me an hour later. “I’ve got to go. I’ll just be a couple of hours and then I’m all yours.”
“I really should’ve got you to drive me home last night,” I said. His face fell before he caught the teasing in my eyes and tickled my ribs.
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Me too.” I sat up and shielded my eyes from the sun. “Go to work. I’m fine – quite happy here, actually. Apart from the fact that you’re reminding me that people work and I should probably get a job too.”
“You’ll find something.”
“I might if I looked for something!”
“I won’t be long,” he promised, kissing me briefly before heading out.
I found my phone as soon as he left, and called Chrissie. “Where’ve you been?” she asked after a quick greeting. “I tried calling you last night but got no reply.”
“I stayed at Adam’s,” I told her, a foolish grin on my face.
“Ooh! Love is in the air, is it?”
“I tagged along to a photo shoot he was doing yesterday and then we had dinner with his parents, since we were nearby.”
“So Matt was right?” She laughed. “The crazy seduction technique actually works!”
I couldn’t help but laugh along
with her.
“Did you see the papers today?” she asked. “Adam’s really stealing the limelight now. Everybody loves him.”
“I know – there were a lot of press on his doorstep this morning.”
“It’s annoying, isn’t it? Kind of kills the romance.”
“Yeah, I’m trapped inside again. I thought I was safe in the village.”
“It’ll calm down soon, I’m sure. Anyway, I’m just going to work, but we’re all going to Dylan’s on Wednesday night. Can you and Adam come?”
“I’m sure I can find time in my hectic schedule for you!”
“Brill! I’ll see you then. Have fun with Adam!”
“I will.” I laughed as I hung up.
I got bored pretty quickly. Peeking outside, I saw that most of the reporters must have left with Adam, but there were still a few hanging around so I didn’t feel like venturing out. I was lying in the garden, ignoring my rumbling stomach, when I saw movement in the house and sat up to shout to Adam.
“I’m out here,” I told him and was surprised to see Tom’s face appear at the back door.
“Hi!” He greeted me with a huge grin.
“Hi. I thought you were Adam getting back.”
“Sorry to barge in. I tried ringing the bell. I was in the pub for a late lunch and overheard a reporter saying that Adam had gone out and left you home alone. Thought I’d see if you wanted to keep me company for lunch …”
“I’d love to. I’m starving!”
“Adam working?” he asked while I shook out the towel I’d been lying on and folded it.
“Yeah. I’m not sure how long he’ll be. Where’s Ruth?”
“She’s over at a friend’s. They’re knitting hats for premature babies. She never stops – there’s always some project. It gives me a bit of peace at least.” His face lit up when he smiled.
“Are there many reporters in the pub?” I asked once we’d made it past the few outside the house. I’d ignored them, keeping my head down.
“Just a couple. You needn’t worry. I’ll protect you!”
I looked up at him, trusting him completely.
“Now, you can’t tell Ruth about this,” he told me when we settled ourselves at the table in the corner. “Not about the food, anyway. I’m supposed to eat the salad she made for me. I’ll just tell her I kept you company while you ate.”
“Do you think she’ll believe it?”
“No. I can’t get away with anything. She’s got spies everywhere. It’s worth the lecture, though.”
“When did you have the heart attack?” I asked.
“A couple of years ago now.” He paused and shook his head. “It was scary. I thought I was a goner.”
“You must have scared Ruth too.”
“I’d say I scared everyone. Ruth went on a mission to never let me eat anything I liked ever again; Becky was flying back with the kids every weekend; Adam bought the house out here.” He smiled at me. “It was pretty nice, actually. I had all my family around me again. I stopped working and life slowed down.”
I took a sip of lemonade and looked around the pub: there was an elderly couple eating at a table near the door and a couple of reporters sitting at the bar. Tom had firmly told them not to bother me and they seemed to take him seriously. “Sorry, I’m chatting away and you’re starving, aren’t you? Do you know what you want?”
“What are you having? I’ll go and order,” I told him, standing up.
“You can order, but I’m paying, okay?”
“Deal.”
“Fish and chips for me, then,” he requested. I chuckled to myself as I headed over to Mike at the bar.
“What did you do before you retired?” I asked when I re-joined Tom at the table.
“For ten years before I retired I was the caretaker for all the schools in the area.”
“I can imagine you doing that,” I told him.
“I loved it. I knew all the kids in a ten-mile radius. It was nice work.”
“What about before that?”
“I was the warehouse manager for an agricultural supplier. I worked for them for thirty years and then they made me redundant. Replaced me with some kid.”
“I just got made redundant,” I mused.
“If it’s any consolation, it turned out well for me. Sometimes things happen for a reason.”
