‘No. Near your house, actually.’
‘Oh, okay. So… I guess I leave you here then.’ I smiled up at him, feeling suddenly awkward. ‘Goodbye. It’s been lovely to see you again.’
Smiling, he reached out a hand and plucked a pink petal from my hair. He showed it to me before gently smoothing my hair down and tucking it behind my ear. ‘Yes, it’s been lovely to see you too.’ Leaning down, he planted a lingering kiss to the right of my mouth. ‘Goodbye, Rachel.’
And then he was gone, striding across the bridge in the direction of my house.
Chapter Four
‘Are you okay?’ Bobbi looked up as I closed the shop door and leaned back against it.
‘I don’t know.’
She gave me an odd look. ‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘I just went on a boat trip with Anthony.’
‘Really? Why?’ She straightened up.
‘I don’t know. I saw him sitting down by the river and I was talking to him and then he said shall we go on the boat, so we did.’
‘Oh! Was it good?’
I nodded. ‘Yes. It was nice.’
‘Great!’ Bobbi smiled. ‘So why do you look like that?’
‘Like what?’
‘Like you’ve just been kissed by the most gorgeous man in the world?’
‘Because I have.’
Bobbi gasped. ‘What!?’ She came out from behind the counter, her eyes as round as saucers. ‘What happened? Tell me?’
I laughed. ‘Oh, nothing really. Not like that. It was strange because it was nothing and everything at once.’ I pushed off from the door and went into the back room to hang up my coat.
‘What?’ Bobbi said, following me. ‘Have you been taking drugs or something? You’re making absolutely no sense at all.’
‘Nothing happened that I can explain. We just talked about things. It was nice, and nothing really happened, it was just feelings and… I don’t know. I probably just imagined it. But it was nice to be with him again, that’s all.’
‘But there was a kiss? He kissed you?’
‘Just goodbye. On the cheek. Nothing passionate.’ I felt my cheeks flush at the memory and turned away before Bobbi saw. ‘I doubt I’ll see him again now. Not unless Elena and Daniel move their wedding, and I doubt that’s going to happen.’
‘Oh.’ Bobbi looked sad for a moment. ‘It’s probably for the best, though. You’ve got Jayjay to think about now, you big hussy!’
‘Oh, ha ha, very funny! Poor Jayjay. What must he think?’
‘He didn’t mind. You know what he’s like. He just thought it was funny.’
‘Anthony noticed how young he was too. He called him the boy-child. I told him he was the same age as me, but obviously he’s younger. Poor lad.’
Bobbi laughed. ‘He does look young. He’s always getting ID’d in pubs.’ She stared at me for a moment. ‘You look awfully happy considering you’ve no plans to see Anthony again.’
I shrugged. ‘It’s over. I know it’s over. It was just nice to see him again.’
‘Hmm.’ Bobbi put her hands on her hips and looked at me through narrowed eyes. ‘Now, why don’t I believe you?’
‘I don’t know, Bobbi.’ I laughed and crossed the room to make a cup of tea.
‘Hmm, maybe because I haven’t seen you look this happy for an entire year?’
I shrugged. ‘Well, maybe this is the closure I needed. A proper goodbye where we part on good terms.’
‘Like hell it is. We haven’t seen the back of Anthony Bascombe. No way.’
I gave her a look over my shoulder. ‘Why do you say that? You only saw him for five minutes.’
The kettle bubbled to the boil, steam erupting from its spout. I took down two multicoloured spotty mugs from the cupboard above the sink and added a teabag to each.
‘Because I saw his face when he looked at Jayjay. He was jealous,’ Bobbi said.
‘He was not jealous!’ I scoffed, my heart beating faster.
‘Oh, yeah? What was all that Jojo stuff about then? He clearly knew his name.’
I shook my head as I opened the fridge and took out the milk. ‘I don’t think so, Bobbi.’
‘Well, I do! I could see it in his eyes and the way he was standing all tall and straight like he had a steel rod up his backside.’
‘He always stands like that.’
Bobbi laughed. ‘He does not! I remember him being quite laid-back actually. He was always really kind to me.’
