Chapter 9
‘Would you like to come in?’ Josh asked, when we reached the cottage gate.
I didn’t have to think about my answer.
‘I would,’ I said, looking straight at him, ‘but only for a quick breather before I have to drive home.’
I held his gaze long enough to communicate that might not be strictly true and that I was only saying it for the benefit of everyone else who had left the pub at the same time as us and were also walking along the lane.
‘Perfect,’ he said and grinned as he ushered me down the short path to the door. ‘The cottage is the ideal place to cool off in before your drive.’
Neither of us said another word as he turned the key in the lock. We crossed the threshold, Josh slammed the door behind us, drew the curtains and then we fell into each other’s arms.
‘Josh,’ I gasped, as his mouth urgently sought out mine.
The feel of his lips on my neck, the heat of his hands as they ran their way over the thin fabric of my dress and the urgency with which I started to tug at his shirt buttons, expressed a mutual intensity of desire that I had never experienced before.
My body took over and I gave in to its craving completely. The first time on the tiny sitting-room sofa and the second, more tenderly upstairs in the brass-framed bed and then again, in the roll-top bath that was barely big enough for two, but we laughingly managed to squeeze into it anyway.
It was hardly surprising that we then fell into the bed and a deep sleep after such monumental exertion. It wasn’t quite dawn when I woke, my muscles pleasantly aching, and I found I had absolutely no desire to leave. I hoped Mum and Dad hadn’t already noted my absence, but I decided to err on the side of caution, albeit a little belatedly.
I tiptoed down the stairs, smiling at the puddles of abandoned clothes littering my path and sought out my phone. There were no panicky missed calls, so I sent Mum a text explaining that I’d stayed over in the village. With any luck, she’d assume I was with Penny. I then crept back up the stairs, took a moment to admire Josh’s beautiful body, then snuggled up close to him and drifted back into a dreamless sleep.
‘Good morning, sleepyhead,’ were the words that I eventually resurfaced to, and they were accompanied by the delicious aroma of fresh coffee and warm pastries. ‘Do you intend to sleep through the entire day?’
I inched myself up higher in the bed and rearranged the pillows behind my head as Josh set the tray down on the kicked- back duvet. He was naked from the waist up – a total treat for a Sunday morning. Assuming it was still morning…
‘I don’t much want to get out of bed,’ I told him, with a smile, ‘but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I want to sleep.’
He looked delighted about that.
‘In that case,’ he said, ‘let’s get some carbs and coffee into us and see where the day takes us, shall we?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ I agreed.
A lot more than half of the day had gone by the time we made it downstairs.
‘Everything okay?’ Josh asked, as I checked my phone.
I’d had a reply from Mum.
‘Yes,’ I told him. ‘Just my mum checking in.’
‘That’s nice.’
‘Does yours check in with you?’
‘No,’ he said, ‘not all that often, but I’m not great at keeping in touch with her either.’
He didn’t seem to want to extend the talk about his family, which was fine because I didn’t want to spend the day discussing mine either.
‘Have you thought anymore about performing in the pub again?’ I asked, to change the subject. ‘George seemed keen.’
Josh looked at me and cocked his head.
‘And when exactly would I have had time in the last few hours to think about that?’ he asked with a wicked grin. ‘I’ve been somewhat occupied since I hung up my guitar last night, haven’t I?’
‘Oh, yes,’ I consented as I crossed the room, draped my arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. ‘So you have.’
There wasn’t a muscle in my body that wasn’t feeling the impact of the last few hours now, but as Josh kissed me back and I pressed myself even closer to him, I knew I was more than willing to put them through their paces again.
‘And you’ve done wonders for supporting Anglo–American relations in those hours,’ I said between kisses.
‘Is that right?’
‘It is.’
‘In that case,’ he said, lifting me off my feet in one smooth movement, ‘let’s keep the momentum going, shall we?’
When Josh later turned on some music in the cottage, I couldn’t suppress the desire to track back to the subject of his playing in the pub.
‘I still can’t believe how surprised you looked by everyone’s reaction last night,’ I told him. ‘Your performance was flawless so it was never going to be received by anything other than rapturous applause.’
Josh didn’t appear convinced.
‘Why do you look like you still can’t believe it happened?’ I asked him.
‘Because I can’t, I suppose,’ he simply said, as he joined me on the sofa and I draped my bare feet over his lap.
