Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
The rain was still going for it, hammering down so loudly it practically joined in the conversation.
Pippa couldn’t remember ever hearing weather this dramatic.
It sounded like someone outside was throwing buckets of water at the cottage just to see what would happen.
But she was tucked under Theo’s duvet, warm alongside him, feeling cosy and relaxed.
They’d only climbed into his bed a few minutes earlier, and her smile kept sneaking back every time she replayed the evening in her head.
They’d spent most of the night downstairs, curled up on the sofa watching an old documentary on clock restoration, one Theo claimed was ‘a classic’, although the narrator sounded like he was on the verge of a nap.
Still, Pippa had never been so comfortable.
They’d sat on the sofa, Theo’s arm casually draped around her shoulders, her legs sprawled across his, and she’d felt something she hadn’t felt in years… At home.
They’d talked about escapements and enamel dials, about the differences between French and English mechanisms, and Pippa couldn’t stop the warm, fizzy feeling spreading through her.
Rob would’ve died of boredom ten minutes in.
He’d never once sat beside her watching something she loved.
And Theo didn’t just watch; he also had opinions.
It went down instantly as one of the best nights she’d had in a very long time.
When they finally climbed the stairs together, Pippa had nudged him and joked, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t turn right,’ echoing what he’d said the night she first arrived at the cottage.
Theo had grinned, rolled his eyes, and muttered, ‘Shut up,’ before kissing her on the landing; soft, unexpected, perfect. For a second, she’d genuinely thought she’d stumbled into an actual romcom.
Then he’d opened his bedroom door and said, with an amused half-smile, ‘You’re more than welcome to turn right. Are you coming?’
Pippa had no intention of turning down that invitation. After brushing her teeth, she’d returned to his room in his university T-shirt and her lounge pants. Now she lay under his duvet, pressed comfortably against him, his hand resting at her waist like it had always belonged exactly there.
Theo shifted slightly, pulling her a fraction closer, as the rain battered at the window even more, the sound mingled with fifty clocks ticking throughout the cottage, which was strangely comforting.
‘I’ve had a good night,’ he murmured, pressing a light kiss to the top of her head.
‘Me too. We are such nerds, watching clock documentaries.’ She laughed softly.
Theo’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. They both glanced at it. Pippa could tell by Theo’s face that it was Clara again.
He reached over, picked up the phone, looked at the screen for less than a second … and then switched it off completely.
‘No more,’ he murmured.
Pippa studied him. ‘You okay?’
He turned back to her, his arm slipping around her again. ‘Yeah. I just … don’t want to talk to her. I thought it would take me a while to make a decision, but it’s one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.’
‘Which is?’
‘I don’t want to go back to all that.’
‘All that?’
‘Life with Clara.’
She nodded gently. ‘You don’t have to.’
He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then said quietly, ‘If you have to question whether you’re happy … you’re not happy.’
She exhaled slowly. ‘That’s brave to admit.’
‘It doesn’t feel brave.’ He looked at her properly this time, a soft honesty in his eyes. ‘It feels like I’ve been avoiding saying it out loud for years. And lying here,’ he added, his tone lighter now, ‘with you … feels good. Better than I’ve felt in a long time.’
‘I know exactly what you mean.’
A pause followed, comfortable and warm.
Then Pippa said. ‘Rob dropped all my stuff at my dad’s house.’
‘No message? No conversation?’
Pippa shook her head. ‘Nope.’
‘I’m sorry. I know it was your choice, but still, it can’t be easy.’
‘It’s not, but being stuck in a cottage on a beautiful island with you has definitely made things better.’
‘Glad to be of some use.’ His fingers drifted slowly up and down her arm. ‘You deserve to be with someone who gets you, who accepts you for you.’
‘And you deserve someone who makes you happy.’
‘Well, I’m very happy, right now.’
‘Me too.’
Theo gave her a tiny lopsided smile. ‘Good.’
They lay quietly for a few moments, listening to the rain, before Pippa broke the silence. ‘Imagine I fall in love with The Clock House tomorrow. I could have a new place to live and restore clocks, and it would be the Vales’ actual original workshop. It’s wild.’
Theo moved backwards slightly to lock eyes with her. ‘You absolutely could. I can already imagine this place at all seasons. These summer showers aren’t the norm, and the idea of living by the beach, walking in the harbour, having lunch at the café, a pint in the local… Well, you have me sold.’
‘Something about this place feels like a proper community, and I can actually do my job anywhere as long as I have my tools.’
‘Or you could travel with me. First stop is New York.’
Pippa laughed.
‘It’s no laughing matter. I’m being serious.’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘I’ve barely got any money to my name after the wedding.’
He smoothed her hair gently. ‘Money sorts itself out. Passion doesn’t.’
Those words would never have left Rob’s mouth. ‘I wish I could come to New York.’
Then he said, very quietly, ‘So come with me.’
She stared. ‘Theo…’
‘I mean it,’ he said, brushing his thumb across her cheek. ‘I’ve thought about it a lot today. More than I should. It would be … incredible. Just picture it for a second.’
She hesitated, but he was looking at her like he genuinely wanted her to imagine it.
So she did. ‘What would we do?’ she asked, feeling curious.
Theo lay back against the pillows, pulling her with him so she stayed tucked into his side. ‘Well,’ he began lightly, ‘I’m staying in a tiny Manhattan flat that overlooks Times Square, and we could pretend it was actually ours.’
‘Go on,’ she said, smiling into his chest.
‘You’d make friends with the woman in the café downstairs within a week. She’d give you free muffins because she’d adore you.’
‘I do attract bakery ladies… Look at Clemmie when I arrived.’
‘I’d take you to all the museums,’ he continued, ‘and show you the oldest watches in the city. We’d grab coffee, ride bikes around Central Park, walk the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset.
