‘No, and I didn’t cry for months either.’ Rachel gave me a look. ‘I just pined a bit, that’s all.’
Daniel sighed and looked away. ‘You know what, Rachel. I don’t know what you thought I was doing back then. It may have seemed like I had lots of different girlfriends, but they were just friends. I kissed a fair few of them, granted, but I was a teenage boy. I don’t think I could ever be classed as some kind of womaniser.’
‘Well, I was friends with Lilly. Do you remember Lilly, Daniel? You shagged her at a party then went downstairs and snogged her friend.’ She looked across at me. ‘I’m sorry, Elena. I never told you because I knew it would upset you. But he broke Lilly’s heart, and that’s the reason I don’t like him. He’s not good enough for you.’
Daniel laughed in disbelief. ‘I can categorically say, hand on heart, that I never shagged Lilly. I never even kissed her. She made that up because she was jealous of her friend. My mum even got involved in that one, because she stirred up a load of trouble with my mates. In fact, Lilly had to write me a letter of apology because of it.’ He glanced at me. ‘Didn’t you know about that? It was all over college. I can’t believe you didn’t know about that?’
‘I did know about that.’ I glanced across at Rachel, frowning. ‘It was the reason I never spoke to Lilly.’
‘She swore it was true.’
‘She was off her head. I was only at that party for an hour early on, then I was sick and went home. My mum came and picked me up. That’s how rock ‘n’ roll I was. I didn’t even kiss her friend, whoever she was. Your impression of me back then was completely false.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe I’m still defending myself from rumours started seven or eight years ago. Even if I had been the rampant stud you seem to have had me down for back then, why should it affect my relationship with Elena now? Do you not think I might have changed a bit by now? You know, grown up? I can’t believe you’re still guarding her from me all these years later.’
Daniel’s phone started to ring and he looked at his caller display. ‘Oh look, it’s one of my many women. Which one could it be, I wonder?’ He waved the phone before accepting the call. ‘Hi, Richie. I’ll be back in a minute. I’m just getting the sandwiches now.’ He rang off. ‘I have to go. But please tell me you’re not going to listen to any more of this crap?’ He gestured at Rachel. I shook my head and he looked back at her. ‘You know, not that this is any of your business, but I never even had sex at college. I lost my virginity in France the year after.’ Leaning over, he put a hand on my shoulder and kissed me. ‘Are you busy this weekend? I want to take you away.’
‘Oh!’ My eyes widened in surprise. ‘No. No, I’m not busy at all.’
‘Cool. I’ll see you later.’ He kissed me again and walked off up the street, his T-shirt flapping in the wind.
I looked at Rachel. I didn’t have to say anything. She cleared her throat and looked down at her coffee cup, touching the lipstick stain on its rim with her index finger. ‘Well, maybe I’d forgotten the part where she had to apologise for making it up.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘It’s true what they say then. Mud really does stick.’
‘I’m sorry, okay. Maybe it’s not fair to judge him on what he was like as a teenager. I just don’t want you getting hurt.’
‘Well, let’s face it, we didn’t really know what he was like as a teenager. It wasn’t like we were part of that group. Maybe I was so consumed with jealousy over every girl he ever spoke to, and you were so disapproving about my crush on him, that we assumed he was dating girls when they were just friends. And I can see that now, because he’s such a positive, happy person. He’s good with people. He’s a good man. I don’t have any reason not to trust him.’
She smiled, begrudgingly. ‘I suppose I do quite like him. I just don’t want you heartbroken.’
‘Well,’ I shrugged, ‘I could say the same about Patrick. I’m just as worried about him, you know. What if we meet and don’t like each other? Would he turn you against me? Stop you from seeing me?’
‘No one’s going to stop me from seeing you, Elena. Are you mad?’
‘But what if you have to move to be with him?’
Rachel sighed. ‘I’ve already said I’m not moving. But, if I did move somewhere new, that still wouldn’t affect our friendship, would it? We’ve been best friends since we were eleven. You’re basically my sister. That’s never going to change, no matter how many miles come between us.’ She leaned across and hugged me. ‘Anyway, come on, drink up. I need to get back to work.’