I was wearing one of his T-shirts and felt relieved I still had time to go home ahead of my next shift in the pub. It wouldn’t stem any gossip if I was seen wearing the dress I had on last night, especially as I knew, thanks to my conversation with Penny, how minutely Josh and I were being scrutinised.
‘But why not?’ I probed.
‘Because,’ Josh sighed, returning to the topic of family, ‘in the past, my love of music and the desire I once had to play professionally didn’t go down well with my father. My love of music was sidelined by him as a frivolous pastime, a total waste of time and effort.’
My eyes widened in surprise.
‘A waste of time,’ I echoed, thinking that was the last way I would have described Josh’s obvious talent.
‘Yes,’ Josh said. ‘You see, my father has a hatred of anything creative being taken up professionally. He considers it too much of a risk. He’s only interested in making money from high-earning, straightforward careers, guaranteed investments and business opportunities.’
‘I see,’ I said.
I already knew I wouldn’t like Josh’s dad and that he was nothing like him. Laurence, however, was cut from a very similar materialistic cloth. Not that I was entertaining thoughts about him, but the similarity with Josh’s dad had struck a chord and he’d annoyingly popped into my head.
‘When I was growing up,’ Josh continued, ‘I wanted to be a musician. I was obsessed with learning to play the guitar and practised for hours on end…’
‘But your father didn’t encourage you?’
Josh laughed at that.
‘I wouldn’t call cutting the strings on your son’s beloved guitar as showing encouragement, would you?’
‘Please don’t tell me he really did that!’ I gasped.
‘Yes,’ Josh said, nodding, and I felt utterly horrified by the image which came with it. ‘He did.’
My heart broke for him. No wonder he’d been taken aback by everyone’s reaction in the pub if he’d only ever encountered such negativity to his playing before. His father sounded like a total monster. It was hardly any wonder that Josh was so happy to be staying in an entirely different country to him.
‘What a total shit,’ I couldn’t stop myself from saying. ‘Sorry.’
Dad and I might have had our differences in the past, but they hadn’t run to anything as intense as Josh had experienced. Or was that the benefit of time elapsed that was making me think that? I decided it was best not to ponder.
‘No, you’re fine.’ Josh smiled. ‘He’s certainly that.’
‘So, what gave you the courage to play last night?’
Given what he’d previously experienced, it was an incredibly brave thing to do.
‘George. He pointed out that no one around here knows me, so why not go for it? I couldn’t argue with his logic and thought I’d just do it and see what happened.’
‘Thank goodness for George.’ I grinned.
‘It had been so long since I’d played,’ Josh carried on. ‘Dad had completely knocked the enthusiasm for it out of me, but when I mentioned to George that I travelled with my guitar and was hoping to take some time to find myself while I was here…’
His words trailed off and his face flushed.
‘Go on,’ I said gently.
‘I know that sounds lame.’ He blushed. ‘A total cliché—’
‘No,’ I cut in vehemently. ‘It really doesn’t. You know, I’m a bit lost myself, so I get it. I really do. What did George say?’
I was discovering that he was full of wisdom.
‘Well, he pointed out that I hadn’t travelled all this way with my guitar not to play it and he was right.’
‘It must have been a cumbersome piece of luggage to haul about,’ I considered.
‘It was, but I truly had planned to play it at some point. George, however, and the serendipitous opportunity to per- form in the pub, rather sped the process along. He had me practising for hours and last night was the result. I’d shared with George my father’s antipathy and he in turn told me he’d battled enough bullies in his life to know that succeed- ing was the best way to beat them. That man has given me more support in just a few days than my own father has in a lifetime.’
He sounded rather choked about that, which was understandable.
‘Well, hooray for George!’ I said light-heartedly, wanting to lift Josh’s mood again and as my mobile started to ring.
‘Hooray indeed,’ Josh agreed and handed me my phone from the coffee table.
‘It’s my friend Penny,’ I said, having looked at the screen. ‘I better answer. Hey, Pen, what’s—’
‘Oh, thank god you’ve picked up!’ she interrupted, sounding desperate. ‘I need your help, Daisy! Where are you?’ She bowled on before I could tell her. ‘I’m at the café and I can’t serve everyone. Can you come? Nick has got no one helping him at the fruit farm as usual, so he can’t leave Wynbrook and I don’t know what to do!’
‘It’s fine,’ I said, swinging my legs around and standing up. ‘Don’t panic. I’m actually really close and I’m on my way.’
