Chapter Fifteen
“N ow I’m really confused,” Jules said.
They were sitting at a small table close to the counter of the cafe owned by Jules’s sister Amelia and her partner Cass.
“What’s to be confused about?” Cass asked from behind the counter. “Your girl’s got a crush and got it bad. Not that I blame her, that policewoman’s a looker alright. And she’s all strict and in a uniform.” She gave a little shiver of delight.
“Enough from you,” Amelia said, putting coffees on a tray and carrying them to the table. “I think the question is, if Soph’s got a crush and the constable is so pretty, why didn’t that smooch happen?”
“Easy,” Cass said. “Because Gio drove by in that banger of his.” She rolled her eyes at Sophie. “Forgive Am, she’s not always on the ball. Here, get one of these down you.” She pulled a plate out and then got something out of a machine that looked like it might be used for medieval torture.
“What is it?” asked Jules.
“A Paganini,” Cass said proudly.
“She means a Panini,” said Amelia. “We just got the machine. Rented for now, of course, but we thought we’d give it a go.”
“This one’s ham and pineapple,” Cass said, putting the plate in front of Jules. “What do you want, Soph?”
“Not ham and pineapple,” she said quickly. “What about, um, cheese and…”
“Salmon?” Cass filled in.
“God no, cheese and ham will be fine.”
“Boring,” said Cass, but got to work anyway.
“So you didn’t kiss the constable because of Gio?” Jules asked her, getting back to the point.
“Her name’s Tilly,” Sophie said. “Kiss the Constable sounds like a dirty film.”
“Not a bad one either,” Cass said from behind the counter. “What do you think, Am? We could shoot it in the cafe when we’re closed.”
“I’m not being in a dirty film,” Amelia said immediately.
“Did I ask you to? We’d get professionals for that.”
“Where from?” asked Jules, honestly curious. “Do you know many professional adult actors in the area?”
“There must be some,” said Cass, looking thoughtful. “I mean, you might not know just by looking. Like spies. Probably there’s loads.”
“We don’t have filming equipment,” Amelia said. “So it’s a no on that for the time being. I like the idea of the cafe being used at night, though.”
“If you open at night, you’ll be treading on the pub’s toes. Josh’ll go mad,” Jules said.
Amelia and Cass were always looking for get rich quick schemes, though they’d calmed down slightly since getting the cafe. Sophie tuned them out as she drank her coffee.
They’d almost kissed. She knew that, could almost feel it now, the brush of Tilly’s lips. For a moment there, the whole world had distilled down to those lips and nothing could have pulled her away from them.
Then Gio had driven by in his decrepit old car. So she hadn’t done it. She’d lost her nerve, lost her focus, and then Tilly had been gone.
“So was it because of Gio, then?” Jules said, tapping on the table to get Sophie’s attention as Cass and Amelia argued over plans to turn the cafe into a club at night.
“Sort of,” Sophie said. She swirled her coffee in her cup miserably. “I mean, it’s kind of complicated.”
“Not really,” said Jules. She was always the practical one. “You like her, kiss her, give it a go. If it works, well, you can deal with all the rest later, can’t you?”
Sophie twisted her face into a grimace. “Um, maybe a bit more complicated than that.”
“Why?” demanded Jules.
She blew out a breath. “Because Tilly’s been asking questions at the garage. Professional kinds of questions. I mean, I wasn’t there, but dad and Gio said she was poking around and then…”
“And then?”
She shrugged. “And they went off on their normal anti-police thing and, um, yeah.”
Jules shook her head. “You can’t date to please the two of them,” she said. “The only way they’ll be pleased is if you either don’t get married at all, or you get together with someone just like you, so they have someone else to look after them.”
“Harsh,” Sophie said. “I don’t think it’s like that. I think they want me to be happy.”
“So what’s the problem, then? If Tilly is the one that makes you happy.”
“She’s investigating the garage,” Sophie said quietly.
“So? Have they done anything? Your dad and Gio? Anything untoward?”
Sophie gritted her teeth and then shook her head. “No.” Even though she wasn’t completely convinced, she wouldn’t say anything against them.
But Jules was frowning at her, leaning in closer. “Soph, have you not told her who you are?”
“What?” Sophie asked in a desperate bid to play for time.
“You heard. Tilly, have you told her who you are?”
“Not exactly,” sighed Sophie. “See? I told you it was complicated. I almost kissed her, and I wanted to, but then Gio came by and it reminded me that I should be more loyal to my family, and then I thought that if she knew who I was, she might not want to anyway and then—”
“Jesus,” Amelia said, interrupting the cycle. “You need to get a grip. You can’t have any kind of relationship based on all that stuff. Not based on a lie, even one of omission. The first thing you need to do is tell this Tilly who you are.”
