‘Me too,’ he replied, pouring them a cup each. ‘I should warn you, the whole hotel knows we spent the night in here. You can’t keep anything quiet around here.’
‘I wouldn’t want to keep it quiet,’ she replied, taking a sip of tea. ‘I warn you, though, I could get used to this.’ She grabbed a pastry and took a big bite.
‘I’m not worried at all,’ he replied, taking one of the plates and digging in. ‘I seem to have worked up a good appetite this morning.’ And then Lord Huntley actually winked at her.
Abbie choked a little as she laughed, a little bit in disbelief at the turn of events. But blimey, she was happy about it. She glanced at her phone and saw several messages from Louise. She would need to explain why she hadn’t come home last night. First though, there was bacon, and a gorgeous man beside her. What more could you need in the morning?
***
Eszter, Zoe and Anne made their way to Littlewood Animal Rescue in the bright, late-morning sunshine. Eszter had decided to keep the trip as a surprise to both her daughter and mother-in-law, merely telling them that she had someone who would very much like to meet them.
‘Where are we going?’ Zoe wondered, as they walked to the edge of town.
‘Almost there,’ Eszter replied, excited to see what they thought. They turned into the road and the large building that housed the charity stood on the edge of a field and the sign was soon visible to them.
‘Animals!’ Zoe cried, hurrying forwards.
‘Should I be worried?’ Anne asked with a smile.
‘We won’t do anything you’re not on board with,’ Eszter assured her, linking her arm through hers. They followed a bouncing Zoe inside the bright reception where Eszter went to the desk and mentioned they were here to meet Ben. The lady said Jenny had told her to expect them and called her colleague, who showed them into a small waiting room and went to collect the dog.
‘Now,’ Eszter said looking at them. ‘I met Ben yesterday and you might remember him from the fete. He’s looking for a family to take him in and I think he would be very happy with us but this is a huge decision and we must all be in agreement if we do this, okay?’ Zoe nodded solemnly and Anne smiled.
‘I’d like you guys to meet Ben,’ the volunteer said, returning to the room with Ben on his lead.
‘A dog!’ Zoe cried, falling to her knees on the floor as Ben rushed up to her and started licking her. ‘Hi, Ben.’
Anne looked a bit taken aback. ‘He’s a big dog,’ she said, shooting Eszter a nervous look.
‘He is, but we have a big house and garden, don’t we?’ Eszter said. ‘I think we’d all love to have a dog and we can all look after him together.’
Ben, perhaps sensing hesitation, next went to Anne and stuck his head on her lap, wagging his tail enthusiastically. She patted him and broke into a smile, and Eszter knew she wouldn’t be able to say no. They all deserved something good after the pain of the past few months, and it really felt as if their new family had come together.
‘He certainly seems to like all of you,’ the shelter volunteer said, smiling as Ben went to Eszter and sat down on her feet.
‘How about it, Ben? Would you like to come home with us?’ Eszter asked him. He barked in reply, which was all she needed to hear.
The rescue centre needed to be sure Ben was the right dog for them so they arranged a home visit in a couple of days’ time with Jenny, who would bring Ben to Anne’s house to make sure it was suitable, and that they would all get on well. It was hard for the three of them to leave him there.
‘I love him already,’ Zoe declared as they walked back home.
‘I always wanted a pet growing up, and then later on with Frank it was obviously impossible,’ Anne said, referring to his allergies but also his strict control, Eszter thought. ‘You two are certainly changing things around here.’
‘In a good way, I hope?’ Eszter asked anxiously, worried that Anne might be changing her mind about them moving in with her.
‘Definitely,’ Anne replied firmly. ‘You know how excited I am about you staying in Littlewood; you two can have whatever you want, even if that includes a big, smelly dog,’ she added with a laugh.
‘He didn’t smell,’ Zoe told her.
‘We’ll give him lots of baths, won’t we, Zo?’ Eszter said. ‘Let’s hope Jenny thinks he will be happy with us.’
‘I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,’ Anne said, looking as outraged as Zoe at the very suggestion they weren’t right for the dog. Eszter was sure that with Anne there, Jenny wouldn’t dare to turn them down.
