Chapter 15
Fifteen
Lara couldn’t stop thinking about Jasper.
About the things he had told her regarding his parents.
About the way he had looked at her sometimes and the frisson of excitement she had experienced, reflected in his own face and eyes, as though he felt the same as she did.
About the way they had got on together, and had chatted as if they had been friends for years.
But neither could she stop thinking about those phone calls. Calls he had not only declined, but calls that had made him grow more rattled and distressed with every ring.
Why hadn’t he simply turned off his phone? But then of course she understood. His granddad was in the hospital. Jasper had to leave his phone on in case he had a call regarding Tom. She would have done the same had she been in his shoes.
Who on earth had been calling him? Repeatedly.
Was he in debt, and being hounded by debt collectors?
Was he a gambler who owed money to some dodgy and unpleasant character?
Was he wanted by the police?
Now she was being ridiculous again.
‘I really don’t understand it,’ Lara told Jenny when she rang her soon after Bob and Colin, and Paul and Harvey had left shortly after six that evening.
‘It wasn’t that Trisha woman from the pet shop, was it?’ Jenny had asked. ‘You said it was obvious she had the hots for him.’
That possibility hadn’t occurred to Lara, who had told Jenny all about Trisha and the conversations in the pet shop, just moments ago.
‘Oh. I suppose it might’ve been. But surely he would’ve simply answered her call, wouldn’t he?’
‘Don’t ask me. The obvious reason is, of course, that the caller was his wife.’
‘No. He doesn’t wear a ring so I don’t think he’s married.’
‘Half the men on the planet who are, don’t wear a ring. Lack of a ring means nothing.’
‘Surely he would’ve mentioned a wife, if he had one, when he was telling me about his family and what he did for a living. Not once did he say that his wife or girlfriend or partner wanted him to do this or that.’
‘Are we still discussing those weird phone calls, or have we moved on to his sex life?’
‘Funny. This is serious, Jen.’
‘Then ask him.’
‘About the caller? Or whether he is married, or has a girlfriend?’
‘All of the aforementioned.’
‘Okay. Next time I see him, that’s what I’ll do. How was your day?’
‘Far less exciting than yours. For a seaside village, a lot seems to happen in Bluewater Bay.’
‘I know. And if I have my way, a lot more will be happening in this cottage.’
‘You’ve changed your tune. Can you believe it was only a week ago that you had no interest in having a relationship?’
‘That was before I met Jasper Bright.’
‘You could call him and ask if he’d like that pie and a pint you were offering Tom,’ Jenny suggested.
‘That’s not a bad idea. I might do that.’
‘Call me in the morning and tell me all about it if you do.’
‘Absolutely. I’ll love you and leave you then because I need to have a shower and find something nice to wear. Not that I brought much with me, other than jeans and jumpers. The last thing I expected to be doing here was going out on a date.’
‘You look fabulous in anything, but call him first. Nothing worse than getting dressed up and finding there is nowhere to go. Have fun. Oh. And get your bloody internet connection sorted out. I miss seeing your face.’
‘I miss you too. It’s at the top of my list. See you soon.’
Lara rang off and was about to call Jasper but the doorbell rang before she had a chance.
‘Who can that be?’ she asked Nicodemus who had just gone to his new cat tray and was tossing the cat litter all over the place trying to find the perfect spot to do whatever was necessary.
Lara hoped it might be Jasper at the door, but silently told herself not to be disappointed if it wasn’t. But who else would be ringing her doorbell this evening?
‘Hello,’ she said, hoping she didn’t sound quite as pleased to see him as she felt.
‘Hello,’ he replied, the huge smile on his face indicating he might be equally pleased to see her.
‘Gramps sends his love, and there’s good news.
I was wondering if … well, if you’d like a drink.
’ He held up a bottle from a local vineyard famed for its award-winning sparkling wine.
‘A celebratory drink. Gramps will be coming home tomorrow.’
‘That soon? Gosh. That is good news. Come in.’
If only she had gone to have that shower before he had arrived. At least she wasn’t wearing her purple unicorn PJs, although she was still wearing the clothes she had worn all day. Perhaps she could nip upstairs and spritz a bit of perfume on without him noticing.
‘The results are all good and there’s no damage done from the bump on his head. Gramps says that’s because he’s got a thick skull.’ Jasper looked and sounded happier than he had when Lara had last seen him as he stepped inside. ‘I think I agree.’
