Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Pippa stepped inside Clockmaker’s Cottage with Theo right behind her, both of them dripping onto the hallway tiles. They kicked off their boots in unison.
‘Right,’ she said, shrugging out of her raincoat. ‘Before we flood the place … bathroom.’
Theo headed for the small downstairs bathroom and flicked on the light. ‘I’ll run you a shower,’ he offered, already reaching for the tap.
‘Thank you.’
Warm water began to cascade as Theo grabbed two clean towels from the cupboard. ‘Here. One for you. One for me. Because, well … look at us.’
‘We do look like we’ve lost a fight with the weather.’
‘And lost badly.’
‘It was your idea to go jumping out of windows!’
He handed her the towel and their fingers brushed, just briefly, and Pippa felt a ridiculous little jolt shoot up her arm.
‘I’ll go and use the upstairs bathroom.’ He turned towards the stairs, already loosening his tie. As he climbed, he peeled his wet shirt over his head, tugging it free from his back.
Pippa froze as she took in his broad shoulders.
Damp curls. Skin still flushed from the cold.
She looked away immediately, chastising herself.
Don’t be ridiculous. He’s married and you’ve just run away from a wedding.
You are not that girl and it is far too soon for …
whatever this is. She disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door.
When she emerged minutes later, wrapped in a towel and feeling marginally more human, Theo was waiting in the kitchen, now in dry jeans and a soft jumper, hair still slightly damp.
‘You look warmer,’ Theo said.
‘I’ll just get dressed. Switch that kettle on, will you?’
‘You’re very bossy today.’
‘Trauma response.’ She grinned.
He obeyed.
Ten minutes later they were both sitting at the kitchen table, Pippa asked, ‘How are you feeling after that interview?’ She knew it was probably the only thing on Theo’s mind.
Before he could answer, her phone buzzed with a text from her dad.
I see the Horace Vale interview was not without incident.
Pippa quickly flicked over to her news app. Horace Vale was everywhere. She pressed play on the first video and the newsreader’s voice rang out, calm but with that undercurrent of excitement they usually reserved for celebrity scandals.
‘Social media is abuzz this afternoon after an extraordinary scene at Puffin Island’s Horology Convention.
For the first time in decades, reclusive clockmaker Horace Vale gave a rare interview, which was conducted by Dr Theo Blake, one of the leading authorities in the field.
But the event took a dramatic turn when a member of the audience interrupted with accusations that the famous partnership between the Vale Brothers ended in more than just creative differences. ’
The screen flashed with shaky phone footage from the hall. Sebastian, red-faced, was shown shouting out mid-interview, his voice carrying over the stunned crowd.
‘You blamed an innocent man for your own indiscretions, which led him to be an outcast for the rest of his life, and Walter didn’t agree with how you handled things.
Wasn’t that the real reason the partnership broke down?
You pinned that evidence on him, knowing he was keeping the biggest secret of all for you.
You just wanted him silenced. You made him the scapegoat. You should be ashamed!’
Back in the studio, the presenter leaned slightly forward, eyebrow arched for maximum intrigue.
‘Mr Vale denied the allegations, and the accuser, identified as luxury watch-seller Sebastian Worthington-Frost, was escorted from the convention by the local police. Vale went on to finish the interview, which concluded with a standing ovation. Still, questions are being asked tonight about the true reason for the breakdown of the Vale Brothers’ legendary partnership. ’
Pippa turned the volume down and looked at Theo. ‘This will open a right can of worms.’
‘What do you think Sebastian knows? Has he said anything to you? I don’t trust that man.’
‘I promise you, he hasn’t said anything to me.’
‘We could do a little bit of digging, but that might mean having a conversation with the man and I don’t really want anything to do with him.’
‘What is it between you two? Has something happened since university?’
Theo looked uncomfortable, and skilfully diverted the conversation.
‘There must be other ways we could solve the riddle he was alluding to.’
Pippa liked the way he said ‘we’.
‘We could call ourselves…’ She paused, a glint in her eye. ‘Tick I thought I’d made a friend.
We were standing together and I spotted you across the courtyard. We caught each other’s eye…’
Pippa remembered that moment all too well. She’d instantly thought he was attractive and intriguing.
‘I thought you were … well…’ Theo continued. ‘You stood out. The clock-print scarf, dungarees, boots, that enormous cardigan … and then you smiled. And when I heard you laugh, I thought … right, that’s someone I want to know.’
Pippa’s eyebrows shot up. Her? Really?
Theo gave a rueful laugh. ‘But before I even had the chance, Sebastian leaned in and told me you were way out of my league. Then, just to make sure the message landed, he added that you’d already made it known you were interested in him, and I wasn’t going to compete with Sebastian.’
This was news to Pippa and not how she remembered it at all. ‘You actually liked me?’
‘Of course I did. Who wouldn’t?’
It didn’t add up. The pieces didn’t fit.
‘I had my walls up around you because you said I didn’t belong in Cambridge.’ Her voice was quieter now, almost testing him, as if she needed to be absolutely sure.
