Chapter 1 #2
He smiled. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever slept with a woman I’ve met in here. And there’s been no wham, bams since Christmas. I’m not interested in anyone that isn’t you.’
Well that took the wind out of her sails.
‘I’m guessing you must have the same though,’ he said. ‘You must get men coming in to chat you up in the sweet shop?’
She laughed. ‘No, that never happens.’
‘I find that hard to believe. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.’
She didn’t want him to flirt with her, she didn’t want her heart to soar with happiness that he thought she was beautiful.
Because this kind of happiness would lead to so much more pain when he backed away again.
But the way he was staring at her made her feel so alive that she couldn’t help responding.
She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice even more, though it was unlikely anyone could hear her. ‘I once had a man storm into my shop, drag me into the storeroom and take me against the wall.’
His eyes darkened as he remembered. ‘That doesn’t sound very gentlemanly.’
‘Not at all. But it was wonderful.’
She found herself stroking her belly, wondering if that had been when their baby had been conceived. It had been a few days before their Christmas Day dalliance.
‘What I wouldn’t give to recreate that again,’ he said.
She wanted to say he’d be welcome to come over anytime and do exactly that but she didn’t want that, not really. Even if there were parts of her that were already tingling with excitement at the thought.
‘Xander,’ Judy snapped.
‘I better go, but Etta is at her grandparents’ for the weekend so we’ll have plenty of time tonight to talk or…’ he trailed off, leaving the or unspoken.
Her heart leapt at the thought that he might come over for more than a conversation.
She wanted to say no, that she only wanted to talk, but she knew if he kissed her, she’d be lost to him.
But then once he heard what she wanted to talk about she supposed there’d be a Xander-sized hole in the door and there certainly wouldn’t be any kisses at all. Which was probably for the best.
‘OK,’ she said, because that was the only thing she could say.
He nodded, took her hand and squeezed it before turning and walking away.
She watched him for a moment and he flashed her a smile as he resumed serving the customer he’d abandoned to talk to her. She smiled back and then walked out the shop and hurried back to hers.
She flicked the sign on the shop door back to ‘OPEN’ and stood watching Xander’s shop.
She hadn’t thought for a second that he would want to start things up again between them.
The last time they’d spoke he’d been very clear that what they had, however briefly, was over, but now it seemed he was regretting it.
She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to go down that road again.
Her emotions had been all over the place lately, part of the reason why she’d taken the pregnancy test in the first place.
But she couldn’t deny how much her heart wanted that.
She couldn’t deny how much other parts of her body wanted that too. She ached for him.
No, she had to talk to him first. It was only fair.
Or maybe she could talk to him after. She’d be silly to pass up the chance at revisiting amazing sex with a man she was secretly crazy about.
Although she knew she’d be foolish to do that with him, because it would lay her open to getting hurt all over again.
She sighed. She would see how the evening played out and trust her gut and her heart that she was making the right decision.
She had to distract herself with something else now and thankfully that something was going to be the Knit ’n’ Natter group.
She had a large room at the back of her sweet shop that she never used so she’d opened it up to the various groups in the town.
There was one long table that could seat twenty people and, for the cost of a coffee or tea and a slice of homemade cake, she would let them use the room for free.
It had become quite the hotspot over the last few years.
There was a colouring group, a book club, even a games afternoon for board game enthusiasts.
But the Knit ’n’ Natter group came three times a week.
And although there was some knitting that went on, it was definitely more of a group for the latter than the former.
Gossip was the number one priority for the attendees.
The room was always filled with raucous laughter and, while Immy wasn’t really a fan of gossip, it made her smile to chat to them all as they came in and see how much joy they got from talking with each other.
She definitely needed some joy that afternoon, anything to detract from the excitement or disappointment about what tonight would bring.
The shop door opened a short while later and the two leaders of the group, Diya and Lizzie, came through giggling and laughing between them.
Both were in their seventies and always dressed in fabulously bright colours.
Diya seemed to have a different-coloured sari every time Immy saw her, all exquisite jewel colours that sparkled with sequins or beads, while Lizzie wore fabulously coloured floral dresses so she looked like a walking summer garden.
‘Hello,’ Immy smiled, brightly.
