by Jenny Kane
After Abi and Max and been waved off to a secret location, she had quickly taken her leave of Beth, Jacob and Dan with the excuse of getting Sadie settled at her place.
The urge to stay, to talk to Dan, or simply to hold his hand, had been strong, but Cass knew if she’d spoken to him there and then, emotion and lust would have taken the lead over common sense. If they were to have any sort of friendship, it had to develop away from the blurring of the guidelines caused by how well Dan wore his uniform, and the glances of approval he’d kept throwing her way when he’d thought she wasn’t looking.
‘I did the right thing just leaving after the reception, didn’t I, Sadie?’
The retriever kept quiet on the subject of Cass’s self-imposed seclusion, so she just hugged the dog tighter as they watched the waves curl up the beach together. Trying not to wish that Dan had tried to get in touch with her, Cass spoke up to the sky and a group of circling seagulls. ‘No more time wasting thinking about things I can’t control. If Dan is interested, he will come and find me.’
Sadie gave her another look.
‘OK, I’m being contrary, aren’t I?’
The dog put her head on Cass’s knee, making her laugh. ‘That’ll be a yes then, will it?’
Stroking Sadie thoughtfully, she mused, ‘At least I know Donald Clearer is on the case.’
The cheque from Justin had been paid in, and the money was already poised to be distributed to the one-time employees of The Pinkerton Agency, which had now been officially, and legally, dissolved. There was no need for Cass to have any contact with Justin Smythe again.
The news of his affair with Crystal, once the initial shock had subsided, was somehow inevitable. ‘Once a cheat, always a cheat, isn’t that what they say, Sadie?’
Taking a final draught of coffee, Cass put down her cup, and tucking her knees under her chin, stared at the clifftops where distant moving shadows denoted other early morning dog walkers taking the air. ‘Perhaps I could get to like the beach if I could always have it all to myself.’
Tilting her head to one side, Sadie gave Cass such an old-fashioned stare that she couldn’t help but laugh. ‘I can see you’re not convinced by that either. Maybe you’re right. I’m not really a seaside dweller, am I?’
Brushing some offending sand off her palms, Cass got to her feet. ‘Come on, Sadie, we have about five hours before Abi and Max get home, and a great deal to do before then.’
On hearing the names of her owners, the dog’s tail began to wag.
‘So, will you help me get on with my plan then, Sadie?’
Nudging Cass’s legs in encouragement, the retriever led the way towards the car Cass had purchased the day before, having finally returned her hire car.
‘Good girl. Let’s go then. Time to implement the second part of my rebooted life.’
Jacob parked outside Abi’s House, and let Stan and Dora out of the back seats.
Dora was laden with handfuls of pastel-coloured fabric bunting, while Stan was carried a bag stuffed with groceries for Abi and Max to find on their return, and a large bunch of flowers. Getting out of the passenger seat, Beth joined Jacob by the car boot, where he was getting out a box of beer, wine, and some orange juice.
‘You got the key, Stan? This lot weighs a ton.’
As Stan opened his old front door, Beth relieved Dora of some of the bunting. ‘Ready?’
‘For anything!’
Beth laughed. ‘Right, let’s get this place ready for the best welcome home party ever.’
Cass tethered an obliging Sadie to a lamp post outside the estate agency and pushed open the door, where she was greeted with a broad smile from Maggie.
The agent hadn’t expected to see Cass again so soon. It had only been yesterday that she’d come in to the office, apologised for her behaviour the first time they’d met, and explained her plans to a forgiving Maggie.
‘Decision made then, Cass?’
‘Yes. Decision made.’
***
Standing on the balcony of their hotel room, Abi stared out over the beautiful Wye Valley. Max couldn’t have chosen a more romantic hotel for the anniversary of their first meeting. The woodland scene before her presented itself in a blanket of treetops, the twist of the River Wye to one side, a path leading the forest off the other way.
The hotel itself was idyllic, the room perfect, and the locally sourced food delicious. They’d had the most wonderful time, enjoying each other’s company without having to worry about anyone else but themselves. But…
The question that hadn’t been asked had hung in the air between them the whole time.
