by Kate Hardy
Ben thoroughly enjoyed the journey, seeing the windmills and the waterways and the stunning range of flora and fauna. But even more he enjoyed being close to Toni and her family.
That night, when she dropped him home, he waited a moment before opening the car door. ‘Are you doing anything next weekend?’
‘I don’t think there’s anything in my diary. Why?’ she asked.
‘I was thinking, it might be nice to go away for the weekend. If you can get time off on Friday afternoon, maybe we could have a weekend away.’
‘A romantic mini-break? That sounds wonderful.’
‘Abroad, maybe. Except, even if you have a pet passport, I’m not sure that it’d be fair to take Archie on a city break.’
She looked thoughtful. ‘It’s the school summer holidays now, so I probably can’t get him into the boarding kennels at this short notice, but I’m pretty sure Stacey will have him to stay. Though I’d rather check with her first before you book anywhere.’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Let me know, and then I’ll book somewhere. Can I surprise you?’
‘That,’ she said, ‘would be lovely.’
* * *
Stacey was happy to look after Archie for the weekend, so Ben booked a weekend away, refusing to tell Toni anything more than what the temperature was likely to be and what she’d need to pack. He managed to keep the surprise of where they were going until they checked in at the airport and it was obvious from the check-in desk.
‘Vienna? How lovely,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been there before.’
‘I believe it’s all about cake, chandeliers and coffee,’ he said with a smile. ‘I thought we could just wander round the city, visit art galleries and gardens and old palaces, and have plenty of stops for coffee and cake.’
‘That sounds perfect—really romantic,’ she said.
And it was. The hotel was gorgeous, converted from an old palace, with high ceilings, chandeliers and marble floors, and a view from their window over the park.
‘I thought we could maybe start with the Sisi Museum in the Imperial Apartments,’ Ben said. ‘I think there’s an exhibition of Empress Elisabeth’s clothes.’
Toni was thrilled that he’d remembered her love of costume museums. ‘That sounds fabulous, but won’t you be a bit bored?’
He smiled back. ‘Not with you.’
Toni was enthralled by the displays and the paintings. ‘This replica of Sisi’s wedding dress is incredible. And that gown in the painting with the stars in her hair—that’s stunning.’
‘So would you dress up in something like that?’ he asked, intrigued.
‘Maybe.’ She smiled at him. ‘I can imagine you dressed up as a nineteenth-century aristocrat, in a tail coat and a white cravat.’ Mischief danced in her eyes. ‘And a top hat.’
He grinned. ‘A top hat to me means Fred Astaire.’
‘But I’m no Ginger Rogers,’ she said. ‘If I tap dance with you, your toes would be sulking for the next decade.’
He laughed and stole a kiss. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself.’
Though Ben was hard on himself, she thought. He blamed himself for his wife’s betrayal, thinking he hadn’t been enough for her. And that wasn’t fair. Here in Vienna, would the magic of the city work on him, the way it was working on her?
Toni had brought a little black dress with her and they ate at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant that night before strolling through the city centre with their arms wrapped round each other, charmed by the string quartets and opera singers on every corner.
‘This is such a treat,’ she said. ‘Fabulous food, beautiful architecture, those gorgeous dresses in the museum and this wonderful music. I don’t think I’ve ever heard buskers as amazing as this before.’
‘Me, too. And you’re the perfect person to share it with.’ He smiled. ‘And now we’re going to have a twilight tour of the city.’
He helped her up into a fiaker, one of the horse-drawn carriages that lined up near the cathedral, and sat with his arm round her as they drove through the cobbled streets. The carriage driver pointed out places of interest as he drove them round the city. Places where Mozart and Beethoven and Haydn had lived, the Parliament building, the Hofburg Palace and the Opera House.
‘Imagine being here nearly two hundred years ago,’ she said, her expression wistful, ‘and driving in one of these carriages to the theatre, then hearing Beethoven’s Ninth played for the very first time...’
‘Funny you should say that,’ he said. ‘We have tickets for a concert tomorrow night. It’s not Beethoven’s Ninth, but something I hope is special.’
She smiled at him. ‘I’m with you. Of course it’ll be special.’
And the ice that had surrounded his heart for the last few months finally cracked. Right here, right now, Ben thought, he couldn’t be any happier. The empty spaces inside him began to feel full of light. Vienna was called the city of dreams as well as the city of music. Would his dreams of the future finally start to come true with Toni?
That night, Ben waltzed barefoot with Toni in their suite, before undressing her slowly, carrying her over to the bed and making slow, sweet love with her. It was the first time they had made love since that night when she’d been so desperate for comfort; but this time was all the sweeter because it was just for them. No past, no sorrow to get in the way—just the sheer joy of being together.
And there was no awkwardness the next morning when she woke, warm and comfortable in his arms: just closeness and sweetness and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.
‘So is it the first time you’ve been to Vienna?’ she asked over a breakfast of good coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice and amazing pastries.
‘Yes. You?’
She smiled. ‘Yes. And I’m so glad we’re going to explore it together.’
