by Kim Nash
‘Can I see him?’ I asked Jack.
‘Walk this way, Miss Wagstaff.’
I giggled as he did a River-Dance style movement, and fake limped down the corridor. I loved how he sometimes reverted to that fourteen-year-old boy I adored. He always did know how to make me smile. Even at a time when my heart was in tatters.
Norman lifted his head from the bed he was lying on, and made a half-hearted attempt to wag his tail but after one thump, it all seemed like too much effort and he laid his head back down again.
‘Can I?’ I asked Jack, indicating the floor.
‘Fill your boots!’
I crouched down on the floor next to Norman and gently stroked his head. He opened one big brown eye and then another and sniffed at my face, then gave me a big wet soggy lick. I know you shouldn’t let dogs lick your face, especially after where they sniff and lick, but at that moment I couldn’t have cared less.
‘He lost so much blood, Nellie-bum, I really didn’t think he was going to make it. We had to give him a blood transfusion and his injuries were quite severe. But by some small miracle, he fought and held on. He’s going to need to stay in at least another night or two so the night nurses can keep an eye on him, but I reckon if he’s still doing well after that, you can take him home.’
‘I can’t tell you how grateful I am, Jack.’
He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me again. Our lips moulded perfectly together. All my worries melted away.
‘How grateful exactly? Care to show me just how much?’
I looked into those eyes that twinkled back at me. God, he was sexy even at 4 a.m. after a really traumatic time.
‘Erm, extremely grateful.’
‘Well obviously…’ He dropped little butterfly kisses on my bottom lip, and a million fireworks exploded in my body. ‘You may need some extra home-based veterinary support when he leaves here so…’ He looked at me from underneath those long eyelashes and his dimple twitched as he grinned. His hair flopped over to one side and I thought perhaps we should get a room after all.
‘I’ll ask Natalia if she might fancy staying over then shall I?’
As I turned to walk away, Jack flicked me on the backside with a towel that I hadn’t noticed he’d been carrying and I squealed. Norman was totally oblivious to the severe flirting that was going on around him as he let out a huge fart which made me really laugh out loud.
‘Ssshhh! There’s sick animals in here. For goodness sake, have you got no decorum, woman?’ He winked at me and held out his hand.
I took it and we walked out into the main reception area. The relief I felt that Norman was OK, was huge. I would never have forgiven myself should anything have happened to him.
It was 4 a.m. I felt totally exhausted. I stood leaning in to Jack’s chest, my arms around his waist, before he pulled away when one of the nurses came out to say that they needed him to do a call out to a horse who was giving birth and was in trouble. He kissed my head before he headed back indoors. Natalia rang for a taxi for me and as I waited, I watched a white feather which fluttered down in front of me, landing by my feet. There were no birds in sight. It was still dark. I looked up to the sky and that very bright star was twinkling away. Maybe miracles do happen after all. I mouthed ‘thank you’ before I got into the taxi and headed home.
* * *
‘I owe you an apology…’ I started.
‘Oh my god, Nell, I’m so sorry…’
Shivani looked a wreck. Her eyes were red and she kept wiping her nose with a tissue.
‘He’s going to be OK, Shivani. He’s going to be OK!’
She ran into my arms and sobbed. I stroked her hair.
‘It’s OK, hon. He’s going to be fine.’
‘Oh, Nell, I don’t think I’d have ever forgiven myself if he hadn’t made it. I’ve been worried sick. Are you sure he’s going to be OK?’
‘Yep, Jack said with some love and care, he’ll make a full recovery. But I owe you an apology. It wasn’t anything you did on purpose. I should have known that and shouldn’t have been so hard on you.’
‘I don’t blame you, Nell. I know how fond of Norman you’ve become. You talk about him like he’s your new boyfriend. Oh and talking about your new boyfriend, you and Jack? What’s going on there then?’
‘I don’t really know. All I do know right now, is that you and I need a cup of tea and some sleep. What a day!’
