Chapter 28
Nathan had lost count of the number of times he’d checked his phone, but there was still no news of Bea.
He’d called Carol from the ambulance and she and Gordon were waiting for them in A there was no point in all of them waiting, and they promised to update him as soon as there was any news.
Bea had drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the journey. It was awful seeing her like that, knowing there was nothing he could do. What if she had internal bleeding? What if her head injury turned out to be serious? Life-threatening, even?
He hadn’t slept a wink, his stomach churning as he kept replaying the scene in his head over and over: the flashing blue lights, Bea’s upturned car, the sight of her lying motionless.
‘How is she?’ he answered, his grip on the phone tightening.
‘She’s going to be okay,’ said Carol, and Nathan could hear the relief in her voice. ‘She’s got a concussion, a couple of broken ribs and some minor wounds, but apart from that, she’s fine. She had a lucky escape.’
‘Thank God.’
‘She’s worried about the wagon, though. She isn’t insured,’ Carol sighed.
‘Shit! I hadn’t realized.’ Nathan knew Bea had tried to save money, but he thought she’d have taken out insurance given the cost of her stock alone.
‘The other driver was one of the Fallon boys. You know them?’
‘Yep,’ said Nathan, ‘they’ve always been trouble. Their dad caused all those problems for Rose and Scout a couple of years back.’
‘Well, he didn’t have any insurance and was over the limit, too. He’ll be charged, but that doesn’t help Bea,’ Carol sighed. ‘I don’t want her worrying about that now, though.’
‘No, of course not,’ said Nathan. He knew Bea would be devastated, heartbroken. He didn’t want that. ‘What if I get it towed here? We can store it in the barn again, and I can see what needs fixing?’
‘If you don’t mind, that would be one less thing to worry about. Thanks, Nathan.’
‘No worries. I’d like to visit later, if you think she’s up to it?’
‘She’s resting right now, but if you leave it until after lunch, I’m sure she’d love to see you.’
‘Okay, great. I’ll be there,’ he said, relief coursing through him that Bea was okay, even if the wagon wasn’t.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled through to find Leo’s number. The first thing he needed to do was to get the book wagon up to the farm and see exactly how bad the damage was.
Bea’s pain medication had kicked in, so she was starting to feel better, if a little woozy, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the book wagon.
How bad was the damage? Not knowing was killing her.
Archie and Jess had been to see her before lunch, Jess armed with a bag of pastries from the Cosy Cat and a family-size box of Maltesers, because Bea needed ‘the essentials’.
Archie had tried to make her laugh with stories about how bad the food in the hospital canteen was, which made her ribs hurt so much she’d begged him to stop.
They’d both been worryingly evasive when she’d asked them about the book wagon, casting furtive glances at one another, neither of them looking her in the eye.
After pushing aside an unappetizing lunch of a limp cheese and tomato sandwich (thank God Jess had brought supplies!), Bea heard a familiar voice approaching her bed.
‘Someone’s looking better than the last time I saw them,’ said Nathan, beaming at her.
He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and the distinct appearance of someone who hadn’t slept.
‘Nathan!’ Bea cried, trying, and failing, to pull herself upright. ‘Owww,’ she winced.
‘Here, let me,’ said Nathan, rushing to help her sit up. ‘Better?’
‘Much. Thanks,’ she said, forcing a pained smile.
‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, pulling up a chair at the side of the bed.
‘Not too bad,’ she said with a wince. ‘The ribs are the worst. Who knew breathing could hurt so much?’
‘Christ, Bea,’ said Nathan, taking her hand, ‘you gave me a scare last night. I was bloody terrified,’ he said, blinking back tears.
‘I don’t remember a thing,’ she said, squeezing his hand back. ‘Which is probably a good thing, I’m guessing?’
‘Too bloody right it is,’ Nathan replied, shaking his head.
‘I’m just glad you were there. The paramedics said you made the 999 call, stayed with me…’ now it was her turn to fight back the tears.
‘Yeah, well…’ he said, his voice catching, ‘like I was going to do anything else.’
‘The wagon, though? Have you seen it?’ ’
‘Yep,’ he nodded solemnly. ‘It’s at mine. Back in the barn.’
‘And?’ she asked, quietly.
‘It’s not that bad… there’s damage, of course, the inside is…’
‘What?’
‘There’s work to do, that’s all,’ he shrugged noncommittally. ‘Best not to think about that now,’ he said, trying to reassure her.
‘You sound like Mum,’ said Bea, slumping back into the pillows. ‘Trouble is, I can’t think of anything else.’
‘No, I don’t suppose you can.’
‘Did Mum tell you? About the insurance? The other driver?’
‘Yep. That whole family has a lot to answer for, always causing trouble. If I come face to face with Trevor…’ he trailed off, his jaw clenched shut.