“I think you’re probably right,” I said to him, thinking of how my life had changed since my last day at work.
“That’s not what I ordered,” Tom told Mike when he set down two bowls of broccoli soup on the table.
“I didn’t think so,” Mike laughed. “But it’s what Lucy ordered for you!”
“Not you as well,” Tom groaned as he toyed with the soup.
“I don’t want to get into trouble with Ruth,” I explained, picking up my spoon.
“You know, for a while there, I thought you and I were friends.” He shook his head and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. He grinned back at me as he slurped his soup.
“I don’t know what to do about work,” I confided. “I should be looking for a job, but I’ve no idea what I want to do.”
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty-six.”
“Pff.” He waved a hand in front of his face. “You’ve got your whole life to figure out what you want to do. Not everyone is like Adam and knows what they want to do at four years old!”
“Why doesn’t he sell his photos?” I asked. “There is so much amazing stuff hidden away in your garage.”
“Who knows? He’s putting it off. There’s always some reason. I’ve stopped asking.”
I broke up my bread roll and dipped it in the soup. “He’s so talented.”
“I know. I have brilliant children, though I’m not sure how that happened.”
“What does Becky do?”
“She’s an English teacher. She only intended to be away for a year, but she fell in love with France, and then Will. It’d be nice if she were closer, but she visits regularly and we go over to them occasionally. She’s happy – that’s what matters.”
“I thought about teaching. I’m not sure I’d be any good at it, though.”
“You won’t know unless you try.” He winked at me.
“There you are,” Adam arrived, looking tired and stressed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I didn’t know where you were. Why don’t you have your phone on?”
“It’s on,” I said, drawing it from my handbag and registering the missed calls. “Oh, I think it’s on silent. Sorry.”
“Do you want a drink, kid?” Tom asked.
“No, we need to get going. I should take Lucy home, then I’ve got more work to do. Are you finished?” he prompted.
“Yes,” I said, standing and thanking Tom for lunch. “No dessert!” I said sternly as I hugged him.
He grinned at me. “You’re a killjoy, you are!”
I slipped my hand into Adam’s as we walked through the pub. Reporters circled us when we walked the short way back to his house. “I just need to run inside and get my laptop,” he told me, as though there weren’t people shouting questions at us, and cameras flashing too close to my face. My heart raced and I was glad when we finally made it to the front door and ducked inside.
“Did you see the newspapers when you were in the shop this morning?” Adam broke the silence without looking at me while he packed up his things.
“Yes.” His face had been splashed across the front pages of the tabloids. I’d skimmed through some of the articles, and found them to be complimentary, mostly just uncovering who the mysterious man was.
“You could have warned me,” he said without emotion.
“Sorry, I just thought I’d go for the ‘ignorance is bliss’ approach.”
He sat down beside me on the couch, looking deflated as he rubbed his eyes.
“It’s not so bad,” I said. “Everyone likes you.”
“I just went to a j
ob and all they wanted to do was talk to me about the show, and I had reporters annoying me the whole way there and back. Someone got hold of our contracts. There’s nothing to stop me talking to them, so they’re persistent.”
“It will all blow over soon.”
“Come on, I’ll take you home,” he said after a fleeting kiss.
Chapter 39
My dad’s timing was pretty good. It was Tuesday morning and I’d just checked my bank account, working out how long I could survive without a job, when he popped round with a cheque that covered about three months’ rent. I had savings so I was fine for a while anyway, but I hated the thought of burning through the money that I’d spent so long putting away.
I’d wondered if he’d seen the show and heard me telling Kelly how he had never helped me out financially. He’d laughed when I asked, swearing he’d not been watching and knew nothing about it.
Ironically, now that he was helping me, I’d snapped at him.
“Why now? I could’ve used some help before when I was studying and working part-time as well.”
He’d looked at me seriously across the living room, and I felt bad for barking at him.
“You don’t have a job, and I thought it would help – give you some breathing room while you look for a job. You were always so capable and determined, I didn’t think you needed money before …”
“I didn’t,” I replied. “I made sure I was fine because I didn’t feel that I had any choice.”
“I’ll always help you out when you need it.”
I smiled sadly; maybe he should have made that clearer before.
“Thanks for this.” I waved the cheque in my hand. “I need to chase up my redundancy money and start job-hunting.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, giving me a quick hug and heading for the door. “Take care.”
I got to work, updating my CV and trawling the internet for jobs. Adam was working all day. I’d had a text from him in the morning apologising for his bad mood yesterday and promising to come over when he’d finished work.
He arrived early that evening. I’d made pasta for us. He was quiet and distracted as he lay on the couch, his head in my lap.