Theo shook his head, steady, unwavering. ‘I didn’t say that.’
Something in his tone – the certainty, the simplicity of it – cut straight through her.
She believed him, and with that belief came a thud of realisation that Sebastian had played her just to keep her and Theo from becoming anything more than strangers who passed each other in lecture halls. In fact, he’d made them rivals.
Her heart sank as the truth became clear.
All those stolen glances across the library, the awkward smiles in hallways, the moments she’d told herself Theo was aloof, disinterested …
arrogant, even. She’d been wrong all along?
It hadn’t been indifference, but a story spun by Sebastian that kept them both at arm’s length?
The thought pressed down on her, heavy with all the possibilities they’d missed. The conversations never had, the coffees never shared, the chance that something real might have sparked between them before Sebastian got in the way.
‘I never really knew what you saw in Sebastian,’ he admitted. ‘I know it’s only my opinion, but I couldn’t understand it. He was … well, mean. Always looking out for his own ego. I could never quite figure out what the attraction was.’
Pippa’s reply came instantly, without a flicker of hesitation. ‘I have never been in a relationship with Sebastian. I don’t know why he would have told you that, and I agree that the more I got to know him, the more I realised he was mean-spirited and not someone I wanted to call a friend.’
As the words left her, she felt a twinge of mortification, remembering their one-night stand.
It was nothing but an alcohol-fuelled mistake that came from being on a high of starting university and his giving her attention when she felt low.
But now she was beginning to realise, with a sinking sort of clarity, that he’d purposely kept her and Theo apart, and now she wanted to know why.
Why had Sebastian spun that story? She wished she had questioned it at the time instead of believing him.
‘You’ve never been in a relationship with Sebastian?’
‘No.’ The answer rolled off her tongue too easily.
‘Was what he told you the only reason you disliked me?’
‘I didn’t dislike you. Quite the opposite, really,’ she admitted.
He cocked an eyebrow. ‘Tell me more.’
‘I thought you were smart. Calm. Capable. Everything came so easily to you, or at least that’s how it looked to me.
I was this flailing bundle of ambition and anxiety, trying to prove I belonged …
which was mainly down to me thinking that you didn’t think I was good enough to be at Cambridge.
Maybe it hit a nerve because deep down I thought the same. ’
He reached and touched her arm. ‘You just being there should have been your answer to that.’
‘Maybe, but I always felt like I had to work twice as hard just to stay in the room.’ She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes.
‘You walked into lectures with your flask and your notebook, and you actually understood things. I was up half the night rereading paragraphs three times and still not sure what I was talking about the next morning.’
‘I didn’t know that,’ he said quietly.
‘Of course you didn’t,’ she said. ‘No one did. I didn’t exactly shout it from the rooftops.
I just … I don’t know, I guess I let it turn into this weird competitiveness.
I admired you, and deep down I wanted to be like you, and that scared me because it felt like you were something I wasn’t.
Effortless. Brilliant. Already headed for success.
I mean, look at you now. Successful in your professional and personal life. ’
There was a fleeting flicker of something in Theo’s eyes.
‘So,’ she went on, more softly now. ‘Looks like if we’d had a conversation sooner, then things at university may have panned out a little differently.’
‘Just for the record, I did like you … from the first moment I saw you.’
They stared at each other for a second and Pippa’s pulse raced. They had just had a significant moment, but their time had passed. He had his life, and she was just about to take control of hers.
‘I’m sorry if I made your university life a misery.’
‘You’re forgiven,’ he replied with a smile. ‘Truce?’
Pippa nodded.
‘And just for the record, I wasn’t at all confident at uni. I was just very good at pretending I had it together. Half the time I was afraid someone would notice I had no idea what I was doing or talking about.’
Pippa stared. ‘You seemed so put together.’
‘Only on the outside. Inside I was a ball of nerves and imposter syndrome with a very convincing aftershave, constantly hoping that no one would discover that my grandfather was one of Vale’s apprentices, as I was anxious that if anyone found out I’d be ridiculed because I couldn’t live up to his expertise and knowledge. ’
She let out a laugh that was part relief, part disbelief. ‘God, we were a mess.’
‘We still are,’ he said, smiling now. ‘But at least we’re being honest about it.’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t show you who I really was back then. I think I was too busy hiding her, even from myself.’
He gave her a warm smile. ‘Thank God for the competition to stay in this place, so at least we got to talk properly.’
‘My best friend Rose would say it was fate, but I know you’ve never believed in all that.’
‘I might be convinced…’ His eyes held hers and she looked away first. If only things had been different… But they weren’t, and there was no use dwelling on things you couldn’t change.
As much as she didn’t want to, she changed the subject back to Sebastian. ‘I still don’t understand Sebastian’s motives today.’
Theo shrugged. ‘Whatever it is, my guess is his outburst was only the beginning. It’s hit the news now and no doubt he’ll give an interview, and at least then we may discover what his game is.’