Staring across the horizon, Abi could hear Max moving around their bedroom behind her, double-checking that they’d repacked all their clothes. She knew they couldn’t leave before she’d said something; not if they wanted to move on with their lives. One of them had to put a pin in the bubble of uncertainty that had begun to inflate a little more each day since the news of Stan’s engagement.
It had been many months now since the ghost of Abi’s husband, Luke, had haunted her thoughts with his taunting put-downs, and yet she could hear him now, just on the edge of her consciousness.
You haven’t got the guts, have you? Neither of you. You’re pathetic.
Abi watched as a lone kestrel danced gracefully around the distant skyline. She’d been sure that Max would hate it if she was the one who brought up the question of marriage. Old-fashioned was his way, and if she mentioned it first, then she feared he’d feel he had failed in some way.
Another flash of Luke’s gloating face floated through her mind. Marriage had not been a happy time for her, nor had Max’s marriage been good for him. Abi’s husband had almost instantly changed from a caring man to a nightmare during their honeymoon, and from what Beth had told her about Max’s wife, the same could be said for her. So, perhaps…
‘Are you alright, lass?’
Abi jumped. She had been so submerged in thought that she hadn’t heard Max come up behind her. ‘I was thinking.’
‘Me too.’ Parcelling her into his arms, Max drew Abi close, so that her back rested against his chest, as they stared out over the scenery. ‘I love you, Abi.
‘I love you too, Max. It’s been the most amazing year.’
‘And this month has been quite something as well, hasn’t it?’ Abi kept her eyes locked on the kestrel. ‘With Beth and Jacob starting a family and Stan and Dora proving love has no age limit. Well…it makes you think.’
‘I know. Look…’ Max paused, embracing Abi more firmly. ‘I’m sorry if I seem a bit slow in moving things on. It’s just…’
‘It’s OK.’ Abi swivelled round and stared directly into Max’s eyes. ‘You told me before. We have to live at our own pace, not Beth and Jacob’s, or even Stan and Dora’s.’
Max bent down and kissed Abi gently on the lips. ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
‘And I you.’ Abi began to laugh. ‘Sorry, but I’ve just remembered that awful last scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral. You know, when it’s pouring with rain and Hugh Grant asks the American woman to agree to not marry him.’
‘Oh, I know the one you mean! They were both soaked to the skin. It was so corny. Dreadful scene. Almost killed a great film.’
There was a hushed silence, and then, acutely aware of every nerve in her body, Abi asked, ‘Max, tell me honestly, because I feel like this is coming between us. What do you truly feel about marriage?’
Max tilted up his partner’s chin. ‘If I ever marry again it will be to you. And what about you? How do you feel about it?’
‘The same.’ Abi’s heart soared as the gap that had been building between them began to close. ‘I’m not ready to go that way again yet. Luke changed overnight when we married. I know you wouldn’t, but at the same time…’ Abi stopped as Max smiled in understanding ‘. . . I do want to move on with our life, Max. A life together. With a family perhaps?’
‘No perhaps a
bout it.’ Max scooped Abi up in his arms, the expression in his eyes clearly showing his intention to start trying for a baby there and then.
Abi giggled. ‘We can’t now! We have to check out of the hotel in half an hour!’
‘And I plan to make the most of every single one of those thirty minutes.’
Dan hung up his phone and laid it on his desk. He hadn’t heard from Cass since the wedding. She had disappeared so quickly with Sadie that he hadn’t even had the chance to tell her how much he’d like to get to know her properly now Justin had been extracted from her life.
It had been while he was giving his speech as he’d watched Cass watching him, willing him on with those incredible peppermint eyes, that Dan had decided he’d ask the city girl out for dinner as soon as the wedding was over. But somehow the time hadn’t been right; there had been residents to help with food, and bathroom trips, and guests to chat to, and suddenly the wedding was over, and then Cass had made her excuses and gone without having their promised chat.
