Felicity glowed with delight at his words and a smile played across her lips.
The blast of air from the front door was cool as Esme squealed, ‘Auntie Jess, what are you doing here?’
‘Hurry up and let me in, I don’t relish the idea of standing out in the cold for very long.’ She grinned, stepping into the hallway. ‘Hurry up summertime,’ she said, tickling Esme’s tummy.
‘What are you doing here?’ Fergus asked. ‘Not that you’re not welcome,’ he added quickly.
‘You’re wanted in the pub, and ta-dah!… I’m your babysitter.’
Fergus narrowed his eyes at her. ‘What’s going on?’
Jessica’s eyes twinkled at him. ‘Isla and Drew are waiting for you and you need to track down Felicity and take her with you.’
‘Felicity’s already here,’ said Esme, dragging Jessica into the living room where an intrigued Felicity uncurled her legs from underneath her and looked up.
‘Perfect, that solves that problem then.’
‘What’s going on?’
Jessica shrugged modestly before pressing her lips together to hide her smile.
Fergus and Felicity exchanged glances. ‘It looks like we’d better go and find out,’ said Fergus.
Felicity stood up. ‘Come on then, grab your coat.’
Fergus disappeared into the hallway while Felicity bent down in front of Esme. ‘I’ve had a lovely time this evening … in fact the best time, and your baking is going to win awards one day. Maybe you could offer your Auntie Jess a piece of cake and let her taste how scrumptious it is.’
‘Did someone mention cake?’ grinned Jessica, as an excitable Esme led her into the kitchen while Fergus and Felicity slipped on their coats. As the front door closed behind them they walked up the path to the garden gate. Felicity paused for a second and stared up at Fergus to find his gaze boring deep into hers.
‘Thank you for tonight.’ Her words were soft. Feeling brave, she closed the distance between them and leaned up on her tip-toes and planted a kiss lightly to his cheek.
‘You’re very welcome … you should come again sometime soon.’
Felicity pressed her lips together with a secret smile. ‘That would be lovely.’
As Fergus shut the garden gate behind them, he gave Felicity a sheepish smile before slipping his hand inside hers, completely taking her by surprise. She basked in the pleasure of his touch. Her heart was beating nineteen to the dozen at how good it still felt, even after all these years. She knew it had been wrong to run, leaving him coping alone, but maybe that was what had needed to happen to bring them back together. Her heart swelled with happiness as they walked in silence towards the pub … together at last.
Chapter 30
Fergus held open the door for her and walking into the pub, Felicity felt like she was walking on cloud nine. She spotted Isla and Drew in the far corner sat at the table alongside Allie and Rory. Isla looked up and waved them over.
‘Drink?’ asked Fergus disappearing towards the bar.
Felicity nodded. ‘Gin and tonic please.’
As Felicity walked over to the table, Isla looked between Fergus and Felicity in wonderment.
‘What’s going on here? Did you two arrive together?’ Isla narrowed her eyes at Felicity who snagged a glance towards Allie, who was looking on in amusement.
‘There’s nothing going on,’ answered Felicity, shocked at the sudden change in her voice as it went up an octave.
‘Leave the girl alone,’ said Rory and pulled out a chair.
Felicity mouthed, ‘Thank you’, and hoped the crimson blush to her cheeks would disappear soon.
Thankfully Allie came to the rescue. ‘Come on then, what’s going on, why have we all been summoned to the pub … not that I’m complaining.’
Fergus parked himself on the chair next to Felicity and Isla gave her another knowing look. Felicity shook her head in jest then grinned.
‘Now we are all here … we have news,’ said Isla, not able to hide the excitement in her voice.
Allie and Felicity exchanged glances and both shrugged.
‘Things have been a little glum in the village since the bridge collapsed but thanks to Flick enlisting Alfie’s help, the rebuild will soon be up and running—’ she took a breath, ‘—but Drew and I thought we all needed something to look forward to.’
Drew reached over and took her hand.
‘A christening!’
