Chapter 40
Dixie was checking Instagram when she felt Ned kiss her neck. Shivers juddered through her body. When the van had broken down almost four weeks ago, the last thing she’d expected to find in the woods was a new relationship.
‘What are you up to?’ he asked.
‘Jay’s all over Insta. It’s quite exciting. I’ve shared his post and it’s getting lots of traction.’
‘You’re really good at social media,’ said Ned. ‘I think that’ll definitely be your remit when we get the business off the ground.’ They’d agreed they were going to make something of the abandoned truffle orchard.
‘I would love that.’ Dixie put down her phone and kissed him. ‘I could sort out a logo too.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘My parents are back in the country in a few weeks. It would be so good to be able to tell them that we have an up-and-running, bona fide business.’
‘Then that’s our aim. Plus I spoke to Mike the truffle man. He’s the go-to guy in the area, and he’s going to help us avoid any pitfalls because he set his truffle business up from scratch.’
‘That’s so nice,’ said Dixie, snuggling against Ned. ‘I’m going to miss this when I move in with Nora.’
‘But it’s only temporary,’ he said. ‘And once Elsie is fixed, we can use her for travelling around to find potential buyers for our produce. She’ll be the truffle van.’
‘Oh, I love that for her,’ said Dixie. She bit her lip as a worry niggled her. ‘Once we have customers, we’ll need to make sure we can meet demand.’
‘That’s where Mike can help. His truffle hound is expecting puppies, so—’
Dixie gasped. ‘We’re getting a puppy?’ This was quite a serious commitment.
‘Yeah, I think we’re ready. We’ll be an unstoppable team.’
Dixie kissed him hard on the mouth. ‘You’re brilliant and you think of everything.’
‘I try,’ said Ned.
Dixie’s shoulders sagged. ‘But if the puppy lives with you …’
‘I figured that perhaps we could all live together. Only if you want to, of course.’
‘I do!’ said Dixie. With that there was a bang on the campervan roof and a scamper of paws. ‘I think Arnold will be glad to get her woodland back too.’
*
Nora had taken a few strides away from the cinema when she heard someone shout.
‘Nora!’
She spun around to see Jay standing outside the cinema, waving his arms like he was trying to direct aircraft. It made her smile. She waved and jogged back to the railings. Jay was speaking to one of the security guards who came forward and moved a barrier aside so that Nora could go through.
‘It’s so good to see you,’ said Jay giving her a hug. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
Now that was a question. ‘Well, I saw what you posted on Instagram.’
He was looking blank. ‘The publicist does that. What was it?’
‘It was you and Tasha being interviewed, and it was something a woman behind you said that made me—’
‘Well, hello. Who’s this?’ said Tasha, sauntering out of the large doors and surveying the area. The few people still waiting started shouting her name. The other woman from the Instagram post was hovering behind Tasha. Nora figured she must be the publicist.
‘This is Nora,’ said Jay, and the pride in his tone gave Nora a warm feeling. ‘Nora, this is Tasha.’
‘Hi. Nice to meet you,’ said Nora.
‘I don’t do selfies,’ said Tasha.
Jay giggled. ‘She’s not after a selfie. Nora’s a good friend of mine.’
‘Oh.’ Tasha pulled her chin as she surveyed Nora but seemed to relax after giving her the once-over.
‘Fine.’ Nora was mildly offended that Tasha obviously felt she was no threat whatsoever.
‘Schmoopy, we need to go. There are no paps here. Anastasia says there will be plenty of photo ops at the party, so let’s get there quickly.
I heard Dizzee Rascal is coming.’ She grabbed Jay’s hand and went to pull him away.
This was it. Something clutched at Nora’s gut. This was the moment she needed to tell Jay how she felt. It was now or never. ‘It was her!’ she blurted.
‘What?’ Jay was smiling at her.
‘She’s your stalker,’ said Nora, because for some reason her brain thought this was a better thing to lead with than ‘I love you’.
Tasha looked shocked as Anastasia tried to hurry them along.
‘Not Tasha. The publicity woman.’ Nora pointed.
‘Anastasia?’ Jay was looking confused.
‘Can we please stop faffing and pick up the pace?’ said Anastasia, trying to shoo them back inside.
‘It’s her who has been stalking you.’ Nora’s heart started to thump.
Jay let out a strangled laugh. ‘That’s a weird joke, Nora, even for you.’
‘It’s true. She uses the same words – faffing, and she referred to you as Mr P the same as the messages but—’
‘I don’t know what she’s on, but we need to leave.’ Anastasia waved at security to intervene.
‘Hey. No need for that.’ Jay turned to Nora. ‘Nora, I think you’re making wild accusations and that’s quite dangerous.’
Nora didn’t have to turn around to know that there were now two security guards standing close behind her. ‘I know it, Jay. Trust your gut.’
‘I can never trust my gut. I get IBS and—’ he said.
‘Well, trust mine then. My gut is never wrong.’
‘Apart from that horse you thought was going to win the Grand National that unseated its rider on the first fence.’
Nora had to concede that one. ‘OK, but aside from that. I know what I heard, and Anastasia called you Mr P. Does anyone else call you that, apart from your stalker? It’s too much of a coincidence.’
‘Jay, come on.’ Tasha tugged on Jay’s hand but he just turned to stare at her.
‘Tasha, what’s your take on it?’ he asked.
She twisted her lips. ‘Your friend’s a kook,’ she said in a poor attempt at a whisper.
Jay paused. Nora wanted to dig him in the ribs and nudge him into action.
