An Ocean Apart
Page 48
He stopped in front of her and thrust his hands into his pockets of his jacket.
“Hi.”
Jennifer held her handbag with both hands in front of her, self-consciously swinging it from side to side. “Hi,” she replied quietly.
As they stood in silence looking at each other, Alicia put her arm around Sophie’s shoulders and, giving her a knowing wink, they followed on after the two boys and Harriet, who had already run out through the doors into the sunlight of the afternoon.
“How are things?” David asked, his face still fixed in the widest of grins.
Jennifer shrugged. “So-so.”
“Did, er, everything work out between you and…?”
Jennifer shook her head. “No, it’s finished. I did try, David, but he walked out on us in November.”
“What a bloody fool,” he murmured, staring down at his feet in an attempt to disguise his look of sheer relief. He looked up at her and laughed.
“So … how long are you over here for?”
“I don’t know.”
David acknowledged someone who passed by. “You, er, wouldn’t consider coming up to Scotland, would you? I mean, all of you?”
Jennifer contemplated this for a minute, before nodding her head slowly. “You know, I think we might. Nothing else is planned.”
They continued looking at each other without either making a move. Jennifer took in a long breath and let it out again. “So, you’ve changed profession? From a gardener to a lord?”
David nodded and raised his eyebrows.
“Wow!” She gave a little laugh at the incredulity of it all. “That really is one for the books!” She pulled a face. “I’ve never met a lord before. What am I supposed to do? Give a little curtsy?”
David shook his head and moved towards her, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him. “I don’t think there’s any written law on the subject. So I suppose that we could just make do with a very long and passionate kiss.”
And the elderly usher, who had been making his way slowly up the staircase, stopped and cast his eyes around the Central Lobby, wondering why such a profound silence had suddenly descended upon the place.
St. Martin’s Paperbacks Titles
by Robin Pilcher
An Ocean Apart
Starting Over
A Risk Worth Taking
“Warm and readable.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“A warm, welcome tale of believable people and places, told by a born storyteller … AN OCEAN APART is full of beautifully painted characters … Though Robin Pilcher has his own literary voice, it is obvious that inheritance has brightened this first long, full tale.”
—The Anniston Star
“[Pilcher] shares with his mother a warmth that seems quite genuine, [and] a real fondness for his characters.”
—The Orlando Sentinel
“The Tracks of My Tears.” Words and music by William “Smokey” Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marvin Tarplin. © 1965, 1967 (renewed 1993, 1995) by JOBETE MUSIC CO., INC. All rights controlled and administered by EMI APRIL MUSIC, INC. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
AN OCEAN APART
Copyright © 1999 by Robin Pilcher.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-11664
ISBN: 0-312-97184-2
EAN: 80312-97184-7
St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / January 1999
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / November 1999
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
eISBN 9781466862166
First eBook edition: December 2013