Fifty-One
Sally slowly opened her eyes and squinted against the sunbeam which had slid between the gap in the curtains. South facing aspects were all very well and good, she thought, but she was definitely putting up a blackout blind for the summer.
She rolled over onto her back, stared up at the ceiling and gently prodded the new feeling of relief sitting inside her which had come about from finally sharing the news of her lottery win and her new venture with her family. She hadn’t told them the full value of the win – there were limits, after all, to just how much they could handle – but had “awarded” herself just enough to justify her new businesses.
She’d invited her parents, along with her brother and his fiancée, down for Easter. They’d arrived early yesterday morning and after showing them to their bedrooms and giving them time to refresh themselves, she’d sat them down in the B it was up to him to make his way back. She’d done nothing wrong and therefore had nothing to apologise for.
Her mother had told her to trust her instincts but she was in a right quandary over Matt. Her instincts were telling her not to give up on him yet, he wasn’t a terrible person, but her brain was screaming at her to kick him to the kerb and move on. The fact that she wasn’t interested in moving on didn’t seem to come into the equation.
A bigger sigh escaped through her lips and with a small growl of annoyance, she dropped a kiss upon Herbie’s head before throwing back the quilt and getting up. The moment of peacefulness was now lost so she may as well get dressed and feed her family before they all headed down to the village to get on with the final preparations for the fete. As she walked over to open the curtains, she thought, well the upside of a late Easter is that at least the sun is shining!
‘I now declare this fete, in aid of The Bramblebush Cat Rescue, open!’
Sally cheered and clapped along with the rest of the villagers as Ken Bartleby cut the purple ribbon with a pair of garden shears and then stepped aside as the crowd swarmed past him, anxious to visit their favourite stalls or be first in the queues for the funfair rides.
‘Thank you, Pete, for arranging this with Ken. It really is something to have him here doing this.’
And she wasn’t joking either. Ken Bartleby, the best-known newscaster in the country, and even more so after winning a certain, highly-popular, celebrity dancing competition on the television, was the name on everyone’s lips at the moment and his presence here today had given the rescue a massive shot of publicity.
‘I was happy to help, as was Ken.’
‘How did you do it? Are you friends?’
‘We are now. We met about eighteen months ago at some bash and he was telling me about his daughter. She has a disability and he asked me for an autograph for her as she was a huge fan but also if I could donate a couple of items for a charity auction he was putting together to raise funds for research and stuff. I offered myself as a date for the night, met his lovely daughter and family and we became friends. When I asked him if he’d mind doing this, he jumped at the opportunity.’
‘Hi, Pete, Sally, I hope that was all okay for you. I didn’t waffle on too long, did I?’
Ken shook her hand again and thumped Pete on the back.
‘Not at all, Ken, thank you so much again. This means a lot to me and for the charity.’
‘It’s no problem, I’m happy to help.’
‘I was about to say, Sally,’ Pete gave Ken a sidelong look before a cheeky grin rocked across his face, ‘that Ken’s wife and children are here today. Make sure you get them to your stall to make a few purchases. Ken has never been able to say no to either of his daughters.’
Ken grinned back. ‘He’s right you know, they have me wrapped around their little fingers, I admit it. So, what are you selling on your stall, Sally?’
‘I’m in charge of signing people up for the cat adoptions…’
Pete burst out laughing at the look of dread which suddenly appeared on Ken’s face and Sally couldn’t help but join in.
‘Er… right. I’m just off now to locate my ladies before we find ourselves with half-a-dozen new family members.’
‘Good luck with that one, mate, they’ll need to fight off Sukie first.’
The two men walked away, laughing and joking and Sally took the opportunity to quietly walk round and take in all that the wonderful ladies of the WI had pulled off. She checked the time – Essie was manning the adoption stall for the first couple of hours so Sally could do whatever meet-and-greet duties came her way and as she strolled by the stalls, she thanked the stallholders for being there and joining in.
The sun was high in the sky and the day was pleasantly warm. All around her people were laughing, smiling, and chattering. Some of the stallholders were calling out their wares and adding their voices to the general happy hubbub.
She caught Flora’s eye as she passed the cake stand she was helping with. Both she and Sally had spent the last week baking in the big kitchen of the B Sam from the Victorian tearoom had provided the rest in the shape of her home-baked artisan bread loaves.
Spending so much time together had also allowed Flora to have a good old moan about her father and his over-the-top stubbornness! She didn’t know the ins-and-outs of their falling out and Sally didn’t provide any information, but she knew something had gone down because her father had gone from dropping Sally’s name into almost every conversation to now not mentioning her at all.
‘I know he’s had plenty of opportunities to come and speak with you but all of a sudden, he’s decided he prefers to send emails. This is the man who thinks technology is the spawn of the devil but he’d rather do that than see you and apologise.’
‘What makes you think he needs to apologise?’
‘Because I know my father, Sally, and he’s a stubborn, pig-headed old goat. I’m still arguing with him about visiting my grandmother in Scotland.’
‘You could just go, you know, you’re old enough.’
‘I know I could but now that I’ve decided I would like to visit, after what happened with my mum, I’d prefer to go with his blessing. I wouldn’t feel right in myself if I didn’t have that.’
Sally had replied that she understood.
