by Rebecca Pugh
‘No, she’ll be fine. I’ll leave her be. She’s probably having a great time with Harvey.’
‘Come on then.’
Chapter Eleven
The pub wasn’t busy. Maria supposed it was because everyone was enjoying the summer fete, so once Brad had got their drinks, they went outside into the beer garden and sat down at the nearest table.
‘Feeling any better?’ he asked after a sip of beer. ‘You don’t look so pale now.’
‘Much better. Thanks for this.’ Maria took a gulp of her own drink and noticed the strength had returned to her legs. Thank God. She’d almost fallen over when they’d been walking back across the field to the pub.
‘Still, another thing to tick off your bucket list.’
‘Hurrah.’
‘Is that sarcasm?’
She laughed. ‘Perhaps a little bit.’
‘It was fun though, you have to admit.’
‘It was fun in a… terrifying kind of way, yes.’
Brad chuckled. ‘You did it though. Was it as bad as you thought it was going to be?’
‘You asked me that same question after we rode Shephard, and I’m going to give you the same answer as I did then. Only about a million times worse.’
‘You’re being over-dramatic.’
Maria gasped. ‘I am not!’
‘There are hundreds and hundreds of worse things in life than going in that ball.’
‘Like what?’
Brad began to count the things off on his fingers. ‘Swimming with sharks. Bungee jumping off a cliff. Sky-diving.’
‘I’d prefer to do those than ever get strapped into that thing again.’
‘Have you ever done any of those things?’
‘Nope. Not a single one.’
‘Then how can you say that getting in the ball is worse?’ Brad cocked an eyebrow, as if he’d just said something incredibly clever. ‘How are things going at the café?’
‘Good thanks,’ she nodded. ‘I don’t want summer to ever come to an end. I’m enjoying myself far too much. I won’t want to leave when the time comes.’
‘This place grows on you, doesn’t it?’ asked Brad with a smile.
‘Sure does,’ she replied. ‘It’s weird. Harriet said something similar when I first went into the café.’
‘What will you do when you go back then? Do you know yet?’
‘Absolutely not. Things have been a bit rocky, as you already know, so it’s all a bit unclear right now. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.’ She didn’t know why she was still holding back the fact that she’d had a divorce. Was she afraid he’d change his mind about her if he knew? He seemed relaxed in her company, friendly and chatty, and they’d had a perfectly enjoyable afternoon together. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding some secrets of his own though, and Maria still wondered about what happened between him and Sophie all that time ago. He hadn’t offered to divulge any information, so perhaps that’s why she hadn’t wanted to open up either? Was she, without realising it, waiting for Brad to confess before she did the same thing?
‘What are you doing tomorrow evening?’ Brad asked.
Maria shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. Perhaps I’ll just potter about the cottage. Read. Have a shower. Watch some television with a glass of wine.’
‘I was wondering if you wanted to come round the farmhouse? I could cook for us. I make a mean lasagne, and I’ve really enjoyed your company today. It’s been great fun. I’d like to spend more time with you, if you fancied it.’
Maria smiled, feeling a strange blush creeping upon her cheeks. The invitation sounded friendly enough, and really, what on earth could go wrong having dinner with Brad? Plus, she hadn’t had lasagne in a long time and was interested to know whether it was actually ‘mean’ or if he was blowing his own trumpet. Oh, what the hell. Life was for living, and all that.
‘Okay, yes. That sounds lovely. Thank you.’
‘Come by around seven?’
‘Perfect.’
They remained in the beer garden for a couple more drinks and then went their separate ways. As Maria strolled back to Daffodil Lane, the music from the summer fete could still be heard and she wondered whether Millie and Susie were enjoying themselves. She couldn’t believe she’d actually allowed Brad to talk her into going on the ride that shot them up into the air. Her breath had been snatched from her throat within seconds but, she had to admit, she felt braver for having done it, as if it were a strange sort of accomplishment.
