by Lynsey James
I nodded and he disappeared inside, leaving me alone with Susan.
‘So you’re Noah’s girlfriend, are you?’ she said with a strange smile.
I blushed and looked down at the table. ‘No, we’re just friends at the moment! W… we’re running Sunflower Cottage together until Rose is back on her feet.’
‘Rose was in an accident?! What happened to her?’
‘She tripped and fell down the stairs,’ I explained. ‘She’s OK, but she’s staying in hospital until she’s able to get about on her own. Shouldn’t be too long before she’s a demon on her crutches!’
Susan sat back and folded her arms, giving me an appraising glance. I wasn’t sure why, but something about her unsettled me. I felt distinctly uncomfortable, like I’d been shoved under a microscope.
‘Yeah, you look like my darling son’s type.’ Her voice carried an odd note through it. ‘Blonde hair, pretty face… You tick all his boxes. Tell me, does he tick all of yours?’
I didn’t like the tone of the question. It didn’t match her pretty, serene smile. ‘Yes, actually he does.’
Her grin widened even further. She looked like a slightly manic Cheshire cat now. ‘That’s so good to hear. Only I heard that you were only going to be in the village for a couple more weeks. I do hope you’re not planning to shatter poor Noah’s heart.’
There was a snide undercurrent to her otherwise perfectly normal comment. It felt like she was trying to get the measure of me, to assess the damage I might do to her son. I couldn’t help but think it was a little late for her to be playing the overprotective mother card.
‘I won’t if I can help it,’ I replied, considering my words carefully. ‘He’s had enough hurt in his life without me adding more, after all.’
Susan’s ice-cool façade dropped slightly, but Noah returned with the drinks before she could reply.
‘I’m so sorry, love; I’ve just realised the last bus to Leeds is coming shortly and I’m up for work early tomorrow!’ She got up and briefly touched his shoulder. ‘We should do this again sometime, though.’
She turned to me and flashed me a slightly sinister smile. ‘And it was lovely to meet you, Emily. Maybe we’ll see each other again soon.’
With a final goodbye, she strode off through the pub, leaving a trail of frostiness in her wake.
‘Shame she had to leave,’ said Noah. ‘It was good to finally sit down and talk to her about everything that’s happened over the years, though.’
I made a non-committal noise and grabbed his hand again. ‘Come on, Mr Hartley, you owe me a date!’
Chapter 18
My limited experience of dinner dates was that they were stilted, awkward and left you looking for any available escape route.
Happily, with Noah, that wasn’t the case.
Deciding against going to a restaurant for dinner, we went to the local chippy and picked up two fish suppers to take to the beach. The sun was just beginning to set and some couples strolled along the sand, arms linked and shutting out the world around them.
‘So I’m guessing this probably isn’t what you’re used to back home?’ Noah popped a chip in his mouth and grinned.
‘Not really; dates in Glasgow usually involve a trip to the museum or dinner at some posh restaurant.’ I paused to look at our stunning surroundings. ‘You know, I think I actually prefer this.’
I carefully balanced the greasy paper in my hands, desperate not to lose any of the fat fluffy chips.
‘Did you go on many dates then?’ he asked.
‘I wouldn’t say lots of dates,’ I replied. ‘The odd one or two, maybe, but nothing that lasted that long.’
‘Funny, I could just see you stepping out with some high-flying finance executive or a CEO or something like that. I’m guessing mechanics wouldn’t be top of your list.’
‘Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Noah Hartley! With everything that’s gone wrong with Cilla, a mechanic would be right at the top of my list at the moment!’ I giggled. ‘I’m not totally superficial, you know; a job title doesn’t carry any weight with me.’
I peeked up at him as he ate his fish and chips and stared out to sea. God, he was beautiful. A warm, kind smile and eyes you could lose yourself in. It was such a contrast from the man I’d met when I first arrived in Luna Bay.
You’re going home soon, don’t get attached.