I could kiss you by the Bethesda fountain, on the top of the Empire State Building, while watching a musical on Broadway… ’
‘Oooh, it all sounds wonderful.’
‘It would be,’ he murmured. ‘Everything would be wonderful with you there.’
She held her breath for a moment.
He meant it. Every word.
She gave him a warm smile. ‘I’d love all of that. Truly. But restoring clocks is what I do, and I can’t afford to go anywhere right now.’
‘The offer is always there,’ he said gently.
She rested her forehead back against his chest for a moment before looking up at him again. ‘But if it helps? I hope it rains for forty days and we stay stuck here.’
Theo grinned. ‘You like being stranded with me?’
‘A bit…’
His eyes crinkled as his smile grew. ‘Good. Because I like being stranded with you, too.’
Pippa leaned upwards and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.
‘Sebastian did me a favour, you know.’
Pippa blinked. ‘By sleeping with your wife?’
Theo laughed. ‘If you want to put it like that… But I was thinking more by ending something I should’ve admitted wasn’t right years ago. I feel like everything that’s happened … led me here.’
‘Thank God I ran from that wedding then,’ she said with a grin. ‘But seriously, I’m thinking more about me than you. If I’d gone through with it, I’d be stuck walking a golf course in Portugal losing the will to live.’
Theo laughed. ‘You need to think about you more.’
Pippa looked up at him, her expression deadpan. ‘I will, if you promise never to even think about booking me a golf holiday.’
He laughed. ‘I promise it would never have crossed my mind.’
Theo moved first – or maybe she did? – and suddenly their mouths were close enough that she felt his breath, and she kissed him.
His lips were warm against hers, and she felt her whole body tingle.
This felt right, but in the back of her mind, she knew that once the causeway was open, everything would change.
They would leave the island and go their separate ways as they returned to their lives…
But that really wasn’t something she wanted to think about at that moment, so she pushed the concerns away and focused on the present.
They shifted closer until their bodies fit like two pieces of a puzzle. His arm tightened around her waist, pulling her in, and she went willingly, almost melting into him.
‘Pippa…’ he murmured.
‘Don’t overthink it,’ she whispered, kissing him again.
‘I’m not,’ he murmured, kissing her back with more certainty now. ‘For once, I’m not thinking at all.’
She smiled into the kiss as her hands slid up into his hair, tugging slightly, and he made a small sound that sent sparks down her spine.
Theo moved carefully, slow and considerate.
The duvet shifted around them as he rolled her gently underneath him, bracing himself so he wasn’t crushing her, even though she was clinging to him and she wouldn’t have minded in the slightest.
The way he looked deep into her soul caused her whole body to spasm as he kissed her again. Softer at first, then deeper as she wrapped her arms fully around him and pulled him closer. Nothing else mattered. She was choosing him and it took her over completely.
‘Nice T-shirt,’ he teased as she felt the slow, warm sweep of his fingers along her waist. Goosebumps rose immediately, and she couldn’t hold in a soft gasp.
Theo buried his face into her neck for a moment before he lifted his head, eyes warm and unguarded in a way that made her chest tighten. He kissed her again; long, slow, and full of feeling.
When they finally curled up together afterwards, the rain still loud around them, Pippa felt a bone-deep peace she hadn’t known in years. Theo’s arm slid around her waist as if without thinking, and she felt his sleepy contentment in every inch of her body.
She rested her head against his chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart beneath her ear.
‘You okay?’ he murmured.
‘More than okay,’ she whispered. ‘You?’
‘More than okay too.’
She smiled in the dark. She didn’t want the night to end.
* * *
The next morning, Pippa wasn’t sure what woke her: the soft light creeping under the curtains, the drizzle still tapping against the window, or the faint smell of coffee drifting through the room.
She blinked slowly and immediately felt a twinge of concern.
Was all this happening too soon? Was she moving on too quickly?
But before she could start spiralling, Theo appeared in the doorway holding a mug.
His hair was a disaster and his T-shirt was crumpled, but he looked incredibly handsome, and all she could think about was Rose’s words. Whatever this was that was happening between them, it was meant to be, and she wanted to grab it with both hands.
‘Morning,’ he said.
She sat up, clutching the duvet to her chest. ‘You made coffee.’
‘Of course.’ He passed her the mug. ‘I’ve already had mine. I thought I’d let you sleep while I checked that the cottage hasn’t flooded, and thankfully it has not.’
She wrapped her hands around the mug.
‘I can’t wait to see what they’ve done to The Clock House, and stand inside a piece of history.’
‘I have to say, I’m every bit as curious as you to see it, and to stand where my own grandfather worked as a young adult.’
Pippa was quiet for a moment.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Theo asked.
‘What are we going to do about the letter we found, and the ledger?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that too. Is it worth saying anything? What would it achieve? Andrew Wetherby’s gone, and if Horace Vale was hiding something, he’s hardly going to stand up now, at ninety-odd years old, and say, “Yes, actually, I framed someone.”’
Pippa sipped her coffee.
‘Then there’s my grandfather,’ Theo added softly. ‘He’s elderly too. The last thing he needs is … drama.’
She nodded. He wasn’t wrong. But she also wasn’t wrong about the uneasy feeling twisting in her stomach.
‘I know what you’re saying,’ she said, ‘but … I think the note made it pretty clear that Andrew Wetherby didn’t do what he was accused of…
’ She shook her head. ‘It doesn’t sit right with me. Why frame him?’
Theo met her eyes. For a moment he didn’t say anything, considering his words carefully. Finally, he said, ‘I have to admit, I agree with you.’
He gave her a look that Pippa could only interpret as meaning they would be opening a can of worms if they made the letter public.
But could they really keep what they knew to themselves?