When she climbed into the cosy bed that night, she smiled to herself in the darkness, and could barely remember the woman she’d been when she’d first arrived on Daffodil Lane. That Maria would have had a nervous breakdown at the thought of climbing up on Shephard and getting on that ride. She would have been weighing up the pros and cons rapidly in her mind, only to reach the conclusion of ‘no’ at the end of it. Something had changed since she’d been here, and she loved it. She loved that slowly but surely she was beginning to feel like herself again. Maria sighed happily, rolled over, shoved one hand beneath the pillow and closed her eyes, looking forward to the next night which included dinner with Brad, who didn’t seem so bad after all.
*
The next evening, Maria made her way to Meadow Farm. She’d had yet another enjoyable shift at the café and was hungry, looking forward to the promised lasagne made by Brad himself. Mid-summer already, and the air was stiflingly hot, so she’d dressed in a light, floral dress with rose-pink ballet pumps. She’d gone to the extra effort of curling the ends of her hair, just to complete the look, and added a smudge of gloss to her lips too. Well, if Brad was going to the effort of cooking her dinner, she had to at least look nice.
The birds chirped merrily in the woodland to her right, providing her walk with a soundtrack and, once she arrived at Meadow Farm, she wondered briefly if Brad’s mother would be there. He hadn’t mentioned it when he’d invited her round. Perhaps it would be better if she was present, or at least it would put Maria’s mind at ease. That way, nothing remotely romantic was at risk of happening. Not that she thought Brad admired her in such a way, but still, it was always better to be safe than sorry. She continued towards the farmhouse door and knocked lightly. While she waited, she tugged the hem of her dress down, worrying now if it was too short for such a casual event.
‘Maria, you’re here, and right on time, too.’ Brad grinned, pleased to see her when he opened the door. ‘Come on in. Glass of wine?’ he offered, leading the way down the hallway.
‘Sure, that sounds great. Thanks.’ Maria followed him into the spacious kitchen and wasn’t sure whether to take a seat or wait for him to say so.
‘Take a seat,’ Brad indicated, as he grabbed two wineglasses from the cupboard and a bottle of wine from within the fridge. ‘Here you are.’
Maria sipped the chilled white and allowed the flavours to roll around in her mouth, fruity and refreshing. ‘Lovely, thanks.’ She placed the glass upon the table and watched Brad as he prepared the food on the counter beside the cooker. ‘I’m looking forward to this, I have to admit.’
‘So you should be,’ he said over his shoulder with a mischievous smile.
‘Your mum not around?’ she asked after another sip of wine.
‘Of course she isn’t,’ he replied. ‘Do you think I invite pretty women around for dinner and then have my mum flittering about?’
Maria blushed at the compliment. She hadn’t been expecting that. ‘Oh, right. No, I didn’t…’ she trailed off. ‘Never mind.’
‘The folks are out for dinner with friends this evening,’ he explained further. ‘So, I’m afraid it’s just me and you. You don’t mind, do you? I could always call Mum back to chaperone if you fancied?’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Maria laughed.
‘Right,’ Brad announced, sliding the baking dish into the oven and closing the door with a flourish. ‘That’s that done. Shouldn’t be too long.’ He joined her at the table then, and they fell into light chatter about Har
riet, and the café, and how much fun they’d had at the summer fete the afternoon before. He made Maria smile, and her heart performed odd little flutters and flips in her chest as the time slipped by. The way he watched her as she spoke, like he was keenly interested in what she had to say, was a bit uncomfortable at times but not altogether unpleasant. She supposed she just wasn’t used to it.
‘I forgot to say, Maria, how gorgeous you look this evening.’
‘Oh, thank you.’ She glanced down at her dress, plucking at the material with her fingers. ‘I haven’t worn this for a while, and thought tonight was the perfect excuse to wear it.’
‘It looks superb on you. Really compliments your figure.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Such a charmer.’
‘What can I say? You bring it out in me.’
Maria changed the subject before she melted on the spot from Brad’s compliments, and before they knew it, Brad was getting up from the table and heading over to the oven to retrieve their dinner.
‘Perfect,’ he announced. ‘Knew it would be.’