Chapter Twelve
Louise hurried into the hall when she heard Abbie let herself in. ‘We need to talk!’ she cried, pulling her sister into the living room.
‘What’s going on?’
Louise was crestfallen. ‘I just had this text from Alex. Look!’ She thrust the phone at Abbie. She had received it half an hour ago and had been pacing back and forth waiting for Abbie to come home to calm her down.
Abbie took the phone and read it. She looked up at Louise. ‘He’s gone away for a few days.’
‘Exactly.’ Louise flopped into the armchair. ‘Just when I was planning to talk to him, and tell him how I feel, he’s decided to bugger off on some camping trip with his cousins to Scotland. And it doesn’t say how long he’ll be gone, and I don’t like the words he’s used: “I fancy getting away”. Does he mean from me?’
Abbie sat down opposite her and put the phone on the table. ‘It’s probably after everything with his niece, having been so stressed, he just needs a break to relax. He didn’t know you wanted to talk to him, did he?’
‘What if he falls in love with someone else in Scotland?’ Louise gave her sister a warning glare as it seemed as if Abbie might start laughing.
‘Of course he won’t. Look, if I was you, I’d reply with some kind of hint that you want to talk to him when he gets back or something. Tell him you’ll miss him, maybe. I know, make sure he’s going to be back for the relaunch party. Come on, Lou, don’t give up without a fight, you’re a Morgan, and we get what we want.’
Louise raised an eyebrow. ‘We do?’
‘We do from now on. I told you, I’m not watching you let things you want pass you by. You love Alex so you need to tell him.’
Louise crossed her arms. ‘Just because you slept with Thomas,’ she grumbled. She was genuinely worried that Alex might enjoy being away from Littlewood, and her, just too much. She wished he had given her a heads up, not just text her on the journey to Scotland so she could have put her plan into action sooner. Now, she had to sit and wait again. ‘What if I’ve left it too long, Abs?’
‘I don’t think it’s ever too late to tell someone what they mean to you.’ She slid the phone across the table towards her. ‘It took me and Thomas time to realise what we meant to one another; love isn’t easy for anyone, but look how happy we are now, and I know that you and Alex will be just as happy. I knew it as soon as I saw you two together.’
Louise stared at her phone. She knew that Abbie was right. She had to give Alex some kind of hint, a sign, of what she was thinking and feeling or she’d regret it, she knew that. She nodded and started to compose a reply to him. Abbie left to make them tea and it took a good half an hour until Louise was happy with her text, and had worked up the courage to press send.
Littlewood won’t be the same without you. I hope you come back soon. I’d love to see you at the Huntley Manor relaunch party, if you can still make it? Maybe we could go together? Have a lovely trip xx
Louise hoped he knew how much he meant to her, and that he would come back for the party so she could finally tell him. But if not, Louise would just pick up the phone and tell him that way because Abbie was right, after all they had been through she couldn’t let him go without trying. She did love him, and she would wait for him, however long it took.
They were drinking their tea when his reply came through. Louise crossed her fingers as she glanced d
own at the screen, her heart in her throat.
Thanks, Louise. I’ll have to let you know as I’m not sure exactly how long we’ll be gone for. Speak soon, Alex.
‘That’s a brush-off, isn’t it?’ Louise asked after she had read it twice herself, and once aloud for Abbie’s benefit. Her heart had sunk. No mention of missing her or wanting to go to the party with her, a non-committal response that didn’t make any promises, and no kisses at the end. Had she completely blown it? She thought back to their drink together; they’d had a lovely time until Alex had been called away to work, hadn’t they?
‘Don’t panic, he might just need a break and genuinely isn’t sure when he’ll be back,’ Abbie said but even she didn’t look all that convinced. ‘He has to come back for work, doesn’t he?’
‘I don’t know,’ Louse replied, dully. She hoped he wasn’t thinking of quitting and leaving Littlewood for good. ‘This is why I didn’t want to fall in love. It just makes you miserable.’
