by Ashley Croft
‘Any luck?’
Molly held up crossed fingers. ‘Possibly, but shall we walk towards the village anyway? I’ll help you with the bike.’
‘It’s fine,’ he said. ‘And why don’t you put my jacket on? I’m warm enough carrying this bloody thing.’
Molly opened her mouth to protest.
‘Don’t be predictable,’ said Ewan. ‘Just put it on.’
An hour later, a large silver van with the logo of LC Holdings pulled into the car park of the pub where Molly and Ewan waited with the bike. Sarah had managed to text them the very welcome news that one of her students was coming to collect them in one of his company’s vans.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist, or even a molecular biochemist, to work out that the tall man with dark hair climbing down from the drivers’ seat was Liam Cipriani. He looked remarkably chilled and friendly for a man whom Sarah had almost brained with a Toby jug.
Sarah’s car arrived while Liam walked over to them.
‘Hello. Taxi for the Tandem Two,’ he said.
Ewan blew out a breath. ‘Thanks, mate. Sorry we had to drag you out here.’
Mate? Molly bit her lip. Ewan rarely called anyone mate. A social anthropologist would have a field day analysing this situation.
‘You must be Liam,’ she said. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘Not a problem. I don’t mind helping out.’
Ewan showed Liam the bike while Sarah hopped out of the car and hugged Molly.
‘Thanks so much for this. Do you think Liam minds?’ Molly asked.
‘He wouldn’t have come if he did. I’ve had to follow behind because there’s not enough room for us all in the front of the van.’
‘I’ll pay for your fuel. I feel so stupid, dragging you both out here.’
‘Forget it. You couldn’t help it and I wasn’t doing much. Well, I was fixing a kingfisher into a tiara for a client, actually, but don’t let that worry you. I dropped it round to her house on the way here and you gave me an excuse not to stay any longer or have to change the design again.’
While Sarah watched, Molly and Ewan loaded the tandem into the back of the van. Molly thanked Liam again. ‘Hope I haven’t ruined your Sunday.’
‘It’s fine, I was only working on my tiara when Sarah called me and asked if I knew anyone who could help. I nipped over to the office and picked up the van.’
‘Your tiara?’ Ewan’s face was deadpan.
‘It’s for my daughter’s wedding.’
‘Ah, I see.’ Ewan nodded sagely.
‘I’m one of Sarah’s students. Now, as we’re out at a pub on a Sunday, we may as well all have lunch. You two look like you could do with a hot meal.’
‘You’re not wrong, but I’ll pay,’ said Ewan. ‘I don’t know what we’d have done without you.’
‘We’ll go halves,’ said Molly firmly.
‘Is it OK with you if we stay for lunch?’ Liam asked Sarah.
Molly was glad to see Sarah smile. ‘Why not? It’ll keep me out of the way of Cassandra and I seem to be getting my appetite back these days.’
Shortly afterwards, they were all sat in the bar, shovelling down roast dinner. Sarah did seem to have a decent appetite and over the meal, Liam asked them more about their training and the charity race. Molly started to thaw out and Ewan perked up considerably now he had a pint in his hand and someone to talk to about the tandem.
‘We’ll have to get the bike fixed before we can resume the training,’ he said as they tucked into bowls of apple crumble and custard.
Molly waited for mention of nipples but none came. ‘It’ll have to go the repair centre,’ she said.
‘I can drop you and it off there on the way home if you like,’ Liam offered. ‘We should just make it before they shut. Your bike looks vintage. I used to ride quite a bit when I was younger but I’m too busy now. How’s your sponsorship target going?’
‘OK,’ said Molly. ‘But there’s another team from our lab who have entered the same event, so we can’t ask the same people for cash. Most of the students and post-docs are broke anyway after they’ve paid their rent.’
‘I could help you out there.’
‘You’ve already done more than enough by coming out to rescue us. I wasn’t fishing for money.’
‘Well you should be.’ Liam laughed. ‘I’ll tell you what, how about if I provide you with the van as a support vehicle on the day. After all, you’re going to need a lift back from the finish line, unless you plan on riding home.’