I sighed as I realised the voice in my head was right. In just over a fortnight, I’d be back in Glasgow where my ‘real’ life would promptly resume. The all-too-familiar tug to head back north wasn’t there anymore, though.
‘Can I ask you something?’ said Noah.
‘Ask away.’
‘This has been bugging me since yesterday… You had a really emotional reaction to hearing Diane’s husband had died. Why was that?’
Oh crap. He knows. Or he’s worked it out.
‘Well…’ I frantically scrabbled around to try and find an excuse. ‘It’s sad to think of her on her own. A lovely lady like that should be surrounded by people who love her and it’s sad she’s lost someone. That’s all.’
Noah raised a dark, bushy eyebrow. ‘I think it was more than just feeling sorry for her, Emily. I heard you say “I wish I’d known him. I didn’t get to know him.” Bit of an odd thing to say, isn’t it, considering everyone here was a stranger to you until a fortnight ago?’
I could feel an uncomfortable heat prickle my skin. I’d been rumbled. It was time to come clean now; any more lies or half-truths would just make the situation worse.
‘OK,’ I said, admitting defeat. ‘Let’s go back to Sunflower Cottage; I want to show you something.’
He raised his eyebrows and grinned. ‘What kind of something?’
‘Get rid of whatever sordid image you have in that dirty mind of yours, Noah Hartley! It’s something really important.’
*
Carrying our greasy bags of fish and chips, we made our way back to Sunflower Cottage and headed up to my room. The look of apprehension on his face as I rummaged around for my mum’s collection of letters was priceless. I could tell the ‘something’ he’d been imagining probably involved whips, chains and squirty cream.
‘Here we are.’ I heaved it onto the bed and some letters spilled out of it. ‘Take a look at these.’
He frowned and perched himself on the edge of the bed. ‘One of these old letters? Why? I don’t understand.’
‘Read one of them and you’ll find out.’
Noah did as I asked and I watched his eyes widen with shock as he took the contents in.
‘So Derek… Derek was your dad?’
I nodded. ‘I know it’s not exactly something you drop into a first date, but there you go.’
‘Fucking hell. And you never got to meet him before he…?’
‘No. I didn’t find out about him until just before I came here a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know; I was hoping I could subtly try and ask Diane some questions about him, find out a bit more about what he was like when he was alive. Only I failed and burst into tears instead.’
I let my gaze fall to the pile of letters and Noah came round to comfort me.
‘Why didn’t you just tell her who you were?’ he asked, rubbing my shoulder and pulling my head to his chest. ‘I’m sure she’d have been happy to tell you what you wanted to know. She found out about Derek’s affair last year and she was angry at first, but Lucy said she was OK in the end. Hang on a minute; I think I remember hearing that you’d sent her a letter saying you wanted to meet at some point? How could you do that if you didn’t know about Derek until last week?’
I explained that my dear old mum had written a response on my behalf and that I wasn’t sure why she’d said I wanted to meet up with Diane.
‘I thought she’d have done her best to keep me away from her and stop me finding out.’ I sighed and let myself relax into Noah’s strong, warm body. ‘It’s all just a mess at the moment.’
He gently stroked my hair
and I felt him exhale contentedly. ‘I know all about messes. My life’s been nothing but one big mess after another.’
I turned to look at him and was struck again by how beautiful he was. His eyes were dark and deep with the occasional amber fleck. His lips were full and there was a kindness to his face that I hadn’t been able to see while we were busy picking fights with each other. How utterly beautiful he was had suddenly sneaked up on me when I hadn’t been looking.
‘Tell me all about it.’
I found myself aching for him to speak, so I could unravel more about him. His enigma was intoxicating; I had to figure him out, I just had to. The tiny little details I already knew weren’t enough; I had to know more.
He gave a sad smile and scoffed. ‘Where do you want me to start? My dad buggered off just after I was born, so I’ve got no idea who he is, and my mum… Well, she wasn’t up to it, not really. My dad was the great love of her life, apparently, and she always blamed me on some level for him leaving. She did her best to love me, but she just couldn’t really.’