‘Hello, my love,’ Diya said. ‘Two cappuccinos please.’
Immy turned to the coffee machine and set about making them.
It wasn’t the norm for a sweet shop to serve teas and coffees but her shop had been a café before she’d come along and turned it into a sweet shop.
She’d bought the coffee machine very cheaply off the old owners and it still worked perfectly well.
‘And what cakes do you have on offer today?’ Lizzie asked.
‘I have a Victoria sponge and a chocolate cake.’
‘Is the chocolate from Xander’s chocolate shop?’ Diya said, then giggled.
Immy frowned in confusion. ‘I think it’s Betty Crocker actually.’ She turned to face the ladies. ‘Where are you going with this?’
‘Well, the news hot off the presses says you two were looking mighty cosy while you chatted in the chocolate shop earlier today,’ Lizzie said. ‘And you had the biggest smile on your face when you left.’
‘We wondered if he was giving you something sweet to put that smile on your face,’ Diya said.
‘Like chocolate,’ Lizzie said. ‘Or something else.’ They both burst out laughing.
Immy didn’t want to say that nothing was going on between her and Xander because, regardless of what did or didn’t happen tonight, they were going to have a baby and news of that would spread through the town like wildfire.
‘We were just talking,’ Immy said, which was at least the truth.
‘We heard that the chemistry between you was practically sizzling,’ Diya said.
‘Your sources got that from a simple conversation?’ Immy said.
‘And the way Xander was looking at you, like he wanted to ravish you.’
Immy couldn’t help laughing at their excitement but she shook her head. ‘I’m not sure what your spies saw but I can categorically promise you, I’m not in a relationship with anyone right now and I haven’t been with a man for three months.’
‘Ah, so there has been a man.’ Lizzie clapped her hands together. ‘Who was it?’
Immy mimed zipping her lips closed. It was an interesting experience being on the other side of the gossip.
She had been in this village for around four years now and dated a few men who lived here and in nearby towns, but she didn’t think who she dated was interesting enough to be the topic of the Knit ’n’ Natter group.
Or was it Xander who was interesting? Since his wife had died many a woman had offered him a shoulder to cry on or a warm bed to spend the night in.
He’d even said that he had his own fan club who turned up at the chocolate shop.
She didn’t know how many of these women had secured a night of passion with him but she had never seen him with a woman so obviously none of them had turned out to be something serious.
And that was something of a relief. It hurt enough that he didn’t want to be with her, it would hurt even more if he wanted to be with someone else.
But maybe that was what the Knit ’n’ Natter group wanted, a nice wife to take care of Xander and Etta.
They would have a long wait if that’s what they were looking for.
She doubted Xander would ever marry again.
‘Come on,’ Diya pleaded. ‘Tell us something about your man. Was he local?’
Immy shrugged. ‘Fairly local.’ You couldn’t get much more local than the man who lived across the street.
‘So there’s really nothing going on between you and Xander?’ Lizzie said in disbelief.
‘We have to liaise with each other because of the Easter egg hunt. Talking of which, are you all ready for the Easter yarn bombing?’ Immy tried to change the subject.
‘We will be,’ Lizzie said. ‘Just a bit of finishing off.’
‘You two would make the perfect couple,’ Diya said, clearly not to be diverted.
‘What makes you say that?’ Immy asked.
‘I can just feel it. I can see it, you have a connection that’s something rare and wonderful,’ Diya said, dreamily as if she was picturing a happy ever after. Immy had long since given up on that.
‘He doesn’t want that, he wants to concentrate on raising his daughter.’
‘Doesn’t mean he can’t have a little fun along the way,’ Lizzie said, obviously seeing something more fleeting than the big love story.
‘I don’t think he wants that either,’ Immy said, although Xander had seemed pretty keen when she’d spoken to him.
‘Why, have you asked him?’ Lizzie said, suddenly suspicious.
‘Let’s call it a feeling,’ Immy said.
Just then Jacob walked down the back stairs, obviously having heard Diya and Lizzie’s voices. He was the perfect distraction with both of them bending over to lavish him with love and belly strokes.
Some more of the Knit ’n’ Natter group came in and Immy gave a small sigh of relief as they all greeted each other. It seemed, for now at least, she had been forgotten.