Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
A fter finishing a rather uncomfortable clinic composed largely of panting dogs and red-faced owners, I finally closed down my computer and wiped the examining table over, relieved to be putting my white coat back on its hook. My last patient had been a grumpy and rather bitey ferret, and with bleeding fingers I was now raiding the first aid kit for plasters and antiseptic wipes.
Betsy bustled past, humming the theme from Jaws as she went into the dispensary.
“Very funny,” I grumbled.
“Doing anything tonight?” she asked, coming back out with a large sack of dog food in her arms.
“I’m having dinner with Teddy.”
The dog food slid from her grip and landed on the floor with a thud.
“Teddy Fraser?”
“Yes.”
“The same Teddy Fraser who you hated at school?”
“Yes.”
“ The Teddy Fraser you’ve been moaning about ever since he brought that cat in here the other day?”
“Yes.”
“ The Teddy Fraser who looks at you like he wants to cover you in whipped cream and eat you for dessert?”
“What?”
“The Teddy Fras?—”
“Er, thanks, Betsy, I think we’ve worked out who he is,” I said hastily, cutting her off in case she chose to provide any more of her insights in to how Teddy was or was not looking at me.
She sucked in a long breath over her teeth and put her hands on her hips.
“Oooh, I hope you know what you’re doing, girl.”
“I’m not doing anything other than eating dinner with him.”
It was twenty past six and my phone dinged from my back pocket.
Ted: Just checking we’re still on for dinner? Agnes is here and we’re hungry!
Hannah: Just hanging up my white coat. Be there in five.
Ted: Excellent. Looking forward to it.
Ted: By the way, I like your white coat. You’re like a sexy scientist in it.
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the pleased feeling that was swirling in my chest. His unshakeable need to flirt with me was somehow helping to rebuild my self-confidence, one tiny brick at a time.
“From that look, I’m guessing that’s the man himself?” Betsy was studying me intently. I nodded. “Now I’m no expert in the male sex – I’ve been with Emily getting on for ten years now, and the last time I snogged a man, I was very, very drunk, and it was awful…” She pulled a face, which made me smile. “But I actually think, under all that blustering and swaggering and macho posturing he does, he’s actually pretty legit.”
“You do?”
“I do. But, Hannah, do you even like him?”
I thought about this and elected to keep the blossoming extent of my crush to myself. Betsy didn’t need to know what an idiot I was becoming over him. “We’ve met Agnes, an old lady who lives in the cottage next to The Rectory, and we’re having dinner with her. It’s not a date – don’t worry.”
It’s not a date. Obviously.
And I would keep telling myself this over and over, this evening and every day henceforth.
“Mrs Timms? Oh she’s lovely, but can be a bit odd.” Betsy had picked up the dog food again.
“She seems to be struggling on her own. Do you know her well?”
“Not very. Giles deals with her goaty issues, but I know she’s pretty much a recluse.”
“I found her in the car park this morning when I came back from a call-out. She was very confused and disoriented.”
“Talk to Giles. He might know if she has family or not.” Betsy gave me a sympathetic smile then hiked her rucksack onto her shoulder and shifted the dog food onto her hip as she headed for the door. “Showing concern for others is definitely a non-prickly thing, just so you know, practically normal, non-sociopathic behaviour.”
“Noted.”
“Right, while you might not be having a date tonight, Emily is taking me out for tapas in Cheltenham, so I should be going and making myself beautiful for her. See you tomorrow.”
“Have a lovely time,” I called out to her retreating back, while I grabbed my keys and did a quick change into shorts and a T-shirt, ready for my not-date with Teddy and Agnes.
* * *
Outside, the air was smothering. It felt like it weighed something, wrapping searing fingers into my clothes and hair, bearing down on my skin like a thick duvet with not a breath of wind to ease the discomfort. In the distance, huge, dark clouds roiled across the sky as I pushed open the rickety gates of The Old Rectory and made my way up the garden path.
The front door was ajar.
“Hello?”
Agnes’s tinkling laughter filtered through from the back of the house, and I followed the sound, my own face breaking into a grin at the deep rumble of Teddy’s returning chuckle. The kitchen was still a bit of a mess, the wallpapering bench in use but with the addition of a huge scrubbed pine table, which was already laid for dinner. There was crusty bread and a rainbow-coloured salad along with a glorious Victoria sponge as the centrepiece.
Teddy had his back to me, and I was given a moment to admire his broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist, the navy chino shorts that hugged his backside, feet in flip-flops on the flagstone floors. Even from this angle he made my heart lurch.