‘Thank god!’ she said, letting out a breath. ‘That’s great. Please hurry up!’
‘What’s up?’ Josh asked, as I jumped up.
‘I really need to help Penny in the beach café,’ I told him as I looked down at the T-shirt I was wearing. ‘She’s completely swamped and it’s only her first day. I don’t suppose you’ve got a pair of shorts that might fit me, have you?’
Penny was up to her elbows in panini orders by the time I got to the café. I was still wearing my dress from the night before because Josh had absolutely nothing I could wear or adapt in the limited time I had before she called again and berated me for taking so long to get there.
‘You’re an absolute lifesaver,’ she said, dropping her order pad and squeezing me hard when I finally rushed in. ‘Now, go and wash your hands and tie your hair up and I’ll tell you what I need you to do.’
She was in full-on teacher mode and I didn’t dare contradict her. Thankfully, she was too flustered to notice what I was wearing and I quickly covered the dress up with an embroidered Sunshine Café apron.
‘I need you to sort drinks and lollies,’ she instructed, ‘and I’ll do the food. It’s card payments only today and the gadget is really easy to use.’
She quickly showed me how to work it, even though I had already got the hang of using the one in the pub, and she then disappeared into the kitchen.
‘Is that everything?’ I asked the impatient-looking guy at the front of the queue.
‘Yes,’ he snapped, ‘and please hurry up, they’re melting.’
There was a board next to the counter with all of the prices listed on it, so my job wasn’t rocket science, but it was stressful. More stressful than working in the pub because there was currently a multitude of fractious toddlers and moody teens to cope with in the café.
The next three hours passed in a blur and I felt hot and sweaty as the summer sun beat down on the café roof and through the open windows and door, so goodness knows how hot and bothered Penny had got in the kitchen.
‘Right,’ she said when there was a lull, marching through having checked the freezers and finding them completely depleted, ‘that’s it. I’m closing.’
She quickly switched the sign on the door from open to closed before more customers descended, then firmly shut it, locked it and pulled down the blinds.
‘We can’t stay open if we’ve nothing to sell and there’s barely a crust or an ice cream in the place now,’ she pointed out, to justify her decision even though she didn’t need to.
‘Where did everyone spring from?’ I asked, fanning myself with a menu from one of the indoor tables.
‘There were a couple of coach trips from Wynbridge way today, apparently,’ she said wearily. ‘A run out to the coast to recharge the batteries.’
A few curls had escaped her ponytail and were clinging to her face and her skin was glowing. I couldn’t imagine this was the introduction to running the café she had wanted and decided not to comment. However, it turned out that she was far more buoyant than I would have been in her position.
‘We did it,’ she laughed, holding up a hand for me to high five, the second she’d recovered her good humour. ‘If I can survive a manic Sunday rush like that, I can survive anything.’
I had to admire her resilience.
‘I know I probably sounded a bit panicked when I called and asked you to help,’ she confessed.
‘Hardly surprising given the number of customers you had when I got here,’ I said, ‘and you found a way around the problem, didn’t you? You called me.’
‘Exactly,’ she beamed. ‘And when I open again, I’ll make sure I have everything prepped in advance. That’s what scuppered me today. I think Sophie does all the fruit and veg prep and so on before she opens the door.’
‘You’re going to have to put in a huge order to be delivered before Wednesday. Assuming you’re still planning to start then.’
Personally, I thought she should take a break before opening the café again, but I kept quiet.
‘Um,’ she said, thinking. ‘I’ll have to log on to Sophie’s ordering system and see what I can get delivered in time, won’t I?’
‘It might be a bit of a squeeze, time-wise,’ I grimaced. ‘What with you being at school until the end of Tuesday.’
‘Damn,’ she tutted. ‘I won’t be around to take delivery, will I?’
‘I could be though,’ I offered, not wanting to dampen her enthusiasm if she really was that determined to go straight from school teacher to café manager. ‘If you give me a list of what you’re expecting, I could be here to tick it off and unpack it, couldn’t I?’
‘Would you?’ she gasped. ‘That would be a huge help.’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I won’t be in the pub then, so it doesn’t matter when it comes. Oh my god!’ I then gasped. ‘The pub! What time is it?’
I wrenched the apron over my head and Penny’s mouth fell open.
‘Where exactly were you when I called?’ she asked, taking in the state of my crumpled dress.
