Chapter 20
Nicola smiled as she felt Charlie take her hand, and she looked up at him as they walked towards the pub door. ‘Thanks again for dinner. It was lovely.’
‘It was, wasn’t it?’ He leaned in closer and pecked her on the cheek. ‘The food and the company.’
‘Likewise.’ She grinned. She was really beginning to feel there could be something special between them.
Yes, it was super, super early days, but she felt a spark each and every time she saw him, whether he was in his everyday flannel shirts or the smart jeans and pale blue shirt he was wearing this evening.
And the way he just wanted to spend time with her.
He made her feel wanted and interesting.
He listened to her, answered her. He took the time to hear what she was saying.
There was no noncommittal grunting or long silences as there had been with Nathan.
And she’d not had that in a very long time. She’d not felt worthy.
‘Here.’ Charlie pulled the heavy wooden door of the pub open and stood aside, letting her through first, demonstrating once again how completely different he was to Nathan who would have eagerly pushed his way through first just so he didn’t waste any time drinking or catching up with his mates.
Stepping inside, Nicola looked around. It was busy and, by the looks of things, the darts competition had already begun, a crowd of people were clustered around the dartboard, with more people sitting at tables and glancing over at the excitement every so often.
The warmth of the pub was welcome after the chill of the clear summer evening and Nicola shrugged out of her cardigan, draping it over her arm. After taking Charlie’s hand again, his skin warm against hers, she weaved through the other punters towards the bar, where Jackson greeted them.
‘Evening, Nicola. Hey, Charlie. What can I get you both?’ Placing his hands on the bar, he leaned slightly forward, speaking above the chatter surrounding them.
‘A white wine and a lager please, mate.’ Charlie slipped his bank card from his wallet and glanced around. ‘It’s busy tonight.’
‘Oh yes. I must admit we knew the darts competition would draw a crowd, but we weren’t quite prepared for this amount of extra people.’ Jackson placed their drinks on the bar.
‘Are you going to be able to get away from the bar and watch Laura play?’ Nicola glanced towards the throng of people surrounding the dartboard as a raucous cheer swept through the pub.
‘I sure hope so. I’m not even supposed to be working now. We finished serving food an hour ago, but Nancy is running late.’ He looked up as the door opened, and Nancy, one of the bartenders, hurried through. ‘Ah, right on cue.’
‘Sorry, sorry. Had an absolute nightmare with the car. I didn’t realise the tyre was flat until I’d gone to get in it to come to work.’ Nancy rushed behind the bar, throwing her handbag to the floor as she did so and kicking it against the back wall.
‘No worries. Did you manage to get it sorted or shall I pop by sometime and change it?’ Jackson wiped the bar down.
‘Thanks, but my neighbour changed it. Right, give me two seconds and I’ll be with you.’ Nancy took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders back before fixing a smile. ‘There, ready. You go and support Laura.’
‘You sure?’ Jackson waited until Nancy had nodded and began serving the next customer before grabbing himself a drink and slipping out from behind the bar.
‘That was good timing.’ Charlie nodded as they made their way towards the dartboard.
Jackson waved to Laura as she stood waiting her turn and blew her a kiss before settling against a table and taking a sip of his drink.
Leaning back against the table next to Jackson, Charlie pulled Nicola towards him so her back was resting against his chest and his arm around her waist. ‘Can you see from here?’
‘Yes.’ Nicola smiled, the weight of his arm around her a comfort, and placed her hand over his.
They watched as Laura took her turn, the darts flying through the air before landing just where she wanted them to. Nicola had never learned the rules of darts, but by the reaction of her teammates, Laura must have got the points they had needed to win the game.
‘Well done, Laura!’ Pushing himself away from the table, Jackson clapped his hands above his head, his drink slightly spilling as he did so. ‘That’s my girl!’
Nicola clapped as she watched Laura’s teammates hug and high-five each other. Slowly, the crowds dispersed, and Laura came towards them.
‘You were epic! Well done.’ Jackson drew Laura in for a huge hug before pulling away and kissing her.
‘Well done, Laura. That was great.’ Nicola grinned as Charlie joined in with congratulating her.
