Chapter 25
‘Well, I won’t say I haven’t missed you, sis!’ Nick said as Annabelle’s smiling, tanned face appeared around the front door of the shop on Monday evening. It was closing time, and Nick was itching to get away, and had already stowed the produce from outside safely in the doorway.
‘I’ve missed you, too,’ Annabelle replied as she came around the counter and gave him a hug. ‘I couldn’t resist popping in before tomorrow to make sure the place is still standing.’
‘As you can see, it most definitely is.’ Nick tried not to feel put out. Annabelle was only ribbing him, but he felt as though he’d done more than enough over the past two weeks to keep the shop on an even keel, especially with the film crew.
‘Perhaps I ought to go away more often,’ Annabelle teased. She looked rested, relaxed and as if the holiday had done her a lot of good.
‘Nah,’ he replied. ‘Place wasn’t the same without you glaring at me.’
Annabelle grinned. ‘Well, it’ll be business as usual from tomorrow, anyway, so you can relax for a bit.’ She paused. ‘How did things work out, staffing wise, while I was away? Did Thea get the hang of things?’
‘Yeah,’ Nick replied enthusiastically. ‘Thea was great. I’m so glad she agreed to cover a couple of days or I’d really have been pushed, especially since the agency couldn’t get anyone out here at such short notice.’
Annabelle regarded him speculatively. ‘Must have been nice… having Thea around all the time.’
Nick didn’t rise to Annabelle’s unspoken insinuation. ‘It was nice to have her helping out, yes. She’s a good friend.’
‘I know.’ Annabelle’s eyes met his. ‘It’s nice to think of the two of you getting close again.’ She paused, before adding, ‘you’ve always had a bit of a thing for Thea, haven’t you? I mean, out of all of the group, she’s the one you’d do pretty much anything for.’
‘Like I said, she’s a good friend, and she means a lot to me,’ Nick said firmly. ‘History counts for a lot, you know.’
‘I know,’ Annabelle replied. ‘But, oh, I don’t know, don’t you ever wonder if, now that she’s finally moved back to the village, you should make a move once and for all? Just so you know for sure if she likes you, too?’
‘Christ, you sound like Mum!’ Nick snapped.
‘And you make me sound like a right pathetic loser. It’s not like I’ve been pining for Thea all these years.
’ He’d had his fair share of relationships; admittedly nothing serious since Thea had moved into Observatory Field, but that didn’t mean he was holding out for her…
just that he hadn’t met the right person yet.
Nick could feel Annabelle’s eyes on him, and winced when she added, ‘Well, super stud, if you weren’t going to make a move on Thea when she was right under your nose, did you decide to pick up where you left off with Tally, then, since she was down this way again?
’ She laughed. ‘Come on, Nick, I’ve been in a gossip-free zone for two weeks… spill the tea!’
‘Tally’s not my type,’ Nick muttered. ‘Not any more.’
‘What, a gorgeous, confident, independent, creative woman isn’t for you? Jesus, Nick, what are you actually looking for?’
‘Not that!’ Nick could feel himself getting irritated, and his sister hadn’t been back in the country for more than a few hours. ‘She’s great, but she’s not…’
‘She’s not Thea?’ Annabelle suggested gently. ‘Seriously, Nick, you’ve got to get Thea out of your system. Either ask her out or give it up.’
‘It’s all right for you,’ Nick countered, still irritated. ‘You and Jamie have always been the perfect couple. Ever since school, he loved you and you loved him. You never had anything to lose.’
‘That’s not true,’ Annabelle retorted. ‘We’ve had our ups and downs, as you well know. But we’ve never been anything other than honest with each other. You need to be honest with yourself, and with Thea, if you’re ever going to move forward.’
‘How can I be honest? If I tell her how I really feel, it’ll end our friendship for good, and I can’t take that risk.’
‘Not necessarily.’ Annabelle’s voice grew calmer again. ‘I mean, you’ve been mates for thirty years – who’s to say she doesn’t want to try taking things to another level? You’ve always got on well together.’
‘That’s exactly why I can’t say anything to her,’ Nick said. ‘What if she never wanted to speak to me again? I can’t lose her friendship if what I’m feeling really is one-sided.’
Annabelle sighed. ‘I don’t think you need to worry too much about that.’
‘What do you mean?’
Pulling out her phone, Annabelle tapped the WhatsApp icon and scrolled to Thea’s name. ‘I probably shouldn’t be showing you this, but if it helps you to make up your mind…’
Nick’s breath hitched in his throat as he read the exchange.
‘Shit…’ he murmured. ‘I mean, we sort of talked things through after it happened, but I didn’t know she was quite so pissed off about it.’
‘Well, now you do.’
Annabelle looked him square in the face again. ‘And, just because I think I really need to spell this out for you, don’t you think, if she was that upset, you might not have much to lose if you just fronted up to her and told her how you really feel?’
Before he had the chance to reply, Annabelle had slipped her phone back in her pocket and was heading for the front door. ‘Don’t forget to put the till drawer in the safe before you go,’ she called to him. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
Nick shook his head. When he and Thea had talked about the mistletoe incident, she’d seemed more upset about it than someone who wanted just to be friends would be.
And, there had been a few times since then, especially after the walk in the woods on Sunday, that had made him think.
Perhaps he had been missing the signs after all.
There was only one thing to do; he’d have to level with Thea.
He didn’t know when, and he wasn’t sure how, but Annabelle was right: he certainly couldn’t go on like this.
It was time to lock up for the evening. He closed the front doors and headed into the back office to deposit the till drawer in the safe.
As he was heading out of the back door, he glanced at the pile of post on the desk.
There wasn’t anything that demanded his immediate attention, but there was something he’d been happily ignoring for the past couple of weeks.
The fancy, cream coloured envelope contained an invitation that usually he’d just pass onto Annabelle, but he knew for a fact that she’d had her own invite and so had their parents.
He hadn’t bothered to do anything about it, since Annabelle had ’fessed up she’d RSVP’d on behalf of the whole family a couple of weeks back, so he was obliged to put in an appearance.
He’d have to dig out his dinner suit, since the event was black tie, but at least it should still fit him.
Switching off the lights in the back office, he headed home to his cottage.
He tried not to think about when he might see Thea again; now Annabelle was back, she’d finished working at the shop, which he felt sad about.
He hadn’t spoken to Annabelle yet about potentially employing Thea after Christmas on a more permanent basis, and he made up his mind to discuss it with her and the rest of the family during the break.
As he drew up outside his house, he realised he’d been on autopilot all the time he’d been driving home; he had absolutely no memory of getting there at all.