I could feel my resistance crumbling and I almost backed out of the room and fled. But then Agnes saw me and her softening expression as our gaze met caused Teddy to turn around. A smile lit up his face.
“There you are,” he said softly. He walked over and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, his fingers faintly caressing the back of my hand. “I hope you’re hungry?”
I nodded. And from that one brief touch, I was also about to pass out, it seemed.
The meal was delicious and conversation flowed easily between us. Teddy and I gently teased each other, quickly falling into the flirty banter that seemed to come so naturally, while Agnes told a whole raft of funny and poignant stories, mostly about her time as a journalist on Fleet Street in the 1980s. Her life had been a whirlwind of colour and controversy and she had lived it to the full. She’d retired to the Cotswolds twenty years ago, bought the cottage, and got some goats to keep her company, enjoying a life of peace and solitude. But her words were tinged with regret, like there was something or someone missing, and it seemed to me that there was a chink of hollow emptiness in her smile.
Teddy told Agnes about our time at school together, and she delighted in his tales of mischief on the rugby team and his awe at my dedication to my studies. His self-deprecation was funny and heart-warming as he simultaneously shone a light on my own achievements. As the evening drew in, darkness began to shadow the garden outside and a faint rumble of thunder rattled the windows.
“Perhaps I should walk you home, Agnes. It sounds like it might rain soon,” Teddy said.
“Yes, you’re right.” Agnes sighed. “It’s been years since I’ve had such a lovely evening. Thank you both.” She stood and Teddy helped her into her jacket, which had a large hand-knitted poppy drooping from the lapel. “I’m so happy you’ve moved in here. It’s rare to see two people who are so obviously made for each other. That’s a treasure that you should hold on to with both hands.”
I couldn’t look at Teddy. I didn’t want to see the derision that would be on his face at such sentimentality when we both knew he was actually only after one thing with me. One thing that would probably be bloody amazing, but would be over and done with and not destined to last a lifetime.
“I’ll just be a minute while I make sure that Agnes gets home safely, ok?”
“Ok.” I took a sip of water. “Lovely to see you, Agnes.”
And I actually meant it. This was definite growth for me – being civil, interested, and polite to another human being. Maybe Betsy was right and I was close to becoming a fully functioning member of society after all.
“You too, dear.”
When they left, their forms were highlighted, ghost-like, by the lightning that forked in the distance, a rumble of thunder following closely after. I scooped up the dinner things, washing them in the makeshift sink under the window, while the first huge splats of rain battered the pane. Another bright flash of lightning lit up the garden, so close that the crash of thunder was almost instantaneous. It illuminated a human shape creeping past the window and my usual rationality fled. My brain dreamt up all sorts of heinous serial killers or kidnappers intent on such abhorrent bodily harm that I screamed, dropping the wooden salad bowl that I was drying, and it clattered loudly on the stone floor.
“Hannah! Christ! It’s just me,” Teddy said, stepping in through the French doors and closing them against the tempest that was starting to rage outside. While I clutched my heaving chest like an over-the-top pantomime dame, he shook the rain from his hair and smirked. “And you say I’m the dramatic one.”
The cool air and earthy, petrichor smell had accompanied him inside as the crashing thunder got louder and the windowpanes rattled in protest. More lightning streaked in forks across the inky sky, making the house lights dim momentarily.
“I should go.”
“Why don’t you wait out the storm here. Have another glass of wine. It would be silly to get soaked running home in this.” Teddy’s tone was low and persuasive.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.” Leaning back against the table, I avoided his gaze, my heart thumping in my chest at being alone with him. Staying would definitely be a bad idea.
He sighed and ran his hands over his face.
“About what I said last week, Hannah?—”
“It’s ok,” I cut him off, not wanting to have this conversation. I was worried I might break down and launch myself at him in a desperate bid for affection, giving in to the rampant desire that he seemed to provoke in me. It would have to be kept purely physical, just a fling, of course, in it for a good time and nothing more.
Could I ignore the fact that it would just be meaningless sex? For him at any rate.
I sighed.
Probably not.
Stand firm, Hannah. You can do this.
“I want to apologise,” Teddy said.
Ah, right. This is the part where he tells me he didn’t mean it. He was just joking. Just practising his flirting technique. No big deal. No need to jump to conclusions.
Part of me was relieved but also more than a little disappointed. But then, what did I really expect? That someone who looked like Teddy, who could have anyone he wanted, would admit his undying love for a freckly-faced geek like me?
“Honestly, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I said to the floor, not daring to look up at him.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you.” He paused, then carried on in a low tone. “But I’m not sorry for what I said. I meant it, whether you believe it or not.”