‘No time to explain,’ I told her, feeling flustered and then hot as memories of the night before in Josh’s arms, Josh’s bed, Josh’s bath, crowded in. ‘I need to get home to shower and change. I’m going to be late for work again ,’ I squealed.
‘Go to my place,’ Penny said calmly, reaching behind the counter for her cottage keys. ‘You can get showered there and go through my wardrobe. There’s bound to be something in there that’ll fit you.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘Of course, I don’t,’ she laughed. ‘One good turn deserves another. Lock up and take the keys with you to the pub and I’ll come in for them later. With any luck, it’ll be a quiet shift and you’ll be able to fill me in on exactly what you got up to last night.’
‘I’m not sure you’re ready for it, Pen,’ I coquettishly said, then tried to sashay out, but forgetting the door was locked, walked straight into it.
‘Idiot!’ Penny laughed, letting me out. ‘I’ll see you later.’
There was no time to admire the pretty coastal aesthetic of Penny’s perfect cottage or linger in her shower.
‘I know,’ I panted, as I rushed into the pub. ‘I know, I know.’
In spite of my best efforts, I was a few minutes late.
‘You’re all right,’ Sam said mildly. ‘Josh popped in earlier and said you’d answered a cry for help from Penny down at the café.’
‘I did,’ I wheezed. ‘That’s where I’ve been all afternoon. She was absolutely swamped.’
‘In which case I’ll let you off, but get behind here now so Tess can head back to the kitchen, because it’s about to get busy.’
That was the last thing I wanted to hear. Having had such little sleep, I felt like I hadn’t stopped since I’d turned up an hour ahead of my shift the evening before.
‘Did Josh say anything else?’ I tried to ask casually.
Sam gave me a look.
‘He might have done.’ He winked.
I felt my tummy roll and not because I hadn’t had the chance to eat anything since the earlier pastry.
‘And what might that have been?’ I swallowed, feeling nauseous.
I hadn’t had Josh down as the sort who would kiss and tell and felt disappointed in him. Given that he’d shared such in- timate details with me about his dad, I thought he might have considered me more than one-night stand material to gossip about, but Sam’s knowing wink suggested otherwise.
‘Why don’t you ask him yourself?’ he said, with a nod to the door.
‘Hey,’ Josh smiled, ducking his head as he came in. He still looked deliciously dishevelled. ‘How did you get on with Penny?’
‘Good,’ I said, then had to move along the bar to serve someone.
‘Have you got a sec?’ he asked, once I’d finished.
‘Not right now,’ I said, even though I wanted to get to the bottom of exactly how much detail he’d given Sam. ‘It’s getting busy.’
‘It’ll only take a sec.’
‘I can’t,’ I said, feeling rattled. ‘Sorry.’
It was ages before the bar was quiet again and, in that time, I’d seen three women flirt outrageously with Josh. He hadn’t done anything to court their attention, but it was obvious that he drew people to him like a moth to a flame and as the evening wore on, I became convinced that he had told Sam everything about his first Norfolk coastal conquest. Me.
‘You can take a minute now if you like?’ Sam offered, making me jump. ‘I think Josh is hanging around just to talk to you.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘it’s okay. I don’t think he is and besides, he’s currently occupied.’ One of the women was still talking to him. ‘If I stop, I might not get going again. As you know,’ I more loudly added, ‘I’ve had a long couple of days with very little sleep.’
Josh came quickly up to the bar when he saw there were no customers waiting and that I was talking to Sam.
‘Okay,’ said Sam, looking at me with a puzzled expression on his face.
‘I was just telling Sam how little sleep I’ve had,’ I said to Josh. ‘I wanted to confirm your prowess in the bedroom and back up what you told him earlier.’
Josh looked shocked and Sam bit his lip.
‘Absolutely no complaints from me.’ I smiled, as I breezily set to stacking some glasses. ‘We had a great night together, didn’t we?’
‘Josh didn’t—’ Sam began.
‘It’s fine,’ Josh cut in. ‘I’m going to head off then. I’ll see you later, Sam.’
He strode out of the pub without another word and I felt my face flush red.
‘He did tell you that we’d spent the night together, didn’t he?’ I belatedly asked Sam.
‘Nope,’ he said, ‘he told me that having talked it through with you, he’s decided he’s going to play with George again. I think, just now, he wanted to tell you before I let it slip.’