by Fay Keenan
41
Kate woke on Saturday morning feeling groggy and disorientated. Usually, she was up with the birds, but after not getting back from the hospital until nearly four, she’d crashed into bed and slept late. She vaguely remembered Corey popping in before heading off to Vale Volumes, but she must have dropped right off again after that. Glancing at her phone on the bedside table, she realised it was nearly ten o’clock. While she was effectively her own boss on this decorating job, she hated getting up late, and cursed as she got out of bed, staggering to the shower and turning it on to its coldest setting in an attempt to blast away any lingering tiredness.
After she’d got dressed and before she made breakfast, she texted Sam to see how things were with Florence. To her surprise and relief, he video-called her back almost straight away.
‘Hey,’ she said once his camera came up on her screen. ‘How are you doing? And, more importantly, how are Florence and the baby?’
‘See for yourself,’ Sam replied, panning his phone around. After a quick, flickering adjustment, Kate smiled widely to see her sister-in-law sitting up in bed, with her baby in her arms.
‘Hey,’ she said again. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like my undercarriage has been hit by a ten-tonne truck!’ Florence said. ‘But apart from that, not too bad.’
Kate winced. ‘I hope you’ve got a decent cushion to sit on.’
‘They’ve given me some good drugs,’ Florence said, ‘but I can’t take them home with me, so I’m making the most of them while I can.’
‘You do that,’ Kate laughed. ‘And how’s the baby?’
Sam re-angled his phone so that Kate could get a better view of the family’s newest addition.
‘Can we introduce Mia Katherine Ellis to you?’ Florence said softly. ‘Safe and sound, and more than ready to come home.’
Kate’s eyes prickled. ‘I can’t wait to see you all in person.’
‘We thought Katherine might make a good middle name,’ Sam’s voice drifted from the other side of the phone. ‘And guarantee a few decent Christmas presents from her Aunt Katie for the rest of her life!’
‘Cheeky bugger,’ Kate muttered, but she was truly touched. ‘So, when can you come home?’
‘Well, they want to make sure my haemoglobin levels are back up to where they should be, and that I can actually feed this child properly before they let us out, but with a bit of luck, I’ll be home by the day after tomorrow,’ Florence said. ‘To be honest, even though I’m going to miss the painkillers, I’m dying to get out of here.’
Kate winced again. Perhaps she could blame the drugs Florence was on for the turn of phrase, but having seen the state Sam was in last night, it all felt a bit too recent. ‘Well, let me know when you’re due back and I’ll make sure you’ve got some dinner to come home to.’
‘Thanks, Katie.’ Sam’s face came back into view. ‘And thanks for last night. I’m sorry I was freaking out so much.’
‘It’s completely understandable,’ Kate said. ‘Now, get off the call and help your wife with that beautiful baby.’
‘I will. See you soon.’
And with that, they were gone. Kate smiled. It was good to see them looking so cheerful after the trauma of Mia’s birth. They might still be running on adrenaline for a few days, but she felt sure they’d work through it. And at least, with Mia coming early, Kate could help out if she was needed.
As she made herself a cup of tea and contemplated breakfast, she smiled as she saw that, while she was making the tea, Harry had texted her:
I had a great time last night. Shame we had to leave it where we did. Hope all is well with Sam, Florence and the baby. Are you free for a coffee sometime this morning? My new employee is desperate for some responsibility! If you’re feeling tired, I can bring Danish and caffeine to you… Hx
Bless Harry, she thought fondly. Although she wondered just how wise it was to leave Vale Volumes in the hands of a sixteen-year-old, even if he would be seventeen next month. Then, she rationalised, it was hardly likely that a fight was going to break out in a bookshop, was it? What was the worst that could go wrong for the sake of half an hour? Texting back a quick yes, she suggested he came over for about half past eleven, which would give her some time to get her head together and hopefully paint out the bags under her eyes, if not do any more on the house. Was that allowed, she thought? And then she realised that if Corey was working in Vale Volumes, he wouldn’t be back home to interrupt them when Harry came over. Did that mean… she stopped those thoughts in their tracks.