‘Thanks, it was a tough match.’ Laura glanced towards a teammate and high-fived them before turning her attention back to them. ‘I can’t quite believe we won! The other team are higher than us in the league.’
‘Ah, but how many matches have you had unbeaten so far this season?’ Jackson laid an arm around her shoulders.
‘Five I think?’ Laura grinned.
‘See, you need to have more faith in yourselves.’ Jackson kissed her again as her teammates returned, brandishing a bottle of bubbly.
‘Shall we go and see if there’s a table outside? Let the winners celebrate?’ Charlie spoke quietly.
‘Good idea.’ Reluctant to step away from his hold, Nicola took his hand and led the way outside.
With the sky clear of clouds, the stars above them made the perfect backdrop to such a perfect evening. Sitting down at one of the wooden picnic tables, she waited until Charlie had got comfy opposite her before holding up her glass.
‘To new beginnings.’
‘To new beginnings.’ Charlie clinked glasses before holding his up again. ‘To us.’
‘To us.’ Nicola took a small sip of her wine.
She could feel herself falling for him. After the way Nathan had treated her, she’d accepted she was facing a future of being alone, her heart too broken and her trust too shattered to even think about dating again, but then Charlie had come along and she found herself at the beginning of this new adventure and suddenly things felt exciting again and she was realising that her life wasn’t mapped out in front of her anymore, not as she’d assumed it would be, anyway.
‘You look very serious.’ Charlie leaned slightly forward, the moonlight glistening in his eyes.
She shrugged. She couldn’t very well admit she’d believed she’d been left on the shelf, could she? ‘I was just thinking that unexpected things happen still. I mean, I never in a million years thought we’d be sitting opposite each other on a date now when I first met you.’
Chuckling, he leaned back, running his fingers through his hair. ‘I was that bad, hey?’
‘Uh, just slightly.’ She laughed.
‘Sorry, I’ve just had so much on my mind, what with the farm and having to step away from my life in London.’ He grimaced. ‘I was pretty grouchy, wasn’t I?’
She nodded. ‘Just a little.’
He shifted on the bench. ‘I hope your delightful ex has been leaving you alone now?’
‘Umm, I saw him in the village centre earlier and he tried to speak to me.’ She rolled her eyes at the memory.
‘I just don’t understand. He was the one who cheated on me.
I actually found them in our cottage, and now he thinks he can just waltz back into my life, and I’d let him stay with me until he found a place of his own.
It doesn’t make any sense. He doesn’t make any sense. ’
‘Yikes. I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t realise he’d cheated on you.’ Reaching across the table, he took her hand in his. ‘I gathered he wasn’t the nicest of people even just from my short encounter with him, but to cheat…’
‘Yeah. He really isn’t.’ She focused on their hands as he drew circles with his thumb across the back of her hand. ‘Our relationship hadn’t been perfect, I guess, but I still would have appreciated him finishing with me first before moving on.’
Charlie looked at her, a flash of anger flushing across his face before he frowned. ‘Please believe me when I promise you that I’d never cheat on you. I never have cheated and I never will.’
He’d never cheat on her. Did that mean what she thought it did? Was he saying that he could see a future with her? Or at least that he’d like to see where things led?
She squeezed his hand. ‘That’s good to know. Can I ask why you and your last partner split up?’
Jackson took a deep breath, the lines in his forehead deepening. ‘There were a few things. Our ideas of the future we wanted didn’t align and at the time neither of us had much time to invest in our relationship.’
‘Because of work?’
‘Yes, we were both working all the hours under the sun and our relationship just went to the bottom of the list of things to attend to, so to speak.’ He ran his palm across his face. ‘I’m not proud of it, of putting my work first, but that’s just how it ended up.’
‘Sorry to hear that.’ Nicola twisted her wine glass on the wooden tabletop. He worked long hours back in London, then? He did at the farm too, she knew that, but he’d made time to see her.
‘I guess it’s just one of those things that we need to learn from.’
‘Yes, that’s true.’ Did he split up with her, or did she break up with him?
Did he secretly want to get back with his ex?
She knew these insecurities stemmed directly from the way Nathan had behaved towards her, so she tried her best to push them out of her mind and focus on Charlie.
He was here with her now and she just needed to take that at face value.