‘No way,’ said Molly.
‘Thanks,’ said Ewan. The offer of the sponsorship had perked him up.
The conversation moved on to Ewan’s and Molly’s research. Liam nodded and asked questions in all the right places but it was obvious Sarah was his only true focus. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’s mad on her, the poor guy, thought Molly and pitied him. Falling for Sarah while she was still obviously in love/loathing with Niall was even more hopeless than her falling for Ewan. Her skin prickled. Was she in love with Ewan? Or only in lust? Despite what she’d told Sarah, Molly couldn’t deny her feelings for him had changed, deepened even … Oh, shit.
Ewan was chatting and smiling with Liam and Sarah, and Molly realised that he wasn’t moody all the time, just with her. Therefore, her logical mind debated, there had to be a reason for that. Could he be trying to deny his feelings for her or was that only her wishful thinking. He caught her eye and held her gaze until Molly joked about putting on weight like Sarah because of all the food she’d eaten. It was a very lame joke but Ewan smiled. Molly was more confused than ever, and also felt a creeping sense of gloom, which wasn’t like her at all. Fancying Ewan had been fun at first; just a lark and a challenge but lately, her feelings had definitely changed, almost without her realising it.
Was this her fate, to work alongside her gorgeous brooding boss and spend her life in a state of permanent sexual frustration and emotional turmoil?
Maybe it would be better if she left and found a new job.
After the waiter had cleared away their dishes, Molly and Sarah went to the ladies’ together. Molly came out of the loo to find Sarah splashing her face with cold water.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
Sarah dabbed her face with a paper towel. ‘I’m fine. I just felt a bit hot in the pub by the fire. I haven’t felt sick for a while now though, so I’m hoping that phase is on its way out. I should start to bloom soon.’ She laughed.
‘You already are.’ Molly turned off the taps, watching Sarah’s face in the mirror next to hers. She giggled. ‘Can you imagine Mum and Dad’s faces if they knew I was out on a tandem?’
‘No,’ Sarah said, laughing. ‘They’d never have believed it.’
‘You do look well, Sare,’ Molly said, turning to her sister. ‘Is it anything to do with Liam? He seems a really nice guy.’
‘He is.’ Sarah’s voice was neutral.
‘And he really likes you.’
Sarah laughed again. ‘He’s just being kind.’
Molly pulled a handful of paper towels from the dispenser. ‘No, he really likes you, Sarah.’
‘Do you think so?’
She dried her hands. ‘How do you feel about him?’
‘How do I feel? I like him … a lot. He’s a good friend.’
‘And he’s hot.’
‘You think so? He’s twelve years older than me.’
Molly threw the paper towels in the bin. ‘And miles younger than Brad Pitt, and Keanu Reeves. He has some great genes – with a name like Cipriani, I guess he’s Italian?’
Sarah laughed. ‘His dad’s from Sardinia and his mum’s from London. They met while they were both backpacking in the seventies.’
‘This may be a coincidence but Sardinia has one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. So I was right about the genes.’
‘He often talks about the village where his father grew up. It’s in the hills above the south-east coast. It soun
ds idyllic.’
‘Do you fancy him?’ Molly lowered her voice as she followed Sarah out of the toilets and into the pub corridor.
Sarah stopped by a fruit machine. ‘Fancy him? Yes. No. I can’t.’
‘What do you mean, you can’t?’
‘Because of Niall. I couldn’t possibly think of getting involved with another guy so soon after Niall.’
‘No, I see what you mean. But one day …’
‘Even if I did fancy Liam and yes, I admit he’s hot – for an older guy – but I couldn’t hook up with someone so soon.’
‘Does Liam know that?’
‘He’s aware of my situation,’ said Sarah firmly, ‘and that I’m not ready for anyone else. I know you think I’m crazy but I still have strong feelings for Niall – especially since he moved in with Vile Vanessa – and however wrong and mad that may seem to you, that’s the way it is.’