The smell of the lasagne reached Maria’s nostrils and tantalised her hunger. It smelt divine and she couldn’t wait to dig in. While waiting, they’d both gone through three glasses of wine each and her head was beginning to feel a little woozy. She needed to slow down. Once dinner was served, Brad topped up their glasses once more, and then tucked in, Maria following suit.
‘Wow,’ she groaned a short while later, with her mouth full. She silently scolded herself for using such bad manners but she couldn’t help it. ‘This is insanely good,’ she said, using the fork to point at her plate.
‘Thank you,’ Brad said with a small nod.
It was heavenly and when Maria had finished, she sat back in her chair and nursed her full stomach as if there was a baby inside.
Brad grinned triumphantly. ‘It looks like you enjoyed that.’
‘I did. It was delicious, thank you.’
A comfortable silence stretched out for a few moments until Brad spoke. ‘So, Maria, tell me a little bit more about you. I want to know the “real” you.’
Maria swallowed and wondered where to begin. They were close by this point, friendship wise, and she felt that she could trust him. ‘Okay. Well, the real reason I’m here is because…’ She tried to spit the word out. ‘I got a divorce.’
‘Oh,’ said Brad simply. ‘I… I wasn’t expecting that.’
She laughed. ‘What had you been expecting?’ She was interested to know.
‘I don’t know. I gathered you were nursing a broken heart and were here on a holiday for a fresh start, like you said. Not a divorce though. What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘He had an affair. Apparently, when we said our wedding vows, I meant mine but he didn’t. So, here I am.’
‘I’m really sorry to hear that, Maria. What a prize plonker.’
‘You can say that again,’ she smiled.
‘Put off men for life now, are you?’
‘Who knows?’ she sighed. ‘Maybe. Maybe not.’
‘I hope not.’
Maria glanced up. ‘Why?’
‘Well, just because he acted like that, doesn’t mean we all would, I can assure you.’
‘What about you?’ she asked. ‘I heard something,’ she wouldn’t mention Millie’s name. ‘Something about you and a girl called Sophie?’
Brad rolled his eyes. ‘Ah. So the local gossip is still rife then? It doesn’t surprise me, really.’ He ran a hand across his stubble. ‘We were an item, for a fair few years. Serious, if you will. I loved her, I thought she loved me.’
‘What happened?’ asked Maria.
‘It’s a long story. Are you sure you want to hear it?’
She nodded.
‘Okay. So, we met in our early twenties. It was heady and passionate. We could barely keep our hands off each other. I’d never met anyone like her before. She took my breath away and I was in pretty deep, I’ll admit. I hung around with a few lads from school, and on the weekends we’d go hang out by the lake with a few beers. Sophie and her friends would join us too.
‘I think the first time I noticed something was off was when she kept disappearing with Jay, one of my mates. It could have been going on for months before without me noticing, but I did begin to. It was happening a lot, and so I started thinking ‘why are they always disappearing at the same time?’ I followed her once, and found them getting pretty intimate in the woods. I know, classy, right? Turns out she’d been seeing Jay behind my back for near-on two years.
‘Anyway, because I decided to follow her, she went mad at me. Started calling me a stalker and a creep. Once we split up, she was determined to tell anyone who’d listen to her. Her parents at the pub couldn’t stand me anyway, I was never sure why, but from that moment on, they turned against me for good. I can go to the pub, but they won’t serve me at the bar. They ignore me and pretend I’m not there. But, the story ends with Sophie getting married to the lad she was seeing behind my back, and living happily ever after.’ He looked defeated.
Maria blinked. Gosh. How awful. ‘I’m sorry, Brad. It sounds like you had a really tough time of it.’ She had to admit, it wasn’t the sort of story she’d been expecting to hear, but then again, how could you ever really tell what a person had been through just by looking at them? Her heart ached for him, for how he’d been treated. He hadn’t deserved it. No wonder he’d wanted to bugger off and get away from it all. Imagine everyone being hateful towards you, when they didn’t know the truth behind what had gone on? Sophie didn’t sound like a very nice person at all. In fact, she sounded very conniving. Poor Brad. He’d really loved her too.