‘I thought we could do the art galleries today—and have a wander through the gardens, as it’s so sunny outside,’ he said.
‘That sounds perfect.’
And it was: Toni thoroughly enjoyed walking hand in hand with Ben in the public gardens, discovering that they liked the same kind of art, and taking selfies with the fountains of the Belvedere Gardens behind them, and the massive white palace with its green copper roof reflected in the lake.
They stopped at one of the oldest cafés in the city for coffee and cake.
‘Vienna is famous for the Sachertorte,’ Ben said. ‘We really ought to try it.’
‘Is there a non-chocolate version?’ she asked hopefully.
‘That’s the whole point of it. Chocolate overload, and it’s meant to be amazing—even you might like it.’
‘How about a compromise?’ she suggested. ‘I try a forkful of yours, and you try whatever I choose.’
‘Deal,’ he said with a smile.
It took her ages to choose a cake from the huge selection in the glass-fronted cabinet, but eventually she chose Esterhazy torte, a stripy layered confection of almond meringue and buttercream.
The melange coffee, the Viennese version of a cappuccino, was perfect—but the cake wasn’t. ‘Sorry. It’s much too rich for me. I know I’m a heathen,’ she said ruefully.
But she enjoyed feeding Ben a forkful of her own cake, watching his sea-green eyes widening in bliss. Seeing the curve of his mouth and remembering how it felt against hers.
‘That’s sublime,’ he said. ‘Though I have to admit I prefer mine.’
‘Stacey would agree with you,’ she said.
‘They sell smaller versions of the big tortes in the shop, here,’ he said. ‘Maybe we can take one back for her.’
‘Great idea.’ She smiled at him. ‘I’m so glad we came here, Ben.’
The day got even better, with a wander round the Gothic cathedral with its mosaic tiled roof where Mozart had got married, a stroll through the st
reets, and then a quick traditional dinner of schnitzel with potato salad.
‘I really hope you like this,’ Ben said as they reached the tiny concert hall.
‘This is amazing,’ Toni whispered as they took their seats. The room was gorgeously baroque, from the ornate floral decoration on the walls through to the stunning Venetian glass chandelier. Better still, the musicians were all wearing period dress. She could just imagine being here two hundred years ago, as she’d said to him the previous night in the fiaker.
‘This is where Mozart himself played to selected audiences,’ Ben told her, and he held her hand throughout the performance, his fingers warm and sure around hers.
Toni recognised the music as some of Mozart’s most famous: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, along with the Dissonance quartet that he’d dedicated to Haydn. The musicians were superb and it would’ve been a treat in any concert hall, but here it was even better. And she really, really loved the costumes. She couldn’t have imagined a more perfect evening.
‘That was so special. Thank you,’ she said when the concert was over.
What was even more special was sharing the sheer joy of the music with Ben.
As they wandered back to the hotel, their arms wrapped around each other, Toni was pretty sure she was falling in love with Ben. With this thoughtful, gentle man who also never hesitated to do the right thing, the man who had pushed himself to overcome his wariness of dogs to make friends with Archie, and who made her world feel like a better place.
Not that she was going to spook him by telling him. Not yet. She knew he still needed time to get over the collapse of his marriage; but she hoped that spending time with her and her family was helping him to do that.
It was raining the next morning, but the weather couldn’t spoil their mood. ‘Perhaps we should do something indoors this morning,’ Ben said. ‘How about the rest of the Imperial Apartments and the butterfly house?’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Toni said.
She enjoyed wandering around the Imperial Apartments; and then they headed for the butterfly house. The tropical interior with its waterfall, pond, bridges and palm trees was gorgeous; and there were hundreds of butterflies flying freely, of all colours and sizes—from blues to bright orange, vivid red to yellow. Toni was fascinated by the huge owl butterflies with their enormous spots like an owl’s eye in the middle of their wings, resting and feeding from a peach on one of the tables.
‘This feels magical,’ she said. ‘I’ve never been anywhere like this before.’
‘It’s amazing,’ he agreed. ‘And I’m so glad I’m here with you.’
His smile made her feel as if the weather outside was bright sunshine rather than pouring rain. They’d become closer over the last couple of days, more in tune with each other, and Toni was convinced that Ben really was the one for her. That she could trust him with her heart, and know he’d be there for her—just as she would be there for him.
Finally they travelled back to England and went to pick up Archie from Toni’s sister.
‘We brought cake to say thank you for looking after Archie,’ Toni told Stacey, handing her a beautifully wrapped package.
‘I recognise the name on the packaging. This isn’t just cake,’ Stacey said, her eyes widening. ‘It’s the best chocolate cake in the world.’
‘I did try a forkful of Ben’s,’ Toni said, ‘but I much preferred the Esterhazy torte, all almond and buttercream.’
Ben laughed. ‘I’m with you, Stacey. Every cake I tried in Vienna was chocolate-based, but this one was definitely the best.’
‘Thank you.’ Stacey hugged them both.
‘We brought you some chocolate as well,’ Ben said. ‘The little ones shaped like kittens are for Scarlett. And there’s some proper Viennese coffee.’