“Which bit of it?”
I finally allowed myself to peek at his face.
“Bloody hell, Hannah! All of it! I fancy the pants off you. I always have. You’re the most intriguing and infuriating person I’ve ever met.”
He ran his hands over his face, frustration tightening the angle of his shoulders.
“Right.”
Is this a compliment?
I couldn’t be sure.
“And, while I absolutely would love to whisk you up the stairs and into my bed so I can do unspeakable things to you, I think I can manage not to ravage you while we wait out the storm.”
Is he blushing?
It was hard to see in the dim light of the kitchen. He gave me a small, shy smile.
“Please stay a little longer. I’ll be a perfect gentleman. Scout’s honour.”
“I-I-I…” The stuttering had started again. Words weren’t really forming. My brain was functioning about as well as the number four reactor at Chernobyl.
“I had hoped that my wooing might have made you hate me a little less?” He raised an eyebrow enquiringly.
Taking a deep breath and giving myself a mental shake, I managed to say, my voice a quavering whisper, “I don’t hate you, Teddy.”
“So where are we then, on your sliding scale of liking me?”
“Well, I didn’t bring my emasculators tonight.” I said with a small smile.
He huffed out a laugh, when suddenly an almighty crash reverberated around us. Thunder boomed and a bright light flashed, the crack so loud and so close it felt as though it had hit the centre of the house. All the lights went out, and another fork of lightning painted jagged, watery shadows on the walls.
“I should check the fuses,” Teddy said, and I heard him stumbling around near me. Blinded and then plunged into darkness, my other senses kicked into overdrive and I could smell his citrus fresh scent as if it had been concentrated and bottled and sprayed straight up my nose. The warmth of his body prickled my skin as he passed by.
I was just bathing indulgently in these sensations when there was a fairly loud thump, followed by, “Oww. Shit.”
“Are you ok?”
“I just walked into a low door frame,” Teddy replied weakly.
“What have you hit?”
“My head,” he whispered. “I feel a bit funny, Hannah.”
Arms outstretched zombie-like, I felt my way forwards, grasping at the air, until my hands collided with the wall of solid muscle that was Teddy. I may or may not have copped a good feel of his firmly-ridged abdomen beneath his T-shirt on the pretence of trying to work out where he was.
“Is that you?” I whispered, seriously impressed yet again at how toned he was.
“Who else would it be?” he answered with a sigh. “You know, if you wanted to touch me up, you only need say. I’d be a very willing participant.”
Right, Hannah, engage brain.
I quickly dropped my hands to my sides.
“Shush. Where does it hurt?”
“My forehead. I think I need to sit down.” A chair nearby was scraped back along the flagstone floor and I heard him sit heavily. “There’s a torch in a box under the sink.”
“Right.”
Lightning briefly lit up the kitchen again, while I rummaged around until I found and turned on the torch.
Returning to Teddy and standing between his legs, I gently ran my fingertips over his forehead, sweeping his hair back and finding a small lump appearing above his eyebrow.
“Oof! You’ve whacked it pretty hard,” I exclaimed, and he winced, hissing out a breath as I prodded it. “Sorry.”
“It’s ok,” he replied, cautiously cracking open his eyes and looking up into my face. “When I have a black eye tomorrow, I’ll just tell everyone you did it.”
I smiled down at him, using the pad of my thumb to gently caress the lump.
“Where are the fuses? I can check them for you.”
“Under the back stairs,” he replied, his hand brushing against mine where it rested lightly on his forehead.
Flustered by this brief touch, I pulled away and went in search of the fuse box, but even after flicking everything off and on again, there was still no electric, and I returned to the kitchen.
“We should probably go and check on Agnes,” Teddy said. “Her house will go up like a tinderbox if she starts lighting candles in there.”
“I’ll go. You can wait here, Mr Bump.”
“No, you definitely won’t be doing that on your own. I’m fine.”
He stood a little shakily and reached out a hand, gripping my shoulder.
“Teddy, don’t bloody well collapse. You’re too big for me, and if you go down I’ll never get you up again.”
He sniggered – a horny teenage-boy snigger. “I’m flattered that you think I’m too big for you, but I reckon you’d definitely manage me.”
The dirty connotations were too obvious to be ignored. “Who’s got their mind in the gutter now?”
“I let the going down on you and getting me up again comments slide. So I’d say my mind is spick and span, actually,” he said, seemingly steadier on his feet, but he left his hand where it was on my shoulder.
“Of course it is. Come on, Mary Poppins. Let’s go and find Agnes.”