Chapter 1 #2
‘Yeah, I’d better be making my way back, too.
’ Cath glanced towards Will as she spoke.
‘It’s been a really lovely evening. Thank you.
’ Her words felt loaded with meaning, but in front of the group she was unable to voice anything more.
She was still trying to sort it out in her head, in all honesty.
‘Well, it’s been a bit of a night …’ added Will with a wry note to his voice. ‘It’s lovely to see you all.’ He stood, ready to see everyone out.
Coats and shoes were gathered, as they were herded towards the front door.
‘Thank you so much,’ said Nikki, as she leaned towards Will for a quick peck on the cheek. ‘And well done, you two, you finally got the memo at last.’ She gave a cheeky grin.
Will merely smiled, as Cath felt the warmth of a blush creep across her cheeks.
‘Well, after all the ducking and diving with the matchmaking,’ Will added, ‘you lot weren’t really here for long in the end. You didn’t even get to taste my food. So, I’ll have to host again some other time and put my newfound cooking skills to the test.’
‘Now that sounds a great idea,’ responded Andreas.
Next, it was Cath’s turn to make her farewells. Oh blimey, what did they do here? She and Will edged closer, somewhat awkwardly. The original moment of passion having passed. Did they kiss on the lips … the cheek, like friends? Have a hug?
‘Ahm …’ Will flailed his arms out to his sides, evidently feeling self-conscious too.
‘Umm …’ Cath leaned forwards and decided to kiss his cheek as they would have done at the end of every other supper club evening. She wasn’t sure she was ready for anything more in the way of public displays of affection tonight. ‘Ah, thank you.’
‘You’re most welcome.’ His words sounded polite, but rather formal and perhaps a little distant.
What was he thinking? Cath couldn’t help but wonder. Was he regretting their kiss already, or left wanting more and wondering how Cath was now playing it so cool?
In some ways, she’d have loved to stay on a while longer, just the two of them, and ask the myriad questions lurking in her mind, but perhaps it would be too much, too soon. This way, at least, she’d get a chance, back at home, for a little time to process everything.
The hand she placed on Will’s shoulder tingled. Mini electric shocks still triggering between them. ‘We’ll chat soon, yeah?’ A hint, a hope, that there was more to come for them both.
‘Yeah, of course.’
‘Right, you two lovebirds. Break it up. If you want a chaperone, Cath, then it’s time for home. Unless, of course …’ Andreas raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Oooh my! She hadn’t even thought of staying over or anything like that.
‘Yep, I’m on my way.’ Cath’s pitch was high, wanting to make that very clear, indeed.
A kiss was a kiss, but anything more … well, that was a whole other dimension.
If she’d been blushing before, she was now in full hot flush mode.
‘Night then.’ Will’s voice was soft.
He moved in for a hug, his gorgeous woody-amber aftershave scent filling the space between them, as she felt herself drawn in, and then, oh so close against him. Andreas’s words firing warning signals in her head. Yet her body was booking itself in for the night already.
‘Ni-ight.’ Her head might well have been full of shooting stars at that point. She took a slow breath, and then stepped back to regroup with the parting posse.
‘Bye’, ‘See you soon’ and several ‘Thank yous’ rang through the hallway.
Dan opened the front door, and out they drifted into the cool night air, a soft autumnal breeze stirring.
Darkness was suddenly all around, bar the glow from a street lamp further along the pavement. Inside Cath, however, the brightest of lights was still glowing.
Their clonking shoes and chatter echoed down the empty late-evening street.
Cars were parked up for the night. The group made their way past two-hundred-year-old honey-stone cottages, all with their own stories to tell, and on by a new-build house, designed in keeping with the old, slotting other lives into the village.
And, tucked behind that, there was Lily’s family’s barn conversion.
They took a short diversion to see her home.
‘Thanks, guys. See you all soon.’ Lily gave a cheery wave, as she stepped over her threshold.
‘Night, petal.’
‘Bye.’
Nikki’s turn next, and they soon reached her house, back on the main street. The lights were all out, bar the porch.
‘Well, that’s me. Let’s hope they’re all asleep. Night all.’ Her voice softened to a whisper as she unlocked the door. They watched her creep in stealthily, trying her best (tricky, after several glasses of Prosecco) not to disturb her three boys and hopefully snoring husband.
‘Night,’ Cath found herself whispering back. ‘See you soon.’ She also sent a silent thank you for the efforts made by her friend to get her and Will together.
They reached the village stores, built from the local creamy-grey stone, its sills and door painted a smart navy.
In the window was a display of kindling wood, firelighters, matches, a stack of books and a bottle of red wine, against a backdrop of autumn leaves and a well-placed twig or two.
They had even got the fairy lights out, which gave a twinkling welcome.
‘That looks so pretty, very autumnal,’ Cath commented.
‘Thank you, lovely. That’s Andreas’s remit. He adores doing all the creative stuff. Setting the scene.’
The lads would naturally peel off here, back to their flat above the shop, but they insisted on seeing Cath safely home to her cottage.
‘Crikey, it’s a sleepy little village. I’ll be fine,’ assured Cath.
‘Nope, absolutely not,’ affirmed Dan. ‘We’ll see you back.’