The past twenty-four hours had been entirely too much of a rollercoaster to throw any more complications into the mix. She and Harry would simply have coffee and cake, and she could fill him in on the events of the small hours of the morning: nothing more. After all, last night had only technically been their first date, and wasn’t there some rule about going out seven times before sleeping with someone? She’d virtually got to third base in a single bed in her brother’s house after having one dinner with the guy. No, she thought as she raced upstairs to her bedroom and dragged out her make-up bag; I’m not going to rush into anything.
42
‘Two coffees? Got company?’ Jack’s eyes gleamed as he took Harry’s order and started to make up the lattes.
Harry grinned. ‘Just dropping in to see a friend who had a late night, that’s all.’
‘Anyone I know?’
‘Maybe.’
‘You old dog… you asked Kate out, didn’t you? Was she high on gloss paint fumes when she said yes, or could she just not resist the smell of fusty old books?’
‘We had a good dinner,’ Harry said, ‘and I thought she might like a cup of coffee while she carries on painting her brother’s house.’
‘Not breakfast in bed, then?’ Jack raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Harry’s expression must have given something more away than he’d intended, as Jack’s eyebrow was joined by a smirk. ‘There’s definitely something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?’
‘I don’t kiss and tell,’ Harry said briskly. ‘And that milk’s going to boil over if you don’t watch what you’re doing.’
Jack pulled the jug out from under the steamer just in time, and swiftly topped up the reusable coffee cups that Harry had brought in with him. He put them both in a cardboard takeaway tray and then handed Harry the bag with the Danish pastries. ‘Enjoy.’
‘I will. Thanks, Jack.’
‘Pleasure’s all mine. Keep me posted.’ He gave Harry a wink, which Harry didn’t dignify with a response.
A few minutes later, Harry knocked on the door of number one, Bay Tree Terrace. Kate answered swiftly. She still looked a little tired, but after last night that wasn’t surprising.
‘Hey,’ she said, opening the door wider. ‘You’re a sight for very sore eyes.’ She led him through to the living room, where he deposited the coffees and Danish pastries on the coffee table. As he straightened back up, Kate was standing close behind him. His heart thumped as she reached up on tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the mouth, and he could taste toothpaste and feel the warmth of that mouth. Treacherous thoughts began to creep into his mind about how things could have gone the night before.
‘The last time we put coffee on that table it went cold,’ he said as Kate moved away from him again.
‘Can’t let that happen again,’ Kate teased. ‘Anyway, it wouldn’t be right to leave Corey in charge of the bookshop for too long. He is still only a trainee!’
‘You’re right, of course,’ Harry said, still feeling a bit regretful. ‘But I couldn’t resist coming over to see you after our swift goodbye last night. How’s Florence?’
Kate sat down on the sofa and took the cup of coffee that Harry had bought her out of the tray. After a long, reviving sip, she replied. ‘Out of the woods, thank goodness. Baby Mia came quickly and poor Florence haemorrhaged. Sam was in bits by the time I got there.’ She frowned at the memory. ‘He’s an air ambulance pi
lot so he sees a lot of medical drama every day, but it’s different when it’s your own family.’
‘Of course,’ Harry said gently. ‘I can’t imagine what he must have been through.’
‘But thankfully Florence came out the other side and was wide awake and desperate to get home when I spoke to them this morning. And Mia’s fine, too, so that’s a weight off everyone’s mind.’
‘Long night for you, in the end, though,’ Harry said, sipping his own coffee.
‘It was a bit. I think I fell into bed just before four o’clock, so I’m feeling it a bit.’
‘Seems like a good reason to take things easy today,’ Harry said. ‘Why don’t you and Corey come over to dinner tonight? I’ll cook something hearty and undemanding and we can all relax.’
