“That was you?” He asked.
“Was what me?” She asked, confused.
“That I threw the frogs at?” He said, looking ashamed of himself.
“Oh don’t tell me that was you?! But it can’t have been; that boy’s name was Courtney!”
“Yes, do you remember what you screamed at me when I threw the second frog?” He muttered into his glass of water. He wouldn’t even look at her now!
“No, I don’t actually. I tried to forget most of it, that was so mean, Daniel!”
“I know and I do apologise. You screamed at me how Courtney was a girl’s name anyway, before you ran away. I made people start calling me Daniel after that. I really must apologise Annie May. I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you last night, but I wasn’t sure why. And about that incident, well, a friend of mine started making fun of me for spending so much time with you. And I wanted to kiss you but Brian had been telling me all these stories about red-headed kids, and when you closed your eyes, I really did think you were trying to steal my soul. We were only children and though it may not mean much now, I really didn’t know any better. And I promise I will never throw another frog at you again, for the rest of my life!”
Annie May wasn’t sure whether she should be mortified or laugh. Looking at Daniel, how repentant he was, however, told her she should at least give him a chance to make up for his behaviour as a child. She knew he was a flirt, she could tell that by the way he talked to other women when they were around, but when he focused on her, she knew that attention was meant only for her. And they had only been children so perhaps she should give him a chance? Maybe he was just a friendly person and the way he talked with the women wasn’t offensive, it was only meant to bring a smile to their faces and there was nothing wrong with that. But could he really be serious? He was ever so handsome, and she wasn’t ugly but her height and size usually put men off her.
“Alright then but if you say one thing about my lack of a soul, I’ll drop you in a pan of cold water and set you on the stove. Just you remember that!” The words were harsh but she said them with a smile, taking some of the sting out of them.
“Can I see you tonight then?” He asked, a hopeful grin on his face.
“Oh, well. I promised Nan I’d help her behind the bar tonight, but if you want to come in there, you’re welcome to. I’d like that in fact, a familiar face on the other side might help me to relax a little.”
“I’d love that. I think tonight’s dominoes night so it’ll be crowded but I’ve been known to help out behind the bar before, so I can lend you a hand if you need me to, as well.” He tilted his head as he spoke, that cheeky grin that made her knees feel wobbly, making another appearance.
Oh he is lovely, she thought. And he smelled good too. She’d been trying to pin down the fragrance since last night but finally came to the conclusion it must be one she didn’t know. Spicy, warm, but inviting. A wonderful scent on a man. She’d only ever smelled it on him, but she loved it already.
“That sounds like it might be fun, getting to work with you. I look forward to it. Shall we get back now? I know you must be busy with work; I don’t want to keep you.”
“Yes, I should get back. I have an appointment in 15 minutes so I should do the grown-up thing and prepare for it. I’ve really enjoyed having lunch with you, though. It’s been wonderful, it truly has. Can I ring for a taxi to get you back to your Nan’s?”
“No, a walk would be good, I can refamiliarise myself that way.”
She held her hand to her heart as he took her hand again, kissing it before standing back up. How can that be so very romantic, she wondered.
Sighing, she smiled at him again, thanked him for lunch and waved goodbye as they went their separate ways.
She walked back up the hill, passing sheep and people with guidebooks in their hands, and hiking gear clanging in packs on their backs. Britain was a very active place, if nothing else, she thought, watching all the walkers with their dogs and children, zigzagging the hills and footpaths. She got back to her Nan’s and lost herself in helping her grandmother prepare for the evening and wait on the few customers who came in during the day. What a wonderful morning, she thought to herself as she told her Nan about her time with Daniel. Her Nan just stood smiling as Annie May spoke, the smile getting wider as Annie May told her about the childhood incident.
“He may turn out to be your prince, yet, my duck. Just you keep an eye out, though. You’re only here for a few months so don’t get too caught up or I’ll have to answer to your Dad and Mum, and heaven forbid I have to do that!” Ruby smiled and hugged Annie May close again, ideas forming in her head about what exactly she’d tell them because she would love to have Annie May with her in England full time.
Annie May’s night was filled with laughter, conversation, and observations on how vastly different American English was from British English. She laughed every time someone said, “So you’re an American are you?” And replied that she might as well be, explaining that she was, in fact, English over and over again. Daniel got in on the fun by introducing her to the regulars who trickled in, as Ruby’s English granddaughter who spoke like an American. He thought maybe she’d bumped her head and woke up with a strange accent but nobody would tell him for sure.
The people would just stare at him, then he’d wink at them, letting them know he was teasing, and they’d all laugh some more. Annie May met a cast of characters she’d have never met at home in a bar. There was the Communist couple that came in every single night, no matter what; the older man who came in twice a day, rain or shine; the farmer who lived across from the inn who spent most evenings reading the paper and listening to other people but never joined in; and the younger people who would all settle in the bottom room, playing billiards and listening to their own music on a cd player Nan had put down there for them. Nobody caused trouble and everyone just wanted a laugh. Customers came in with their dogs and every single canine was offered a treat, even by people that didn’t have dogs. Apparently Nan’s place was known for being dog-friendly, partly because the regulars were.
