Chapter 27
Had any doubts that our weekend trip to Wynbridge wasn’t a good idea made their presence felt overnight, a message from Erik the next day banished them to the back of my mind.
The poor guy was at his wits’ end following a further conversation with his dad and as his friend, and with the getaway already planned, the least I could do was support him through it and hopefully veer him away from breaking all ties with his father.
‘What’s all this?’ Rafe asked, when he came down from his writing room where he’d been typing away for hours and spotted my overnight bag in the hall.
He looked tired but that was no surprise given the hours he’d been putting in. Having not lived with him before I didn’t know if his current time at the keyboard was the norm when the muse struck or a new development. As he seemed happy enough, I hadn’t asked.
‘I know it’s short notice,’ I told him, ‘but I’m going away for the weekend.’
‘Oh,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘When was this decided?’
‘Just last night. At the party.’
‘Any particular reason?’ he frowned. ‘My typing isn’t getting on your nerves, is it?’
‘No. It’s nothing like that. I hardly hear you. I’ve promised to go away with a friend who needs some… support.’
He looked at me for a moment.
‘Not Erik?’
‘Why not Erik?’ I swallowed.
‘It is him then?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, Skylar. Are you sure that’s a good idea?’
I wasn’t sure, but I wasn’t about to admit that.
‘I am,’ I said instead. ‘He’s really struggling and I want to help him, and besides, the trip isn’t only about that. We’re going to Wynbridge. It’s a town in the Fens which hosts an autumn festival and we’re going to see if we can get some ideas for next year’s Prosperous Place Halloween events.’
Rafe’s eyes widened at that, and I realised I’d inferred more than I’d meant to in my bid to stop him talking about Erik.
‘Does that mean you’re certain that you’ll be here next autumn?’ he asked hopefully.
‘Well, I haven’t got a crystal ball,’ I said evasively, ‘but you never know and even if I’m not, I can still pass on anything that looks promising to Kate and Luke, can’t I?’
My father looked disappointed that I hadn’t promised I was staying put, but I knew it was better to get this weekend under my belt before I made any declarations about my future.
‘I suppose,’ Rafe agreed. ‘But I’m still not sure this is a good idea. What if you’re both spotted and end up in the paper again? Won’t that make the situation worse?’
‘I hardly think the photographer is going to tail us all the way to Wynbridge,’ I joked lamely. ‘And besides, Erik is planning on keeping a low profile and I’m sure not everyone in the world knows who he is.’
‘It would only take one,’ my father pointed out. That was completely true and also extremely annoying. ‘But never mind the press, I don’t want to see you get hurt, my darling.’
I shook my head at that.
‘Why would you think I was going to be hurt?’ I frowned as my phone buzzed.
‘You know why,’ he said softly. ‘I know you’re insisting that you and Erik are just good friends, but you can’t deny that the lines around your relationship with this lovely guy have been blurred on more than one occasion.’
My father thought Erik was a lovely guy…
‘You’re right, I can’t deny that,’ I concurred.
‘But I can assure you that they won’t be blurred again and now, I have to go.
Erik’s waiting for me. I’m going to drive over to Prosperous Place and then we’re leaving in a hire car.
Luke will drive my car back and park it on the drive later.
’ I swiftly kissed Rafe on the cheek and picked up my bags.
‘I’ll be back Sunday night. Don’t work too hard. ’
I felt bad about leaving in such a rush, but my resolve to provide a shoulder for Erik to lean on wouldn’t be further strengthened by listening to my father’s doubts.
The big garden gate was already open and, as soon as I’d driven through it, it closed again.
‘Hey Erik,’ I smiled when I climbed out and saw it was him who’d shut it. ‘All set?’
‘I am,’ he nodded.
He sounded tired and I felt annoyed with his dad again. I wished he could understand how hard he was making life for his son who neither wanted to be governed by his advice anymore, nor hurt him by yelling at him to back off.
I’d been frustrated by my mother’s lack of interest in me in the past, but I couldn’t now help thinking that I preferred her role, or lack of it, in my life when compared to the suffocating nightmare Erik was dealing with.
It felt absurd given that he was a grown man but knowing the circumstances about the importance of rugby in his father’s life made the situation look less bizarre.
