Chapter 14
It was a long day waiting for news about Walter’s shoulder.
Beth felt heavy of heart knowing that Walter was in the local hospital waiting for the results of his X-ray. He had been a surrogate grandfather to her for so long and she hated to think of him in pain.
The Accident and Emergency room in the local hospital was apparently inundated with people suffering mishaps in the storm and so it was a long wait before they finally received any update.
‘It’s been confirmed. He’s fractured his collarbone,’ said Faye, looking up from her phone which had been on the coffee table in the lounge.
There was a chorus of sighs as everyone registered the bad news before sending on their positive well wishes. Beth wondered what on earth someone as lively as Walter, who could barely sit still at the best of times, was going to do with some enforced rest.
She, along with everyone else, had tried to keep busy throughout the day before Walter and Dotty could come home. So she and Ella had pored over her blog, updating the background and descriptions on it as best they could. Beth had to admit it looked much better.
But it was a struggle to keep positive, especially as the bad news kept on coming, it seemed.
‘The good news is that all of last night’s guests left just in time and got home safely,’ said Lily, with a sigh as she came in from the reception later on.
‘The bad news?’ prompted Ella.
‘Pretty much everyone has cancelled their bookings for the next few nights due to the weather warnings,’ Lily told her, looking downcast.
‘Can’t blame them for that,’ said Frankie as she stoked up the fire to bring about some much-needed warmth to the room.
Beth watched as Ben went over to put his arm Lily’s shoulder before they walked away into the office beyond the reception. She knew that they were both worried about more cancellations when the business was already on such a tightrope.
Frankie looked up from her phone. ‘Del says he’s on his way back from the hospital with Walter and Dotty,’ she said.
‘That’s good,’ said Faye. ‘I’ll start dinner. I’m sure they’ll want something hot to eat when they get back.’
‘Maybe we should let Noah know,’ said Hannah, glancing outside where the rain was still lashing against the window.
‘I’ll do it,’ said Beth. ‘I need the fresh air anyway.’
Noah had stayed outside most of the day in the terrible weather, cutting up as many fallen trees as he could to clear the driveway.
It meant that they hadn’t really seen him all day and who could blame him for staying away, thought Beth, as she retrieved her coat from the hatstand.
On the sound of movement, she saw Jeremy coming down the stairs from his bedroom.
That was the worst news of all. Jeremy hadn’t been able to leave with the driveway blocked but seemed quite happy to remain at the hotel. At every opportunity throughout the day, he had cornered her, professing his love and saying that it had all been a terrible mistake, mostly of her making.
She was both trying not to listen to him and trying to believe him at the same time. She had always believed the good in people so perhaps she had been wrong all along.
He smiled at her as he came across the entrance hall.
‘If you’re looking for something to do, how about you help me with this speech I have to give at the observatory next week?’ he asked, holding out his phone.
She reluctantly went over and scanned through the text, trying not to grimace as she read. It was pretty dull stuff, she realised. The audience would be falling asleep in their chairs.
‘What do you think?’ asked Jeremy, looking primed for some flattery.
‘It’s great,’ she told him automatically. ‘But perhaps…’
His smile immediately dropped into a frown. ‘But what?’ he snapped.
‘Maybe you could add in a few lighter touches,’ she told him. ‘You mention the moon. You could add in a joke like, astronomers got tired of watching the Earth go round the sun all the time and called it a day, kind of thing.’
She smiled at him but he wasn’t returning it, still frowning.
‘I can’t crack jokes to a room full of physicists,’ he told her.
‘Why not?’ she asked. ‘Don’t any of them have a sense of humour?’
‘Because they’re serious people,’ he said.
‘And I have a reputation to uphold.’ He shook his head.
‘You see, this is why your career stalled,’ he carried on.
‘Not everything needs to be dumbed down all the time. You go for the lowest possible denominator every time.’ He gave her a sudden wide smile.
‘This is why you need to stick with me, sweetheart. So you can learn from me and grow as a person.’
‘I think I’m okay actually,’ she told him, feeling defensive, pulling her coat on and wrapping it around her.
‘Better than okay,’ he replied, bopping her on the nose with his finger. ‘You’re just charming. You just need to learn to behave a little better.’
She went to object to his review of her personality but he stopped her before she could say anything.
‘I’ve done a lot of thinking today. For both of us, thankfully.’ He gave a little laugh. ‘And I want us to be together. Long term, I mean.’
‘I’m not sure,’ she began to say, but he held up a finger against her lips to shush her.
‘I’m talking about forever,’ he said. ‘Make things permanent.’
Beth took in a large intake of breath. Forever? Was this a semi-proposal? ‘But you’re not even divorced yet.’
He frowned briefly before ignoring her question. ‘Don’t you think we make a great team?’ he carried on. ‘You can type up my speeches, make us a lovely home for me to come home to. Be on my arm at those fancy boring dinners I have to attend.’
Her romantic mind faltered. Was that what he expected her to do with her life? Be his secretary? Just a piece of arm candy at parties? What about all of her studying? All the sacrifices she had made to gain her qualifications? Was she just to let them all go?
She knew that she had never fully fulfilled her promise. She had failed. At everything, as it turned out.
So forever with Jeremy could be very tempting. In fact, it was what she had longed to hear him say for quite a few months. A forever home with maybe even a forever family. But all she could think of was that Jeremy was totally wrong for her. Wasn’t he?