Kate smiled. ‘That sounds great. I’m sure Corey would appreciate that after a day on his feet in the shop, too.’
‘Is there anything he, or you, don’t eat?’
‘He’s a teenage boy and so will eat anything you put in front of him.’ Kate took a bite of her Danish pastry. ‘I’m allergic to prawns, though.’
‘Noted.’ Harry smiled at her. ‘It’ll be nice to relax a bit.’
Kate suddenly looked very uncertain, and Harry immediately sensed her unease.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing… really. I think I’m just tired.’
Realising that this was only part of the story, Harry turned to face Kate on the sofa and shifted a little closer. ‘Are you sure?’
Harry’s heart tumbled in his chest as Kate’s eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. ‘It’s stupid… after last night and everything… I haven’t really had time to process what happened. What if Florence really had died on the operating table? Poor Sam would have been left alone with a baby only minutes old. I’ve never seen him look so scared.’ She wiped her eyes furiously with the back of one hand. ‘And yet, it’s all worked out fine, so why am I thinking like that?’
Harry reached forward and enfolded her in a warm embrace. ‘You’re probably still in shock. It makes you replay things over and over again. And it all only happened a few hours ago. Give it time to sink in. And give yourself a break.’
As Kate snuggled into him, obviously drawing warmth and reassurance from his presence, Harry’s emotions whirled around his brain. He felt so protective of this woman and her son, who’d come so randomly into his life, and yet the sadness of what he’d never had, and never would have, was also creeping up on him. Sam and Florence had welcomed a new life into their world and it had made them a family. That was a gift he had no hope of achieving, and no right to ask for. For the first time in a long time, the enormity of what had happened to him in his early twenties came crashing over him like a freezing cold wave on a beach in January. He couldn’t help a shaky breath or two of his own. What the hell was he doing, getting involved so quickly with a woman who had troubles and a family of her own?
As if sensing his conflict, Kate drew back from him again and looked up into his eyes. Her own were red-rimmed with tiredness and tears, and Harry felt his heart turning over again. This was starting to feel like far more than a summer fling for him, and he wasn’t sure how to proceed from here. Things had escalated emotionally so quickly in such a short space of time. And he hadn’t even met her other two sons.
‘Are you okay?’ Kate asked gently. ‘I mean, this must be stirring up a lot of memories for you, too.’
Harry smiled down at her. ‘I won’t lie and say that it hasn’t, but it’s not about me. I want to be a part of your life, Kate, whether that’s as a friend on this side of the country when you come to visit your family here, or something more. I love spending time with you, and I want to get to know you much, much better. If you want the same thing, then that’s wonderful.’
‘I don’t know what I want, Harry,’ Kate said. ‘I wish I did, but so much of my life is in flux right now. For the moment, I want to take each day as it comes, see how things go.’
‘I understand,’ said Harry. ‘Things are a lot simpler for me than they are for you. There’s just me, and the shop, and the odd weird author to contend with. I’m here, if you need me, if you want me to be, as whatever you need me to be.’
Kate smiled again. ‘I appreciate that, Harry, I really do. You’re a patient man.’
‘I never used to be!’ Harry laughed. ‘But I learned to slow down and wait for the things and people that were worth waiting for. I suppose living in Willowbury’s taught me that; it’s worked its own peculiar brand of magic on me, and no mistake.’
‘Careful,’ Kate laughed, ‘you’re sounding like an old hippy. What would your former self say if he heard you talking like that?’
‘He’d never believe his ears,’ Harry said softly. Putting his coffee mug down on the table, he edged towards Kate. ‘Now, I really ought to get back and relieve your son in the shop. May I kiss you before I go?’
Kate laughed. ‘Well, since you asked so nicely…’
Kate’s mouth tasted of coffee and the sweetness of the Danish, and as Harry’s tongue explored, he felt the blood rushing southwards in a sharp, stinging reminder of where they’d nearly gone the night before. He’d never reacted quite so instantly to a woman, even when he’d been a sex-mad teenager. There was something about the way she tasted, the way her lips felt against his, that got him achingly hard in seconds.