Chapter Thirty-Five
The shrill ringing of my phone woke me and made me feel quite discombobulated as I reached out to answer it and at the same time noticed that it was nearly 10 a.m. Shivani must have slept in too. It was no real wonder considering the evening’s events.
I smiled when I saw Jack’s name pop up on the screen, but then when I remembered everything from the evening before, I shot up in bed, hoping that it wasn’t bad news he was ringing with.
‘Oh my god, Jack, is everything OK with Norman? Is he OK?’ I held my breath.
‘Morning, gorgeous, he’s absolutely fine. He’s had a good sleep and we’ve given him a light breakfast which he’s managed to keep down. He’s had a little walk and a wee in the courtyard and he’s sleeping again now. I reckon another day of being like this and he’ll be fine to come home tomorrow.’
I breathed out. My shoulders dropped all the tension I’d been holding in them.
My voice caught in my throat. ‘Thank you, Jack, for everything you did last night.’
‘Everything?’ he asked and I could hear in his husky voice that he wasn’t talking at that particular moment about Norman.
My body tingled.
‘Yes, everything,’ I giggled. ‘But particularly looking after Norman. I can never thank you enough for what you did for him.’
‘It’s funny you should say that. I’m sure I can think of a few things.’ His voice was low and sultry and I knew he was smiling and that his dimple would be twitching.
Suddenly, I could hear a commotion in the background. ‘I’m sorry, Nellie-bum, but I’m going to have to go. Emergency. I’ll pop round when after work. Bye.’
Laying my head back on the pillow, I thought to last night and our shared kisses. Kisses I’d waited over twenty years for. And they were everything I’d dreamt of and more. But what happened now? Where did we go from here?
Getting up and putting the kettle on, I was still in a little daydream when Shivani wandered into the kitchen stretching her arms above her head.
‘I heard the phone, is everything OK?’ she asked while biting her nails.
‘Yes, he’s fantastic.’ I smiled.
‘And what about Norman?’ She winked. ‘Any of that coffee going spare?’
I grinned. She knew me so well.
‘I want to know everything. What the fuck has been going on down here in deepest darkest Dorset?’
There wasn’t a lot to tell. I hadn’t a clue how to describe what was going on. What I did tell her is how much I had loved Jack all those years ago and how seeing him again hadn’t quashed my feelings at all, but that I’d been pushing them aside because of Natalia’s claims on him.
Talking of Natalia, I checked my phone and noticed that I’d had a text come through to say that she’d meet me at the beach café at twelve for lunch. That didn’t give me much time to get ready. I went to call Norman to get ready to go out, but then remembered that he wasn’t there. It was funny how you slipped easily into little routines. I missed him being around. The house seemed empty, as if it had lost some of its heart and soul. It’s amazing how quickly an animal becomes part of your family, and right then, I felt like I’d created a new little family of my own. I couldn’t wait to get him home and surprised myself by how much I was actually missing him.
* * *
Checking myself in the full-length hall mirror, this way and that, before I left the house, I reckoned I would give Natalia a run for her money that day. I put on more make-up than usual, finished off with a slick of peach lip gloss and headed over to the café, ma
king sure I was in plenty of time.
Natalia was there before though. I could see her sat in the far corner, hugging a mug of something hot, her dark lustrous hair dazzling me as always with its shine but this time in a high-up pony tail. She looked up as if she sensed me there. Crikey what a difference in her. Gone were the false eyelashes, and the fake tan, her trademark bright lipstick. Instead of long, garishly painted talons, her nails were shorter and French manicured. She was wearing hardly any make-up apart from maybe a brush of light bronzer, a little mascara and a muted lip gloss.
‘Natalia, you look…’
‘Dull? Boring?’
‘Quite the opposite in fact. You look absolutely stunning.’
‘Really?’ Her shoulders lifted.