‘You really didn’t have to spoil us quite so much,’ Stacey said. ‘We’ve loved having Archie for the weekend. I’m your sister, Toni, and I know you’d do exactly the same for me if it was the other way round.’
‘We just wanted to bring you something nice,’ Toni said. ‘And we saw butterflies.’
‘Look, Scarlett.’ Ben showed the toddler his picture of the owl butterfly that had landed on his hand.
‘Oooh!’ Scarlett said, beaming and pointing at the butterfly.
‘Maybe we can go and see some butterflies together,’ Ben said. ‘As a family.’
Toni glanced at her sister, and was gratified to see the warmth of her smile. And she knew exactly what her sister was thinking: This time, you’ve found Mr Right.
* * *
Life didn’t get any better than this, Ben thought. He hadn’t been this happy in years. He loved his job, he loved his morning run on the beach—and he was definitely falling in love with the nurse practitioner and her dog.
But in the middle of the week, he and Toni were watching the sunset from her garden when her phone beeped to signal an incoming text.
She glanced at the screen. ‘Nothing important. It can wait,’ she said.
But Ben had glanced at the screen at the same time, more out of habit than nosiness. The problem was that he’d seen the message—and he’d seen who it was from.
Sean. Her ex. Why was he texting her, and especially with that kind of message? It was a couple of years since they’d broken up, and Ben knew that Toni had been hurt by the split. She certainly hadn’t mentioned staying in touch with her ex.
Though he could hardly demand to know why Sean was texting her, or why she even still had his number on her phone, because that reeked of paranoia. He knew Toni wasn’t like Karen; but, despite that, he couldn’t stop that tiny little seed of doubt creeping into his mind. Was he making the same mistake all over again? Was he trying so hard to convince himself that the future was bright that he was missing something?
Of course not. He was being utterly ridiculous.
But the thought wouldn’t go away, and he ended up making a feeble excuse and going back to his own home instead of staying at Toni’s that night.
* * *
Had something happened? Toni wondered. Ben had been really quiet that evening.
Or maybe he was just tired.
She made herself a cup of tea, and turned her attention to the text she’d ignored earlier.
Can you call me? I miss you.
She rolled her eyes, not believing a word of it. It was more likely that either Sean had sent it to her by accident, or he had some kind of event coming up where he needed to schmooze for the sake of his career, and he’d just split up with someone and wanted a reliable plus one to step into the breach.
She could ignore it, but that might mean he’d take her silence as meaning that he needed to make some kind of charm offensive. She really wasn’t interested.
Quickly, she typed a reply.
Assume you sent that text to me in error. Toni.
He didn’t text her again, so she assumed her guess to be right. Obviously Sean, being Sean, couldn’t be bothered even to acknowledge her texts—because then he would have to acknowledge he’d made an error, and Sean could do no wrong in his own eyes.
She’d had such a lucky escape. She was so grateful that Ben wasn’t like that. He had at least opened up to her and talked. He listened to her. And, after Vienna, she felt that he was the one she could commit to—and he would be just as committed to her.
* * *
Over the next few days, life felt just about perfect for Toni. She was really in tune with Ben, both at work and outside it. They’d worked on the new practice website pages between them and had received a lot of compliments from their patients, as well as more suggestions of recipes to tweak. And she was very close to the point where she was ready to go public to everyone, not just their families, with the fact that she and Ben were a couple. There were some moments when she felt as if he was holding something back, but she thought she was probably just b
eing paranoid and stupid.
And then on Wednesday morning she woke up feeling odd.
Her breasts were sore and she felt a bit queasy. And one mouthful of coffee for breakfast made her gag.
If any of her patients had come to see her with those symptoms, she would’ve suggested that they do a pregnancy test...
She shook herself. Of course she wasn’t pregnant. She and Ben had taken precautions.
But she knew that the only one hundred per cent form of contraception was abstinence. Considering that she gave a talk every year at the local high school on that particular topic...
She counted back mentally to the date of her last period, and went cold.
It was eight weeks ago.
Surely she’d made a mistake? Maybe there was another reason why her period was late.
Except she couldn’t think of one.
Eight weeks. Which meant that conception would’ve been six weeks ago. Around the time that Ginny had died. She’d been upset, and she and Ben had ended up making love for the first time. Had they taken precautions? She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t think straight.
The chances were that she wasn’t pregnant and this was just a blip in her cycle. But the only way to put her mind properly at rest was to do a pregnancy test.
No way could she buy a test from anywhere in Great Crowmell, because speculation would go round the village like wildfire. She’d have to go somewhere else to buy it, somewhere that nobody knew her.
It was just as well that Ben hadn’t stayed here last night, because until she knew one way or the other about this she really couldn’t face him.
Term had finished, so she had a free morning instead of taking Archie to the infant school for their reading session. If she drove into Norwich, she’d be able to pick up a pregnancy test, do it, and be back in Great Crowmell before her afternoon shift.
Archie had clearly picked up that something was wrong, because he sat as close to her as he could, as if trying to comfort her.
‘It’s all going to be fine, Arch,’ she reassured him.