Chapter 22
‘Thank you for checking.’ Blast, she was literally running out of ideas for florists.
That was another one who had turned her down.
And she hadn’t even worked with them before.
Would Melissa really have spread her lies further afield?
She hadn’t said she had, but right now Ellie wouldn’t put anything past her.
‘Stop.’ Ellie spoke quietly and took a deep breath, rolling her shoulders back. She just needed to keep trying. She’d find a company who could help. She would. Besides, at least thanks to Murray she had a lead with the caterers. She was just waiting for Ruby to ring her back.
Hearing a thud behind her, Ellie twisted in her chair and grinned as she watched Murray lay another length of wood onto the decking.
He was back! Pushing her chair back, she stood up and smoothed down her shirt.
She’d chosen a deep emerald green today as she remembered Murray had always told her that green suited her, that it brought out the colour of her eyes.
Not that she was dressing to impress him. Not at all, she’d merely remembered after speaking to him last night. Nothing else.
As she walked towards the French doors, Murray clocked her and looked up, a lopsided grin spreading across his face as he stepped forward and held it open for her.
‘Morning.’ His eyes lingered on her as she stepped out onto the decking before he closed the door again.
‘Hi, thanks again for coming round last night. I really enjoyed it.’ She walked towards the railing of the decking and leaned her elbows on it, looking out across the garden as a bushy-tailed squirrel climbed the willow.
‘No, thank you. I enjoyed myself too.’ Stepping over the wood and tools scattered across the decking, he came to stand next to her.
Ellie glanced down at her arm. His elbow was touching hers, and he’d made no move to shift. ‘I… umm… sorry if I was a bit weird.’
‘A bit weird?’ Frowning, he met her gaze.
‘Yes, after the kiss, you just went home instead of waiting for me to come inside after speaking to my neighbour. I wondered if… you’d thought it had been a mistake.’ She noticed the slight tic next to his eye. Did that mean she was right?
‘It categorically wasn’t a mistake on my part.’ His lip twitched as though he were trying to stifle a laugh.
‘Don’t laugh at me.’ She smiled despite herself. ‘I just didn’t know. I just assumed…’
‘Sorry.’ He gently nudged her elbow before chuckling. ‘Please don’t assume the worst. The truth was I thought you’d be there for hours talking to her after what little you’ve told me about Mrs Jedd and I wasn’t sure what to do.’
‘So you don’t think the kiss was a mistake then?’ She grinned at him. ‘It wasn’t on my part.’
‘That’s a relief then.’ Straightening his back, he turned to face her. ‘I’m glad we’ve run into each other again. Really glad.’
Pushing herself away from the decking banister, she looked at him too. She’d waited so long to hear those words, so long. ‘I am too.’
Running his fingers through his hair, he scrunched up his nose. ‘Now this is going to sound even more awkward, but how about a hug?’
‘A hug?’ Had he just asked her if she wanted a hug?
She swallowed a giggle. He’d never asked her before.
He’d always just wrapped his arms around her, but she supposed times had been different back then.
They’d been different, their history, their relationship.
She nodded as he opened his arms, and she stepped forward.
Closing her eyes, she felt his strong arms enveloping her as she reached around his middle.
Was this really happening? Was Murray really back in her life?
After all this time? She felt as though she should pinch herself or something, just to check she wasn’t dreaming.
‘Okay?’
‘Umm…’ It was more than okay. He smelt slightly different.
His aftershave was spicier. And she liked it.
Some things were the same, though. Like the fact that when she was in his arms, the world around them dropped away.
That feeling of it being the two of them against the world.
She felt him shift slightly beneath her touch.
She wasn’t sure how long the hug had lasted.
Seconds probably, but she was sure of one thing, she wasn’t ready for it to end. Not yet.
Taking a slight step back, Murray tucked his forefinger beneath her chin and looked into her eyes.
She smiled. She knew he was about to kiss her. She could feel her skin tingle at the very thought of it. Closing her eyes, she felt the touch of his lips against hers, the warmth from him on her.
This was really happening. It was. But what did this mean?
Him kissing her again, did it mean they were back together?
That he wanted to get back together? Did she?
Last night, they’d been drinking, today they hadn’t and everything felt all the more real.
Their actions had more serious consequences, this kiss gave her more hope than she could ever have imagined, but was it as real for him as it was for her?
Opening her eyes again, she placed her palms against his chest and pushed him away. ‘I need to…’
Murray frowned, clearly unsure of what was happening. ‘Sorry, I…’
‘No, it’s me. Not you.’ She waved her hand quickly in the general direction of the small car park to the side of the garden.
‘Right.’ Looking down, he scrubbed at the back of his neck, a warm glow of red quickly filtering across his skin.
‘Sorry, I…’ She repeated herself as she backed away before turning and walking quickly towards her car. Fumbling with the keys, she could feel his eyes upon her as she slipped into the driver’s seat.
What was wrong with her? Why had she pushed him away? Why had she ended the very thing she’d daydreamed about for years?
Reversing quickly out of her space, she turned her car around and sped out onto the street. She didn’t know where she was going. She needed to think, and she couldn’t go back to the cottage. No, that would be the first place he’d go looking for her if he did.
Ellie pulled into the lay-by just outside of Meadowfield and pulled on the handbrake. With her hands on the steering wheel, she lowered her chin. What had just happened? Had she really just pushed Murray away? Her Murray? What had she been thinking?
Lifting her head, she watched as a car pulled into the lay-by in front of her.
A woman stepped out of the passenger side and raced around to the back door before pulling it open, reaching down and bringing out a tiny baby.
Ellie could hear the piercing screams the baby was making from inside her car.
A few moments later, a man stepped out of the driver’s door and walked towards the woman, who was now walking up and down the narrow path next to the car. Within seconds, the man had wrapped his arms around the both of them and begun singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ at the top of his voice.
With the screaming now abating, the woman turned her head up and kissed the man. Ellie smiled. That was life goals right there. That’s what she’d always wanted, a family unit. With Murray.
She didn’t know what lay ahead for her and Murray or whether they’d even get into a relationship again, let alone whether they’d end up like the small family in front of her, but suddenly it didn’t matter quite so much.
She wanted in. She wanted to give it a go.
If she jumped in and nothing happened between them, or worse, they got serious again and then things broke off, at least she’d know she’d tried.
At least she’d be able to look back and say with absolute conviction that she’d given it – them – her best shot.
Taking a deep breath in, she then blew out through her mouth. She could do this. She could leave the past in the past and move forward. And she was excited to see what happened.
If yesterday evening had taught her anything, it was that she and Murray were still the same people they had been back then. Yes, they both had experiences, baggage they carried around now, but they still got on, they still had that elusive spark.
As she began to turn the ignition on again, her mobile rang.
It was the number of Ruby’s Restaurant. They must be calling her back with an answer as to whether they could cater the wedding or not.
Picking up her mobile, Ellie looked at it.
What if the answer was no? At least she’d know, and if it was, then she’d be in the same position she was this morning, wouldn’t she?
Just as she would be if things didn’t work out with Murray, but it was better to try and fail than to forever wonder about what could have been.