“She’s right,” said Jules. “Come clean, see where you go from there.”
“And if she doesn’t like it? Doesn’t want anything to do with me?” asked Sophie.
“Her choice,” said Amelia. “You can’t decide things for other people. It’s not fair.”
“Here you go,” Cass said, putting a plate down in front of Sophie. “Ham and cheese, and I threw in a bit of pineapple ‘cos the tin was already open.”
“What did I literally just say?” Amelia said. “You can’t decide things for other people.”
“Fine,” said Cass, sitting down. “I’ll have it then.”
Sophie slid the plate toward her just as the cafe door opened.
“We’re closed,” Amelia said, but she turned anyway. “Oh, it’s you, Gio. Come in. Want a panini? I’d advise making it yourself, to be honest.”
“Nope,” Gio said, his face split apart by a wide grin. “I just wanted to show Soph this. Come on, come have a look. All of you, in fact, outside.”
Obediently, they trooped out to see a shiny red car parked carefully on the curb.
“What’s this?” Sophie asked.
“Present from dad,” said Gio proudly. “He said I’d been working hard and that the VW was on its last legs, so he let me have this. Nice, isn’t it? Hop in, I’ll give you a ride home.”
“Can’t,” Sophie said, looking at the sheen on the car, her heart sinking a little. A new car. How much had that cost? More importantly, where had the money come from? “I’ve got a choir thing.”
“Again?” Gio moaned.
“I’ll have a ride,” Cass said, trying the door handle.
“Yeah, go on, give us a go,” said Amelia.
Gio unlocked the doors, and they all got in. Sophie checked her watch and decided she’d better go. She didn’t want to be late. Actually, she just didn’t want to miss a millisecond of being in Tilly’s presence, which was pathetic but true.
“Tell her,” Jules said.
“Tell her what?” asked Sophie.
Jules glared at her. “Tell. Her.”
IT WAS ONLY five o’clock, but it was already dark enough that Sophie had to flick the light on at the entrance of the village hall. She’d just figured out which switch it was when Tilly came through the door.
“I’m not late,” Sophie said even though she’d been the first one there.
“Neither am I,” said Tilly.
Her face had flushed with the chill air outside and the contrast between pink cheeks and blue eyes was so pretty that Sophie was momentarily jealous that she had such dark eyes.
“Um, I was just looking at the light switches, trying to get us illuminated.”
“Right,” said Tilly.
This was going so well. Sophie gritted her teeth. How was she supposed to start this conversation? ‘Yeah, I know we nearly kissed the other day, but I freaked out because my brother drove by. Oh, and by the way, you know him since you’re investigating him for some random police reason.’ She snorted a laugh to herself.
“Something funny?” Tilly said.
Sophie bit her lip. “No.”
“Here,” Tilly said. She reached over to flick a switch on the big bank of switches and her hand brushed Sophie’s.
Sophie swallowed quickly, almost choked, and then started coughing.
“You alright?” asked Tilly.
She was close, really close. Sophie could see her through tear-filled eyes as she nodded. Tilly’s hand patted her on the back and Sophie found she could take a breath.
“You go into the hall and I’ll flick switches. Tell me when the lights are on,” Tilly instructed.
Glad to be able to step away for a second, Sophie did as she was told. She needed to be able to breathe, needed to be able to think so that she could say what needed to be said. She stood in the dark coolness of the village hall and waited.
“That should be it,” Tilly shouted through.
“It’s not,” Sophie said.
“Yes, it is.”
“Um, it’s still dark,” said Sophie.
“Can’t be,” shouted Tilly.
Sophie sighed and turned to go back out to the entrance hall just as Tilly came in. The door swung open, just missing Sophie’s nose in the dark, and then their bodies were colliding together.
For a second, Sophie clung on to anything she could, then she was holding cloth, then she was touching skin. Then her breath was coming faster and all she could hear was Tilly’s breathing in the darkness.
She didn’t even have to search her lips out. They were just there. There ready and patiently waiting when Sophie tilted her head in the right direction.
There was the faintest brush of contact, and Sophie’s heart throbbed in her chest. With desperate hands, she reached up and grabbed hold of Tilly’s jacket, forcing herself to stop.
“Tilly,” she began.
But it was too late. Far too late.
Tilly didn’t say a word. She moved a millimeter and then any semblance of logical thought was gone.
Their lips crashed together, the breath left Sophie’s body, and her eyes closed as Tilly’s mouth met her own, as Tilly’s tongue explored her own, as they tasted each other, touched each other, crammed as closely together as they could in the darkness.
They were kissing. Finally. And nothing else in Sophie’s world seemed to matter.