She went to bed that evening with a smile on her face and Daniel’s beautiful eyes and smile in her thoughts. He’d worked diligently, keeping people happy, sharing a laugh with each one, and then helping her to clean up when it was all over. They’d spent more time laughing, she realised, than they had working. She’d never laughed so much at home, even with her boyfriend’s there, though there hadn’t been many of those. Nobody serious anyway. She’d always been too busy for romance, flings, or any kind of affair, but she’d had a serious relationship once that almost ended in marriage. At 28, she still hadn’t slept with anyone though, preferring to wait until she was married, partly because she just didn’t feel she was attractive enough to take anything to that level. She opened her eyes, looking at the moonlight on her wall, wondering what Daniel would think of her inexperience but somehow not doubting that this relationship might go further than a holiday fling. Daniel was kind, loving, fun to be around, and generous with his time. Her last thoughts were of how Daniel had volunteered to take several people home before going to his own home for the night. He was ever so sweet, she thought, before her eyes closed a final time, and she drifted into her dreams.
Chapter Nine
“Annie May, I’d like to speak with you please, when you have the time, my duck.” Annie May heard her grandmother call to her. They hadn’t unlocked the doors yet, and Annie May was cleaning up while her Nan was doing some paperwork in her office.
Annie May walked back to the office, lost in her thoughts about the poem Daniel had read to her the night before. Over the last month, they’d spent almost every evening together, and last night, they’d gone to a bonfire. Daniel had pulled out the book when things quieted down and read to her from the contents. She’d rested her head against his thigh, looking up at the sky as he read to her, happier than she’d ever been in her life. The words he spoke were words of love, p
romises that were not meant to be broken once made. Daniel recited words of passion, devotion, and wonder at finding someone so worthy of being loved.
Over the last few weeks, he’d slowly broken down the walls of her own self-doubts and made her feel beautiful with his admiration of her face, her eyes, but most importantly of her brain and how intelligent she was. They liked the same kinds of music, movies, and agreed that life without cheap comedy movies was not a life worth living. She felt beautiful when Daniel was around and as though the world had dimmed when he wasn’t. He still didn’t know her virginal status, but the issue had never come up. He’d gone no further than kissing her cheek so far, though she was starting to long for the feel of his lips against hers. Maybe tonight, maybe he’d kiss her properly tonight, she thought.
He’d excitedly taken her all over Derbyshire, visiting castles, hiking, going to Bakewell to sample the tarts, to stone circles she didn’t even know existed in that part of England, to the Heights of Abraham, showing off the places he loved so much. He’d even taken her to Matlock Bath, where she’d enjoyed learning about the way children used to put pieces of wood in the water to retrieve it later as petrified wood. She loved Derbyshire; she loved the people here; she loved that Daniel was so very proud of it, and by now she was pretty sure she was falling in love with Daniel. And her Nan was here, showing her love and kindness every single day with her own brand of humour to spice it up. This was her fairy-tale world, and nothing could intrude.
“Yes, Nan?” She asked as she walked into the office, curious.
“You’ve always got a smile on your face now. It’s so good to see that. I do hope we won’t be needing any prams soon?” Ruby asked her, a wicked grin on her face.
“Oh, Nan! I, well, Nan! Really! We won’t, don’t worry, but well…” Annie May cut herself off. She loved her Nan but sometimes the woman said things just to shock her, she thought, loving the teasing despite how much it made her blush.
“Sit down, love, I want to talk to you.” Nan looked serious suddenly, the teasing over and Annie May hoped she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong, child. I’ve just had a letter in the post, and I wanted to talk to you about it.” Nan was very perceptive, Annie May thought.
“What’s in the letter?” She asked.
“Well, I debated on showing it to you but thought you needed to see it.” Nan looked worried, causing Annie May to be concerned, so she sat down in a chair beside her Nan.
“What is it Nan?”
Ruby took a deep breath before handing over a sheet of paper to Annie May. Annie May looked at it, seeing only a letter, but then she started to read the words.
“There’s this too.” Nan handed over another piece of paper, an ultrasound picture.
“Where did this come from?” Annie asked, her heart shattered.
“The post-mark says Greece, but I don’t know who Piper Sandbrook is. She’s not a local anyway. What are you going to do?” Ruby asked her granddaughter, placing her hand on Annie May’s shoulder.
Annie May gasped, the comfort almost too much to bear at this point, and put her hand over her mouth. She stood up as her world fell apart, dashed her hands over her eyes, pulled her shoulders back, and spoke to her Nan.
“I’m going to get back to work and forget he exists. One way or another.”
“But Annie May, you should really talk to him about this. The woman may not really be Daniel’s fiancée; anybody could make that up. And this picture doesn’t even look real to me. I wasn’t going to show you because I thought it might be a tall tale, but I thought you should know about it.”
“No, Nan, it’s probably true. I bet she’s some tiny little blonde, and just glowing with maternal hormones as we speak. I’m not breaking that up. Daniel turned out to be a frog a long time ago; I see he never did quite turn into a prince now, despite what I thought. I guess I was just something he amused himself with. Why would a man like that want me anyway? I’m a giant lummox; no man wants a woman like me, not for a wife anyway.” She dashed out of the room, into the ladies toilet, to cry in peace.