Dan fiddled with his mobile. Dora had been very definite about the fact his presence was required at Abi’s House after his shift finished in an hour’s time. Although he hadn’t been able to see her face, Dan was convinced that it had her poker expression on it.
He hadn’t been in Abi and Max’s lives a year ago, so it made no sense at all for him to be invited to their mini anniversary party. Dora was matchmaking. Again. Cass, as Abi’s neighbour, was bound to be there.
Tilting his seat back so he could stretch out his long legs, Dan groaned at his own feebleness. He wanted to see Cass; but until she gave him some sign that she wanted to see him too, then Dan was determined not to go anywhere near either her or Miners Row.
Chapter Thirty-nine
‘They are coming home today, aren’t they?’
Beth looked at her watch for the third time in as many minutes.
‘Oh, course they are!’ Jacob sat down on the doorstep of Abi’s House and stretched his legs out. ‘It’s a beautiful day, they’re probably making the most of every minute.’
‘Do you think I should text Abi?’
‘I thought you wanted this to be a surprise?’ Jacob took a swig from his bottle of lager. ‘They’re probably stuck in the holiday traffic. You know what a nightmare it can be driving through Cornwall this time of year.’
Beth, who was trying to ignore her rumbling belly, and not start eating until Abi and Max got home, nodded reluctantly. ‘Sadly that’s probably it.’
The gentle sound of Dora, Stan and Sadie all snoring on the living room sofa drifted through the open window. Beth smiled. ‘They are so content together. I hope we’re like them when we’re older.’
Tapping the step to indicate he wanted Beth to join him, Jacob put an arm around her. ‘We’ll be even madder than them probably. Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you, but we don’t seem to have had a minute’s peace lately.’
‘What’s that then?’ Beth laid her head on Jacob’s shoulder, closing her eyes against the late afternoon sunshine. ‘If you are about to tell me that you want to name our child something weird I will elbow you in the side right now.’
‘As if I would curse us with a little baby girl Strawberry or a bouncy boy called Nintendo?’
Beth shuddered. ‘Oh don’t joke! It’s only a matter of time.’
Jacob laughed. ‘Don’t worry, Beth; I’ve listened to your lecture on why it is important to give your child a real name many times.’
‘Sorry. I know I go on about that. It’s seeing a growing yearly supply of children with made-up names or surnames as Christian names that has done it. They always have lower IQs than kids called Emma or Daniel or something normal.’
Jacob laughed. ‘Not into generalisations or anything then?’
‘Maybe a bit.’
‘Anyway…that wasn’t what I was going to say.’ Jacob twisted his position so he could look at Beth properly, ‘I would like to ask, if you would like – and you are allowed to say no – it won’t change how I feel about you, but…’
Beth’s heart started to beat faster. Is Jacob about to ask what I think he is?
‘I would like you, Beth Philips, granddaughter of Jack the Lad, and teacher of this parish, to be my wife.’
Her eyes shining, Beth was about to give a positive answer, when Jacob put a finger to her lips and added, ‘I am not asking you because of the oncoming arrival of young Strawberry or Nintendo. And I am certainly not asking so you appear respectable in the eyes of the less enlightened villagers and members of the teaching profession. I am asking because I am very much in love with you, and I want you to be the one I snore next to on the sofa when we’re in our eighties.’
Gently taking his hand from her lips, Beth leaned forward. ‘Yes, please. I love you, Jacob. Grandad would have loved you too. I think you are every bit as eccentric as he was for a start!’
‘Actually, if we had a boy, I wondered if we could call him Jack. What do you think?’
Cass saw the van, with Max Decorates emblazoned across the side, pass her house and pull into an empty parking space at the side of the road.
That was her signal to act.
Sat in the living room’s window seat waiting for her neighbours to get home for the last hour, Cass had been partly reading, partly failing not to think about what she was going to say to Dan when they inevitably bumped into each other at Chalk Towers. Now she picked up her handbag, nipped out of the back door and walked into the village as fast as she could.
Max pulled the van’s handbrake and turned off the engine. ‘I think we should do that every anniversary. Just take off and be on our own. Or does that sound dreadfully anti-social?’
