by Jill Mansell
“Well, you never know. Maybe they’ll get back together. But in the meantime, there’s a cottage sitting empty.” Eddie swung open the driver’s door of the car. “Want to show me around?”
“It’s locked. I don’t have a key.”
Next to her, Eddie delved into his jeans pocket and held up a key with a label attached. “That’s OK. I do.”
There was a playful look in his eye that for the life of her Lily couldn’t figure out. What on earth was he suggesting? Because if this was his idea of a fun game—that they could sneak into an empty cottage and have wild reunion sex in there—well, there was absolutely no way she would go along with such a—
“Oh God, are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?” She must have been looking as horrified as she felt, because Eddie said, “Please don’t think it! That would be so weird. Listen, I saw the To Let sign up outside when I arrived back this afternoon and asked Dan about it. He told me what was going on. And I called into the real estate agent’s just before they closed. They trusted me with the key, what with me being a movie star and all.”
He smiled, reaching across for Lily’s hand. “How would you feel if I took a year’s lease out on this place, hmm? Does that sound like a pretty good plan to you?”
Lily swallowed and wondered if her heart was visibly hammering against her rib cage. It sounded as if it should be a brilliant plan.
In theory.
Oh help, this was awkward. She was doing her best to look surprised and delighted, but the muscles in her face felt as if they’d forgotten how to do it, and meanwhile the uncomfortable silence was lengthening and Eddie was watching her, reading her face like a book.
He might be many things, but he wasn’t stupid.
“Well, there we have it. Looks like I’ve got my answer.” He carefully slid the key back into the pocket of his jeans.
“Sorry,” Lily said. Oh God, was it worse being rejected when you were a famous movie star? And what if she were making the most terrible mistake? Because he was famous, he was a movie star, and millions of females would think she’d completely lost her mind. How many ordinary girls turned down an opportunity like this?
“It’s OK. I had my suspicions. I kind of did it to see if I was right.” Eddie paused, then added wryly, “And I was.”
“You’re fantastic,” Lily said. “It’s not you; it’s definitely me. I must be mad.”
He half smiled. “Goes without saying.”
“What made you have your suspicions?”
“The other week when I signed off that text with Love you, it was a genuine mistake, and I had to call you and let you know that. I thought you’d be disappointed but trying your best to hide it. You weren’t, though.” He was watching her intently. “Quite the opposite, in fact. You were relieved.”
This was true. Lily recalled the moment of terror when she’d first seen the words. Followed by the exquisite feeling of being let off the hook when he’d called to apologize and explain.
She said, “I could have been pretending to be relieved.”
“You weren’t, though.”
“No.”
“Oh well, at least now we know.”
“But I do really like you.”
Eddie dipped his head. “Thanks. I like you too. Slightly more than you like me, but that’s OK.” His tone was rueful. “My ego can probably handle it.”
“What with all the other millions of girls out there, jumping up and down and screaming, Pick me, pick me.”
“Well, quite. I daresay I’ll recover. But it’s going to be a struggle to find someone else like you. I know you don’t think you’re special,” Eddie went on, “but you actually are. You’re funny and brave and principled and honest. And I really hope we can stay friends.”
Now he was making her feel terrible. To hide her guilty face, Lily leaned across and gave him a hug. Against the soft cotton of his expensive pale-blue shirt, she breathed in the scent of him and knew it would stay with her for the rest of her life. Her voice muffled, she said, “I hope so too.”
They stayed like that for a few seconds more. Finally, realizing there was another confession she had to make, Lily pulled back and shook her hair out of her eyes. “OK, there’s something I need to tell you. And this is your fault, because I wasn’t going to, but you just called me principled and honest, so now I have to say it.”
“Sounds intriguing.” Eddie looked amused. “What is it, have you been unfaithful to me?”
He was saying it as a joke, because it was the least likely option he could think of. Feeling sick but knowing she had to go ahead, Lily nodded. “Yes.”
“What?” That made him sit up. “Are you serious?”
Hastily she added, “Not sex.”
“Oh, right.” His shoulders relaxed. “So…what kind of unfaithful, then?”
“It was a kiss. A proper kiss. That was all, but it definitely felt like being unfaithful.” She knew she had to explain. “I was talking to a friend about the situation with Patsy. They asked me if I’d ever done anything really bad that had made me feel terrible and ashamed of myself. And I couldn’t think of anything bad enough. So they thought I should do something…and, well, that’s what it was.”
“Right. So, did it work?”
Lily nodded, her mouth dry. “Oh yes, it did.”
“You really felt terrible,” Eddie prompted.
“Yes.” Oh God, and now her brain was remembering it all over again…
“But it made you realize how Patsy had been feeling, and that’s how you were able to forgive her.”
Lily nodded again.
Eddie said thoughtfully, “I did wonder.”
“Well, anyway, that’s it. That was what happened. So now you know. And I’m sorry.”
Another look, followed by a crooked smile. Then Eddie drew her toward him and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“No problem. Very honest of you. Look, I’m going to drop you home now and head back to London. But I meant it about us staying friends.” As he started the car again, he gave her arm a squeeze.
