Chapter Forty-One
Rosie wanted it to be a select gathering of her closest friends and family.
This evening her mum, Anna and Emma had joined her at Simon and Jesper’s flat for two celebrations.
As usual, her mother had taken the opportunity to bring over a supply of party food that could have fed twenty, but Jesper was delighted with the additional offerings, and with her it seemed, from the amount of chatting he was doing.
Rosie hadn’t seen the flat this tidy in years.
Getting the boys organised had been the main difficulty, but once they had bought into her idea, it all ran relatively smoothly.
Jesper had reluctantly agreed that he was still no nearer to finding what he wanted, and once Rosie had shown him some alternative ideas, he had been bowled over.
Simon had been persuaded to help in the interests of getting the job done, and had been more than happy to work under Rosie’s direction.
Now the ceiling and three walls of the room were painted in a soft white shade that complemented the light grey carpet.
The fourth wall was covered entirely by a wallpaper mural depicting the lush green coniferous forests of Jesper’s beloved Norway.
The colours were muted tones of grey and green, the tips of the fir trees veiled in delicate wisps of cloud, and the whole effect was both stunning and tranquil.
Simon tapped his glass with the edge of a cake fork. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please? I would like to say a few words before I propose a toast.’
‘Simon, I’m not marrying him, you know!’ Rosie and Jesper exchanged knowing glances.
‘Nevertheless, you have both used your skills and knowledge to make each other – and me – very happy. Rosie, you have been absolutely wonderful. You have rescued me from an eternity of stepping over paint pots, emptying bins full of dried-up paint brushes and not being able to use this room for heaven knows how long because everything was covered in dust sheets.’
‘And more importantly we can watch television again,’ added Jesper. Everyone laughed.
Simon cleared his throat. ‘And Jesper, you are a technological wizard.’
Jesper modestly waved away the complement, and retrieved his laptop sitting on the shelf under the coffee table.
‘As you know,’ Simon continued, ‘Rosie’s upcycling business now has several regular customers thanks to her friends at Malbury Hall, and she is also selling items that she has rescued and restyled.
Today marks a new milestone – the official launch of her new website.
Rosie supplied the words and Jesper made it all happen, and he is now going to give you all a guided tour of after which I hope you will all spread the word about Rosie’s brilliant enterprise. ’
Simon led a quick burst of applause and Rosie smiled her thanks. Jesper proceeded to show the others the pages he had created, and they all admired the photographs. Rosie hadn’t wanted lots of words on her website: the before and after pictures hopefully spoke for themselves.
She had wanted to keep the name Rosie Devereux as she had done with her Instagram page, but accepted Jesper’s logic that it was a long name to type each time and also that people were likely to misspell it.
In fact, they had brainstormed several names including Rosie’s Upcycling (which Simon said sounded too much like a cycle shop for people who enjoyed hills) and RD Recycled Clothes (which they all decided sounded like a textile recycling bank).
She had settled for RD Designs as it was simple and easy to remember.
She had kept the rose logo, and added a strapline: Turn something old into something new.
‘Well,’ said Anna, ‘I think it’s a wonderful enterprise. James would have been very proud of you.’
For a brief moment, Rosie tried to imagine James standing here, looking at what she had created.
He had never wanted her sewing machine in the flat in the first place, never mind boxes of materials and all the other paraphernalia.
And what he would have said if she’d arrived home and announced she’d left her job would be unrepeatable.
James might have liked the idea of her earning some extra money, but she doubted he would have been proud of her. Not in the way Connor would have been.
She had tried so hard to banish him from her thoughts, but it had been impossible.
Keeping busy certainly helped during the day, but at night as she lay in bed, she could still remember the touch of his hands; his firm, toned body pressing against hers; the feel of his stubble rubbing against her skin as he kissed her.
How many more nights was she going to torture herself like that before she accepted it was over?
That he was gone. That he was probably doing that to someone else thousands of miles away from here.
‘Hello, Earth to Planet Rosie?’
Simon waved at her. ‘Time to cut the cake.’
In true over-the-top-mother style, Katharine had insisted on getting a cake for the occasion. Her friend at the bridge club had a daughter who iced designs on cakes and this one had roses round the outside with the words, RD Designs in the middle.
Rosie stuck the knife into the centre of the cake as her mother and Emma took photos of the event. Rosie cut slices for everyone, offering the first piece to Jesper.
Simon then opened a bottle of champagne and proposed a short toast to Jesper, thanking him again for his help with the website, and a longer one to Rosie for helping them to finish the decorating project.
‘Ooo yes, this is more like it,’ said Emma taking a large gulp and then giggling as the bubbles made her cough.
Jesper quickly took her glass and gently patted her on the back. ‘Don’t die on the carpet please,’ he deadpanned. ‘We’ve only recently had it cleaned.’
Her mum and Anna left first, claiming that they were too old for late nights these days, but the others stayed chatting until well past ten o’clock.
Simon opened another bottle of wine, although Rosie stuck to soft drinks as she was driving later, and they took it in turns to propose toasts to each other, and to the newly decorated flat, and to Pennewicks, although Rosie wasn’t quite sure why.
After Emma announced she had an early appointment the next day, the party broke up.
Jesper insisted on walking her to the bus stop, even though it was only five minutes down the road, in case the buses had stopped running and she needed to come back again.
Rosie offered to help tidy up and load the dishwasher.
While she collected up plates and glasses, Simon put cling film over the sandwiches.
‘That’s my lunch for the next two days sorted,’ he said happily, putting the plates in the fridge.
‘Your mum could give masterclasses in making sandwiches.’
Rosie yawned and looked at her watch. ‘I need to be going too.’
‘Can you wait a sec? There’s something I need to talk to you about.’
Curious, Rosie followed Simon back into the living room. ‘Is anything wrong, Si? You’ve gone very quiet all of a sudden.’
‘We don’t have much time as Jesper will be back in a minute, and if I don’t say this now, I’ll always regret it.’ He paused for a moment and then took her hand. ‘Rosie, will you marry me? I know you must still miss James—’
‘Not any more—’
‘—and you have your new business to think about, but you mean so much to me, and I know I could make you happy. And in time I hope you will feel the same way as I do about you.’
Words and thoughts spun round in a dizzy jumble in her head and Rosie held her breath for a few seconds. ‘I—’
‘Please don’t answer straightaway, you need time to think. Take as long as you like.’ Simon let go of her hand. ‘Just promise me you’ll think about it.’
As Rosie drove home, she could barely concentrate on the road ahead.
She hadn’t seen this coming at all. She’d always thought of Simon as a brother and she loved him dearly, but not in the same way as she had loved James.
However, James had turned out to be one of those men who wanted to have their cake and eat it.
Simon, on the other hand, would never do something like that; he was loyal, reliable (other than his timekeeping) and steady.
After James had died, she’d missed having someone to share her life with, but after her discovery of James’ infidelity, she thought she was done with romance. Then she’d met Connor, and look how that had ended.
If all that love-at-first-sight, knee trembling passion wasn’t something that lasted, was loyalty and reliability the next best thing?