Allie clapped her hands together. ‘A christening for Angus!’
‘A christening for Angus,’ Isla repeated. ‘We can’t thank you enough for being such amazing friends. And thank you Flick for helping to bring our wee man into the world. I actually don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t there.’ Isla was getting emotional at the thought of it.
‘You don’t need to thank me.’ She reached over the table and squeezed her friend’s hand. ‘So, what’s the plan? The village church?’
Isla nodded, ‘Yes, we’ve booked it for the middle of March, so hopefully everything in the village will be back to normal by then.’ Isla stopped talking and looked between her friends. ‘So, you all need to save the date because none of you could miss it for the world.’
‘We wouldn’t want to miss it,’ chipped in Allie, taking a sip of her drink.
‘Well, you can’t miss it … because… gushing friend moment coming up.’ Isla flapped her hand in front of her face then beamed at Drew before turning back to her friends. ‘Because Drew and I would like you all to be godparents.’
There was a colossal gasp around the table. Allie squealed, her smile turning into a huge grin.
Fergus leapt to his feet and patted Drew on his back before kissing Isla on the cheek; Rory mirrored his actions.
Felicity was over the moon to be asked to be Angus’s godmother, but knew there would have been a time, not so long ago, that the offer would have caused a momentary flicker of pain to surface, knowing that she’d never have a biological child of her own. But since being back in Heartcross she’d begun to let go of the past and embrace life again. Esme had helped to change her view on motherhood without her even knowing it.
Even though she swallowed a lump in her throat she knew she was going to embrace this chance and would wholeheartedly take on the role. After only being back in the village a short time she felt honoured to be asked and the feeling of being loved by her friends enveloped her. It didn’t matter that she’d taken herself away to heal her pain, these were her friends, her true friends and the emotion surged through her body. Her eyes brimmed with happy tears. She would never let Isla, Drew or baby Angus down.
She pulled herself together. ‘Let’s raise a toast,’ ordered Felicity, picking up her glass. ‘To baby Angus.’
Everyone chinked their glasses together.
‘To baby Angus,’ everyone repeated, taking a swig of their drink.
As the excited chatter filtered around the table, she felt Fergus place a hand on her knee. ‘You okay?’ He kept his voice to a whisper.
‘I am … honestly. Sometimes the memories just creep up on me.’
He squeezed her knee and snaked an arm around the back of her chair.
Felicity felt an overwhelming feeling of contentment, not just at being with Fergus, but with the old gang all back together. They spent the next hour or two reminiscing about the past, and between them they raked up every funny story from their school days up until Drew’s stag do where he’d accidently climbed on to a train bound for London. If it wasn’t for a little old lady waking him up due to his snoring, he might never have made the wedding.
Fergus checked his watch and even though it wasn’t quite closing time he announced he had to get home to Esme. The night had been perfect, and Felicity wished it would go on forever.
‘I’d best get back too,’ she said standing up.
‘I can walk you home,’ said Fergus, which was exactly what Felicity was hoping for. After they said their goodbyes they hovered on the steps outside
the pub. It was a clear night and the view was magnificent. The sky was littered with stars that looked like beautiful flashing fairy lights. They both looked up at the illuminated darkness and the past seemed to linger at a distance, an excitement for the future suddenly gripping her.
‘Everything will be okay, you know,’ said Felicity noticing that Fergus had gone quiet.
‘As long as we look after each other, everything is going to be more than fine,’ he replied, leaning forward and dotting Felicity’s nose affectionately with his finger. ‘Come on, let’s get you home.’
Fergus linked his arm through hers as he walked towards Love Heart Lane and there was no denying Felicity shimmied with happiness.
Chapter 31
Felicity finally located her mobile phone on approximately the fifth missed call after frantically searching under her duvet. It felt like she had only just gone to sleep. She’d been messaging Allie, who’d been grilling her about Fergus, until the early hours and once her head had finally hit the pillow she’d fallen into a deep sleep. Whoever was ringing her now wasn’t giving up, and she peered at the screen with blurry eyes.
