‘Sorry,’ I said quietly, holding his gaze. ‘But it will get worse if I don’t let him out for his morning business.’
‘I’m not going anywhere. I want to keep kissing you, but we need to talk.’
‘About what?’
‘About how we’re going to do this.’
‘Keep kissing? Well, I think you just put your lips on mine again. Feel free to practice, over and over, until you get it right.’
‘You think you’re funny, huh?’ he laughed, planting another kiss on my lips, making me melt in his arms. ‘I mean us.’
‘There’s an us?’ My voice was barely a whisper. The thought of it excited and terrified me at the same time.
‘There is,’ he stated firmly. ‘I can’t explain it, Abbie. The moment I saw you, it was like I was looking at a missing part of myself. Like I’ve been alone all of my life, and suddenly I wasn’t anymore. I’ve thought about you every day since we met. I don’t know how we’re going to do this, with me in New York and you here, wherever the hell we are because I have no idea. I just know that I’ve got to try. The question is whether you’re willing to?’
I swallowed hard as I considered his question. I didn’t want a long-distance relationship. I was twenty-eight years old, I wanted someone to share my life with. But equally, I’d spent the last few months kicking myself for letting him go the last time. Even a very nice flirtation with Heath hadn’t erased Miller from my thoughts. He was embedded deep. Sumo whined, then somehow scrambled up onto the sofa and nudged his way under the blanket to nestle between us. He stuck out his long tongue, trying to lick Miller’s face, and broke our intense moment as we both laughed. How could I refuse trying this? Even my moody dog seemed to love him. He’d never jumped on the sofa for me.
‘I’m willing,’ I breathed softly, as I jumped into unknown territory without a parachute. The smile that lit up his face as he bent his head to kiss me again told me that I’d made the right decision. Sadly, Miller hadn’t, as when he parted his lips a fraction of a second too soon, he got a mouthful of Sumo’s over-enthusiastic tongue and the French kiss to end all French kisses.
‘God damn it,’ he groaned, pulling back to furiously wipe his mouth as I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Chapter Five
The Long Distance Thing
February
‘HELLO,’ I CALLED, AS I stuck my head around Georgie’s grooming parlour door to find Sumo lying on his back, mouth ajar, tongue out, tiny tail swinging as he waggled his butt while Georgie massaged his belly. ‘How was he?’
‘Except for that one time, which we’re never discussing again, he’s always the perfect pooch in here,’ she smiled, looking up.
‘For everyone but me. I’m the one who puts a roof over his head, feeds him, walks him, picks up his poop. What did I do to make him hate me so much?’ I asked with a heavy sigh. ‘I’ve never been mean to him. I try and give him love and he walks off. I just don’t understand where I’ve gone wrong with him.’
‘You’ve done nothing wrong, and I’m sure, despite his standoffishness with you, he knows how much you love him. It’s like humans, we don’t all gel with everyone. Look at you and me. The first time we met, we got on so well, we just clicked. I meet loads of people doing this job and I haven’t become best friends with them all. Some people are just a good fit. Maybe your dad chose Sumo as they were the perfect fit, not thinking that he was going to be your dog.’
‘I guess, I just … it would be nice for him to greet me the way he does you and Miller, to try and give me a kiss from time to time.’
‘With his breath?’ she grimaced, patting his tummy one final time before picking him up and placing him on the floor, to much whining on his part. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near there. I’ve cleaned his teeth, but I think you ought to take him to the vet. All dogs’ breath smells, but his is really ripe, not to mention the other end.’
‘He didn’t shart again, did he?’ He’d farted and followed through a few sessions ago, splattering Georgie’s walls, which had taken her ages to scrub down.
‘No,’ she giggled, finally able to see the funny side. She stuck her hands into the sink and started to scrub them. ‘I can’t believe I’m about to say I’m thankful it was only a fart, as this is Mr. Sumo, fart master, we’re talking about. But seriously, sweetie, I’m worried there’s something wrong with him.’