‘I know,’ I conceded. ‘I feel bad about lying to him. I don’t know why. It just feels so wrong.’
Bobbi raised an eyebrow. ‘Maybe it’s because you want to be free if he asks you to get back with him?’
‘No!’ I protested, heat creeping up my neck. I knew she was right.
‘Well, would you?’
‘Would I what?’ I passed her one of the mugs of tea and took a sip of mine.
‘Get back with him if he asked, silly.’
‘No, of course not!’
‘Really?’ Bobbi gave me a look that said she didn’t believe a word of it.
‘Why would I? It’s over. If he didn’t love me then, why would he love me now?’ As I said the words, a trickle of sadness entered my heart and I was suddenly certain that everything I’d felt beside the river this afternoon had been in my head.
Bobbi shrugged. ‘He probably wasn’t in the best place. Think about it. When he wrote that letter, the doctors still weren’t sure what damage he’d done to his spine and were wondering if he’d ever walk again. They must have been really dark days for him. Now he’s made a full recovery, he might be wondering if he made a mistake.’
‘Hmm, a year’s a long time to wait, isn’t it?’
‘Well, you know what he’s like with all his commitment issues. Maybe he was too proud to say he made a mistake. Or maybe he’d managed to live with it until he saw you again last week.’
I sighed heavily. ‘I really doubt that, Bobbi.’
‘Well, there must be some reason you looked so happy when you came back into the shop.’ The bell above the shop door tinkled and Bobbi rose to her feet. ‘Ooh, customer! I’ll serve them. You just sit here and think about Anthony.’
Think about Anthony? Ha! Did I have a choice? My head was full of him. With a groan, I put my head in my hands. What was I going to do? How would I ever get over him?
Chapter Five
‘We’re going to look around Willow Hall again!’ Elena practically shouted down the phone later that evening.
‘Really?’ I held my phone away from my ear slightly. ‘So, Anthony phoned Daniel then? I hope he didn’t mind me giving him his number?’
‘Not at all. He said he already had it anyway. You know they used to get on really well. They were talking for ages. I couldn’t believe it!’
‘Oh, good,’ I said, lamely. I was sat on my bed surrounded by tear-sodden tissues, rereading the letter he’d sent me from the hospital. ‘When are you going?’
‘Sunday. Do you want to come too?’
‘Oh, no, I don’t think so.’
‘Go on, it will be fun. Anthony told Daniel you’re going to be their Preferred Wedding Flower Supplier.’ She said it proudly, stressing each word as though it was a very grand, prestigious thing.
‘Well, not their only one, I’m sure,’ I muttered. ‘Anthony said they’d put my name forward to potential clients, that’s all.’
‘Are you all right?’ she asked. ‘You don’t sound very happy?’
‘I’ve got a cold,’ I said, reaching for a tissue and blowing my nose loudly. The happiness I’d felt before at seeing Anthony had slowly dissolved through the course of the afternoon, leaving me with a sort of Anthony-hangover. All I wanted to do was lie down and cry. He didn’t love me. I had the proof in the letter, written in his own scrawly handwriting.
‘Oh no! Daniel said Anthony told him you’d been on a boat trip this afternoon.’
‘Yes. It came on this afternoon. So what did Antho
ny say to get Daniel to agree to see Willow Hall?’
‘I think just by reminding him of how well they used to get on. I was a bit miffed with Daniel to be honest. He was really mad at Anthony when he dumped you, and yet he just rolled over after one phone call. Mind you, you and Anthony are friends now, aren’t you? He told Daniel you’d had a nice time.’
‘He said that?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh.’ I reached for my glass of water from the bedside stand and took a sip. It tasted stale and warm and I grimaced as I swallowed. ‘Yes, it was nice. We just talked about stuff.’
‘Did you ask him why he broke up with you?’
‘I know why he broke up with me. He didn’t love me.’
‘You’d only been together a few months. He could’ve at least given it a chance. Besides, banning you from the hospital wasn’t exactly fair, was it? You should ask him about that.’
‘Mmm, I don’t know. It should be left in the past, I think.’ I squeezed my eyes shut as another tear escaped and rubbed my nose roughly with a tissue. ‘It doesn’t matter any more.’
