CHAPTER NINETEEN
It couldn’t be him. It just couldn’t . . .
But it was. And even worse, he’d spotted us and was coming over...
He looked understandably wary as he approached me. ‘Hi, Katja. How are you?’ Without waiting for a reply, he smiled awkwardly at Ellie. ‘Hello.’
‘Hi, Richard,’ she said airily with a bland smile. ‘So you’re back from New York.’
‘I am, yes.’
‘What on earth are you doing here ?’ I blurted it out rather more aggressively than I meant to, and he glanced away, down at his shoes.
‘I’m actually staying here at the moment,’ he said, raising his eyes to mine rather awkwardly. ‘Well, not in the village itself, but in a farmhouse just up the road.’
‘You’re renting a farmhouse here?’ I couldn’t quite grasp why he would be doing that.
He shook his head and flushed slightly, and that’s when I remembered Emily calling out something to him when he was on the phone to me that last time.
Mum wants to know if we want to stay with them for a while...
Of course.
‘You’re staying with Emily’s parents.’
‘That’s right.’ He looked at me suspiciously. ‘But how did you know that?’
I winked. ‘Ah, well, news gets around. Especially in a small place like this. People talk, you know.’ It was just a fib, but I was rather enjoying seeing the uncomfortable look on his face. He deserved to squirm a lot more than that after what he’d put me through.
‘Right, well, anyway.’ He shuffled his feet. ‘Your leaflet came through the door so I thought I’d... come along.’
‘You were spying on me?’
‘No, of course not.’ He looked at me, aghast. ‘I’d absolutely no idea that it would be you and Ellie driving the van.’
‘Yes, well, I’m full of surprises, as you know.’
‘I do know that,’ he said softly, responding with a seriousness that took me by surprise.
As Ellie served another customer, he leaned closer and murmured, ‘Look, I know I didn’t always appreciate you properly while we were together and I’m sorry about that. You’re... you’re a great girl, Katja.’
‘Far too good for you, clearly,’ I retorted, as a multitude of complicated and conflicting feelings tumbled through me. I hated that he still had the ability to get under my skin.
Most of all, I hated that his sudden appearance had cast a shadow over what had been a lovely day so far.
He gave me a rueful smile. ‘Touché.’
I glanced at Ellie, who was saying hello to another couple approaching the van. As they looked in at the cakes on display, she flashed me a supportive look and I flicked my eyes to the sky as if to say, Could you believe the sheer cheek of the man, pitching up here!
Taking a deep breath, I pasted on a business-like smile. ‘So what can I get you, Richard? As I recall, your favourite cake was always lemon drizzle?’
‘Well remembered.’ His face relaxed into a relieved smile. ‘Yes, one of those, please.’
‘Oh, dear. What a shame. We sold the last one at the farmers’ market in Lockley Meadow,’ I told him with a sad look, having known this all along. ‘But we do have some delicious date and walnut buns?’
‘Right. Okay.’ He held up his hands as if in surrender, realising that this was a dig because I happened to know he hated date and walnut buns. ‘Sorry, I know I shouldn’t have come. But I just... well, I wanted to see you and hoped you’d be here, that’s all.’
I sighed irritably. ‘But why, Richard? So you could apologise to me all over again?’ At my raised voice, a customer glanced over with interest. ‘Because there’s no need,’ I hissed, lowering my tone. ‘There’s really no need, Richard. Because guess what? Just like you, I’ve moved on.’
*****
Driving home, my feelings were in uproar.
‘Why can’t he just get lost and leave me alone?’ I despaired to Ellie.
‘Because he obviously still cares about you.’
‘Yes, but he’s not entitled to, is he? He’s with someone else now. I can’t imagine Emily would be too pleased if she knew he’d come along this afternoon, knowing he might see me. That’s snakish behaviour of the very worst kind. Sneaking away to see your ex. I bet he didn’t tell Emily that’s what he was doing.’
‘Probably not,’ she conceded sadly. ‘But you put him straight.’
I grinned over at her. ‘I did, didn’t I?’
She chuckled. ‘I think you can rest assured Richard won’t be paying a return visit to the cake van after today. Your “customer service” was a bit dodgy there, from the bits I heard.’
‘He’ll get more than that if he dares to try again.’
We exchanged a smile of solidarity and drove on in silence.
It had really rattled me, Richard pitching up unannounced. But worse than that was the idea that he was now shacked up with Emily in Hawksley Rise. Because that meant that now, every time I thought about the cake run, I’d be dreading our stop in the village in case I happened to bump into either of them. Or worse, both of them.
I’d told him I was moving on – and hopefully that was true – but some things were guaranteed to set you back in your emotional recovery.
And spotting Richard and Emily strolling around the village together hand-in-hand was definitely one of them...