‘Yeah, it was pretty rough for a while,’ he admitted. ‘But I got over it. I was still gutted. I’d been so stupid not to realise it sooner but like I said, I was besotted with her and she couldn’t have done a single thing wrong in my eyes. More fool me.’
Hmm. That reminded Maria of someone. What was wrong with people? ‘Have you had any relationships since?’ she asked, feeling curious about his romantic past besides Sophie.
‘A few nights with women here and there. Nothing substantial. I didn’t feel like I could trust anyone again after that. It shocks me that she could do it. That she didn’t feel guilty about it once. I mean, she may have, but who knows? The way she acted afterwards tells me different. She just wanted to get away and be with Jay. I was gutted.’
‘I think it’s the trust with me too,’ Maria said quietly, wanting to be supportive somehow. He’d been right when he’d said that he recognised himself in her, because she felt the exact same way. They’d experienced pretty much the same emotions throughout their separate ordeals. She felt that Brad was probably the only person who truly understood how she was feeling. ‘I mean, how do you ever know what a person is thinking or how they’re feeling deep down? I didn’t see Mike’s affair coming at all, so when I did, it was like my world had come tumbling down, gone spinning into oblivion. Nothing made sense any more. I wasn’t even sure of who I was, or who I’d ever been. How can you ever trust another person after something like that’s happened? You know? So many questions.’
‘I know,’ Brad said. ‘It is crap, isn’t it? I sometimes wonder if life would be easier if emotions weren’t involved.’ He smiled ruefully.
‘I think it would be, you know. Much simpler, actually, but perhaps not as exciting. If you think about it, our emotions are kind of what make our memories stand out so much. Our sadness and happiness go hand in hand. Still, I do agree. It would be easier if we didn’t hold everything so close to our hearts.’
‘Have you met anyone since your ex-husband?’ asked Brad. He glanced across at her.
‘No, it actually hasn’t been that long since it all happened. I only signed the divorce papers a couple of weeks before I came here, although it had been over for a long time before it reached that point. I should have seen it sooner but you never do, do you? You think everything’s fine, get co
mfortable with your life and then, just like that, everything you thought you had gets ruined.’
‘Forgive me for saying this but, you’ll find someone new,’ said Brad confidently. ‘And I’m not just saying that to make you feel better, Maria. Wounds do heal, and any man would be lucky to have a woman like you loving him.’
Maria burst out laughing. ‘Thank you, oh wise one! And what makes you say that?’ Her head was beginning to feel too heavy to control, close to lolling about on her shoulders if she wasn’t careful. She definitely needed to slow down with the wine, but it was blurring the edges and she liked how it made her feel. It was a dangerous state to be in while in Brad’s company, Maria knew that, but she couldn’t stop now. She was enjoying the moment far too much and she was eager to hear Brad’s answer.
‘Look at you, you’re beautiful.’ And then he looked at her. Really looked at her, in a way she didn’t think Mike ever had. Not once. She knew she needed to stop the comparisons but they continually proved to her how wrong she’d been about him in the past. Brad’s gaze was so intense it could have burned right through her and, despite how hard it was, she held it. She didn’t blink, didn’t move, but continued to stare right back at him, challenging yet playful at the same time.
The kitchen fell silent around them. Maria’s heart was banging away in her chest like a bass drum, hard and rhythmic. She stared down into her wine glass, almost empty, with her cheeks blazing. Maria licked her lips nervously. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, not entirely sure of what else to say because being called beautiful was a compliment she hadn’t received much. The funny thing was she felt beautiful beneath Brad’s gaze and she realised from the way he was looking at her, that he believed he was stating the truth. Maria believed it too.
‘Look at me,’ Brad said gently, inching closer, his voice low and tempting.
Maria’s gaze travelled up to Brad’s handsome face. She took in the rough edges and the soft skin, the stubble and the intense eyes, made even intense by the dimly-lit glow of the kitchen. One hand was still gripping the stem of the wineglass on the table while the other, Maria noticed, was inching towards her thigh. She inhaled slowly, hoping he wouldn’t notice how thrillingly terrified she felt about what the situation had suddenly turned into. She didn’t feel bad about it. Scared, if anything. But she knew that there was nothing to be scared about.