‘Let the police deal with him. I’m more concerned with how I’m going to get the wagon fixed, Nate,’ she whispered, her voice catching.
‘Hey,’ said Nathan, jumping up and cradling her in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. ‘It’ll be okay. We’ll sort it. It’ll all be okay, Bea.’
‘Promise?’ she asked, as he wiped a tear from her cheek.
‘Promise,’ he nodded. ‘It’s going to be fine.’
‘Sorry,’ she sniffed, ‘I’m a mess.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ he said, passing her a tissue from his pocket. ‘You’ve been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, it’s okay not to be okay right now, you know.’
‘All right,’ she said, blowing her nose hard. ‘Thanks, Nate.’
‘Listen, I’ve brought something that might cheer you up…’ he said, picking up a package from the floor where he’d left it. ‘I know it’s not your birthday until next week but—’
‘You’ve brought me a present?’ asked Bea.
‘I have. I thought it might keep you occupied,’ he said, passing her a book-shaped package, carefully wrapped in silver paper.
Bea tore open the wrapping paper and gasped at the antique copy of Northanger Abbey inside. The jacket was bound in red leather, the pages edged in gold. Bea carefully flipped open the front cover and saw that it was an 1898 illustrated edition, with beautiful pencil drawings.
‘Nate,’ she said, breathlessly. ‘This is…’ she couldn’t find the words to express how she felt.
‘Is it okay?’ he asked, nervously. ‘I know you love Austen and I thought… You don’t have it already, do you?’
‘A collector’s edition of one of my favourite novels of all time?’ she laughed. ‘No, I absolutely don’t,’ she said. ‘I love it, Nate, thank you.’
‘There is nothing that I would not do for those who are really my friends,’ he said, quietly.
‘You remembered?’ Bea murmured. She had quoted Isabelle Thorpe’s words constantly in sixth form.
‘As if I’d forget,’ he murmured.
‘It’s perfect, you’re perfect. Thank you.’
They looked at each other, their eyes locking. Bea could feel her heart rate increasing, her pulse thrumming. Did she really mean that? Was Nate perfect for her?
She swallowed hard. She couldn’t think right now. All she could do was focus on his face, those green eyes, his dark hair—
‘Lochlan!’ said Bea, her eyes wide with shock as she saw him out of the corner of her eye. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in London?’
‘Hey, gorgeous,’ said Lochlan. He was carrying a huge bunch of flowers. ‘Jess called last night and told me what happened, so I drove straight back this morning.’ He cast a nod of acknowledgement towards Nathan. ‘Bloody hell! Your face,’ he said, examining her stitches. ‘Will it scar?’
‘It looks worse than it is,’ said Bea, placing a hand to her head self-consciously. ‘Nathan’s been great, he was with me last night, at book club. He called the ambulance. If it wasn’t for him, I’d have… well, who knows?’
‘Christ!’ said Lochlan, running a hand through his hair. ‘Thank God you were there, mate,’ he said, reaching across the bed to shake Nathan’s hand.
‘Not a problem,’ said Nathan, ‘I’m just glad she’s okay.’
‘He’s just being modest,’ said Bea, reaching out to squeeze Nathan’s hand, ‘if it wasn’t for Nate—’
‘Yeah, well, like I said, lucky you were there,’ Lochlan replied, with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. ‘Anyway, I’m here now and we’ve got a lot of catching up to do, so…’
‘Oh, Nate, you don’t have to go, it’s fine, please stay?’ said Bea, quickly.
‘No, Lochlan’s right. You need to rest. Take care of yourself, Bea,’ Nathan said, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek.
‘I’ll see you soon, okay?’ said Bea, as he walked away.
‘Alone at last,’ said Lochlan, sitting on the edge of the bed. ‘God, I’ve missed you,’ he said, tracing a finger along a bruise on her cheek. ‘A car accident? I just can’t believe it. Thank God it wasn’t more serious,’ he said, a shadow crossing his face.
‘I know,’ Bea whispered. This wasn’t quite how she’d pictured their reunion, her lying in a hospital bed. ‘Thanks for coming, though, you didn’t need to—’
‘Of course I did. As soon as Jess called, I dropped everything, got straight in the car, cancelled all my meetings, I’ll be here all week—’
‘But Jess doesn’t have your number?’
‘Ah, she tracked me down on the firm’s website. Very clever.’
‘Thanks for coming, that’s sweet,’ she said.
‘I know we’ve not seen much of each other these past few weeks, but I’m here now, okay?’
‘Okay,’ she nodded.
But, as Lochlan pulled her to him, hugging her close despite the pain in her ribs, Bea’s gaze lingered on the empty chair where Nathan had been sitting just moments ago, and a wave of sadness washed over her.