Molly hugged Sarah and decided to shut up. Her hopes that Molly might have come to her senses had taken a dent. She only hoped her sister had abandoned any ideas about using the Love Bug on her ex, whether to actually get him back or for revenge – or both. She walked back into the pub lounge where Ewan was showing Liam something on his phone. Probably a particularly fascinating bacterial infection.
Liam glanced up and smiled when Sarah came back. His eyes filled with pure pleasure but he made a gentle joke about the girls going to the loo in pairs to hide how he felt. Ewan glanced up at Molly and their eyes met briefly before he said something neutral about the tandems. If only he was as easy to read as Liam.
Who was she to criticise Sarah’s feelings, when her own for Ewan were all over the place – and his were a complete mystery? They were four people sitting round a pub table, laughing and having a good time yet none of them seemed to know how they felt towards the other person or how to reach out to him or her. She had a horrible feeling that the four of them were the right people in the wrong time and place but who was she to judge the way people felt and the stupid things they did for love?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Molly was so shattered after the wedding fair and tandem training that she slept through her Monday morning alarm and had to drive to the lab, munching on a piece of toast as she queued in the traffic. At least, with the bike in for repair, she had a few days off from bike-based torment.
After a tense morning in the lab, she was grateful to escape with her lunchtime sandwich into the lab garden while the Love Bug had gone off to the mass spectrometry team to test its purity. She and Ewan had also been preparing for the QA team to come in and audit the lab so it was a relief to feel the stray shafts of early spring sunlight on her face and see snowdrops nodding in the breeze next to a few brave purple crocuses that had burst through the soggy grass. Soon there would be bright narcissi and pale primroses too. Winter had seemed long this year.
Molly bit into her chicken wrap, just as Ewan walked out of the lab doors sneezing into a large white hanky. After waiting for him to finish she clucked her tongue in mock sympathy. ‘Oh dear. I hope you haven’t got a cold, Professor Baxter, or I can’t allow you into the lab.’
‘It’s all those bloody flowers in reception and stuck in buckets in the canteen.’ Ewan sneezed again.
‘Well, it is Valentine’s Day.’
‘Really? I dought it mubt be something like dat.’
She waited while he put away his hanky and sniffed loudly. ‘So, you haven’t noticed the shops full of big pink hearts and cards and chocolate on your way around town lately?’ she said when he’d sat down on the bench next to her, obviously with no qualms about spreading his germs around. Not that she’d have minded too much.
‘Funny you should mention it but yes, I have. Now, I realise what all that shit is for.’
She rolled her eyes. She knew he was joking but still.
‘I expect you’ll be sharing an intimate dinner with someone special this evening,’ he said sarcastically.
‘Funny you should mention it but yes, I will.’
He frowned at her. ‘I was joking.’
‘Is it really so amazing that I’ve been asked to dinner?’
‘No. I suppose not, but the restaurants will be packed and the prices will be sky high. People will be doing stupid things like proposing and giving each other roses and teddies.’
‘How awful and deluded of them but I can assure you that I won’t be doing any of that stuff,’ she said.
‘Right, well I hope you have a lovely time.’
‘I’m sure I will. Oh, look, it’s Pete!’ Molly gave Pete a little finger wave, enjoying the gloomy befuddlement on Ewan’s face. Jesus, if he was jealous – of Pete and her mystery Valentine’s date – then that was his problem. If he was interested, why didn’t he just do something about it? All he had to do was book a table at Cote, or invite her to the Picture House or skip the dinner altogether and just take her to bed. Because if the tandem ride was his way of pursuing her – an excuse so he could spend time with her without actually doing it – it was weird. Maybe the cycling was a substitute for having sex with her. Now that really was weird.
‘Hi, guys.’
‘Hi, Pete.’
Pete grinned. ‘I’m surprised to find you here, Molly. I thought you might be busy collecting all the Valentine’s cards and flowers that must have arrived for you.’
He beamed at his own joke while Ewan took refuge in his baguette. ‘Yeah, well, you know I had my personal assistant collect them and take them home for me. Flat’s going to look like an Interflora branch,’ said Molly, squirming. ‘I expect you know what it feels like, Pete?’