She walked past the last stall in the row and saw Jools speaking with a family while demonstrating the items in her first-aid kits. She exchanged a smile with the vet but felt a small stab of pain that the trust had gone from their friendship. Sally genuinely hoped that time would help to repair the damage caused by Juliet’s actions because she was missing the easy friendship they’d been developing. As she turned onto the path that led towards the funfair, she saw Matt walking in her direction.
Her breath caught in her throat and the ache of seeing him for the first time in over two months slammed into her chest. His hair was slightly longer and she could tell from the golden tone of his skin that he’d been working outside. His blue eyes seemed even brighter against the slight tan which was enhanced by the brilliant whiteness of his shirt. Jeans and boots finished off his casual ensemble and Sally didn’t think he’d ever looked as handsome as he did now. She normally wasn’t one for having her photograph taken but she was glad now that today was a day of cameras being pointed her way because she’d taken care over her appearance and her favourite long, summery dress, with its little capped sleeves and large red poppies, gave her a confidence she didn’t always feel. And right now, she needed every ounce of confidence she could muster.
‘Matt.’
She inclined her head and made to walk past him but he put out his arm to stop her.
‘Sally…’
She raised her head to look at him and hoped he couldn’t hear the thumping of her heart. She waited for him to speak and used the moment to drink in the nearness of him.
‘I…’
‘Yes?’ She cocked her head to one side. As her own pride kicked in, she realised how much she’d missed him and how much he’d hurt her with his silent treatment and overblown obstinance. Whatever he was about to say, she sure as hell wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
‘I…’ His shoulders sagged and he ran his hand through his hair. ‘You look lovely. That dress is very pretty, it looks good on you.’
‘Thank you. With all the photographers around, I thought I should make some kind of an effort.’
He looked around them and then turned his gaze back to her.
‘You’ve got a good turnout. You should make quite a bit of money from this.’
‘I won’t but other animal rescues will.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I never thought the village would take the rescue to its heart in the way it has and I certainly didn’t think they’d go all out on fund-raising for it. Therefore, on paper, the profits from today will come to the Bramblebush Cat Rescue but then donations adding up to the same value will be sent to other animal charities, from me.’
‘You never told me you planned to do that.’
‘Matt, you didn’t give me the opportunity. Besides, I don’t need to explain myself to you – you should have trusted me. If you cared for me at all, even if only as a friend, you should’ve known me well enough to know the kind of person I am.’
‘I do know, I really do. It’s the kind of person I am that I’m struggling to deal with.’
‘Meaning?’
‘I’m far too stubborn for my own good. I take the moral high ground far too easily and once up there, I’m pretty crap at finding my way down again.’
‘I wouldn’t disagree with that.’
‘Would it help if I told you that I’ve missed you every single day, thought of you every single minute and was regretting my stupid actions even as I drove away that day?’
She gave a small shrug. He still hadn’t said he was sorry and until he did, she was going to prove just how stubborn she could be.
‘Sally, you forgave Jools for bashing you on the head, kidnapping you and trying to extort money from you. I’ve not even done a fraction of that.’
‘No, but you have managed to think I’m an unscrupulous person who would happily take advantage of other people’s good intentions. Jools has only ever held me in high esteem – can you honestly say the same?’
She saw a flash of pain cross his face before he lowered his head to stare down at his feet. A moment of silence passed and she was thinking that maybe she should just walk away when he looked up at her again.
‘No, I can’t,’ he whispered. ‘I can’t say that and it makes me ashamed to know it. I am so sorry. Deeply, deeply, sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you. I know you’re a good, kind person. I’ve seen it over the months and I just…’
He paused… and she waited.
‘I think…’ he stopped again and drew in a deep breath, ‘No, I KNOW, that I was falling in love with you and I’m now fully aware that it was scaring the crap out of me. Despite all the years since Flora’s death, I can still feel the pain of how it felt to lose her. I didn’t want to feel that pain again and getting close to you meant I left myself open to it happening once more. I used that morning and your revelations as the excuse I thought I needed to step away. But it was already too late. I’ve been in pain since that day but this time it was worse because it was a pain of my own making. You were still here and I had pushed you away. I have no one to blame but myself.’
He looked away again and she barely heard his next words above the happy, piped music which suddenly started up from the nearby carousel.
‘I’m so sorry, can you forgive me? Can we try again?’
She stepped forward and closed the gap between them. He’d said what she wanted to hear. It was time to let him off the hook.
‘We can. But this time, we’re all in, yeah? No more taking it slowly. Let’s just go for it, jump in at the deep end and see where it takes us!’
His smile lit up his face along with the joy in her heart when he took her in his arms. As he held her close, he whispered, ‘I can do that!’ before giving her a kiss which told her in no uncertain terms, just how much he’d missed her.
The joy rapidly spread from her heart into every part of her being and she thought of how they’d both loved and they’d both lost.
And that they had almost lost again.
But they’d found their way back to each other and this time she wouldn’t let him go so easily.
When he eventually released his hold on her, Sally stepped back and gave him a big grin.
‘You know what I said about jumping in at the deep end?’
‘Yes.’
She looked over his shoulder and smiled at the couple walking towards them.
‘Well, you’re about to meet my parents…’