There was silence from the other end of the phone. ‘Clearly it does.’
‘No, it doesn’t,’ I said, forcing my voice to sound less feeble. ‘What matters is that we’re on good terms so that if you and Daniel do move your wedding to Willow Hall, there’s no problem between us.’
I’d already decided this must be Anthony’s motivation for being so charming today. He obviously wanted to get me onside so he could convince Elena and Daniel to change their plans. I’d been silly to read anything into it at all.
‘Hmm, well, that doesn’t sound very healthy to me and I don’t think he should be allowed to get away with it.’
‘Oh, Elena, he was in hospital. I think he was punished enough.’
‘Not by you!’
I laughed, in spite of my misery. ‘So, do you think Daniel will go for it once he looks around? He’s not one to be swayed by fancy nonsense, is he?’
‘I really don’t know to be honest. That’s why I want you to come and help me convince him.’
‘You don’t need me there too. Besides, if I still feel like this on Sunday, I won’t be going anywhere.’
‘Take some paracetamol and drink lots of fluids.’
‘Yes, Mum.’
‘And have a bath! They always help.’
I said goodbye to Elena and ran myself a bath, just like she’d advised me to. I tried to think about anything else other than Anthony, but as I slipped into the warm, bubbly water, random, tiny details kept popping unbidden into my head. The tan-coloured mole just above his collar. The exact shape of his soft pink earlobe. The crinkles around his eyes when he smiled. The curve of his lips. I thought about the feel of his hand in mine and felt my heart flutter. Closing my eyes, I fought to remember the exact details of the wedding bouquet I was making on Saturday morning.
Pale-pink ranunculus, slightly darker-pink roses, white muscari, rosemary and eucalyptus.
It was going to look so pretty. I’d already done a mock-up for the bride and it had looked gorgeous. There would be a smaller basket for her five-year-old daughter who was to be the flower girl, and another hand-tied bouquet for the maid of honour. I smiled when I thought about the little girl. She’d been so cute when she’d come in with her mother and helped choose the wedding flowers. She’d told me all about how pretty her bridesmaid outfit was and I could just picture her in her little white dress.
It made me think of the little girl I’d seen at lunchtime, feeding the ducks. Anthony agreeing she was cute had taken me by surprise. And the way he talked about Grace and Charlie. He never used to talk about children like that. He sounded almost broody.
I stretched out my leg as I soaped it, admiring the red nail polish on my toenails in the flickering candlelight. I loved having baths. That was the great thing about being single; I could have as many as I liked when I liked. When I’d lived with Anthony, he’d always wanted to get in the bath with me. The memory made me miss him even more than I already did and brought on a fresh wave of tears. If seeing him made me feel this miserable, I was better off not seeing him at all.
***
Elena tried a couple more times to get me to go with her to Willow Hall, but each time I refused. It wasn’t until Saturday night that I changed my mind and agreed to go, and that was because Anthony himself phoned me. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw his name flash up on my mobile phone screen, and I stared at it, violently vibrating on my kitchen table, until it stopped and the screen went black. Almost immediately, a notification came through to say he’d left me a voicemail message. Unable to stop myself, I snatched up my phone to listen to it.
‘Answer your phone, Miss Jones,’ he drawled.
He’d always had that cockiness.
I placed my phone back on the table, my heart beating too fast and too hard. What did he want? Should I call him back? Definitely not. It was half past eight on a Saturday night and, as far as Anthony was concerned, I was in a relationship with someone else. Why would he expect me to answer my phone? Surely he’d expect me to be out for a meal somewhere, or else in some busy pub, surrounded by chattering voices and loud music. I should definitely not be sat at my kitchen table in my pyjamas, updating our shop’s website and drinking wine alone.
When he rang again, I jumped so violently that I sloshed wine over my wrist. I took a moment to catch my breath before deciding to answer it.
‘Hello?’
‘Ah, Rachel, how are you?’ His voice, warm and pleasantly deep, made goose bumps break out along my arm.
‘Fine, thank you. How are you?’