Chapter Twenty
I was really excited about going away. As Hilary had pointed out, Alex and I hadn’t been on holiday the year before. And the year before that, we’d only had a weekend in the Lake District where he’d spent the whole time complaining about the rain. Despite the beautiful scenery, it had been a pretty miserable time and I’d been glad to go home.
Daniel picked me up in his truck on Friday evening. My stomach did a somersault when he pulled up outside. I’d seen him every evening this week, but still experienced a jolt each time I saw him. I watched from the window, my bags by my feet, as he climbed out and made his way up the path. My mum was dusting frantically, as though Daniel might come in and do a white glove test on her fireplace.
‘Mum, stop that, he’s just picking me up. He’s not coming in.’
‘Well, it needs to be done. The way that sun slants in through the windows shows up all the dust. Go and answer the door.’
I opened the door just as Daniel put his foot on the doorstep. He grinned and I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.
‘Enough of that! You’ll have the neighbours talking,’ Mum said from the lounge. I didn’t like to say they’d have had more to talk about if they’d seen us in Daniel’s truck the other night. He grinned down at me and Mum came to the door. ‘Come in, Daniel. Do you want a drink of anything?’
‘No thanks, Rosa. I think we’d better be going. The traffic might be bad.’
‘Well, maybe I can give you some cartons of juice to take with you for your journey,’ she said, going back through to the kitchen. ‘How’s your head now?’
‘All right, thanks.’ Removing his sunglasses, he stepped into the house. ‘My black eye’s almost gone now.’
‘Oh good.’
It still had a yellowy-green tinge, but the deep purple bruising had mostly gone from around his eye. The area around his stitches still looked black though. I kept wondering if I was a bad influence on him and whether he should be taking things easier. He hadn’t had much rest this last week.
‘Have you got all your stuff ready?’ he said, ‘Toothbrush, pants, cello?’
I laughed. ‘No cello, I’m afraid, but I have packed clothes, oddly enough.’
He shook his head. ‘You won’t need clothes. Come to think of it, you won’t need underwear either. But you will need that cello.’
I stared at him. ‘You’re serious, aren’t you?’
‘Oh yes.’ His eyes burned into mine and a rush of heat turned my knees to jelly.
Pretending to be annoyed, I tutted and ran upstairs to get it. I could hear my mum in the hall and the rustle of crisp packets as she gave him supplies for our journey, and I rolled my eyes.
‘There’s some Twix bars in there too,’ I heard her say. ‘And here’s some Tropicana.’
‘Oh lovely! Thank you, Rosa.’
Dragging my cello to the top of the stairs, I was just in time to see him peck her on the cheek. He looked up and started up the stairs towards me. ‘Let me help you with that.’
‘Why are you taking your cello?’ Mum frowned.
‘Doctor’s orders,’ Daniel said, taking it from me and going back downstairs. ‘He said I needed soothing cello music to get to sleep at night.’
Mum looked doubtful. ‘Well, she has been practising a bit lately, but she’s still a bit rusty. I’m not sure you’ll find it that soothing.’
&
nbsp; I burst out laughing. ‘Thanks, Mum.’
I gave her a kiss and grabbed my bags from the front room. Dad came in from the garden and waved us goodbye as Daniel and I drove off down the road.
‘Your mum’s ace,’ he said, ‘She’s given us snacks! Snacks for the road!’
I laughed and looked through the stuff she’d given us. ‘I swear she still thinks I’m a teenager. You wouldn’t think I’d been living away from home for years.’
‘Well, I try to forget it.’ Daniel winked at me and switched on the radio. He started singing along and I joined in, and we laughed and sang all the way to his uncle’s cottage in Wales.
The sun was just setting when we got there. I climbed down from the truck and slammed the door, looking around me in wonder. The little white cottage stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. Waves crashed on the pebble beach below and gulls circled noisily above.
‘Wow, it’s beautiful.’ I said.