‘We’re not taking a car now,’ Erik said. ‘Finn has offered to lend us his truck. My stuff’s already inside.’ I looked over to where it was parked. ‘It’s comfier than it looks.’ Erik laughed and I felt pleased that my doubtful expression had amused him.
‘As long as it has a working heater,’ I said as I gathered my bags. ‘That’s all I care about.’
I noticed Erik was constantly checking the rear-view mirror when we set off and it had nothing to do with him getting used to driving the bulky truck.
‘You don’t really think that we’re newsworthy enough to warrant being followed, do you?’ I frowned as I also checked the vehicle behind us.
‘No,’ he sighed. ‘Not really, but my paranoia might take some convincing.’
‘Let’s hope this weekend in Wynbridge will alleviate that,’ I said and unlocked my phone. ‘I know you want to keep your head down a bit, but there’s still loads we can do while we’re playing it safe.’
I then proceeded to give him a rundown of everything that was happening in the town over the next couple of days and the further he drove, the more he seemed to relax.
By the time we pulled up outside the large house he’d booked a part of for us to stay in, his frown lines had disappeared completely, and he was sounding as excited about it all as I was feeling.
‘I’ve never seen such a flat landscape,’ he said in wonder as he recalled the scenery we’d driven through before reaching the outskirts of the town. ‘You could see right to the horizon before it got dark.’
‘And if we head to the pumpkin patch at some point, we’ll see even more of it,’ I reminded him. ‘Lucky for us the weather in the summer made for a lengthier harvest.’
‘Have you not had your fill of pumpkins yet?’ Erik laughed as he cut the engine. ‘We put them everywhere for the Spooktacular and now Kate and Luke’s freezer is groaning with soup and pies.’
‘But we didn’t pick our own, did we? Oh, look. Do you think that’s the owner of the house?’
The front door had opened, and a woman was standing on the doorstep with the cutest King Charles spaniel sitting at her feet.
‘Could be,’ Erik nodded. ‘Will you go and talk to her?’
‘But you made the booking.’
‘Please.’
‘All right,’ I relented. ‘Did you book in your real name, or do you have an alias?’
‘I booked in my name,’ he tutted at my teasing. I was determined to keep the tone light now it had lifted. ‘I’ll grab our bags.’
Once I’d procured the key from Bella, the homeowner, and fussed her friendly dog, Tink, I went to help Erik.
‘Bella said she’ll leave us to settle in,’ I told him. ‘But if there’s anything we’re not sure about we’re to go and ask. There’s a separate entrance around the side for us.’
Once inside and up the stairs to the tiny and immaculate apartment I immediately spotted something I wasn’t sure about.
‘There’s only one bedroom,’ I frowned.
‘I know,’ Erik shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ It mattered to me because there was only one bed. ‘The sofa’s a pull out and there’s linen for it in the chest which doubles as a coffee table.’
I was relieved about that. Wasn’t I?
‘Ah, right,’ I said. ‘Well, I’ll take that then.’
‘No, you won’t,’ Erik insisted. ‘You’re having the bedroom.’
‘But you can’t sleep on a sofa. Your knee would never forgive you.’
‘It looks comfy enough,’ he shrugged.
In the end, we decided to flip for it and because I won the toss, I stipulated having one night in the bed and the second on the couch rather than both on the divan. Erik took some convincing, but I wasn’t going to back down.
‘You’re a wilful woman, Skylar Shawe,’ he grumbled.
‘Not wilful,’ I responded as I flicked on the kettle and arranged mugs. ‘I just know my own mind.’
Erik accepted that. ‘So, tell me then,’ he said as he leant on the kitchen counter, ‘do you know what you want for dinner tonight?’
I looked over at him and realised he was eye to eye with me.
‘Are we staying in or going out?’ I asked and hoped I sounded unaffected by the proximity of his piercing blue gaze. ‘There’s some things in the fridge that are probably meant for breakfast, but we could have them tonight.’
‘I’d love to stay in,’ he said. ‘I could do with an early night and a decent sleep.’ I didn’t bother offering him the bed again because it had taken us long enough to settle on the compromise we’d only just reached. ‘Though I’m not sure I fancy a cooked breakfast for dinner. Do you?’
‘Not really, though the ingredients for it look great.’
‘Let’s save them then and I’ll have a look in this folder for takeaways. There’s bound to be someone around here who delivers.’