Pete’s smile evaporated. He pushed his specs back up his nose. ‘Just the one card, actually.’
‘Oh, who was it from?’
‘It was anonymous, in the time-honoured way. What about you, Ewan? Has Cupid fired his arrow your way?’
Ewan seemed to be choking on a baguette before muttering, ‘I didn’t even know it was Valentine’s Day.’
Pete sat down next to them. ‘Hmm. I can understand that kind of trivial, commercial shit would pass you by.’
But clearly it wouldn’t pass by a girly girl like her, thought Molly, quietly simmering.
‘Moving on to the important stuff,’ said Pete, about as sensitive as a lump of wood, ‘how’s the training going? I saw you out on your vintage bike the other day. What happened to the top-of-the-range custom-made model?’
‘My friend from the rugby was going to loan us one but his mum and dad needed it for a cycling tour,’ said Ewan.
Molly marvelled inwardly at his ability to tell such porkies. Not that Pete believed a word of it judging by his smug smile.
‘Bummer, eh? So where did you get the er … vintage Peugeot from? She must be pretty heavy to handle.’
‘It is perfectly fine to handle,’ said Molly.
‘Really? I must say I was surprised to see that Ewan had let you pilot it.’
‘Why?’ Molly and Ewan spoke in unison.
Pete eyed them with suspicion. ‘Because I thought Ewan would have wanted to be in the driving seat.’
‘Actually, Pete, Molly’s doing a great job as pilot.’
‘And Ewan’s the natural choice for stoker,’ added Molly, chalking up a rare Brownie point to Ewan.
Pete smirked. ‘I suppose so. So, how far have you got with the training schedule?’
‘Far enough,’ said Ewan.
‘Good. Because the race is only a few weeks away. You should comfortably be able to do almost the full distance by now.’
Molly almost choked on her sandwich.
‘Thanks for your concern, Pete, but we’re on track,’ said Ewan politely. ‘Now, what’s happening with that paper you’re trying to get in Parasitic Science? How many rounds of revision have you had to make to it so far?’
‘Remind me how far we rode on Sunday?’ Molly asked Ewan when Pete had shuffled off, muttering about “bloody peer reviews”.
‘Forty-eight point nine miles.’
Molly groaned. Her nether regions were still sore and she was stiff even after sitting down to eat her lunch. She might have to get a gel saddle cover but she wasn’t going to tell Ewan that. ‘Only twenty-six point one to go then.’
Ewan stepped into his onesie. ‘We’ll have to up the training and go out twice a week.’
Molly pulled her hood up. ‘In the dark?’
‘No choice I’m afraid. It’s either after work or before. I’d prefer it to be before work because I’ve got meetings most evenings.’
Molly suppressed a groan. ‘Do you really think we need even more training?’
‘I do, otherwise we’ll never make the distance and it’s going to be tough as it is. What about starting tomorrow morning? There’s no ice forecast and after our training session, we could cycle straight to the lab and get changed here.’
‘Well I suppose if there’s no choice.’
Ewan adjusted his safety glasses. ‘Good. I’ll come round at six a.m. sharp, so it looks like you’ll have to restrain yourself on your date tonight.’
She grinned. ‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ll try not to enjoy myself too much.’
By the end of the working day, she was in no fit state to enjoy anything. She was knackered and ready to collapse on the sofa with a ready meal and a glass of wine but she didn’t want to leave Sarah alone on Valentine’s evening. She was definitely going to stay sober and drive rather than bike to Sarah’s, what with Ewan calling round at six o’clock the next morning. Eww, even the idea of such a small hour made her feel queasy.
She unlocked the door, shoving her way past free newspapers and pizza leaflets. She scooped them up and was about to deposit them in the recycling basket when a padded envelope slid onto the kitchen tiles.
She picked it up, frowning at the black felt-tip scrawl on the front of it. Just one word: “Molly”. The package had obviously been crammed through the letterbox, judging by its mangled state and it was a second-hand envelope because you could see where the sender had torn off the previous address and resealed it with parcel tape. It was obvious there was a card inside and also something round and squishy and soft.