‘Really. Can I be honest with you about something?’
‘Please do.’
‘You don’t need all that make-up and falseness, Natalia. You are incredibly beautiful without it.’
‘Oh, Nell, what a sweet thing to say.’
‘It’s true. You look so different. But there’s something else about you too. I just can’t put my finger on it.’
‘I think I’m in love, Nell. But I’m such an awful person.’
‘Wow!’ I wondered what she was going to say next as a tear slid down her cheek.
I reached out for her hand. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Do you know that my name isn’t even fucking Natalia. I’ve been such a pretentious bitch. I’m reverting back to my original name. Plain old Natalie.’
‘Natalie, you could never be plain or old. Look at you today. You’re beautiful.’
‘Nell, you are so lovely and I’ve been so awful to you.’
There wasn’t anything I could say to that to be honest, so I just stayed quiet.
‘When I met Reg, I realised that love could come along and just hit you straight between the eyes. I never believed in love at first sight until then. Reg is wonderful. He’s sweet, he’s kind, he’s fair, he’s honest and I adore him. I thought that love was more of a business-type deal. You found someone who on paper would be perfect. Someone rich, with ambition, and if you shared the same interests, I thought that was what the future was about. And that’s what I saw in Jack. But he never wanted me.’
Still gobsmacked by her revelation, I only just managed to murmur, ‘Coffee, a latte, please’ to the young waitress who’d headed over.
‘I’ve seen the way Jack looks at you. I could see it in his eyes the moment I first met you. He’s never looked at me that way. He looks at you with such admiration and adoration and I could never compete with that. You scared the life out of me, Nell. You came along out of the blue and I knew at that point that I’d lost the future I thought I wanted. But that’s all it was. It was never real. There was no planned wedding. I’ve never even kissed him, well not in a romantic way. Jack told me once that he thought of me as his little sister and that really hurt because I thought that we could have had a good future together. But now I’ve met Reg, I know that you can’t build the future on material things and qualification. It’s built on love and respect for each other and that little jittery feeling that I get in my tummy every time I see him. And I think that’s what you feel when you see Jack. Am I right?’
I could do nothing else but nod. I dipped my head to the table.
‘Then, Nell, please forgive me. I tried to warn you off, but I was so very wrong to do that. I can see that you and Jack have a shared history as well as something very, very special. He told me recently that you were the one who got away. That he loved you dearly when he was a teenager and wanted there to be more between you, but he didn’t think you could cope with everything you had going on in your life at the time with your family splitting up. He told me that he just needed to show you that he was your friend and that in time, it would turn into something more, but he never got the chance because you left. He said that he was heartbroken.’
I couldn’t take it all in. So, he did like me back then, maybe even felt the same way I’d felt about him.
‘Jack told me that you are a really good person, Nell. That you always have been and that you always will be. I am truly sorry for how I’ve treated you since you arrived here. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me and that one day we can be friends. But if you can’t, I couldn’t ever blame you. What I do know, is that love can make you feel wonderful and loved and amazing. Protected and safe. And that’s how Reg makes me feel and it was different to how I felt about Jack. But it’s how I think that Jack feels about you. Don’t waste that. I don’t think a love like this comes around many times and when it does, I reckon you have to grab it with both hands and see where it takes you. It could be to the most wonderful of places. I’m going to see where it takes me and Reg. And I think that you should do the same.’
She stood to go. I heard the door chime behind me. Natalia smiled at whoever had just walked in. She hesitated as she passed me and laid her hand on my shoulder.
‘Go get your man, Nell. You deserve him and all the happiness in the world. You belong together and you belong here in Muddleford. I hope you’ll stay forever.’
I turned to watch her walk towards Reg, and she beamed as she took the hand that he reached out to her. As I looked past them both, I noticed that the person who Natalie patted on the arm, reached up and kissed on the cheek and was staring at me from across the room was Jack. My gorgeous, kind, wonderful Jack.
