by Rachel Dove
Walking down the steps, Agatha looked at a midnight blue Mercedes that was parked on the drive. ‘Did you rent a car?’
Taylor shook his head. ‘No, this is my car.’
Agatha looked puzzled. ‘Your car?’
‘Yes, Agatha,’ Taylor said, pointedly. ‘I do have my own car, you know.’
Agatha nodded. ‘Fair enough, sorry.’
He opened the door for her without being asked as normal, but this time it felt different. Agatha settled into the passenger seat, not the back, and could feel the close proximity of him as he took his seat next to her. She looked at him momentarily, blushing as she turned to look out of the window. Taylor grinned to himself as he pulled away smoothly. Tonight is going to be fun, he thought to himself.
The meal was lovely. They couldn’t have gone to a nicer place. The Harrogate night air was warm and sweet and, as they sat out on the terrace waiting for their coffees, the pair were giggling together at something that had tickled them.
‘I did not!’ Agatha protested. ‘You say this all the time, and there is just no truth to the tale!’
Taylor made an appalled face, clutching his chest as though she had aimed the barb directly at his heart. ‘Madam! I do not lie!’ he said, and they collapsed into laughter again. ‘You did cheat at the egg and spoon race, and poor Harold never recovered!’ he said, recalling their primary school sports day.
Agatha wiped a tear from her cheek, clutching for breath as she shook with laughter.
‘You are wicked, Sebastian, you really are!’
Taylor stopped laughing a little then, and his eyes grew dark and serious. ‘It’s a long time since you called me that, Agatha.’
Agatha turned to look at him, sensing his change in mood.
‘Well, it has been a long time coming,’ she admitted.
Taylor beamed at her. ‘A good night had by all then,’ he said happily.
As they sat, their coffees arrived. Taylor placed his hand over hers as she reached for the sugar bowl. Instead of stopping him, she covered it with her own.
‘It has been nice, Taylor.’ She smiled.
Taylor squeezed her hand. Noticing her frown, he wondered what she was thinking.
‘Penny for them?’
Agatha squeezed his hand back, and Taylor nearly fell off his chair when she pulled it to her lips to drop a kiss onto it.
‘My problem, my dear, is that I fear now I can’t kill the meddling buggers that arranged this.’
Taylor’s laughs carried through the night air, as the other diners looked on, amused to look at this couple, best friends and in love.
Twenty-One
Four days had passed since the fair, and Amanda was feeling more comfortable day by day at Ben’s house. The kittens, Pinky and Perky, were already masters of their realm, having picked out their own sleeping posts around the house, and enjoying far too many rich treats at the hands of Dotty, who came in every day to clean, cook and generally make a fuss of the pair. Ben had started to go back to work a little, but was never gone long, and had taken to working on his paperwork and client files from the kitchen table, whilst Amanda sat propped on the sofa, or at the other end of the table, putting together an order from the fair. She was feeling better every day, the headaches were gone, and this morning she even managed to wash her hair. The downside to her wound however was that she couldn’t yet towel dry or hairdryer her hair, so whilst her hair was now very clean, and no longer matted with blood, it was still very much in the Worzel Gummidge realm of hairdos. Not that Ben said a word, he was a perfect gent. Much to the surprising disappointment of Amanda.
They had agreed to stay away from each other, but were all bets off whilst they stayed in the same house? Amanda was as confused as ever, and she was aware that she was getting as comfortable as the cats were, the furry little Judases. They even got on with the chickens, and other than a couple of warning pecks from Darcy, they had pretty much lived in accord, with the kittens even going out for a wander in Ben’s garden. It was lovely to see them dashing about on the grass, and Amanda suddenly felt very guilty that she had no garden at home for them to play in. She just hoped that when the time came to sojourn back to Baker Street, the cats would come with her, and not just wave her goodbye from their new home.
This morning had consisted of Ben making them a good breakfast, before he settled her on the couch with her order boxes and dashed off to help set up the surgery. He was due to call into the dog groomer’s too, and said he would pop his head into New Lease, to see how the women were getting along. Amanda was just ensconced on the sofa, when there was a knock at the door. Opening it, she was surprised to see Marlene and Grace standing there, with Hetty locking up her car. They had boxes and bags with them, and they all came bundling in, all lavender smells and bustle of cardigans.
