Chapter 34
34
W hen they woke up, the sun was shining and they were holding hands. That had to be a good sign, Cassie thought and when she came out of the bathroom mid-tooth-clean, even though all his things were in the room down the corridor, Marc was sitting on the edge of the bed. Rumpled and bleary-eyed and back in jeans and T-shirt.
There were so many things she wanted to say to him. Everything might be different now that it was morning.
She settled for a quiet but heartfelt, ‘I’m glad you’re still here.’
Marc nodded. ‘I’m glad that I’m here too.’ He paused as if, like her, he was searching for the right words. ‘I want you to know that I meant everything I said last night,’ he told her, his face focused and serious. ‘We’re heading towards real heartache in the next few months, but you and I, we’re a team, aren’t we?’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ she said, wishing she didn’t still have toothpaste foam around her mouth, which rather spoiled the solemnity of the moment. ‘If there are hard times ahead, then I want us to go through them together. It’s so odd …’
‘What? Us?’ Marc frowned. ‘I don’t think the idea of us is that odd.’
‘Not us.’ Though it was odd that suddenly the two of them were an us. ‘Odd that when I think about the future, I feel devastated about Russell but now … hopeful too . Is that wrong? It feels wrong.’
‘I know exactly what you mean. But it also feels right, doesn’t it?’ He looked hesitant, which was so unlike him, until Cassie nodded.
There was a small silence, not charged but thoughtful. Then Cassie glanced at the clock on the bedside table to see that it was half past nine. ‘I need to organise breakfast.’
Marc had followed her gaze to the clock and must have come to the same conclusion. He stood up. ‘I really wish I could have you all to myself today. Spend a few hours spoiling you absolutely rotten.’
‘I don’t need to be spoiled,’ Cassie said because these new old feelings for Marc weren’t about his bank balance but who he was. His money still felt like something that came between them.
‘Oh, Cassie, you do. For once in your life, you really do need to be spoiled,’ Marc drawled, then he caught the mutinous expression on her face. ‘But let’s start with me taking you out to dinner. This week.’
This week. Cassie thought about the coming week. Everyone back from their summer holidays. The start of the autumn season. London Fashion Week just around the corner. Her diary was horrific and … ‘Yeah, this week,’ she said firmly. ‘I’d love that.’
Marc stood up and stretched lazily. ‘Right now, I need a shower then breakfast.’
Cassie held up her hand then went back into the bathroom to spit and rinse again. ‘If there’s any food left.’
‘There’s food left,’ Marc said, leaning in the bathroom doorway. ‘I stashed bacon and eggs and bread in the salad drawer of the spare fridge in the utility room.’
‘Oh! I’m impressed. Even I hadn’t thought to do that. If you ever fancy a career change to event planning …’
Now that her mouth was minty fresh, Cassie was ready for a kiss, but Marc fended her off with one arm and insulting ease. ‘I need to brush my teeth and I need a lot more than one kiss.’ He took a step backwards. ‘I’ll see you downstairs where we’ll run the gamut of lots of nosy questions and really bad jokes.’
Marc was right. Cassie came down the stairs to find that Anita and Azad were at the front door, bags packed, as they had to be back in London for lunch with their extended family.
‘We’ve had the best weekend,’ Anita said, holding out her arms for a goodbye hug. ‘Thank you for not waking us up last night with your noisy shagging. How did you manage to keep it down?’
‘I’m not even going to dignify that remark with a response,’ Cassie said, squeezing Anita hard enough that she squeaked. Last night hadn’t been about scratching a sixteen-year itch with some very enthusiastic, noisy shagging. Last night had been about … making love. Not that she was going to share that with the group. ‘Although I did Amazon Prime a ball gag for Marc, which turned up yesterday while you were out.’
Azad gasped in genuine shock. ‘Really?’
‘No! Of course not!’ Cassie hugged him too, then pushed him out of the open door. ‘Honestly, what are you like?’
Iris and Bill and Digby and Kwame were already in the kitchen with a sorry pile of random food foraged from the fridge.
