Random Acts of Kindness--Part 3

by Victoria Walters

  ‘After you left my party, the two of them were joined at the hip,’ he explained. ‘He has talked of nothing but her for days, so I’m glad they’re finally going out, I couldn’t take it much longer. Let me walk you to your car.’ They started strolling across the car park.

  Louise was stunned that she had got it all wrong and wished that she didn’t feel quite so pleased. She stole a glance across at Alex, his hands were in his pockets and he was looking at the blue sky with a smile on his face. He radiated calm. She, however, felt like a nervous wreck. They reached her car quickly though. ‘Thanks, Alex,’ she managed to say, eager to be alone with her thoughts.

  ‘No problem. Maybe I’ll see you soon? I’ll probably need to escape David talking about his date with Julie,’ he said with a smile.

  She let out a nervous laugh. ‘I’d like that,’ she said quickly, her cheeks turning even more red, if that was at all possible. ‘I’d better go,’ she said, opening up her car door.

  ‘See you later,’ Alex said to her back.

  Louise climbed into her car and took a deep breath. She watched Alex walk away and slumped over the steering wheel. She felt like a silly teenager, but she was so relieved. He wasn’t dating Julie!

  As Louise drove home to Littlewood, she thought seriously about whether or not she might be able to let Alex into her heart one day. The problem was, how long did she have to decide? He wasn’t going to stay single forever. She knew that. Julie had been interested in him after all; she just happened to connect more to David. Louise wondered whether Alex had nudged the two of them together. Could that mean he was still interested in Louise? Even after she told him she just wanted to be friends? Surely that was too much to hope for. But if it wasn’t, would she ever be brave enough to take a chance on him?

  Chapter Twelve

  Eszter looked up from her laptop as Anne and Zoe walked into the cottage. ‘Did you have a lovely time?’ she asked her daughter, who bounded over for a hug. She had been at a friend’s house and Anne had been to collect her. It was a warm afternoon and Eszter had the back door flung open to the small garden, letting in a stream of light as she sat at the kitchen table in front of her computer with a glass of chilled wine beside her. She’d had the day off from Brew and had been putting it to good use, searching the internet for a key to her future. But it turned out that Google could only really help if you knew what you were actually searching for.

  ‘It was fun. Can I carry on reading my book now?’

  ‘Sure. Why don’t you go in the garden? Dinner’s in the oven, I’ll call you when it’s ready.’

  Zoe skipped outside with her father’s book.

  Anne sat down at the table with Eszter. ‘Catching up with your parents?’

  ‘I phoned them earlier, but I’ve been looking online for jobs. Which would be a lot easier if I knew what I wanted to do. I’ve never found anything I really loved, not like Nick,’ she said with an apologetic smile as she knew Anne had hoped Nick would have ended up doing a very different career.

  But Anne nodded. ‘I never had a career either, and I always envied Frank for how much he enjoyed his job. What about Brew? I thought you enjoyed it there?’

  ‘I do, mostly because Joy and Harry are so lovely, but coffee shops aren’t quite as pleasant in Budapest, and as you say, it’s not really a career.’

  ‘You think you will go back to Budapest then?’ Anne asked her.

  ‘My parents live in too remote a place, they’re retired now, so it’s fine for them, but I’d struggle to find work, and the nearest school for Zoe is too far for her to go to every day. It just wouldn’t work unfortunately.’

  ‘I mean, you don’t think you’ll stay in the UK?’

  Eszter looked at her. ‘I suppose I haven’t really thought about it,’ she replied, slowly.

  ‘I think you should consider it,’ Anne said quickly. ‘You said yourself you love living in Littlewood, there are some great schools nearby and you and Zoe are really settling in here. I’m sure you could find work easily, you could even work in London. Plus . . .’ Anne’s cheeks coloured, ‘I would love you both to stay.’

  ‘You would?’ Eszter was amazed, given how shaky their relationship had been at the start of the summer, that they had come to this point. She knew that Anne had been enjoying spending time with Zoe, and the three of them saw each other pretty much every day. She had been so helpful looking after Zoe so she didn’t have to sit in Brew every day, but Eszter hadn’t realised Anne had been dreading the end of the summer too.

  ‘I would.’ Anne smiled, and got up. ‘I’ll check on the dinner. Have a think about it, Eszter.’

  She nodded, still a little taken aback. Eszter wondered what Nick would have said about his mother’s offer. Then again, he was the one to send them to Littlewood when he knew he wasn’t going to be there for their future. Perhaps he was already thinking further ahead than Eszter was and believed Littlewood might be the place they could start afresh.

  Eszter got up and looked out of the door at her daughter sitting cross-legged on the grass, absorbed in her book, the summer sun brightening her hair. She had certainly cheered up since their cookery class, where she had made several good friends, and was blossoming now. It had been such a tough couple of months for the pair of them.

  Eszter was unsure if she was up to making such a big, life-changing decision so soon after Nick’s death, but then again, was there ever really a good time to make that kind of decision? Life usually pushed you into a corner, leaving you not much choice but to make a change, and life had definitely thrown them through a loop recently.

  ‘It’s ready,’ Anne said gently behind her.