‘Hi!’ Amanda said, surprised. ‘What’s all this?’
Marlene covered her in kisses as the women bandied her back onto the sofa. Grace eyed her project, a half-finished duck for a customer from Leeds, who had come to the fair. ‘Looking good this, Amanda dear, you are getting better all the time.’
Amanda smiled, pleased with the endorsement. ‘Thanks, but how come …?’
Grace grinned at her. ‘We have our club, remember? Ben said that we could use his house, till your shop is done. That way you don’t lose any money, and we don’t miss out on our gathering.’
Amanda couldn’t believe it. She flushed as she thought of Ben; he had literally turned his life upside down for her this week, and she was moaning because he wasn’t throwing her over his shoulder and racing her upstairs. She made a mental note to thank him that night. The ladies were all chatting away, getting themselves set up, so Amanda settled back onto the sofa, and let the chatter wash over her. She had missed their company, and was so glad they came.
It was getting dark by the time Ben arrived home, and he mentally scolded himself for leaving Amanda alone so long. The truth was that he was so busy playing catch-up at work that he had lost track of the time, and he knew that the girls would have kept her company earlier in the day for their group. By the time he had called in at the market for some groceries and wine, it was after six and the mid-August sky was beginning to dim—a sure sign that the September change was on its way. Turning off his engine, Ben looked at his house, all lit up and looking homely, and grinned. It was so nice to come home to company, especially since that company was Amanda. In truth, Ben was getting very comfortable with her being there, and he was secretly pleased when the builders at Baker Street had said that the work would take another week. He was in no hurry for her to move back home, and he saw no problem in her working from his house in the meantime.
Opening the door, he was greeted by the smell of tomatoes and garlic, and he took a deep sniff. Walking through the house, he saw that every room was immaculate, all of Amanda’s work had been put into neat boxes at the side of the kitchen table, and candles were lighting up various surfaces in the rooms. Soft music was playing in the kitchen, and he walked through, bags in hand, to see Amanda stirring something on the stove. Her hair was pinned up neatly to her head, and she was wearing a simple black shift dress, together with black flats. He smiled as she turned to look at him, wooden spoon in hand.
‘Hi!’ she said, grinning. ‘Here, taste this!’ She thrust the spoon into his mouth before he could protest, and his taste buds were assaulted by a gorgeous Bolognese sauce.
‘Um, yum,’ he said, licking his lips. ‘Dotty does it again!’ He winced as she swatted at him with the spoon.
‘Cheeky, I made this myself!’
Ben laughed, passing her the wine. ‘Good job I got this then, eh?’
Amanda opened the wine and started to dish up. Turning to the table, Ben saw that she had set it for two, complete with candles and napkins, and his heart did a little jump. I could definitely get used to this, he thought as he ran upstairs for a quick shower and change.
The meal was a success, even if Amanda did say
so herself. Even the kittens ate the leftovers, which Ben said was the true test of a good cook. ‘If the pets don’t eat it, run,’ he said, laughing.
Amanda sniggered, taking a gulp of wine. ‘Hey, I am not the best cook, but I wanted to do something to thank you for everything you have done.’
Ben shrugged her off. ‘Any time, it’s been lovely having you here,’ he said honestly.
Amanda winced. ‘Another week though. You will be dumping me out of the jeep doors in another seven days, mark my words.’
Ben shook his head, putting his hand over hers as he leaned in closer to the table. ‘I mean it, I am in no hurry for you to leave, just make yourself at home.’
Amanda opened her mouth to speak again, but fell silent when Ben reached up his hand and ran his thumb along her lower lip. ‘Sauce,’ he said, answering the question she didn’t ask. He put his thumb into his mouth then, sucking off the offending blob. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could do nothing but look into his gorgeous grey eyes.
‘What can I say,’ she breathed. ‘I’m a mess lately.’
Ben put his hands on either side of her face. ‘You seem pretty perfect to me,’ he said, his eyes boring into hers.
Amanda’s heart flip-flopped in her chest at his words, and she couldn’t hold back any more. She couldn’t keep living like this; she knew what she wanted. She had to know if she was kidding herself, once and for all.