Bill’s eyes lit up as Cassie walked through the open-plan lounge towards them. ‘Thank you for not—’
‘Not another word if it’s about anything to do with what I may or may not choose to do with another consenting adult,’ she said grandly.
‘All we were going to say is that we slept well last night and so we thank you for not being at it like very loud rabbits,’ Digby added. Then his face dropped. ‘How do you feel about some cold carrots and parsnips and a chicken drumstick split between two for breakfast?’
‘Not good,’ Cassie said. ‘Just as well that Marc planned for this. I hope you’re going to thank him when he comes down and not treat him to any more salty remarks.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Iris said, her face a picture of innocence.
Cassie was retrieving all the ingredients needed for a decent breakfast from the fridge in the utility room when she heard someone behind her.
She turned to see Lucy standing in the doorway. ‘Do you hate me?’ she asked tentatively. ‘Was I overstepping?’
‘I could never hate you,’ Cassie said, nudging the fridge door shut with her hip. ‘And you stepped just enough. The video Russell sent Marc didn’t hurt either.’
‘A video?’ Lucy put her hands on her hips. ‘And he told me not to meddle!’
‘I’m glad you meddled rather than knocking our heads together,’ Cassie said as Lucy relieved her of the carton of eggs, which was about to fall.
‘So the meddling was … successful?’ Lucy blocked Cassie’s exit from the utility room. ‘Please say it was successful.’
‘If by successful you mean that we established that neither one of us hates the other and that actually we like each other a lot, then yes,’ Cassie said, which barely explained the difficult conversation of the previous night and its very encouraging conclusion.
‘Only like?’ Lucy sounded very disappointed.
‘More than like. I think we might be on the cusp of something that feels really special.’ If Cassie hadn’t had her arms full of perishables, she’d have held her thumbs for luck like the Fossil sisters in Ballet Shoes .
‘I like really special. Really special is great.’ Lucy clasped her hands together in mild rapture.
Cassie nodded. ‘Yeah, it is great.’ She could have been on her merry way but she paused. ‘Luce, I’m so sorry if me and Marc and all our drama has used up a lot of your emotional bandwidth these last few days. I know that you’ve got so much on your plate without us …’
‘No! Oh my goodness, no! If I wasn’t holding these eggs, I’d smack you,’ Lucy exclaimed. ‘You have no idea how lovely it’s been to think about something that isn’t Russell’s illness. It’s usually all that we talk about – until this weekend, when all we’ve talked about is you and Marc.’
Of course Cassie was pleased that she and Marc had provided a welcome distraction and some entertainment, even if there had been times this weekend when she’d thought she was losing her mind. ‘I dread to think what you and Russell have been saying about us.’
‘Not just me and Russell. Everybody has been talking about it!’ Lucy smiled very smugly. ‘Did you not wonder why we all went silent whenever you entered a room? What was strange was that everyone seemed so surprised. But I wasn’t surprised. I know you’ll deny it but you two have always had this weird kind of chemistry.’
Cassie was sick of keeping secrets and also, even though she was grateful for it, Lucy had called her a twat. ‘That’s probably because we slept together the night of your wedding,’ she said, as she slipped past her friend. ‘Did I never mention it?’
‘What? No!’ Lucy tried to grab hold of Cassie but she evaded her grasp. ‘Oh, I knew it! I mean, I had my suspicions, but yes, it all makes sense now. I need details.’
‘I’ve said enough. Now you and Russell will have plenty to talk about on the drive home. Think of it as an early birthday present,’ Cassie insisted, lowering her voice as they stepped back into the kitchen. ‘But Marc and I, we’re good.’
At the sound of her voice, Marc looked over from where he was now stationed with Russell in front of his beloved coffee machine. He smiled at her. A sweet smile that Cassie hadn’t known he had in his repertoire. Just because he’d heard her voice.
‘Good is perfect,’ Lucy whispered. She walked over to Russell and slipped her arm around him. ‘OK, so who’s having bacon and eggs? Iris, I forget, are you a vegetarian who will eat eggs?’