Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“Oh, I’m supposed to be back in the city for—”
“We’ll have to drive to the closest village and stay the night,” Edward said.
“Um, okay. How far is the nearest village?” she asked, with a glance out the window at the heavy rain splattering against the window and deduced that Edward was probably right.
It wouldn’t be safe to drive back now, the rain came down so hard that he could barely see out of the windscreen, the wipers working overtime to make the road visible.
“We passed one about nine miles west, on the way here; I think I remember there being a pub, they might have rooms.”
They pulled up to a small pub advertising rooms about twenty minutes later, staggering into the reception where an elderly woman sat, pink-marbled glasses perched low on her nose as she frowned down at a word search on the bench in front of her.
At the sound of the bell above the thick black wooden door, she glanced up, gasping at their drenched frames.
“Good gracious, you two look like drowned rats,” she nattered, placing her pen down in the centre of the page to not lose her puzzle place.
“Do you have a twin room available?” Edward asked. “We got caught in the rain and it’s too heavy to drive in.”
“Well, I’ll have a look, young man, but we are quite busy this time of year with all the tourists flocking here.
” Turning to a small, black leather book, she flipped the pages, humming while she looked down at the paper.
Olivia’s body was racked with a round of shivers, goosebumps raising on her arms. She really should have dressed more appropriately.
The forecast hadn’t said anything about rain last time she had checked, but that’s England for you, the weather perfect sunshine one moment and torrential rain the next.
Her eyes drifted to a small pamphlet stand, displaying the pub’s roast dinner offer and a brochure for a small tour of the folk museum.
“You lucky ducks, I have one room spare. Not a twin though, and one night only as I have a reservation for tomorrow. Room 12, second floor on the right-hand side.” The lady’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she saw Edward take a key off the counter.
Together, Edward and Olivia made their way up the narrow staircase and down the dimly lit hallway to the right before stopping at an old wooden door, the black brass lock looking original to the Tudor building.
After a few wiggles and a reluctant click, they swung the door open and made their way inside.
Olivia stood in the doorway, glancing around the small, low-beamed room, noting the bed cover’s old, musky fabric and the velvet armchair cushion.
“Well, this is certainly not how I imagined our date ending up.” She laughed and pulled at her wet sundress, the floral fabric stuck to her curved frame like a second skin, and although she had felt confident in the flowy skirt and light cardigan, she suddenly found herself anxiously trying to cover her shivering body.
Edward laughed back, the sound lacking genuine mirth and his smile not quite reaching his eyes.
He brushed a damp lock of hair out of his face. “Yeah, who would’ve thought a rainstorm would ruin everything?”
“Our date isn’t ruined. Plus, running through a field in the rain holds its own kind of romantic flare, don’t you think?”
Edward hummed, ignoring her question and scanned his eyes across the room. He picked up a small decorative cushion before flinging it onto the armchair.
“There’s only one bed.” Olivia frowned. “I thought we asked for a twin room?”
“Oh, yeah.” Edward coughed. “She said there wasn’t one available, I hope that’s alright?” He glanced over her sodden form, his eyes lingering on where her dress clung to her chest, the beads of rain sliding beneath her neckline. “I must say, being stuck here with you isn’t so bad,” he teased.
Olivia blushed, taking note of his flirtatious manner. “Oh really?”
Reaching for her hand, he grasped hers in his calloused grip. “Absolutely. Plus, I get to know you more, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”
Olivia forced herself to lift her lips into a smile and nodded once at his forwardness. “Sure.” Grabbing one of the towels from the edge of the bed, along with her small clutch purse, she said, “I’m gonna jump into the shower, okay?”
Edward grunted. “While you do that, I’ll go ask the front desk for the kitchen menu.” He strolled out of the room.
Taking a deep breath, she assessed the situation. She was alone in the Surrey countryside with a man she had only known for a few days, drenched head to toe in rain and in a room with one double bed. Edward had definitely been more touchy during this date, and a flicker of uncertainty hit her.
Rather than jump into the old claw tub and get warm, she decided it was most important to get out of her wet clothes and call Theo. Stat.
She crossed the old cream rug in a few steps to reach the bedroom door, locked the door and made her way to the bathroom.
After cringing at her appearance in the mirror, she clicked on her phone to see five text messages from Theo, one from Hannah, and a stream of missed calls.
With a short glance in the direction of the main bedroom, she closed the bathroom door, sat on the edge of the bathtub and clicked onto her contacts.
Taking a deep breath, she pressed call and waited for the sound of Theo’s voice to settle her racing heart.