‘It’s all right, isn’t it?’ Daniel said, pulling bags from the back of his truck. His feet crunched on the gravel path as he made his way to the front door and he reached into his pocket for the key. I stood behind him with my cello, looking up at the red roof and the clematis clinging to the walls. ‘Smells a bit musty,’ he said as the door opened. He shoved the bags inside then turned and took the cello from me. I went to enter, but he stopped me.
‘Hold on.’ Scooping me up into his arms, he carried me giggling into the cottage and collapsed with me onto the sofa.
‘Aren’t you meant to do that when we’re married?’
‘I liked the “when” bit of that sentence.’ He planted a kiss on my lips before getting up to close the door. I shifted position on the red brocade sofa and looked around. The cottage was filled with orange light from the tangerine sky outside. I got up and went to look out of the French window.
‘Shall I give you the guided tour?’ Daniel ducked his head into the lounge. Smiling, I turned to follow him out. ‘Kitchen…’ He nodded through a door on the right and I peeked in to see oak cupboards and a white cooker. ‘Single bedroom…’ He nudged a door on the left. ‘And last but not least…’ He led the way up a steep, narrow staircase. ‘Our bedroom.’ He opened the bedroom door with a flourish.
‘Oh wow!’ I stepped inside and looked around. An unmade double bed dominated the room and a wide bay window looked out over the sea. ‘Isn’t it gorgeous?’
‘Mum’s given me bedding to make up the bed,’ he said, throwing the suitcase onto the mattress. ‘If she’s given me two single duvet covers to make up the bunk beds downstairs, I’ll not be happy.’
I laughed as he opened up the case and shook out a double duvet cover. ‘Ah, I’ll let her off.’
‘What’s this?’ I picked up a paper bag and looked inside. It contained about fifty condoms. ‘Blimey! You really are optimistic, aren’t you?’
‘What’s that?’ He peeked inside the bag. ‘Mother! She must have been down the family planning clinic or something.’
‘Oh well, at least she’s practical.’
Daniel laughed. ‘Your mum gives us snacks, my mum gives us condoms. We have the best parents.’ He leaned over and kissed me. ‘Come on then, let’s make this bed.’
‘You’re pretty keen to get this bed made up,’ I said, raising my eyebrows and setting the case down on the floor. I pulled off the duvet and hooked the corner of the fitted sheet over the corner of the mattress.
‘Well, you should know that I’m pretty keen to get you in it.’ He gave me a cheeky grin.
‘And you should know that I’m pretty keen to take a walk on that beach.’
Daniel groaned. ‘Damn beach! I knew I’d regret bringing you to such a beautiful place. I should have taken you to a Premier Inn somewhere on the M6. Concrete everywhere and nothing to distract us.’
‘That’s not very romantic.’
‘Who said anything about being romantic? I’m a red-hot stud muffin, baby! All you need is me and my knob.’
‘Well, your mum obviously thinks so,’ I laughed, pulling on a pillow case. Daniel turned red, making me laugh some more. ‘Don’t you think you should try to find the electricity supply?’ I said. ‘And the gas?’
‘If you say so, bossy boots.’ He went downstairs and I finished making the bed. The blue sheets looked nice on the oak bed, and I went to stare out of the window as the last bit of sun dipped below the horizon. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it all was.
Daniel came back upstairs with more bags and then went out to the truck to get a box of groceries.
‘I should have thought to bring food,’ I said, following him into the kitchen.
‘Why? I didn’t even tell you where we were going.’
I put my arms around his waist and hugged him from behind. ‘I love you,’ I said.
He turned to face me and took my face between his hands. ‘I love you too.’
Chapter Twenty-One
The path down to the beach was steep and stony. It was dark by the time we’d eaten and Daniel used a torch to light our way. Our hands, knotted together, looked as pale as the sand banked up on either side of the pathway. Long grasses waved in the breeze, and the sound of crashing waves grew louder as we got closer to the beach. The salty tang of the sea filled my lungs.
Daniel switched off the torch when we reached the sand. The moon hung fat and full in the star-studded sky, and the ink-black sea sparkled in its reflected light. We walked hand in hand along the shoreline, watched over by the little white cottage on the cliff above.