‘What are we doing, Ben?’ she asked in a breathless whisper. ‘I don’t really trust my head at the moment, so I kinda need you to tell me. Do you want this?’
She couldn’t hold back any longer, she moved to stand and brazenly went to sit on his lap at the table, her hands shaking as they wrapped around his thick muscular shoulders. Ben pushed back his chair and caught her in his arms, pushing her body onto his. She straddled him on the chair and felt his hands run up and down her back as she lowered her lips onto his. She could taste the remnants of their meal on his lips, with an undertone of mint, and she settled into the kiss, flicking out her tongue to meet his. They kissed for what felt like forever, entwined in each other’s arms, both of them reluctant to let go. It was some time later, when her lips were swollen and tender, that they finally pulled away.
‘Wow,’ she said, suddenly feeling like a crazy teenager.
‘Wow indeed,’ Ben echoed, as he looked at her, daft grin emblazoned on his face.
He leaned in again, and Amanda felt the heat building deep in her belly, her face flushed and red hot. She needed to keep her head, she didn’t want to rush this, but one more minute and she would be lost forever in his arms. Too soon, take it slow, she thought sadly, maddeningly. This was too special to be rushed. She broke off the kiss, using every inch of her willpower, and smiled at him ruefully, before planting a soft peck on the tip of his nose.
‘I had better turn in,’ she said reluctantly. In truth, she was tired, but it was more to do with not jumping his bones like a polecat than getting a good night’s kip. She had been here before, and wasn’t in any rush to get hurt again. She sensed that Ben had the same hesitation, which only made her want to pull back all the more. She wouldn’t be able to take hurting him too, not after getting to know him. They had already agreed that this shouldn’t happen, and now they were here. It needed to be right, for both of them. The thought of not having Ben in her life chilled her to the core.
Ben dropped a kiss on her lips, grabbed her hands and helped her to stand up away from him. ‘I have a suggestion, if you don’t think I am being too forward?’ His voice trembled as he spoke, and Amanda was suddenly afraid of what he was going to say. Would he ask her to sleep with him? She longed for him to ask, but silently hoped that he wouldn’t. She knew, if he asked, she couldn’t tell him no, but telling him yes would open up a whole other can of worms.
‘Would you stay with me tonight?’ he asked, and her heart sank. ‘Look at me,’ he asked, and she looked into his eyes. ‘I meant to sleep, nothing else. Truth is, I have been wanting to do that all week, but I didn’t want to hurt you, after your knock.’
Her heart skipped as she looked at him, asking her to sleep beside him in the same bed. She smiled. ‘I would love to, Ben.’
He grinned then, his teeth catching his lip a little as he smooched her again.
They turned out the lights and headed for Ben’s room, arm in arm. ‘One thing though,’ Ben said, whirling around to face her, a serious look playing across his features.
‘Yes?’ she asked hesitantly.
Ben kissed the back of her hand as he opened the door. ‘I wear Batman pyjamas, so no mickey-taking, OK?’
Amanda giggled and let him lead the way. If that was the only thing she had to worry about discovering, she could live with that.
The next morning, Amanda woke up in Ben’s bed and reached across the sheets for his form. She felt nothing but pillow, and realised that he wasn’t there with her. She flipped onto her back, nuzzling into the warm space he had left, remembering the night. They had spent the night locked in each other’s arms, and despite her thinking it would be awkward, like a teenage sleepover, it wasn’t. It felt as natural as breathing, and she had slept like a rock when she had drifted off. In fact, she realised, she hadn’t had one nightmare since she had been staying here. She stretched, enjoying the comfort of the bed.
The room was neat, painted in muted blues and creams, and the sheets still carried the scent of his aftershave. She resisted the urge to bury her head into them and inhale the smell. Hearing movement in the kitchen downstairs, she quickly brushed her teeth, ran a brush through the bits of hair she could get to and went downstairs, still wearing her wrinkled PJs. Rounding the corner into the kitchen, she spied Ben and her blood ran cold. She stopped dead, watching him. This Ben wasn’t a Ben that she had seen in a while, and this imposter was light years apart from the kind, gorgeous man she had shared a bed with last night.
