Chapter 57
Three days later
Teddy dropped the metal shutters, pressed in the alarm code, and locked the door behind him. The restaurant had been full
tonight, and the overflowing tips jar sang a sweet song of satisfaction. Niccolo and Roberto had upped their gesticulations.
Sabrina had been right—the customers loved it, and repeat bookings were up. He’d warned his cousins, though: no broken hearts.
It was bad for business. If he had a business for much longer. In saying that, oddly, he remembered there had been no builders’ vans causing their obstructions
on the road today, no activity at all next door. He’d had to check his calendar to see if he’d missed a bank holiday. It wouldn’t
last. They’d be back tomorrow, of that he had little doubt.
He just wanted to get to bed, but he’d promised his mum he’d call in on his way past. She had something that would cheer him
up, she said. He hoped it was a pint of grappa. He couldn’t stand the stuff actually, but it would give his brain blessed
oblivion while his body was wondering what the hell his mouth had just let in.
He pulled up outside his mum’s house and knocked. She greeted him with that look on her face. The one that said, “ I hope you aren’t going to be cross with me Teddy, but... ” He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise in response.
“Teddy, I’ve let out the flat again. Bear with me, though, I’m doing it properly this time. I thought it might be wise if
you met the person straightaway so you could suss them out.”
“Mamma, really, at this time of night?”
Marielle knocked softly on the adjoining door and called through it, “Could you just come through, my lovely, and meet my
son? If you’re going to be staying here for any length of time, he’ll need to give his approval.”
The door opened; Teddy prepared himself to smile politely, and because he wasn’t expecting her, it took him a long second
to register who she was. And then he cleared the distance between himself and Sabrina in two long strides and picked her up
in his big, strong, Italian arms.
No grappa was needed; he didn’t want any oblivion, he wanted to feast on the sight of her. He sat on his mum’s sofa next to
her, holding her hands between his own.
“I have wanted to call you so many times,” said Teddy. “You have been on my mind every day.”
She could have said exactly those words back to him. They’d had to distance themselves from each other. They were decent people
and she’d been in a long-established relationship, although neither of them knew how crumbled and broken it was. She’d needed
time and he’d had to give it to her. But she didn’t need it anymore.
She’d driven to the Premier Inn in Slattercove the night she left Chris and spent the next couple of days devising a plan
of action. She’d been in touch with an estate agent who was now looking for a house for her to rent, although when she’d rung
Marielle and told her she was back, the offer of Little Moon was there for as long as she wanted it. Then Sabrina had emailed
Phil Bowery at Yorkshire Eagles to ask if he remembered her. He called her within the hour.
“Remember you? Of course I remember you, Polly. You’re not looking for a job, are you, by any chance?” He made it that easy. The change of her name she’d explain to him when they met up tomorrow.
“I have to confess something to you, Teddy,” she began earnestly. “I have been working with Ciaoissimo. They paid us a fortune
to overhaul them and I was assigned to be the one to turn them into what they should be.”
“Oh... right,” said Teddy, pondering, brow creased, but he did not let go of her hands because his heart trusted her.
“So that’s exactly what I’ve done. My findings are filtering through to those who need to see them as we speak.”
Teddy’s sky-blue eyes met with her lovely golden-brown ones and he saw the light dancing in them.
“Oh Teddy, what a nest of vipers. And I have all the evidence of it in glorious Technicolor: admission of sabotage and smear
campaigns, and some fabulous dodgy and insider dealing, not to mention enough dirt to line the whole of Yorkshire’s chimneys.
I’ll tell you everything in due course, but I can assure you of two things—Councilor Stirling is finished. And Ciaoissimo
will not be opening up next door.”
“I don’t care how late it is, I’m having a celebratory glass of wine,” called Marielle, tripping to the cupboard for glasses.
“So you’ll be sticking around for a while then... to fill me in with the whole story?” asked Teddy. “Until tomorrow, at
least.”
She smiled and his own smile widened. It felt welded to his lips.
“You lost your job, I presume?” he asked.
“As one door closed, a much nicer one opened,” she replied. She’d enjoy working with Phil and Dave. She’d enjoy living by
the sea and hearing the seagulls every day, birds that carried so many happy memories on their wings.
“How am I going to thank you?” he wondered aloud.
Sabrina resisted the urge to say she could think of a few ways.
“I think you all thanked me in advance,” she said instead.
“Oh my God, I’ve missed you,” he said. There were so many things he wanted to say to her—how much he wanted her, how much he thought about her, how happy he felt just being near her—but there would be plenty of time for that, because now that she was back, he wouldn’t be letting her go again. Not ever.