Annie May replayed the words in her mind, how the woman had heard about Annie May from a friend and that the woman, this Piper whoever, had been out of the country working for the last couple of months. That she was pregnant, but on her way back because she’d heard about Annie, and she was coming to “kick Annie’s head in.” Annie May didn’t do fighting like that, and the thought of a violent confrontation made her shudder. Not out of fear, but loathing for how very low-class it was. And to threaten violence while pregnant? What kind of woman was this?
Over the next few days, the phone at the inn would not stop ringing. Annie May or her grandmother would pick up the phone only to hear obscene music playing. Their post was filled with hateful pictures and awful words that Annie May just didn’t want to think about. She also refused to talk to Daniel on the phone, deleting his number from her new mobile and blocking his calls. She screened the calls on the landline to avoid him and his fiancée, and Ruby refused to let him come into the inn at all, though she did try time after time to get Annie May to talk with Daniel.
They were hearing rumours that Daniel’s office was being targeted by someone too. The windows had all been smashed in at his office; the tyres on his car had been slashed, and he went home to find a dead dog lying across his steps one night. The police determined the dog had died from natural causes and hadn’t been killed with cruelty, but the threat was the same. Annie May wasn’t sure why the woman would be terrorising Daniel either, if they were together, so she discounted those rumours out of hand. Daniel must have put the regulars up to it, trying to gain sympathy for himself and make people think he wasn’t the cad he’d turned out to be.
Finally one night, Piper made her first appearance. Annie May knew who she was as soon as she walked in the door because she fit Annie May’s picture of the woman so well. Long blonde hair, tiny waist, a short dress that barely counted as clothing much less a dress, shoes that Annie May called ‘hooker heels’, and far too much make-up. The kind of expensive, high-maintenance woman that Annie May had no wish to be like, but always compared her own image with.
The woman was loud and rude, frequently bending over the bar to show off her knickers to the older men gathered at the tables. They cringed away, not wanting to be caught looking at her. The woman demanded her drinks and glared at Annie May while she drank them. An hour after she came in she started speaking in a very loud voice, using foul language that made everyone in the bar cringe. Apparently, she thought all of the men in the bar wanted her, but she belonged to one man alone.
“Miss, I think it’s time we ring a taxi for you.” Annie May said, trying to remind herself to be polite. “I’m not serving you anymore to drink tonight; you shouldn’t be drinking in your condition anyway.” Annie May meant her pregnancy, but apparently Piper took it to mean her inebriated state. Her pregnancy wasn’t apparent yet, but Annie May remembered the picture.
“What’s it to you, Goliath? Where’s this Annie May? The cow with a cow’s name?” Piper looked around, staring at all the women in the place.
“That would be me, Piper. I think you really need to sit down and collect yourself, if you don’t mind.”
“I can drink if I want to. Besides you’re the bit…” She fell over before she could finish but quickly stood up again. “Right, well, I was going to kick your head in but seeing as how you’re more Ironman than a woman, I guess I’ll have to settle with making my presence known. So, here I am, you soulless ginger cow, stay away from my bloke!” With that she collapsed to the floor again, the heel of her too high shoes snapping as she tottered around on them.
Annie May dialled Daniel’s number from the inn’s phone, where it was still saved, and spoke in clipped words. “It’s Annie May. Piper is here, come get her before I call the police.”
“Annie May! Wait…” But she hung up before he could finish.
So
me of the female customers had picked Piper up by this time and helped her to one of the seats outside.
A few minutes later, a car pulled up but it wasn’t Daniel. It was an older gentleman, and he walked in to speak with Annie May.
“I am very sorry for any damage my daughter may have caused. Please do forgive her, she’s a troubled girl.”
“I am very sorry to hear that sir. But when she sobers up, would you please tell her that I don’t want Daniel anymore, she’s quite welcome to him. I’ll be going back to America soon anyway, so I’m sorry to have caused trouble.”
“Ah, I see; she’s at that again is she? Well, I do hope I can prevent you any further problems, miss. Good night.” With that the man walked away, taking his daughter with him.
The man’s words were strange but Annie May didn’t pay much attention to them. The words of his daughter crowded his out as they played through her mind over and over again. The one line she said struck right to the core of Annie May’s emotions. You soulless ginger cow. Had Daniel told Piper about the childhood incident? Had they laughed over her size, her hair colour, and her weight together? Is that why the woman used the very words that would hurt Annie May the most?
“Annie May, don’t let that silly bint bother you, love. You aren’t a cow; you are a beautiful young woman. Don’t let her words sting you. She’s just some cheap trollop anyway, no matter how expensive her clothes may have been. You’re Nan’s girl, and far more beautiful than you realise. I bet she’s riddled with diseases as well, standing there with her knickers out like that. Some people have no class, at all.” Ruby took Annie May’s hand and led her to a dark corner.
A lot of people had left after Piper went, probably off to spread the news around the village Annie May thought, and it was quiet now. Looking at her Nan, Annie May tried to figure out how she’d got it all so very wrong.
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