‘What do you mean? Did you find something?’ I asked, my heart sinking.
‘No, I checked him really carefully for any lumps or bumps, but sometimes things like this can be internal. His wind has been a problem for years, but this … sharting, it’s not normal.’ She shot me a sympathetic look as she grabbed a towel to dry her hands. I looked down at Sumo, who was just staring up at me as if to say, “Come on then, take me home for my nap.” ‘Is he off his food?’
‘Does he look like he’s suffering from appetite loss?’ I asked, as I pulled my phone out of the back pocket of my jeans and dialled the vet’s number.
‘Good point,’ she agreed, eyeing my rotund little guy. I had a ball of acid in my throat as I told the receptionist that I needed him to be checked as soon as possible.
‘We’ve had a cancellation, can you get him here in ten minutes time?’ she asked.
‘I can do fifteen,’ I suggested, checking my watch.
‘We’ll see you both then, Miss Carter.’
‘Thanks.’ I ended the call and looked back down at Sumo, who was completely oblivious to me suddenly wanting to burst into tears.
‘Give me a few minutes,’ Georgie said. ‘I’ll try and ring to cancel Boomer’s cut and blow-dry.’
‘Don’t be silly. This is your business, you can’t cancel. I’ll be fine, it’s just a check-up.’
‘Well, how about I come over later and see how you got on? I’ll be done by six.’
‘That would be great,’ I nodded. ‘I’d better get him back home and into the car.’
‘Call me,’ Georgie stated, coming to pull me into a tight hug, which I returned. ‘And call Miller, he’d want to know. I think he loves that mutt as much as he loves you.’
‘Steady on, we haven’t said the “L” word yet. This long-distance thing means we’re taking it slowly.’
‘Sometimes words aren’t needed, Abbie,’ she said seriously as she let me go to scratch Sumo’s head. ‘I’ve seen the way you look at each other. Now go. I’ll see you later.’
I was grateful for the new four-sided box that Heath had built and attached securely to the skateboard. I lowered the one side, creating a ramp for Sumo to shuffle up, then closed and latched it and started to make my way up Georgie’s paved path to head back to the lane, feeling like I had lead in my shoes. He needed to be checked, but I was scared to take him in case it was bad news. We rumbled our way up the lane and turned right into my block-paved drive, then headed straight to the car. He gave me his sad face, knowing a car trip usually meant a trip to the vet, but he didn’t complain when I opened the back door of my 4x4, then the dog cage door, and nearly put my back out when I heaved him up to put him inside.
We arrived at the vet soon after. It was only a few villages away and they were so nice to him whenever he came in for a check-up. Bradley gave him a full examination and questioned me extensively on his toilet and eating habits, then took him away to draw some blood. I decided to wait for the results, so I took a seat in the waiting area and checked my watch. It was still too early to call Miller in New York, but I so wanted to hear his voice right now. I closed my eyes as I tried to imagine what he’d say to me. He’d tell me to try and stay calm, as Sumo would sense if I was tense. Well, I’d done a crappy job in the car driving over here, crying every few minutes when I didn’t even know if anything was wrong.
It was times like this that I found our relationship really hard. Both of us had gone in eyes wide open, knowing that we wouldn’t get to see each other very often, that even a simple thing like a FaceTime call or text would be affected by
the time zone difference, but we were making it work. He’d been over for a long weekend every other week, saying he had flexibility with his job and not to worry about the money as he was paid well. But it was getting harder and harder to say goodbye to him each time. Neither of us could say why we’d clicked so fast, or why we were so drawn to each other. The only similarity we had was that we were orphaned and had no siblings. He’d been given up as a baby and passed around the foster system. He hadn’t managed to trace his parents yet, though he was still trying. He said he’d been drawn to me as he sensed a sadness in me that matched his own. Except it didn’t. I’d had my dad for many happy years, while he’d had no one, a thought that made my heart ache for him.
‘Miss Carter,’ a voice interrupted, snapping me from my thoughts and making me open my eyes. ‘Bradley’s ready to see you now.’