Epilogue
Jack looked absolutely gorgeous in his pale-blue three-piece suit. He ran his fingers though his floppy hair and brushed it out of the way of his eyes. I loved that his hairstyle hadn’t changed in over twenty years and that that action was now a habit that would never change.
As I walked down the aisle, his eyes held mine, and he smiled that lopsided cheeky grin. I knew that he truly loved me. I could feel it in my heart. I can’t believe I ever doubted him. He stood at the front of the church, the vicar bending towards him to quietly speak.
Jack wrung his hands, and tapped his feet, his big moment to shine.
‘Best man, do you have the rings, please?’
‘I do,’ he placed them on the cushion offered.
Reg grinned at him. Jack patted him on the back.
After all the formalities were complete, the vicar announced, ‘You may now kiss
your bride.’
Reg kissed Natalie gently but full on the lips and dipped her backwards. She giggled and then pulled herself upright, grinning as she turned to look at me after I straightened out her bridal train.
‘Thank you for being my chief bridesmaid, Nell.’ She squeezed my hand. She looked absolutely stunning today, natural make-up, nothing false about her at all. She made a beautiful, radiant bride.
* * *
The wedding reception took place at the Cock Inn. And yes, Jack and I were still giggling about that name, especially when in his best man’s speech, he said that there would definitely be some ‘cock in, in the honeymoon suite tonight.’
Val came over and joined us at our table as Jack and I watched everyone around us. We were both people watchers and were having fun, making up our own stories about the party goers. Jack headed off to the bar to get his mum a drink.
‘Thanks again, Val, for clearing everything up for me and sharing what you knew about why Mum and Aunty Lil had fallen out.’
‘Well, I’m sorry I was the one who had to tell you. I wish that we’d all done more all those years ago to sort it out properly and I should have interfered more to make that happen.’
‘Please don’t worry. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.’
When I met up with Val, a couple of days after the swishing event, she told me that the night of the argument, Aunty Lil had shouted at Mum and told her that she needed to get help, that she was an alcoholic, that she had wrecked her own life and if she wasn’t careful she was going to wreck mine too. She had told Mum that Dad had left her because of her drinking and yet she still couldn’t see it.
> At this point, Mum apparently still would not admit that there was an issue at all and said that Dad was a womanising narcissist who only ever thought of himself. Mum called Aunt Lil an interfering old bitch and told her to stay out of her life and my life. She said that her daughter was dead and she couldn’t replace her with me. Aunty Lil was devastated, apparently, and Mum told her that she wanted nothing to do with her ever again.
Val had been there at the time and heard the whole thing and that’s why she knew everything that had happened.
‘I really do wish I’d done more, but Lilian told me that it was your mum’s decision and that I wasn’t to interfere. So I didn’t. I’m so happy that everything worked out so well now, although I do wish you’d have got to see Lilian and spent time with her as an adult. And I really am so glad that the stones and the messages helped to get you and Jack on the right track.’ She smiled at me. ‘I thought you’d never get there under your own steam. What a pair you are!’
‘Stones and messages?’ I was confused.
‘Yes, dear. I felt you and Jack were never going to sort yourselves out. You were dithering about staying here or not, and he wouldn’t tell you how he felt. I could have bashed your heads together. That’s when I thought that you needed a helping hand. I dreamt one night that Lil and I were painting stones together and it felt like a message from her to do exactly that. You nearly caught me painting them one day in the kitchen and I had to pretend they were cupcakes.’
‘Oh my god, Val. You sneaky thing.’
‘You think? Not as sneaky as when I had to let myself into the house with my spare key and hide notecards in the pockets of Lil’s clothes for you to find.’
My mouth gaped open and she winked as Jack returned and handed her a gin and tonic.
‘Got you to the right place though, didn’t it? I am so happy that you two are together now. I honestly couldn’t be more delighted and I know that Lil would be smiling down on you right now.’