“Good.” Glad he didn’t hate her, Lily added, “And thanks.”
Back at Goldstone House, she gave him one last hug. “Fifty years from now, when you’re up onstage collecting your Oscar for lifetime achievement, I’ll be the annoying old woman in the nursing home boasting to everyone that one magical summer we had an affair. And nobody will believe me, which will be so annoying.”
“If that happens, I’ll come visit you,” Eddie said. “Then they’ll believe it.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Can you bring your Oscar with you?”
“Of course. And it could have lasted longer than one summer. Your decision, remember. Not mine.”
Lily shrugged and smiled. “Oh well.” She’d expected him to ask more questions, but he hadn’t. Which was probably a good thing.
“I’ll tell you something, though,” Eddie said as she climbed out of the car. “It must have been one hell of a kiss.”
Chapter 48
It wasn’t right. Coral had tried so hard to make it work, but it just wasn’t happening. Tiny niggling problems, building up over the last few weeks, had become impossible to ignore. In fact you could almost say they’d been multiplying like bacteria.
She stifled a burst of laughter and turned away so Trent wouldn’t see. Finding the situation funny really wasn’t appropriate under the circumstances. Maybe she was hysterical with relief at having realized that it was OK, she could end this relationship, it was allowed.
Oh, but how many couples could lay the blame for their break-up on a single speck of mold on a sandwich?
“What are you doing?” Trent’s voice was laced with suspicion. “Turn around and look at me. Are you laughing?”
Oh dear, he’d seen her shoulders shaking. The game was up.
“Because I can’t believe you’re making this much fuss about a sandwich.” They’d constructed the sandwiches earlier this morning, because he’d announced that they were going for an eight-mile walk along the Cotswold Way and they’d need to take supplies with them. When Coral had suggested stopping at a lovely pub for something to eat and drink, Trent had replied, “No, let’s not do that. They just rip people off. We’ll take our own.”
But the loaf of bread in his kitchen evidently hadn’t been the freshest. By the time they’d stopped for lunch, the heat of the day had gotten to it, and Trent had stared in horror at the blue dot on the outside of his cheese-and-pickle sandwich. “Oh God, I don’t believe it! What am I going to do now?”
It had taken Coral a few seconds to realize he wasn’t joking. Calmly she had reached across, pinched together her thumb and forefinger, and removed the blue dot. “There you go, all sorted out.”
Which had caused Trent to look at her as if she’d just murdered a kitten. “You can’t do that!”
“I just did. What’s wrong?”
“You seriously expect me to eat that sandwich now?”
Was he three years old? Was this one of those hidden-camera TV shows? To humor him, Coral said, “You don’t have to. Here, I’ll have that one and you can have mine.”
“You’d eat a moldy sandwich?”
“It isn’t a moldy sandwich. I’ve taken the mold off. But even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t hurt me. It isn’t a decomposing rat.”
She gave him her own sandwich and Trent turned it over, his brow furrowed with suspicion. If he’d had a magnifying glass, he would have used it. Finally he pointed, said “This one’s got it too,” and threw it to the ground in disgust. That was when the giggles had begun to rise up and Coral had had to turn away. If Trent was invited to be a contestant on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, he should probably say no.
“Antonia never would have laughed at me.” His tone was accusing. “She wouldn’t have eaten a moldy sandwich, either.”
This was another less-than-endearing habit that had begun to grate. He’d taken to bringing his late wife more and more often into conversation. Which was fine, of course it was, apart from the fact that he invariably held Antonia up as the pinnacle of perfection to whom all others needed to aspire. Antonia had never been given a parking fine. She’d loved listening to his favorite jazz albums. She’d always polished her shoes before leaving the house. She’d never forgotten to put the oven timer on and burned the casserole. And she’d never, ever folded over the corner of a page to keep her place in a book—only complete heathens did that.
And now it was as if a ticker-tape parade was running through Coral’s brain, emblazoned with all the other things she found frustrating about Trent. The baby voice he put on when he wanted her to make him a cup of tea. The way he tried to imitate the accents of people on TV, all the way through whichever program they happened to be watching. His predilection for using unfunny catchphrases over and over again and thinking they were hilarious every time.
Not to mention his habit of calling her Pumpkin.
Since she was hungry, Coral valiantly controlled her mirth and ate the sandwich. Trent said, “That is repulsive. You’re making me feel sick watching you.”
“You don’t have to watch me.” She swallowed the last mouthful. The sandwich hadn’t been that great anyway; instead of butter, Trent only kept cheap margarine in his fridge. “Look, I don’t think we’re right for each other, do you? Not really.”
His expression changed to one of alarm. “But Pumpkin—”
“We had a vacation romance, and it was fun,” Coral said. “And I’m grateful to you for making me realize I could feel normal again, but I think we’ve gone as far as we can go.”
“Pumpkin—”
“Please don’t call me ‘Pumpkin.’” Coral shook her head. “I don’t like it.”
Trent looked confused. “But Antonia always liked it when I called her that.”
Oh God. “I’m not Antonia, though. We’re different people.”