The receptionist gave me the smile.
The smile that said, “I’m so sorry.”
The smile that told me that whatever Bradley was about to tell me wasn’t what I’d want to hear.
I threw my handbag on the floor as I walked in the door and sat on the bottom step of the stairs in a daze. And that was where Georgie found me when she burst through the front door huffing, out of breath, goodness knows how much later.
‘You didn’t call me. What’s happened, where is he?’ she demanded. I shook my head, tears filling my eyes.
‘His blood tests showed abnormal enzymes, so they’ve kept him in to run scans and X-rays tomorrow, as they need to anaesthetise him. Oh, Georgie, it broke my heart to leave him there. He looked so sad and scared,’ I sobbed, letting my tears flow freely at the reminder of the look in his eyes and the whine he made as I walked away. He’d never done that with me before, like he was pleading with me not to abandon him.
‘Oh, sweetie, I’m sorry,’ Georgie soothed, pulling me into her arms as she wrapped me in a much needed hug and ran her hand over my hair as she kissed my temple. ‘But this is necessary. If they find something, they can treat it. It’s better than not knowing.’
‘I know,’ I sniffed, trying to pull myself together. ‘It just doesn’t feel like it right now. And I want to ring Miller and I can’t. He’ll still be sleeping.’
‘Then wake him up. You need to hear his voice and he needs to know. I’ll make a coffee and put some whisky in it, then we’re going to curl up on the sofa with a takeaway and a bottle of wine or two, and watch something to take your mind off it, as it’s out of your hands, ok? Ok?’ she repeated, forcing me to look up at her.
‘Ok,’ I nodded, wiping my eyes. She was right, there was nothing I could do. He was in the best place he could be right now. I shuffled through to the lounge, sighing as I looked at his empty armchair. I took a deep breath and dialled Miller’s cell, but as expected, it went to voicemail, as it was only five a.m. over there.
‘Hey, it’s me, Abbie,’ I said to his answering machine, at least grateful to hear his voice, even if it was only telling me to leave a message after the tone. I filled him in on what was happening, then told him how much I missed him and how I wished he was here.
Sunday
The alarm sounded and I went to roll over to turn it off, but found I couldn’t move.
‘Hey, baby,’ Miller’s voice whispered in my ear, as a soft kiss was planted on my neck.
‘Miller?’ I cried, struggling to spin in his arms, needing to see him to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I laughed and reached up to clutch his handsome face when I realised I wasn’t, then kissed him repeatedly. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘You called. You said you missed me and wished I was here, so here I am. That’s what normal boyfriends would do, isn’t it?’ he smiled, lifting his hand to tuck my hair behind my ear as I nodded, beyond happy to have him lying there. We were both new at this relationship thing, this being the longest for both of us, but we just gelled. We were passionate about our work, loved dogs, had the same sense of humour, music and film taste. We were content just being together or with friends, nothing flash or extravagant. ‘Besides, I missed you too.’
‘This is getting so hard,’ I whispered, tracing the scar on his chin from our eventful trek home at Christmas, then following the line of his sexy lips with my fingers, still in awe that he was mine. He nipped one of my fingers gently, then kissed it.
‘I know, I feel it too. So before I ravish you the way I’ve been dreaming of since I last saw you, how’s our boy?’
‘I won’t know until this afternoon. They’ll call me when they’re done after lunch,’ I replied. ‘And speaking of, I’m so sorry, but it’s the Joneses’ day to come over for Sunday dinner and they were so looking forward to it. I had no idea you’d be here.’
‘Would I rather have you to myself, to spend the day in bed with you?’ he whispered against my lips, my body heating up in an instant. ‘Sure, but I know how fond you are of them. When I come here, I fit into your life, and vice versa. That was the deal, right?’
‘Right,’ I sighed, as he started kissing my neck and made me forget my worries about my fur baby for a welcome moment.