‘Good idea and while you’re doing that, I’ll go and unpack.’
I didn’t have anything besides my clothes, bedtime read and washbag to organise but getting out of the room gave me a minute to compose myself.
I had known that we were going to be staying in the same place together for the weekend and that was some of the point for me, but I hadn’t realised just how close we’d be.
The apartment was beautiful, but really tiny and Erik took up a lot of space in it.
The next couple of days were going to offer Over Exposure Therapy to the max and so far without an annoying habit in sight!
With my father’s concerned words ringing in my ears, I pledged to get Erik up and out first thing in the morning and we’d stay out the entire day and the next to balance out the time we were confined to four walls.
That would surely put my head back in the PPO post Erik had recruited me for, wouldn’t it?
‘How are you finding them?’ he later asked as we tucked into the fish and chips we’d had delivered and had a bit of a wait for.
‘Delicious,’ I said and dunked a chip in the mushy peas. ‘Totally worth the wait.’
‘I cannot believe you’re a mushy pea fan,’ he said and wrinkled his nose.
‘Well, you’re no better with that curry sauce,’ I laughed. ‘I hope Grandad George enjoys his dinner tomorrow as much as we’re loving this.’
I then proceeded to tell Erik about Saturday being fish and chip night at the care home along with some of the activities that went on there and how much I was enjoying my role as a volunteer befriender.
‘And the brilliant thing is,’ I finished up, ‘if I take the Prosperous Place job, I’ll be able to carry on with the volunteering.’
I had wondered if he might tell me why he’d visited the home, but he didn’t, and given the situation with the photos in the newspapers, I wasn’t going to mention that Mabel had spotted him there.
‘That is a brilliant thing,’ Erik frowned. ‘But you just said if you take the job. I thought your mind was already made up and you were just hanging back before accepting so Kate and Luke didn’t think you’d rushed into it. What’s changed?’
I could hardly blurt out that I was using this weekend as some sort of litmus paper to help me decide if I could work in the same place as him without my heart wanting to beat out of my chest, could I?
‘Nothing’s changed,’ I shrugged, putting what Mabel had said about hearts and their reactions to the back of my mind. ‘Slip of the tongue. I meant to say when. And what about you? Are you still thinking about what you’re going to do or have you made up your mind?’
He took a moment before answering and I remembered the change in him after he’d first told me about the offer he’d received, and I’d then gone on to share the details of mine.
I didn’t think it had been my imagination that he’d suddenly been less enthusiastic, and I didn’t reckon it was all a result of what his dad was trying to pressure him into doing, either.
‘I’m still thinking about it,’ he said and pinned me with one of his most intense stares. ‘I’m almost decided but I’m just waiting to see how something else plays out first.’
His cheeks flushed and I got the impression he’d inadvertently said exactly what he was thinking and then regretted it, even though I didn’t know what the something else he wanted to get the measure of was.
‘Is that the situation with your dad, by any chance?’
‘Yes,’ he said and jumped up. ‘That’s exactly it. Now, I’ll get rid of this rubbish, so the smell doesn’t linger and there’s more beer if you fancy it?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘I won’t have more, but thanks. I think I’ll go and have a shower unless you want to get in the bathroom first?’
The last thing I needed was the impact of alcohol working its magic on our first night away. In fact, I probably should have opted to stay teetotal for the whole three days. I’d begin tomorrow.
‘You carry on,’ he said and began clearing away.
I didn’t spend all that long in the bathroom, but by the time I came out again, Erik was already looking at how the sofa pulled out in preparation for the early night he was craving.
‘Are you ready for bed?’ I asked him. ‘I don’t mind if you are.’
‘Pretty much,’ he said and yawned. ‘I know it’s still early, but we’ll want to get a decent start tomorrow, won’t we?’
‘Great minds think alike,’ I nodded. ‘I’m happy to turn in now, but I wouldn’t mind making a hot drink to take with me, if that’s all right.’
‘Of course. Good idea.’
We both chose cocoa, which I hadn’t had in years, and then said a quick goodnight with zero eye contact.
I’d offered to help with the sofa, but Erik insisted he could manage and a few minutes after I’d closed the door, I heard him setting it up and then getting comfy.
I expected to fall asleep within minutes, but I didn’t nod off once while reading like I usually did and I had feeling it was going to be a long night…