‘It sounds wonderful to me.’ Abi was about to climb out of the van when she spotted the row of bunting flags draped across the front wall of Abi’s House. ‘However, I have a feeling you might have to be social any second now.’
‘What? Why?’ Max winked. ‘I thought I’d take you inside and finish off our non-honeymoon in style.’
‘Depends how much you like an audience while you perform?’
‘Excuse me?’ Max followed the direction of Abi’s gaze. ‘Ahh, I see. Did you know about this?’
A hand-painted banner had been tied between the open upstairs windows of their home, saying, Welcome Home Abi and Max. Happy Anniversary.
‘Not a clue. I suspect it’s Beth’s handiwork.’ Abi gave Max a quick kiss. ‘Hold on to that honeymoon thought though!’
Climbing out of the van, Max’s smiled dipped a fraction. ‘They aren’t expecting us to come back engaged are they?’
‘I’ve no idea.’ Abi slipped her hand into his. ‘Don’t worry about it. This is our life, not theirs.’
As they crossed the road, Max said, ‘Can you hear snoring?’
Beth and Jacob rushed towards their friends. ‘Welcome home! Hope you don’t mind this invasion.’
‘Of course not.’ Abi embraced Beth. ‘But what’s all this in aid of? I’ve had my anniversary celebration.’
‘Not with us you haven’t!’ Beth laughed. ‘There should be more of us, but, as you can hear, two of our party passed out waiting for your return!’
‘That will be Stan and Dora having forty winks, will it?’ Max looked up at the banner. ‘Thanks, guys. What a great welcome.’
Jacob pointed to the front door. ‘Even better is to come. There’s wine, beer, and fresh bread and butter inside. And Cass will be here with a bumper round of fish and chips in a minute.’
Max grinned. ‘Fantastic. They don’t do such good fish and chips in the Wye Valley.’
‘Honestly, Once a Cornishman…! Our meals were all lovely.’ Abi laughed. ‘Come on, let’s go and wake up the oldies, suddenly I’m starving.’
Sat in the garden at Abi’s patio table, swaddled in throws to keep the growing evening sea breeze off their shoulders, the friends tucked into salt- and vinegar-covered fish and chips, straight from the paper they’d come wrapped in.
>
‘This is another thing to add to the list of things I’d never have done in London.’ Cass stabbed a particularly thick chip with a tiny wooden fork. ‘A dinner party where you eat off paper rather than plates or slates, without real cutlery!’
‘Nor me!’ Abi waved her own wooden fork at her neighbour. ‘Luke only allowed fish and chips if they were served in a restaurant, with the chips neatly placed in a separate fake mini chip pan, and the batter so thin it may as well not have been there.’
‘Sounds like your ex and mine have a lot in common.’ Cass took another mouthful of their fish supper, and then asked, ‘Forgive me if I missed this when I got back from the chip shop, but have you guys come back engaged or anything?’
Max almost choked on some batter, but Abi laughed. ‘No, we talked it over, but we’re happy as we are, aren’t we, Max.’
The decorator reached a hand out ‘We are, lass.’
Dora’s shrewd eyes shone approvingly. ‘Good plan.’ She raised a glass. ‘That’s absolutely the right decision for you two. Here’s to finding the right person, and simply enjoying being with them.’
Abi laughed. ‘I do declare you’re psychic, Dora; but I’ll drink to that.’
As they raised a glass of wine, Beth caught Jacob’s eye, silently asking him if they should share their own news. On receiving the smallest of head tilts in return, Beth said, ‘Actually, there is some news in that direction.’
‘There is?’ Max’s smile widened as he guessed what Beth was about to say.
‘Jacob and I have decided to get married.’
‘You have?’ Stan was amazed. ‘When did that happen?’
Laughing, Jacob confessed, ‘When you guys were asleep. Aren’t I the romantic, proposing to the gentle background music of you, Dora, and Sadie snoring?’
‘Sadie was snoring as well?’ Max cuddled the retriever.
As the chorus of ‘Congratulations,’ had died down and hugs had been exchanged, Sadie got up and stood at the door.