‘So, let me work some of this tension out of … us both, then we can cook together while we wait for the news.’
‘I’m very tense,’ I warned him with a giggle.
‘Hmmm, me too,’ he chuckled. ‘This could take some time,’ he added, as his lips found mine and he pressed me back into the mattress. God, Miller Davis was all man, and waiting for him for weeks, insisting we get to know each other first, had only made our first time all the more explosive. And so far each time since had been as well, so I had no doubt this time would be either. I switched off my mind for a while and let myself be in the moment with him. After all, they were so fleeting.
‘Get off, you randy old fool,’ Daphne scolded, slapping her husband’s hand away as he tried to cop a feel of her arse when she came back from the cloakroom. He chuckled, then picked up her hand when she sat down and kissed it, making her bat her eyelashes as her face softened. Miller and I exchanged a smile as we watched them while we made some tea and coffee. It was so lovely to see a couple, who’d been together for the best part of sixty years, still so in love. I wished I had more free time to spend with them. They were almost surrogate parents, offering well-meaning advice, often without prompting. But with me having a job and an overseas boyfriend, life was so hectic. I saw Daphne more regularly, as she’d join Georgie and I on some of our girls’ nights in, but every other week I did a Sunday roast and invited them both over. Georgie did the same on the alternate weeks, and we took it in turn to check on them and help with the ironing or shopping.
‘So, what was wrong with Heath?’ David asked, still holding his wife’s hand as I set them both a cup of tea on the kitchen table.
‘Nothing, he’s an amazing gardener and handyman. He’s really tidied up the place,’ I replied.
‘I meant to court. You had a perfectly nice, single young man, a local too, and you had to go and pick a foreigner.’ I saw Daphne roll her eyes, knowing he was about to go off on a rant, as I stood there open-mouthed. Miller leaned back against the kitchen island and folded one arm across his chest, a bemused look on his face as he took a swig of his coffee. David had always been to the point, but honestly, in front of Miller? ‘And after he sorted out your bush so well. Youngsters today, isn’t it,’ he added with a tut.
‘He did what?’ Miller spluttered, setting down his cup of coffee.
‘My holly bush, not my actual … David, honestly, can we just put the whole bush nightmare to bed?’ I begged.
‘What did I say?’ he objected. ‘He sorted it out good and proper. At least it’s not attacking Fred every time he tries to stick something in your box anymore, isn’t it.’
‘Who the hell is Fred?’ Miller demanded, getting more annoyed by the second.
‘The postman, and he means my letterbox. My God, it just turns into double entendre city around him, without him even knowing,’ I groaned.
‘Well, I thin
k he’s a lovely guy. Didn’t I say that to you, Daphne, didn’t I say our Heath would be perfect for Abbie?’
‘You did, dear, and I know as he’s your nephew, you were extra keen to match them, but the heart wants what the heart wants, you can’t force these things. You tried to set them up, it didn’t work, and now she’s happy with Miller. Let it go.’
‘Just saying. Perfectly good man on her doorstep, don’t know why she had to pick some Yank,’ he muttered.
‘Now, now, dear, no need to get racist. Nothing wrong with the Americans, and Miller’s a very nice young man. Very easy on the eye, too,’ she mouthed at me, making me giggle.
‘As a matter of fact, I actually asked Heath out on a date and he turned me down, saying he wasn’t over his ex. But–’
‘So I was a second choice, was I?’ Miller interrupted, flashing me an unimpressed scowl. Wow, jealousy was a seriously hot look on him.
‘If you’d let me finish, I was about to say that I made a mistake. I realised I was only asking him out as I was annoyed at myself for not ringing you back the first time we met. For those months that followed, it was you that I was thinking about, not Heath,’ I said firmly.
‘So what was wrong with Heath?’ pressed David, obviously not willing to let this go. ‘He’s a looker, keeps himself in shape, and has a lovely sense of humour. And he’s really good with his hands. I told you how he sorted my plums out for me.’
Never the Bride (Dilbury Village #1) Page 9