“You certainly are. She loved being called Pumpkin. And I loved it when she called me Mr. Snuggles. I asked you to call me that,” said Trent, aggrieved, “but you haven’t done it once.”
Eurgh, just the thought of saying it made her shudder. Coral said, “I’m not really a nickname sort of person.”
Trent looked at her, a picture of disappointment. “Antonia was.”
Let’s face it, they were both disappointed. He’d thought he’d found someone capable of getting him over the loss of his beloved wife. And it had been like that for her too. Poor Nick. She hadn’t forgotten him, but she’d definitely been clinging to the hope that a relationship with Trent would help her over her embarrassing crush on Declan.
Except that hadn’t happened; the embarrassing crush hadn’t gone away. Anyway, that was all completely irrelevant. Coral gave herself a mental shake. The rental agent was still looking for long-term tenants for Weaver’s Cottage, and Declan was back in London. He hadn’t been down to Stanton Langley for weeks. Not only was he out of the picture, but he’d never been in the picture in the first place. All she had to deal with at the moment was this failed relationship.
Still, no relationship was better than being stuck in one that wasn’t right. And she definitely wouldn’t miss having to endure that awful jazz music Trent loved to listen to. See? There was always a bright side.
“So that’s it, then?” he said. “Over.”
“I think so,” said Coral. “Don’t you?” She knew so, but it seemed only fair to be polite.
He grimaced. “Fine. I just hope eating that sandwich doesn’t make you ill.”
Coral smiled. “If you’re honest, you’re probably hoping it will. So you can say you told me so.”
He gave her another of those long, unamused looks of his. “You’re not perfect, you know. In case you think you are.”
Oh goodness, retaliation for having been laughed at. So much for being polite. Coral said, “I don’t think I’m perfect.”
“My Antonia used to go to a salon for a full professional manicure every week. Her nails were always immaculate.” Trent’s lip curled with derision as he pointed to her hands. “Yours are a disgrace.”
Chapter 49
For Declan, the last seven days had been like dog years. Time had never passed so slowly; every hour had felt like a week.
It had begun as a normal phone conversation with Lily as he was making his way on foot to an appointment on Pall Mall. They’d been discussing a TV espionage series they were both currently enthralled by, chatting about what he’d been up to in London, and catching up with everything that had been going on in Stanton Langley. Then Lily had added, “Oh, and it’s all over between Coral and Trent. Turns out he wasn’t the one for her after all.”
Just two casual sentences, but they’d had the power to stop Declan dead in his tracks as he crossed Trafalgar Square, causing two tourists to cannon into the back of him and a flock of startled pigeons to rise into the air.
Somehow he had gotten through the rest of the telephone conversation without Lily thinking he’d lost his mind. Hopefully he’d sounded more or less normal. In the real world, for the next couple of days, he’d managed to keep working, attending meetings, making appointments, and arranging for all necessary tasks to be carried out.
But inside his head he felt like a teenage boy, fizzing with excitement and anticipation and willing time to pass, because there obviously needed to be a break between Coral finishing with one man and finding herself on the receiving end of a declaration of love from another.
Furthermore, the break needed to be long enough not to rush and possibly overwhelm her, but not so long that she had time to meet someone else. No way was he going to risk letting that happen again.
&nbs
p; The original plan had been to leave it for a fortnight, but Declan had soon discovered he couldn’t wait that long. Yesterday he’d canceled his meetings for today and called Lily to let her know he was on his way down.
“Oh, brilliant.” Lily had been delighted. “We haven’t seen you for weeks. I’ve missed you!”
“I’ve missed you too.” All of you, he’d added in his head.
And now yesterday was today, and he was almost there. The last time had gone horribly wrong, and Declan knew he had to be prepared for it to happen again. But he also knew he had to try. Give it his best shot. Find out once and for all if Gail’s instincts had been right.
And if it turned out she’d been wrong all along…well, then at least he would know. He’d have his final answer.
“Yay, you’re here! Excellent timing!” Lily greeted him with enthusiasm. “Give me five minutes to finish closing up, then we’ll have a drink. I sold that church pulpit this afternoon, by the way… Oh, and this fantastic old lady turned up and bought the red velvet coffin… She said she’d love to be buried in it because it looked so cozy!”
“That’s great. Is Coral in the house?” Like a master spy, Declan had already noticed there was no sign of her out here in the yard or in the office. “I’ll go on over and say hello.”
“Oh, she isn’t here.” Lily’s words caused his stomach to tighten and the words not again to reverberate through his brain. “She said we’d run out of balsamic vinegar and chocolate biscuits, so she’s gone off to the supermarket.”
He breathed again. The big out-of-town supermarket was six or seven miles away on the Cheltenham road. All of a sudden Declan couldn’t bear to wait a minute longer; he had to see Coral as soon as possible.
“Damn, I meant to stop off there and grab some champagne…completely forgot. I’ll go pick some up now.”
“Hello? No need.” Lily pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I can just give Coral a call, and she can get it for you while she’s there!”
No…no, no, no. Declan’s mind was made up, and he was going to do it if it killed him.