‘I’m just glad he’s fine, and that he’ll be coming home,’ she said, leading him into the kitchen.
‘Me too. I’m going to be staying with him for a while. Until we decide what to do. I’ve taken time off work. My employers are good about things like this.’
‘Decide what to do?’ Lara took two glasses from one of the cupboards and placed them on the worktop. ‘You’re not thinking about Tom going into a home or something, are you? I know it’s none of my business but he’d hate that, wouldn’t he?’
Jasper laughed. ‘He’d go crazy. And so would they. No. I wouldn’t do that to him just because he had one dizzy spell. But he does need someone to take care of him. Or at least someone to check on him on a regular basis. Someone who lives closer to him than I do.’
‘That’s a good idea.’
Jasper popped the cork like an expert and poured the sparkling wine. He handed one glass to Lara and took the other one himself and raised it in the air.
‘To Gramps,’ he said.
‘To Tom,’ said Lara, raising her own glass.
‘And to you,’ Jasper added, raising his glass a fraction higher.
‘I’ll drink to that,’ she said, taking a sip of her wine. ‘Ooh, that’s nice.’
Jasper took a drink from his glass, and nodded appreciatively.
‘It is, isn’t it? I can only have one glass, unfortunately, as I’ll be driving to the hospital tomorrow morning to get Gramps.
He was adamant that he could come back with me this evening but they wanted to keep him in for one more night. Just in case.’
‘Just in case of what?’
Jasper shrugged. ‘Search me.’
Lara had an urge to take him up on that. She’d rather like to run her hands all over that gorgeous body. She took a big gulp of wine and tried to dismiss the images playing out in her mind’s eye.
When she finally cleared her head she saw that Jasper was giving her an odd look. As if he could read her mind. Obviously he couldn’t, but even so. She shivered a little at the thought of that.
‘Are you cold?’ he asked.
‘I do feel a little chilly,’ she lied. This was the perfect excuse to go upstairs and spritz that perfume. ‘I might go and get a warmer jumper.’
‘Do you have heating? I know the plumber was here all day. It feels warm in here to me but then I’ve just arrived.’
‘The heating’s done. But it hasn’t been on for long.
Colin left less than an hour ago and the front and back doors and several windows have been open all day.
Bob, the electrician, is allergic to cats.
Colin and his son are back tomorrow to replace the shower, and all the taps on the sinks.
’ She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s got nothing to do with the heating so I don’t know why I mentioned that. Why don’t we go into the sitting room?’
‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘I’ll take our glasses and the bottle, while you go and get that jumper. As I said, I can’t have more than one drink but unless you’re driving tomorrow, there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying the rest of this.’
‘I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. Bob and his nephew will be here too, and Roger and his team start on the roof. I’m praying for good weather until the end of next week. Roger said the roof should be done by Tuesday evening, but I’m not counting my chickens.’
‘You’ve got chickens?’ he joked, picking up the bottle and the wine glasses.
‘I do have some chicken in the fridge, if that counts. Would you like some crisps or something? Or a chicken sandwich?’
He grinned. ‘No thanks. Go and get that jumper.’
‘Jumper? Oh yes. The jumper. I’ll love you and leave you for a … Oh! I don’t mean anything by that. It’s just an expression.’
He tilted his head a fraction to one side. ‘I know,’ he said after a moment or two, his deep voice softer and more serious than it had been.
She briefly shut her eyes and then reopened them. ‘While we’re on that subject, I wasn’t trying to … that is, I wasn’t asking if you … I mean … I didn’t proposition you last night.’
There. She had said it. She stuck out her chin and fought down the shriek of embarrassment that threatened to escape.
His eyes opened wide and so did his mouth. But only for a second. ‘I … It didn’t occur to me for a moment that you did.’
‘Really? Then why did you dash off like that?’
He licked his lips nervously, placed the bottle and the glasses back on to the worktop beside him, and ran a hand through his hair. Then he swallowed hard and looked down at his feet.
‘It was that obvious, was it?’ His laugh was also nervous.
‘Of course it was.’ He raised his eyes to her face.
‘Well … Gramps had spent an hour telling me how wonderful you were and what a great personality you had. When people say someone has a great personality that usually means they’re… ’ his voice trailed off.
‘I know what it means. And I’m well aware that I’m not exactly pretty.’
‘Pretty?’ He shook his head. ‘That’s an understatement. You’re … stunning.’ He coughed.
‘Stunning?’ She blinked at him in disbelief.