  Eszter called Zoe inside and they sat down for their dinner with Eszter’s mind whirling through the whole meal. There were a lot of advantages to Anne’s suggestion – Zoe would be close to her English grandmother and Nick had always said she’d have a great education in the UK, Eszter could definitely make more money working once she decided what she wanted to do, and they would always feel a connection to Nick, living in his birthplace. But she would be far away from her own parents and living in a foreign country, having to get used to how everything worked. A place always felt special on holiday, but would they be happy to stay year after year? Eszter was unsure. There were only a few weeks left before their return flight back to Hungary and, in that time, she had to pick a future out for her and her daughter.

  ***

  The sun was only just setting outside Zoe’s room when Eszter went in to say goodnight to her. She perched on the side of her bed and took away the book. ‘You’ve almost finished it.’

  ‘It’s so good. Can I read the rest of the series afterwards?’

  ‘Of course. We’ll go book shopping at the weekend.’

  Zoe lay down and Eszter pulled the sheet up, brushing back her hair.

  ‘Are you enjoying your summer here, Zo?’

  ‘It’s fun,’ she replied with a yawn.

  ‘Do you miss home, though?’

  Zoe considered that. ‘I miss my friends, but we do more things together here, which I like. And Gran’s really nice. We have more cake here.’

  Eszter laughed. ‘That’s a good summary. Sleep well.’ She kissed her goodnight and left the room, walking back downstairs in the silent, darkening cottage. Anne had gone home after dinner and Eszter still found moments like this tough. It was just her and her thoughts. This was the time she and Nick had spent together, curled up on the sofa with wine, talking about everything and anything until bedtime.

  She thought about how hard it would be to return to their apartment and resume their old life there without Nick. Would it be harder to be without him there or here? Or did it not matter? He would always be a huge missing piece in their lives. She supposed it was just about finding the right place for them to be while they attempted to carve out a new life without him.

  She sat down on the sofa and pulled out her laptop again. She started looking for jobs around Littlewood out
of interest, to see what she could do if she did stay. She had been content when she was with Nick to do whatever job she could find, just to earn money, eager to get home to him and Zoe at the end of the day. It didn’t matter to her then, but now she was a single mother, she wanted to do something more challenging and make as good a life as she could for her and Zoe.

  She just had to choose what she wanted that life to look like.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Abbie walked to Huntley Manor after having her first official driving lesson. It had gone pretty well, considering how nervous she had been, and thankfully there had been no near misses with the handbrake or a tree as there had when Thomas had taken her driving on the estate. He had called her to wish her good luck in the morning and now they were meeting up to continue their party planning. She had missed his calm presence in the car with her, although she had to admit that there had been no distractions as her instructor was a middle-aged woman, which she conceded was probably for the best if she was ever going to pass her test.

  The afternoon was cool, a fresh breeze whipping through her hair, and she felt the end of summer drawing ever closer. She hadn’t expected to still be in Littlewood, but she had never felt more optimistic about the future.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and, when she checked it, she was stunned to see Jack’s name flash up on the screen. She took a deep breath before reading his text.

  I’m sorry I lied to you. Can we talk? I miss you.

  She put her phone away quickly. She had no idea how to process that or how she would even compose a response. He obviously thought she could forgive and forget. He didn’t even seem to realise why she had upped and left. It wasn’t just that he had lied to her: he had stolen money, he had tried to trap her into working with him, threatening her own future, and he had told her he loved her when it was clear he didn’t care about anyone but himself.

  She had been concerned when Kate had rung her, but that concern was rapidly evaporating. She decided the best thing would be not to reply and then hopefully he would realise that the bridge between them had been burnt permanently. Abbie knew they really needed to have a clean break. It was sad, but it was better he was out of her life for good.

  ‘How did it go?’ Thomas greeted her at the entrance to the hotel. He looked much better than when Abbie first arrived back, she was pleased to see. The sun had put golden streaks in his dark hair and his face had caught a tan, the circles under his eyes had gone, and he smiled at her. She could tell he was feeling more positive again about the future of the hotel, and she wanted that to continue.

  ‘It was good – no crashes to report,’ she said with a laugh. She slipped an arm through his as they walked through the hotel.

  She could see a few guests in the lounge and dining area, which helped the house look much more alive than it had felt when she had taken her first tour of it. The place was cleaner and brighter after Abbie had made a checklist for the housekeeper to work from, and she had organised a thorough window clean by a local firm who were quite reasonable. The reception area was far more welcoming too, and the social media had put the hotel back on the map.

  Now they just needed a relaunch that would get everyone talking.

  ‘I had an idea,’ she said as they went into the library, which had become relaunch headquarters for them. ‘We could really make this party special by having a theme, and I thought what about doing the 1920s? It would be like the picture we found in that library book when I first arrived. I think it could make the room really feel as it did back in its heyday.’

  Thomas grinned. ‘I like it. We could have all the staff dressed up and we can use the 1920s dinner service we have.’

  ‘Exactly! And serve 1920s cocktails and have the band play music from the time, if they will. We could even send out emails to everyone and say they can dress up too if they want to.’

  ‘I love it.’