Abbie sighed. ‘No, it doesn’t. Look how much I smile if you say Thomas’s name. It’ll work out in the end, don’t worry. When he sees you in that dress at our party, he won’t be able to resist.’
‘If he comes to it,’ Louise reminded her. She shook her head. ‘Well, I can’t do anything right now, can I? Let’s go out and take my mind off it.’
‘Come on then, a curry on me, okay?’
Louise forced out a smile, she was so glad that Abbie was there with her. ‘And a glass of wine, I think.’
‘Definitely.’
***
Eszter was feeling excited about the future. She and Abbie had spent the morning working on ideas for their business. They had decided to call themselves Littlewood PR & Events because the town had united them, and they were starting to design their website and business cards. ‘I think Huntley Manor should be in the logo,’ Eszter said as they decided how to brief the designer they were hiring to help create it.
Abbie smiled. ‘I love that idea. After all, our office is here.’ They were using the library at the moment as they needed to order furniture for their office and were waiting for the party to be done with before they got cracking. She added that suggestion to the email they were sending to the designer.
‘Thought we could all do with some lunch,’ Thomas said, coming in with a tray filled with sandwiches and a jug of juice. ‘What a morning. That annoying couple found something else to complain about, and then one of the toilets got blocked. I had to escape when I could. Is that okay? I’m not interrupting?’
‘You never need to ask when you’re bringing us food,’ Abbie replied with a smile. ‘This email is ready to send so we can have a break now, can’t we?’ Eszter agreed with her, and they pressed send and moved into the armchairs with Thomas, pouring drinks and filling their plates. Abbie told him about their design idea. Eszter liked how Thomas listened to Abbie with a smile, the fondness he felt for her crystal clear on his face. It made her feel a pang for Nick but she was so happy for Abbie and Thomas. She was sure they were a strong partnership, and they’d be together for a long time. She wondered if Littlewood PR & Events might even be planning a wedding eventually, although she’d keep that idea to herself for now.
‘I really like the idea of the Manor in your logo, after all, hotel events will be being run by you two,’ he said, taking a bite of his sandwich. ‘Can I hire you to dispose of customers we don’t like, too?’
They both laughed. ‘I’ll remember to add that to the “about us” section as a service we offer,’ Abbie told him. ‘They can’t be that bad, can they?’
‘They actually asked me if their water could be chilled to a particular degree this morning.’
‘I don’t envy you,’ Eszter said, shaking her head. ‘I hope we don’t get any difficult clients. I’m not sure I could hold my tongue,’ she added to Abbie.
‘You’ll get used to it. I have had to deal with a few divas in my time; you just have to keep smiling and think of the money,’ Abbie replied. ‘You’ll be fine – look how you brought your mother-in-law round.’
Eszter smiled to think of how shaky their relationship had been when she first arrived in Littlewood – now she was about to move in with Anne. ‘It certainly has been a turnaround. I do wonder what Nick would make of it all.’
Abbie touched her arm. ‘He’d be really happy, I’m sure.’
Eszter checked the time. ‘Speaking of Anne, I’d better go because we have Littlewood Animal Rescue coming around to assess us soon.’
‘Assess you?’ Thomas asked.
‘We want to adopt a dog. Zoe has always wanted one, and now we’re here we have the space. I just hope they let us have him.’
‘Of course they will,’ Abbie assured her. ‘Everything is changing, isn’t it? When I think of where we all were at the start of this summer . . .’ The three of them smiled at one another, thinking about what different places they were all in now.
***
Eszter excused herself after lunch and walked to Anne’s house, excited to see Ben again and hopeful that Jenny would let them take him. Anne and Zoe were in the living room, Zoe bouncing with excitement, and Anne obsessively cleaning so Jenny wouldn’t find anything amiss.
‘I don’t think she’ll be looking at the dust,’ Eszter said, telling Anne to sit down. There was a knock at the door so Anne hurriedly put the duster away and Zoe ran to answer it, Eszter following her out into the hallway.
‘Hi Jenny, and Ben,’ Eszter said as Zoe flung the door open to reveal the woman and dog. Ben barked enthusiastically and ran to Zoe, who fell to her knees and lavished him with affection.