‘Haven’t you seen all those murder mysteries?’ added Andreas with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. ‘This is exactly where it all happens … quiet little villages. Think Miss Marple and all that.’
‘And The Thursday Murder Club,’ chipped in Dan.
‘Stop it, you two! You daft things.’ Cath found herself giggling.
‘Whatever … we’re seeing you home, and that’s that.’ Andreas had the final word.
Cath found herself walked to her cottage door, and gave her chaperones a warm hug before stepping inside.
‘Thanks, guys. For everything.’ She found herself feeling emotional all over again.
Tonight had been crazy, but special, and they’d both been so supportive since she had moved in to Cheviot Cottage and first set a slightly wobbly foot in the village.
‘You’re very welcome,’ said Andreas.
‘And hey, it’s been lovely to see you and Will both smiling so much this evening,’ added Dan.
Cath was still feeling that glow. ‘Yes, it really was a wonderful night.’
‘It was fab-u-lous, darling,’ said Andreas.
Hah, she could tell they were feeling very pleased with their part in the supper club matchmaking. But only time would tell if their matchmaking efforts would turn into something that might last.
Cath watched the couple go, seeing Andreas slip an arm gently around Dan.
They looked so at ease with each other. Comfortable.
Stood hovering on her step, feeling happy about Will, and the chance for a new relationship, but also damned scared.
She wasn’t sixteen anymore; when they’d first met and life had seemed simple.
A world of experience had shown her that life and love could go wrong.
Falling for someone made you vulnerable all over again.
Bloody hell, she’d only just patched up her battered and bruised heart.
Starting a new romantic relationship, what on earth was she thinking?
*
Oh, what a night!
Cath lingered at her moss-green-painted cottage door looking out into the dark.
The lads’ footsteps now distant, and the village quiet, sleepy.
The last of the pink summer roses that climbed the door arch wafted fragrantly beside her.
A scent that reminded her of her childhood.
She and her sister, Susie, plucking and drying rose petals (much to their gardener dad’s disgruntlement) for ‘potpourri’ for their shared bedroom; sometimes it even doubled up as wedding confetti for their Barbie and Ken dolls.
All those childish dreams of romance. And later, the real-life happily-ever-afters that would in time come crashing down.
She stepped into the hallway of her home, still feeling in a whirl.
There was no way she’d be able to get to sleep just yet – there had been far too much fizz (in her glass and her brain) and excitement for one evening.
So, she headed for her cosy kitchen, where she made herself a cup of camomile tea.
The simple task of putting the kettle on, finding her favourite blue spotty mug and popping a teabag in a tonic in itself.
As she stood stirring the fragrant infusion a few minutes later, she gave a small happy-but-anxious sigh.
Whoa, there was just so much to take in.
It was a shame she and Will hadn’t had more time to chat between themselves before the gang arrived.
Time to confirm how they both felt, about the now …
and the past, and the future. What had that kiss meant?
Was it just a moment of passion released, or the start of something more?
Crikey, she hadn’t even had chance to ask when they might next get to see each other.
She took a sip of the scented tea, and gazed out into the midnight sky of her back garden, where the stars glinted a million miles away.
Cath remembered that precious time, a few weeks back, stargazing with Will.
That evening had felt like the start of a shift between the two of them.
And tonight, a landmark kiss. She lingered on that moment for a few lovely seconds.
Her thoughts then shifted to her grown-up son, Adam, who was still finding and, to be honest, floundering on his own path in life down in Leeds.
Leeds, where her own life was once entrenched.
The family home now sold. Her ex-husband Trevor still there in their old city, living in a new flat, with his new girlfriend.
Were they all loved up, or arguing by now?
Did she even want to know? All of those lives and so many more, all going on under the same sky.
Why were love and relationships so damn tricky?
You’d think you’d have it all sussed by fifty-two years of age, but no, you still felt like a daft teenager.
The uncertainties, the do I jump right in or hold back?
as strong as ever. She hugged her mug. Should she message Will?
Thank him for a lovely night? Sleep on it?
The memory of the kiss was still aglow inside.
*
Later, in her white-walled cottage bedroom, lying under a crisp white-cotton duvet, Cath reflected further.
Thinking about how her supper club friends had engineered their soiree for two.
She and Will, at last, being a little more honest about their feelings, or at least revealing what they’d been holding back in that spontaneous and unexpected kiss.
This, coming hot on the heels of the recent revelation that Will had in fact been her first love ‘Matty’ – real name, William Matthewson – all those years ago.
Oh yes, the attraction had been building between them these last few months, but with past pain on both sides, they had been trying their best to shield their battered hearts.
But how would this work out, for her and Will?
Here in a place where everyone knew everyone’s business?
Would a fledgling romance put at risk a lovely friendship and friendship group?
And she was all too aware of her own recent hurts and betrayal.
This village was meant to be her escape, her haven.
Did she really want to stir things up with romantic ties, and all the confusion that might bring?
And Will, oh yes, she knew that he was still grieving.
Two years on, after more than two decades of love, was nothing, after all.
But she held on to that moment of their beautiful, surprise kiss this evening. It had lit a flame within her once more. The connection still there after all the years. But they weren’t teenagers anymore, were they, and life wasn’t always that simple.
It was all well and good having a lovely, romantic moment, but where on earth did they go from here?