  ‘I’m so pleased. Let’s do it!’ Abbie started googling ideas for a 1920s party immediately. This is what she loved about her job – the buzz that came with a great idea. She paused for a moment to look at Thomas across the desk, also typing on his laptop. ‘This is what I want to do for my career.’

  He met her gaze. ‘Then do it, Abbie, I know you can. It wouldn’t cost too much to set up your own PR business. As I’ve learnt recently, you just need a good website, and you’ll have a great reference from me, and I’m sure your old clients would provide testimonials, and if you contacted them they might even hire you over City PR.’

  ‘I did think about that. Especially if I was cheaper,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘But what about where I would work? I don’t think home-working would look that good, would it, but renting an office would require money. I’d be nervous about getting a bank loan.’

  He nodded. ‘I know I’m having trouble with the bank, but they are behind new small businesses. There’s no need to take the risk if you don’t need to, though. Let me show you something.’ He got up and nodded at her laptop. ‘We’ll come back to that.’

  He held out a hand and she took it, standing up and enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. But he let go of her hand as he led her through the corridor and up the stairs into the wing where his apartment was. He didn’t take her in there though but led her down another corridor, where there was an open door. They walked through and he stepped forward to show her the long, narrow empty room. Light flooded in from the large window which overlooked the grounds.

  ‘What do you think? Our old events manager used this room as an office and, as you can see, it’s just empty space right now.’ He turned to face her. ‘Why don’t you take it?’

  Abbie looked around the room in wonder. It was perfect. Plus, it would mean she would still get to work every day with Thomas after the party. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘No one is using it, I’d love you to have it, and that way you won’t need to pay rent.’

  ‘I couldn’t use it for free,’ Abbie immediately protested.

  ‘After all you’re doing for me, I absolutely insist,’ Thomas replied firmly.

  Abbie twirled, taking in the space from every angle. It would suit her perfectly. She was scared though. This would be a tough thing to do. She wasn’t sure how she felt about trying it on her own. She had seen how stressed Thomas had been before she arrived, and at City PR she had liked being part of a team.

  ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’m going to think about it. I want to be really sure this is what I want, but, Thomas, this room is wonderful. Thank you,’ she said, giving him a wide smile. She had only known him a few weeks, but it felt like so much longer than that. ‘It would really make a great office.’

  ‘I can see you in here,’ he agreed, giving a tender look that threatened to make her melt.

  He walked towards the door, and she took another look at the room, already thinking about how she would transform it into her workspace. She didn’t want to go into this full of nerves though, she wanted to be confident and determined. She wasn’t sure why she was still hesitant, but she was learning to trust her gut, so she was going to listen to it, and trust that the right way forward would become clear soon.

  Thomas and Abbie went back into the library and time just flew as they planned out their 1920s party. So much so that the sun began to set outside before they thought about stopping.

  ‘I should check on dinner, make sure everything is okay,’ Thomas said, stretching after being slumped in front of his computer for so long.

  ‘Oh, wow, it’s late. I should get going,’ Abbie said, realising she was hungry.

  Thomas turned to go, then paused and looked back. ‘Abbie, I was thinking, I know that this will be a work function. The party, I mean,’ he began, sounding a little nervous. He cleared his throat. ‘I know it’s a couple of weeks away still, and it will be work for the both of us, but I’d be honoured if you’d accompany me to it?’

  If a heart could really skip a beat, Abbie was sure that hers just had. ‘I’d love to,’ she s
aid, smiling at how formally he had asked her to be his date for the evening. She knew it would be a busy event for the two of them, but she loved the idea of them turning up to it together, and hopefully getting that dance in the ballroom.

  ‘Wonderful.’

  Thomas left to sort his guests, and Abbie couldn’t resist a quick look on her computer at 1920s dresses. She really had to look the part for this event as it was her idea, plus she would be turning up with the most eligible man in Littlewood.

  She wanted the night to sparkle in every possible way.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Louise was completely lost in her own thoughts as she left Brew with a takeaway iced tea. It was rare not to have her usual coffee, but it was a hot afternoon and she decided to make the most of it by taking a stroll through Huntley Manor’s grounds and she needed a cool drink to take along for the ride. Then she heard her name and turned to see Alex waving to her by the door to Brew so she walked back to greet him.

  ‘Where are you off to?’ he asked after they had said hello. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and jeans, his hair wet and tousled as if he had just had a shower. Louise took a quick sip of her drink to hide her smile at the thought.

  ‘Just going for a walk.’

  ‘Can I join you? I’ve finished work for the day and it’s too nice to go back to my flat.’

  ‘Sure,’ she agreed, pleased he wanted to spend time with her.

  He went into Brew to get a drink and then they set off together, walking around the side of the house and into the grounds.

  Louise could see her sister had made an impact on the hotel already. There were now tables and chairs outside arranged to provide a good view of the grounds, a pretty umbrella above each table to shield guests from the summer sun, and flowers as a centrepiece. There were also lots of pot plants on the patio, lending much-needed colour to the edge of the manor house. Even more of a bonus was the fact that several guests were actually seated at the tables having a drink, something that had become a rarer and rarer sight.