‘Alfie, you’ve woken me up. Where’s the fire?’ asked Felicity, in a complete daze.
‘Sorry … sorry … sorry … but I thought you might like to get yourself down to the river.’
Felicity glanced at the clock. ‘It’s 6.30 a.m. Why would I want to get myself down to the river?’
‘Because all the plans have been drawn up, and approved thanks to Annie Boyd and the construction of the new temporary bridge is about to begin. Granted, they are starting from Glensheil but the press are down there. You’ll be able to catch a glimpse from Heartcross.’
‘Thanks Alfie,’ she said, hanging up the call and quickly pulling on a jumper and a pair of socks. She tip-toed downstairs hoping not to wake her mum and pulled on her boots. She buttoned up her coat and carefully closed the door to Heartwood Cottage behind her.
There wasn’t a soul in sight as she hurried down Love Heart Lane but she noticed the light on in Rory’s living room; even with the isolation of the village he still religiously opened up the veterinary practice every day.
Felicity walked the half-mile to the river. Even though there was an icy chill in the air the unspoilt early morning view was outstanding. There were heather-clad, mist-filled hollows that sloped up over the mountainous terrain, picturesque by any standards. Felicity wondered how she’d ever given all this up to escape to the city smog. She didn’t yearn for the noise or crave the fast pace of the city anymore, it was well and truly out of her system.
As she reached the end of the path, she saw the river in sight. It was still strange to see the view without the original bridge arching over the river.
There was a hive of activity on the other side of the river, and Felicity felt a flutter of pride as she could see the army of yellow-hatted workmen and the machinery on the opposite side. With Alfie’s input things were beginning to take shape quickly and she watched for a minute, feeling a tiny bit emotional. She’d made this happen, obviously with the help of the general public donating so generously, but it had been her idea to do a video in the first place. She thought for a second about the mysterious donation that had pushed them over their target. Still no one knew where that had come from but whoever it was, Felicity knew both she and the villagers were extremely grateful.
‘Wow, I can’t believe they’ve started already.’
Felicity jumped out of her skin and spun round. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked watching the breath swirl around her face in the cold air.
‘Jogging,’ laughed Fergus, standing in front of her dressed in sports gear.
Felicity felt a slight blush to her cheeks. ‘Ha! Yes! Silly me.’
‘But you don’t look like you’re jogging?’ Fergus flicked a curious glance at Felicity then grinned. ‘In fact, I would say they were PJs under your parka.’
‘Busted!’ laughed Felicity, trying to brush it off but feeling a little embarrassed. ‘Alfie woke me up, told me the construction had started in case I wanted to witness the start and before I really thought about it I found myself here. But I am regretting not putting anything warmer on.’ She shivered, feeling the cold. What on earth had she been thinking?
‘The villagers are going to be glad it’s all happening so soon. The funny thing is everyone has taken that bridge for granted for all these years; it was inevitable it wasn’t going to last forever especially with the wild weather up on these mountain tops.’
‘I’m sure it’s going to take years to reconstruct the old one again, but at least we will soon have access to the town and normal life can resume.’
‘There’s nothing normal about Heartcross, for such a small village in the Scottish Highlands there’s always a drama.’ Fergus looked down at his watch before touching Felicity’s arm. ‘I need to jog on and get ready for work.’
‘Where’s Esme?’
‘Jessica stayed over last night so I took advantage of her good nature and thought I’d try and get this body back into some sort of shape.’
‘It looks fine to me.’ The words were out of Felicity’s mouth before she could stop them.
Fergus tried to hide his smile.
‘Are you coming tonight?’ she probed, with her fingers firmly crossed in her pockets.
‘What’s tonight?’
‘I take it you aren’t keeping up with the village Facebook page?’
‘I try and stay away from social media at all costs.’
‘Sorry … I didn’t mean…’
‘Don’t be daft … what’s tonight?’ interrupted Fergus, steering the conversation back on track.