‘You need to come now or I’m going to go to the party alone, and that won’t look good.’ Tasha let go of his hand and began to walk away. Jay looked from one woman to the other.
He had a decision to make. He made one step towards Tasha and that was all Nora needed to see. She forced her way past the security guys and out of the barrier, ignoring Jay’s yells behind her as she ran towards the main road.
By the time the black cab dropped her at St Pancras station her face was wet with tears.
She loved Jay – completely and unconditionally – but it was all pointless.
She’d stuffed it up and he’d chosen Tasha and there was nothing she could do about it.
The only positive, the tiniest of tiny positives, was that perhaps the 37 per cent rule had been right. She’d just given up too soon.
She paid the taxi driver, solemnly walked into the station and made her way through the masses of people to stare at the departures board and try to work out which was the next train back to Melton.
She had her neck craned to look up at the board when she heard her name.
‘Nora! Wait!’ She heard it but she didn’t really believe it. She looked around her but couldn’t see anyone. Then, there was the briefest glimpse of a white jacket as Jay leapt in the air. ‘Nora!’
She tried to stay where she was, but the crowd was on the move towards a train and she was being carried with them. Maybe that was for the best. Just go with the flow.
‘Nora! I love you!’ That changed things. Nora spun around, as did a number of other people.
‘Who’s Nora?’ yelled a large, leather-clad, tattooed man with a Mohican.
‘Me,’ she squeaked.
‘Come on, love. Let her through!’ yelled the man, waving folk to one side so that Nora could make her way against the flow. ‘Oi! Move!’ he snarled at a suited businessman, who slunk out of the way to let Nora past.
‘Thank you,’ said Nora, as she squeezed through the crowd. She could see Jay jumping up and down.
At last the group parted, and there he was. A youth started clicking his fingers and pointing at Jay. ‘Aren’t you the bloke from the indigestion commercial?’
The last thing this moment needed was a burping soundtrack. ‘No,’ snapped Jay and Nora together. The youth shrugged and moved on.
Jay and Nora stared at each other. He was a little more dishevelled than he had been earlier, but he still looked cute. They met and smiled at the same time. ‘Hi,’ she said, unsure of what else to say. ‘I’m sorry about what I said about Anastasia. I was playing amateur detective and …’
Jay waved his palms in front of her. ‘You were right. She admitted it. Thought it was an excellent publicity stunt because it had created a buzz around the film. She didn’t seem bothered that it had scared the crap out of me for weeks.’
‘I knew you were scared!’ She jabbed a finger at him.
‘Obviously I was crapping myself. I didn’t want to end up as corned beef!’
They stood there with people shuffling past them, lost in a moment only they understood. All this time she’d been ignoring the obvious thing that was right in front of her. Her heart was thumping at the thought of him loving her. ‘I liked what you said.’
‘About corned beef?’
She shook her head.
‘I mean it, Nora. I’ve known it from the start. You make my heart do this thing …’
‘Flutter?’ she suggested.
‘More of a zing. Zing sounds better. Life is better with you in it. You’re my very favourite person. I love you.’
‘But what about Tasha?’ Nora held her breath.
‘I told her I was sorry but my heart wanted someone else.’
‘Was she very upset?’ asked Nora.
‘She was on the phone to a magazine about doing an exclusive break-up interview as I left. So I think she’ll be fine.’
Nora couldn’t remember being this happy. And although she knew she risked getting hurt, she had a sneaking suspicion that the odds of Jay hurting her were incredibly low.
There was a pause. ‘What do we do now?’ she asked.
‘Kiss her!’ shouted the tattooed man, and there was a murmur of agreement from the slow-moving crowd.
Jay shrugged. ‘Shall we? I mean, we don’t have …’
Nora grabbed his face and kissed him. An instant energy surged through her.
Endorphins flooded her blood-stream. She couldn’t wait to rip his clothes off.
It was actually nice that he was not much taller than her, no more craning her neck.
Reluctantly they pulled apart. ‘I love you too. It just took me a bit longer to work it out. You’re the one. ’
‘Despite not being an alpha male?’
‘That’s the best bit,’ she said, kissing him again. She didn’t need someone to be dominant or assertive. What she wanted was someone who supported her, made her feel loved and safe, and with Jay she had that in spades. He was also hot as hell.
Jay pulled away and she instantly missed him. He held up a finger as if just realizing something important. ‘By my calculations, using the 37 per cent rule, you are my best option.’
This made Nora so happy. ‘Then we can’t argue with the numbers.’
‘Plus you’re gorgeous,’ he said.
‘I know that’s not true because the caught-in-the-rain look is never attractive.’
‘Actually, I think you look great.’ Gently he pushed a stray piece of damp hair off her face, sending a wave of sensations across her skin. ‘Although I kinda meant you’re gorgeous on the inside,’ he said with a grin and she whacked him in the ribs. He barely reacted.
‘Ooh, muscles.’
‘I’ve been working out,’ he said.
‘I know,’ said Nora. She went to kiss him again and he stopped her.
‘There’s something I need to confess.’ His expression was serious. Nora felt her insides crumple. What was he going to tell her?
Jay took a deep breath. ‘I’m not naturally sporty. I once sprained my wrist doing a crossword. So Crafting and Cocktails …’
‘What about it?’ asked Nora, tension making her neck ache.
‘My leaflet wasn’t missing the letter C. I never joined for the rafting,’ he said.
The relief that it wasn’t something serious was huge. ‘I never imagined that you did,’ said Nora, kissing him again as a ripple of applause broke out around them.