As if she sensed this, Kate deepened the kiss, pulling him closer to her, almost on top of her as she sank down onto the oversized cushions of the sofa until his arms slid around her, and his hips pressed tantalisingly against hers, reminding him just how hard he was in his jeans and how thick two layers of denim seemed when you were turned on and fully clothed.
Just as they were coming up for air, a voice, surprised but definitely amused, came from the doorway.
‘Well, I thought you were supposed to be painting walls while you stayed here, not snogging guys on my brand-new sofa!’
Springing apart from Kate, Harry drew in a sharp breath as he saw two other men, a couple of years younger than Kate by the looks of them, standing in the doorway of the living room.
‘Aidan! Tom!’ Kate sat up abruptly, running a hand through her hair to try to smooth it. ‘What are you doing back so soon?’
‘Got bored of all of the amazing food and scenery and thought we’d cut the holiday short,’ one of the guys said. He glanced fondly in the other man’s direction. ‘Someone here was also getting jitters about the new production, as rehearsals officially start next week. Thought we’d get an earlier flight.’
Harry could see Kate’s face flaming as she took all of this in.
‘So aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?’ the first man asked, grinning broadly.
‘Of course,’ Kate replied hurriedly, obviously trying to regain the upper hand. ‘Harry, this is my brother, Aidan, and his husband, Tom.’
Harry smiled, deciding it was best to pretend as if he hadn’t just been caught snogging on the sofa like a teenager. He stood up, thankful his shirt was now untucked, and wandered across the room. ‘Nice to meet you.’ Glancing back at Kate, he added, ‘I’ll, er, get back to the shop so Corey can have a tea break. See you about seven?’
‘Sure,’ Kate said. ‘See you later.’
As Harry hurried from the house, the warm, knowing smiles of the two men who owned it seemed to follow behind him, and he wondered what kind of a ribbing Kate was now going to get from her brother and his husband.
43
Kate had, thankfully, despite Aidan’s jibes to the contrary, made impressive headway with the redecoration of the house. She was pleased to see and hear her brother’s expressions of pleasure over the quality of the job, and how right Tom had been with the colour combinations. It would only take a few more days’ work now to finish off the skirting boards upstairs and the odd touch-up here and there, and the work would be done. She’d intended to stay for a little longer once Tom and Aidan came home to spend some time
with them anyway, and she hoped she’d still be able to do so, even with Corey in tow. In fact, she wondered if now might be a good time to get Will and Tom over for a few days. Phil had been more than generous in his offer to have them for the whole summer, but after everything that happened with baby Mia and Florence, Kate felt a strong desire to see all three of her children. It would be a lovely opportunity for them to meet their new cousin, and, although it would be a bit of a squeeze, all four of them in Tom and Aidan’s two spare rooms, seeing them would make up for it.
Over coffee, Kate had filled Tom and Aidan in on Corey’s sudden appearance in Willowbury, too.
‘Well, I’m not surprised he decided to push off down here really,’ Aidan said as he reached for a chocolate digestive. ‘He and Phil don’t have a lot in common, do they?’
‘I didn’t have a lot of choice, leaving them with Phil,’ Kate protested, stung by Aidan’s directness. She knew, because of his experiences in Helmand Province as an army officer, and his subsequent discharge from the army on medical grounds, that the nature of his injuries sometimes made him more blunt than he realised, but she still felt jolted. ‘It was hardly as though I could bring all three of them here with me for the whole summer. I’d never have got anything done.’
‘I’m not criticising you, Kate,’ Aidan said more gently. ‘It was the best decision, and a pragmatic one. And despite Corey making a bad choice as to how he got here, he seems to have settled in okay from what you’ve said. Even got himself a summer job.’