‘Yesterday, we got talking to the pensioners in the teashop and they began reminiscing about past times and the annual bingo night in the village hall which they’d enjoyed. So, Allie mentioned there was still the old machine stored in one of the sheds at the back of the pub.’
‘You’ve decided to put on a bingo night?’
‘Absolutely, a little bit of light-hearted fun, to keep everyone entertained.’
‘You, Felicity Simons, are a woman of many talents.’ He grinned, now shuffling from foot to foot to try and keep warm. ‘From bridge constructor to bingo caller.’
‘So, are you going to come over?’
‘I’ve had some offers in my time … but bingo,’ he teased.
‘Bring Esme, she’ll have fun.’
He cocked an eyebrow. ‘Okay, it’s a date,’ he said, before turning and powering his legs up the hill.
It’s a date. Felicity turned the words over in her head before pulling her lapel up tight around her neck. Fighting the icy winds, she walked as fast as she could back up the track towards Love Heart Lane. Even though the early morning chill was cutting right through her, her heart was warm with love for Fergus. Everything in her life was coming together and she felt happy strolling back towards Heartwood Cottage until she suddenly remembered Eleanor Ramsbottom, her boss from the department store, who no doubt would be expecting her back in London very soon. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She knew she needed to send that email terminating her employment and that she would now have great pleasure in doing so.
Chapter 32
As Felicity and Rona pushed open the double doors of the village hall, Allie and Rory were already inside. They’d set out the tables and chairs and erected some sort of prehistoric looking machine at the front of the room. Rory had plugged in a microphone and was currently blowing into it, sending a high-pitched squealing sound through the room.
Allie gave them a welcoming smile. ‘Have you brought your dabber?’
‘Funnily enough … no!’ laughed Felicity.
‘You can have one of mine,’ she said waving a neon-pink stick in the air.
‘Thanks, just what I’ve always wanted!’
‘It’s amazing what you find in the shed, and we’ve even got a pile of bingo books from a fundraiser we did years ago.’
&
nbsp; ‘Well, that’s a result, shall I put them in a pile by the door? So everyone can grab one when they come in?’
‘Yes please.’
Rona walked over towards Rory who had finally managed to work the microphone without deafening everyone.
‘I thought you’d be wearing a pristine white jacket with a black shirt and bright red bow tie if you are our bingo caller for tonight,’ teased Rona.
Rory cringed. ‘Woah! I’m doing no such thing. I’ve set this wee lot up but there’s no way I’m calling out the numbers … that’s down to you, Allie.’
Allie looked panic-stricken, ‘I can’t do it! I’m not confident enough.’ She smiled sweetly towards Felicity. ‘It was your idea.’
Felicity threw her hands in the air. ‘I don’t mind.’
‘Do we have any prizes?’ asked Rona. ‘Or is it just for fun?’
‘We can do a free meal at the pub and afternoon tea at the teashop once everything gets back to normal … but I think everyone is out for some light-hearted fun this evening.’
The village door opened, and everyone looked round.
‘Look who’s home!’ Esme came flying through the door and as soon as she spotted Felicity, ran straight into her arms. Following right behind her was Aggie and Fergus.
‘Well, you look better,’ exclaimed Rona, walking over towards her. ‘Welcome back!’
‘Thanks, it’s great to be back,’ said Aggie, wearing a huge smile.
‘When did you get home?’ asked Allie.
‘Drew came and got me in his boat. I have to say I never thought I got seasick, until I had the misfortune of sitting in a rowing boat over the choppy river but great progress is already being made on the bridge from Glensheil.’
‘That’s great news,’ replied Felicity, and everyone agreed.
‘What’s that machine?’ asked Esme, suddenly fascinated by the old bingo machine rigged up at the front of the room.
‘Come on … I’ll show you.’ Felicity took Esme by the hand and led her towards it while the village hall doors opened and everyone filed through the door and settled down at the tables.
Love Heart Lane Page 27