Jenny laughed as she stepped over the threshold. ‘Well, he seems to like you guys already,’ she said.
‘I’ll show you the house,’ Eszter said, taking Jenny around the space downstairs and then they joined Anne in the kitchen. Eszter opened the back door and Zoe took Ben on his lead outside.
Jenny walked to the door to look out. ‘Well, you have a lovely garden,’ she said with a nod. ‘Let’s have a chat while those two play, shall we?’
Anne and Eszter joined her at the table with tea, and Anne brought out a Victoria sponge for them as well.
‘Zoe seems to have fallen in love with him already,’ Eszter said, watching Zoe running around with him in the garden.
‘I have no reservations,’ Jenny said, sipping her tea. ‘I just want to make sure you know it will be a lot of work; he’s a big dog with a lot of energy. He’ll need lots of walking and I would recommend taking him to some obedience classes as well.’
Eszter nodded. ‘I’m sure we will cope well, Anne is obviously retired so he wouldn’t be alone at all during the day, and I’ll just be working nearby at Huntley Manor so can easily take him with me and he’d get lots of walks there too. And you can see that Zoe will shower him with attention.’
Jenny smiled at them. ‘Don’t look so worried, I want Ben to go to a loving home and I think you guys will be perfect. I just want to make sure you’re prepared for everything that goes with having a dog.’ They talked more about Ben’s requirements and then Zoe brought him back in, a huge happy smile on her face.
‘Can we keep him? Please?’ she begged the adults at the table as Anne put down a bowl of water on the floor for Ben who drank greedily.
Zoe sat at the table and Eszter slid her a slice of cake and glass of juice.
‘I can’t imagine Ben belonging to anyone else,’ Jenny told her.
‘You’re happy to have him, aren’t you?’ Eszter asked Anne anxiously.
‘Anything that puts that smile on my granddaughter’s face gets a yes from me,’ Anne replied.
‘Ben!’ Zoe cried then, making them all jump and look to the edge of the table where Ben stood, paws on the wood, licking at the cake up there.
Jenny pushed him down. ‘See what I mean about obedience classes?’
They all looked at one another and then burst out laughing. Ben joined in with a bark.
‘What have we
let ourselves in for?’ Eszter said when the laughter had died down. Ben came over to sit on her feet and she shook her head. ‘You won’t get around me that easily,’ she told him but patted his head anyway.
‘I think I’d better leave before you change your mind,’ Jenny said with a laugh.
Chapter Thirteen
Louise was having lunch with Julie at work. She had invited her for a sandwich during their shift and had asked her about David. ‘You’re moving in with him, Alex said?’ she asked her. She couldn’t help but smile when she said Alex’s name, although everything to do with him was making her heart hurt right now. Thinking of him away in Scotland was driving her a little bit crazy as she kept wondering what he was doing or thinking, and hoping he would be back in Littlewood again soon.
Julie beamed across at her. ‘He moved his things in yesterday. Even the cats like him; they were on his lap all last night. I haven’t lived with a man for a long time so it’s strange but I’m so happy.’
‘Oh, that’s great. It’s crazy to think you met him that night in the pub.’
‘I know! And I thought there might be something with Alex instead. But at his party, I knew as soon as David started talking to me that we had chemistry, you know? I don’t think Alex and I would have gone well together at all. Besides, I saw the way he was looking at you at his party.’
Louise’s head snapped up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Come on, you must have noticed. He could barely take his eyes off you,’ Julie said with a sly smile.
Louise’s composure broke. ‘Do you really think so?’ She put her sandwich down. ‘I really like him, Julie, but he’s gone off to Scotland and I’m scared I’ve left it too late to tell him. I kept saying I just wanted to be friends but I don’t!’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think you’ve left it too late. He likes you, I’m sure of it. David even said the same, and you know how usually clueless men are about noticing things. But why did you say you just wanted to be friends if you like him? You even told me to go for it with him,’ Julie asked her gently.
Summer at the Kindness Cafe Page 28