He gave an affable shrug and smiled. ‘God, this is turning into the most depressing first date ever! I don’t want you feeling sorry for me or anything; what happened happened and it can’t be changed. I wouldn’t want to change it either; wouldn’t be here otherwise.’
I looked up at him, longing to pull him into me and make him feel wanted, to hold him so tight that love would pour into every fibre of him, seep into his bones and make him feel whole. Nobody deserved to feel like there was no one to love them.
I took his hand in mine again. ‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think you’ve turned out pretty well. I like you, you know. Quite a bit.’
He dropped my hand and draped an arm round my shoulders, pulling me in close to him. ‘I like you too. Even if you did spill beer all over me when we first met! I remember that day; God, you looked like a burst couch!’
‘In my defence, my car had broken down and I’d fallen into the mud!’ I chuckled, remembering my less-than-graceful entrance to Luna Bay.
Things went quiet for a moment before Noah spoke again. ‘You know… I like you quite a bit too.’
And that was when it happened.
Noah cupped my face in his hands and pulled me towards him until our lips melted. The unexpected sensation made goosebumps rise all over my skin and it felt like every fibre of me was slowly starting to wake up. Each taste of him made me hungry for more; I’d never experienced desire like this before. His kisses were soft and sweet at first, before turning to fiery and passionate. His hands slid underneath my legs and he pulled me onto his lap, stroking my face and losing his fingers in my hair. I breathed in his smell, savoured his taste and delighted at his touch. Every sense was heightened and drinking in every detail of him, like he was a beautiful mirage that would disappear soon.
‘Emily…’ He trailed off as we lost ourselves in yet more soft, sweet kisses. I could feel him smile and pull me in tighter, like I was the most precious thing in the world to him and he never wanted to let me go.
We toppled over in a tangled heap, our heads narrowly missing the wooden headboard. Noah climbed on top of me, tore off The Dress and flung it carelessly on the floor. He moved his kisses down to my neck as he adeptly caressed my curves. The moment was so utterly perfect that I wanted it to go on forever.
But, as with all good things, it had to come to an end. It came in the form of my brain taking over and putting a stop to a wonderful moment.
‘Stop, no, we can’t do this. I… I’m leaving in two weeks, Noah. We can’t go and get ourselves involved when nothing’s going to come of it.’
Noah drew away from me and let out a sigh. He looked pretty disappointed to have been stopped mid-kiss. He reached over and stroked my cheek.
‘I know you’re leaving Emily, believe me. That’s why I’ve been trying really hard to ignore the fact I’m falling for you. This might only be for a couple of weeks, but I think we’d be pretty stupid not to see where it goes, don’t you?’
He leaned over and kissed me one last time, before leaving me to wonder how such a beautiful moment could’ve happened in a life like mine.
Chapter 19
Kissing someone can be an awkward business, especially if it’s someone you know you shouldn’t be kissing in the first place. There’s the whole ‘what do I say to them?’ business afterwards, making your previously easy relationship a whole lot more complicated than it used to be. And, most importantly, there’s the task of making sure no more kissing takes place, under any circumstances.
Noah and I ignored that last rule with great pleasure.
Although I knew it was wrong because nothing could or would come of it, I just found myself drawn to the man. His kisses became a daily staple and we began stealing moments together at every opportunity. We took care not to conduct any public displays of affection in front of the guests, but it was fun to kiss him until a fraction of a second before one of them walked into the kitchen. We created our own little loved-up bubble to exist in, shutting the outside world firmly out. I’d cast off the person I used to be – work-obsessed, didn’t do breakfasts or fun or romance – and become a lighter, happier person. Glasgow and my promotion were the two furthest things from my mind and I didn’t give a monkey’s. A little voice in the back of my mind occasionally reminded me that my time with Noah would soon be coming to an end, but I was so happy spending time with him that I reduced it to background noise.