‘I want to stay here for ever.’ I turned to look up at him, pushing my hair back from my face. He was staring out to sea, the wind ruffling his sandy hair.
‘It’s a bit bleak in winter.’
‘I don’t care. I love it.’
‘Bit of a commute to work.’
‘I’d get a new job, and you can hug trees around here.’
He laughed. ‘All right then, I’ll tell Richie we’re moving into his cottage.’
‘Cool. Do you think he’ll mind?’
‘Of course not!’
He grinned and hooked an arm around my shoulders and we stood for a while, watching the waves. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself.
‘Are you cold?’
‘A little.’ I pulled the sleeves of my hoodie down over my hands and pressed into him.
‘Come on then, let’s go back.’
The lamplit cottage was cosy and warm once Daniel built a fire in the grate. We sat on the sofa, dunking biscuits into hot chocolate and chatting quietly. My cello sat in the corner and Daniel kept glancing across at it as we talked. It had become the elephant in the room. Taking pity on him, I set my mug on the side and opened up the box. The red wood gleamed in the flickering fire light as I carried it towards the centre of the room, and Daniel brought over a chair for me to sit on.
‘I’m not taking my clothes off just yet,’ I said, scratching my shoulder self-consciously. ‘And don’t get your hopes up, because I really am rusty. Just like my mum said.’ Flicking my hair over my shoulder, I picked up the bow.
Daniel said nothing. He hooked his leg across his knee and sat back on the sofa, smiling. Firelight danced in his eyes and his hair shone gold. His big hands nursed the mug of hot chocolate in his lap and my heart squeezed with love.
‘What do you want me to play?’ I asked, clearing my throat. ‘Bach? Or something a bit more contemporary?’
Daniel shrugged. ‘Whatever you want. I don’t mind.’
My heart was thumping as I shifted on the chair, trying to get comfortable. I laid the sheet music on the floor in front of me, and began to play Bach’s prelude. The rich sound rang through the little room, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. God, I loved this instrument. Its sound swept me away and I forgot to be nervous. When the piece came to an end, I glanced up at Daniel and smiled. ‘Was that okay?’
He looked like he was going to cry. �
�Okay? It was more than okay. It was fantastic.’
I beamed at him, feeling slightly emotional myself. ‘At least there’s no next-door neighbours to annoy here. Do you want something else or have you had enough?’
‘Enough? I’ll never have enough.’
‘How about some Brahms? We used to play that in the orchestra.’
He nodded. ‘You used to play in that long black dress. You looked beautiful.’
I gave him a look. ‘That would have been at one of our concerts, wouldn’t it? Not some dreadful assembly thing that the rest of the students were forced to watch in the auditorium.’
‘No, me and my mum used to go. She loves classical music. Well, that’s what I told my mates anyway.’ He winked at me and I tingled from my scalp to my toes. ‘I went to all of them.’
‘Really? That’s lovely.’
‘You’re lovely.’
I played until the fire died in the hearth and a quiet chill stole through the cottage. Daniel took my hand and the cello and led me upstairs to the bedroom. We made love in the big bed, leaving the curtains open so we could see the sea shimmering. In the morning, the sun woke me, shining through the curtains and into my eyes. I blinked and rubbed a hand across my face before turning over and closing my eyes once more. Daniel’s arm snaked around my waist and he kissed my neck. ‘I’ve made you some tea.’
‘Mmm.’ I rolled over so I was facing him and smiled. I loved waking up next to him. Putting a hand out, I stroked back his hair and something glinted on my hand. I blinked and looked at it. A diamond solitaire was on my finger in place of the green plastic ring.
I sat bolt upright and stared at it. ‘What?’
Daniel sat up and reached for his mug of tea. ‘What’s up?’
I gazed down at the diamond ring on my wedding finger in disbelief. ‘How did you do that?’
‘Magic.’ He smiled over his shoulder at me. ‘Not really. What I actually did was take the plastic ring off and replace it with that one while you were asleep. If you don’t like it, I’ll change it. No big deal.’
Stuck With You Page 22