He had his back to her, dressed in tracksuit bottoms that showed off his sculptured behind, and a tight white running top. His hair glistened with sweat at the nape of his neck, and he was studying a piece of post intently. His gait was different though, and Amanda doubted it was just from the run he had obviously just been on. His shoulders were set square, and he looked coiled up, the opposite of the dancing, cooking man of the days before. A whole night away from the giggling, snuggly man of just hours before. He regrets it, she thought in horror, suddenly very glad that they hadn’t done more than sleep and steal a few kisses. He is mortified, obviously. He got up, panicked, and ran. Literally. Amanda’s heart dropped through the soles of her feet. She had used enough energy forcing herself to open up to the possibility of a future with him, but if he had doubts still, after everything, then that was a different matter.
She wasn’t about to convince a man to go out with her. She turned to go back upstairs, but the squeak of the floorboard beneath her foot betrayed her location. He turned to look at her, and she nearly turned to stone from his gaze. A tortured expression shrouded his features, and then it was gone, hidden behind an unresponsive mask. Amanda was right; he was gone.
‘Hi,’ he said, a faint smile playing on his lips, never reaching his eyes. It was more like a grimace.
‘Hi,’ she said, not trusting herself to speak more.
‘You sleep OK?’ he asked, as though he had deleted forever the memory of her in his arms from his memory banks.
‘Err, yes, thanks,’ she replied, playing along.
‘Good,’ he said, throwing the post into the kitchen bin beside him. Her heart broke when he looked back at her. He looked stricken, pale, and she couldn’t believe that this man was the same one she had slept beside the night before. I knew it, she chided herself. Nothing good would come from any of this, and you still jumped in feet first. What are you going to do, genius, move again? This is his town, his friends. You have nothing here.
‘I thought I would move back to Baker Street today,’ Amanda ventured. She had to get out, lick her wounds in peace.
She felt like her face was on fire, she couldn’t bear to linger there if he didn’t want her to be. She wondered what had changed, and wished things had been easier, cleaner, like they felt last night.
Ben turned fully then, frown lines scarring his face.
‘Why?’ he said softly.
She looked away from him. ‘I have been here a while, disturbing your life, the shop won’t be far off being finished now. I can cope, and you need to go back to work.’
‘What about last night? Amanda, I …’ He stopped dead, running his hands through his hair in agitation.
He opened his mouth to speak again, taking a step towards her, but she cut him off.
‘Ben, it’s fine. I don’t really want to talk about this. I think we will both be glad of our own space. I’ll go pack,’ she said, and she ran up the stairs. Shutting the spare room door behind her, she sank to the floor, putting her head in her hands. She tried to stop the flow of hot tears that threatened to pebble-dash her flaming cheeks like hail, but in the end, she let them come.
Ben looked at the stairway, willing Amanda to come back down, to tell him she didn’t want to go, but all he heard was the sound of the guest room door closing. Why had everything changed in the space of a few hours? This morning, when he woke up in his bed with her snuggled up to him, their pyjama-clad limbs entwined together, he was so happy. He watched her sleep. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he finally felt like he was strong enough to take a chance. Her accident had woken him up, shocked him, made him realise he didn’t want to have a life without her in it. He had realised that he had been sleeping through his life, going through the motions for everyone around him, but not really living for himself. In truth, he hadn’t been living his own life for years.
When he left the village for university, he was so excited, full of plans of big city life. The reality was that he missed home. He had tried his best to carve out a life though, and before long he had almost forgotten that he was faking it.
He even had a group of friends to hang out with, who had no idea of his background. Tanya, his high-maintenance girlfriend, was far from the type of girl that he would ever go for, but somehow they worked. Yin and yang, she brought him out of his shell and he kept her grounded. It was never a big love affair, but the pair of them got on well enough, and with Adam, a plastic surgeon and Ben’s student roommate, they had a laugh. Till the day that Ben got the call about his parents. That meant the party was over, and when Ben emerged from his grief bubble a few months later, he found himself married, living in his parents’ house, running his father’s business, with a wife who suddenly hated him and everything about their new life. The only thing they had in common any more was Adam. They both ranted and vented to him about their marital problems, and with Ben’s hours and commitments, he was grateful when Adam offered to look after Tanya while she had a break in the city. Ben never saw it coming, till the day she turned up, Adam in tow, to get her things. Their marriage was over, and Ben wasn’t convinced it had really ever begun.