Noah’s mum became a larger presence during my third week in Luna Bay. Although she unsettled me, she seemed keen to build bridges with him and they met up twice: once for dinner and once for a walk round the village. For Noah’s sake, I tried to ignore the glacial smiles she threw my way whenever he wasn’t looking. She was just trying to protect Noah, I said to myself. There wasn’t anything sinister about her whatsoever. Sure she reminded me of Maleficent a bit, but that was normal.
Wasn’t it?
*
After two weeks in hospital, Rose was finally allowed home.
She was about as far away from the ideal patient as it was possible to be. She was fiercely independent by nature and wouldn’t let us do anything for her.
‘I can make my own tea, thank you very much!’ she huffed when Noah brought her through a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits. ‘I’ve got a broken leg; I’m not in my dotage just yet!’
Noah and I exchanged weary looks as he tried to explain to her as gently as possible that she had to let us look after her until she was better. She wouldn’t hear anything of the sort and hobbled off to try and do the washing-up. After smashing not one but three bowls, she conceded defeat and put her feet up with her tea and biscuits. She claimed she wasn’t happy at all about not taking back the reins of Sunflower Cottage from Noah and I, but didn’t seem to mind when Homes Under the Hammer came on.
*
Before we knew it, it was time for the second breakfast club.
‘Think we’ll get any more members?’ I asked as I sat on Noah’s lap in the kitchen. ‘Or will it just be the fab four?’
He shrugged and reached over to kiss me. ‘Who knows? Diane was right; word spreads like wildfire round here. If they liked it last week, hopefully they’ll have told their friends to come along this week. And if they like it this week, they’ll come next week too. If not, we might just be cooking breakfast for ourselves!’
My heart sank as I realised something. ‘Next week’s my last week in Luna Bay. I’ll be going home a few days after next week’s breakfast club.’
Noah squeezed my shoulder. ‘Don’t think about that, eh? Next week is a long way off and we can have loads of fun together until then.’
I nodded, trying to ignore the little timer in my head that seemed to be counting down the minutes and seconds until I had to leave.
‘Speaking of the fab four…’ I paused for a second as I jiggled around on his lap to make myself comfortable. ‘What do you know about Alice? I noticed her sitting apart from the othe
rs last week and she looked really sad. She told me she was an actress on Broadway before she came back to the village; don’t suppose you know anything else?’
Noah’s mouth turned down at the corners and he shook his head. ‘No, don’t think so. I’ve seen her round the village before, but she keeps herself to herself mainly. Seems nice, though.’
I nodded, resolving to find out more about Alice when she came for breakfast. No matter what it took, I wanted to find out just why she looked so sad.
Whoever said word spread like wildfire in Luna Bay wasn’t kidding. More people turned up than we could possibly have imagined. Whether out of genuine interest or because they’d heard about the evil businesswoman wanting to buy up Sunflower Cottage, more than twenty people turned up to sample our culinary delights.
‘Jesus,’ I murmured, looking at them all packed like sardines into the dining room. ‘Look how many people are here! Must be half the bloody village.’
Noah peered round to look and raised his eyebrows. ‘That’s a lot of breakfasts to cook. Do you reckon we’re up to it? There’s a lot more people here than last week.’
I swatted his chest with my hand. ‘Of course we bloody are! OK, so it’s a few more people than we thought, but we’ll be fine. We’ve come a long way since we incinerated the bacon and made the eggs explode. Besides, we can’t have done that bad a job. Look: everyone who came last week is back again.’
‘Excuse me, I think you’ll find that was your handiwork not mine!’
He dug me in the ribs and I turned round to retaliate, suddenly aware of just how close we were. I took in a deep breath, inhaling his scent as I did so. It was an earthy, woody smell that ensnared my senses and made me want to do unmentionable things to him.
‘Come on,’ I said briskly, tapping him on the chest. ‘We have a breakfast club to run.’
*
There’s a real buzz that comes from making someone happy with food you’ve cooked. Watching them tuck into something you’ve lovingly prepared gives you a natural high that can’t quite be beaten with anything else.