‘Good, thank you. I hope I’m not disturbing your Saturday evening, but we’re just putting a pack together for prospective clients and I was wondering if you could bring some of your business cards and flyers with you tomorrow so we could include them.’
‘Oh!’ I said, surprised he was expecting me to visit Willow Hall with Elena and Daniel. ‘I’m not actually coming tomorrow, but I could give them to Elena to bring with her.’
‘You’re not coming?’ He sounded shocked. ‘Why not?’
‘It’s just for Elena and Daniel to look around really, isn’t it? It’s not really my business.’
‘It quite literally is your business if you’re going to be doing flowers for us. We’ve had two more weddings booked in for next year so it would be really helpful if you could bring us some information.’
‘Like I said, that’s no problem. I’ll just pass them to Elena and she can bring them.’
There was a heavy pause. ‘That’s a shame. My mother was looking forward to seeing you again. And Liz.’
I narrowed my eyes at the wall. Was this some kind of emotional blackmail tactic? But then, I had got on quite well with Cath and Liz. It would be lovely to see them again. ‘Well…’
‘Well?’
‘I’m quite busy tomorrow.’
‘With Jayjay? Bring him too! You might be able to convince him to get married here. We could cut you the same deal as Elena and Daniel if you do it quick.’
I scowled and reached for my wine, annoyed he didn’t seem bothered at all that I was engaged to someone else and was trying to marry me off as quickly as possible. ‘Thanks, I might just do that.’
‘Great! We’ll see you tomorrow then. Don’t forget your business cards!’
‘I won’t. Goodbye.’
I put my head in my hands and groaned. Oh, God, I really didn’t need this. Downing the rest of my glass of wine, I rang Elena to tell her I was coming with her.
***
Daniel drove us in his big black truck and I sat in the backseat, staring out as the fields blurred past. Elena and Daniel laughed, talked and sang all the way there, and they were both so happy and positive that I was almost certain Anthony and Julian would be able to convince them to move their wedding to Willow Hall before we left this evening. Daniel was such a pushover where Elena was concerned. I couldn�
�t imagine him denying her anything. I was surprised he hadn’t agreed straight away.
The closer we got to Willow Hall, the more nervous I felt. As we swept into the pretty village and turned right at the church, my heart started thumping so hard I felt sick.
What was I doing here? I didn’t want to see Anthony again. Could I just stay in the truck?
But as Daniel made his way up the long, tree-lined drive and parked in front of Willow Hall, both Julian and Anthony came spilling out from the studded oak door followed by Julian’s two children, Grace and Charlie. My heart crashed in my chest as I tried not to look at Anthony.
Elena opened her door and jumped down. ‘Hello! Who do we have here then?’ she said, talking to the children.
‘This is Charlie and this is Grace. Say hello to Elena.’
‘Hello, Elena.’
‘Hello, Charlie. Hello, Grace.’ Elena solemnly shook each child by their hand before introducing Daniel. ‘This is Daniel.’
‘Hello, Daniel,’ they chorused.
‘Hi, kids!’ he said with a wave.
Slowly, I unclipped my seatbelt, delaying the moment I had to get out of the truck. It was probably best if I let them get the introductions out of the way first. I wondered if Charlie and Grace would remember me. I hoped they would, but there was no reason why they should. A year was a long time to a child and they’d both changed so much since I’d last seen them. I listened to Charlie’s high-pitched voice telling Daniel about his new football as I fumbled with the folder of business cards.
‘Come on, Rachel!’ The door was suddenly snatched open and Anthony stood grinning at me. I gave a start and stared at him stupidly. He seemed to sparkle in the sunlight: his blue eyes, his teeth, his hair. Even the golden hairs on his arms appeared to shimmer. What the hell was happening to me? Had Elena slipped me some LSD or something? Maybe I shouldn’t have finished off that bottle of wine last night. ‘What’s taking you so long? Out you get. What, no Jayjay? Now there’s a surprise.’
‘Oh, he’s err…’
‘Busy. Yes, yes, come on.’ He took my arm to steady me as I stepped down from the truck, and I thanked him weakly. ‘No doubt he’s busily doing the thing you were meant to be busy doing together.’
Meet Me at Willow Hall Page 7