Chapter 18
‘Oh.’ Oh. ‘Umm, I’m not sure what to say to that.’
Ed watched her for a moment and when she didn’t say anything else, he sat back with a laugh Frankie thought carried a hint of embarrassment.
‘Not the response I was hoping for, but fair enough.’ He took a sip of his tea then set it down.
‘The invitation to spend Christmas with me and the family still stands.’
If she’d been surprised by his declaration of attraction, she was shocked that he would still be happy for her to not only stay but also spend the holidays with him and his family.
Most of the men she’d met over the years had had some kind of ulterior motive for wanting to be with her, so it was hard to accept Ed could shrug off what he’d assumed was a rejection.
It hadn’t been her intention; she’d simply not for one moment considered Ed as a potential romantic partner.
It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was attractive.
A woman would have to be dead from the neck down – and the neck up, for that matter – to have looked at that photo of him wearing just a towel and not acknowledged how fit he was.
And it wasn’t simply his looks, either. He was a good guy.
Friendly, easy-going and far too easy to talk to, as she kept finding out to her cost. She’d known all of these things about him, but only in the abstract.
Ed was an extremely tempting prospect for any woman, but Frankie hadn’t been tempted because she hadn’t considered anyone in that light for months.
The incident on the Tube had seriously spooked her, and Frankie had shut away that part of herself out of a sense of self-preservation.
Perhaps this was all part of the same ploy to persuade her to stay.
Even as the ugly thought occurred to her, Frankie rejected it.
She didn’t know Ed well, but he didn’t strike her as the kind of person who would so blatantly manipulate someone.
Then again… ‘Did Kat or one of the others put you up to this?’ They’d been calling ever since she’d texted them earlier to say she was leaving.
Frankie hadn’t answered, because what was the point?
Ed’s eyes widened in clear surprise. ‘What are you talking about?’ She watched as he connected the dots, every thought process written on his face.
No, Ed was too much of an open book to be deceitful.
He rested his folded arms on the table and leaned forward.
‘Is that who keeps calling? Have you told them you’re going back to London? ’
‘I texted them earlier and now they won’t leave me alone.’
Congratulations, Big Mouth, why did you let him persuade you to sit down when you know how easy he is to talk to? Frankie pushed her chair back and turned away from the table. ‘Thanks for the tea but I need to finish packing.’
She hurried into the front room and began piling clothes into the open suitcases.
She heard the legs of his chair scraping against the kitchen floor, felt his presence in the room behind her but refused to look up from what she was doing.
Frustration built inside her as she pushed and pummelled the clothes, cramming things into every available nook and cranny.
They’d all fitted when she’d come to the cottage so why the hell didn’t they now?
Her vision blurred and a hot tear rolled along the contours of her face and dripped off the end of her nose.
No. No. No.
She was not going to cry over something so stupid and pointless. ‘I’m not upset,’ she said without turning round. ‘It’s just the usual end-of-shoot blues, that’s all.’
A couple of deep breaths later and she had herself back under control.
She turned her attention back to the puzzle of her suitcase and her eyes settled on her bulging toiletry bag.
Most of the stuff in there could be replaced with a quick trip to the supermarket once she got home.
She grabbed the bag and pushed to her feet, intent on tipping the contents into the kitchen bin.
Her route was blocked by Ed’s broad frame filling the doorway.
‘Stop a minute and tell me what’s going on. ’
‘I already told you what’s going on. I’ve decided to go home early.’ She shoved the toilet bag at him. ‘Make yourself useful and throw everything in there away.’
Ed took the bag but didn’t move.
Exasperated, she crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Look, it’s not a big deal, okay?
I found out Matt was evicted from the cottage so it could be rented for me, that’s all.
’ She glanced away and admitted the harder part.
‘The girls admitted they kept quiet about it because they didn’t want to upset me and risk causing problems with the shoot. ’
‘They actually said that?’
Frankie shrugged. ‘Maybe not in so many words, but it was clear enough that’s what they meant.’ She unfolded her arms and scrubbed a frustrated hand over her face. ‘Look, I don’t blame them, I just wish someone had told me before I went and made a fool of myself.’
‘How so?’
‘After you suggested I stay on for Christmas it planted the idea of staying on even longer. I made some enquiries and had the landlord send a six-month lease extension to my agent to look over. She told me yesterday the contract was fine to sign so I thought I’d celebrate my good news with Issy and the others last night, only it went down like a lead balloon. ’
‘Ah.’ Ed’s eyes were deep pools of gentle concern.
Ugh! Why did he have to be so expressive all the time instead of hiding his emotions like a normal person?
Imagine the horror of being with someone who made it obvious what they were thinking.
Of knowing when they were disappointed with you. It didn’t bear thinking about.
And she didn’t have to think about it, because she was out of there just as soon as she got her packing finished. ‘So I realised the best thing for everyone is if I leave asap. If Charlie hasn’t got anyone to rent it to, there’s no reason Matt can’t move back in.’
Ed shook his head. ‘It’s not that simple. The production company looking for somewhere to rent might have been the catalyst for action, but something dodgy is going on with Charlie and Mrs Jenkins and there’s no way he’ll let Matt back in here if he can help it.’
Frankie frowned. ‘Chloe said something similar last night. You really think he’s taking advantage of her?’
Ed shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell going to find out before I leave.’ His expression softened. ‘Is that why you’ve decided to go? Because you think you’re in the way or you’re not wanted?’
The kindness and caring she saw in his face made her want to run away even more than the residual embarrassment from finding out she didn’t belong here.
Frankie glanced towards the jumbled mess on the floor.
The clothes spilling everywhere were almost too perfect a metaphor for the tangled chaos inside her.
Her most primal instincts still told her to get out of there.
To pack her bags and remove herself from the situation.
Sticking around when things got fraught only led to more heartache.
More pain. ‘Like I said, it’s the best for everyone if I move on. ’
‘Give me five minutes, Frankie, that’s all I’m asking for. If you still want to go after that, I’ll help you sort everything out and get you to the station without another word.’
She turned back to him, caught between the desire to stay and the need to flee and protect herself. ‘Don’t make me regret this.’
‘I won’t.’ Ed extended his hand towards her again. ‘I promise.’
Frankie didn’t take his hand for fear the tears would come again. She’d cried too much in front of this man as it was. She did accept his request to talk though, brushing past him and taking her seat at the kitchen table once more.
‘It must’ve hurt your feelings when the girls didn’t react as you’d hoped to the idea of you extending your stay here.’
Frankie had to swallow around a lump in her throat. ‘I felt so stupid when I realised everyone had kept the truth about the cottage from me. Even after you broke in—’
‘I had a key!’ Ed protested with a laugh.
‘Even after you let yourself in with a key you shouldn’t have had,’ Frankie retorted. ‘No one would be straight with me about it.’
‘We should’ve explained it to you properly.’ Ed shook his head. ‘I should’ve explained it to you when I came to apologise.’
‘So why didn’t you?’
Ed shrugged. ‘I don’t know, really. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Matt about what happened so I didn’t have all the details. And it didn’t feel like something I needed to burden you with because none of it was anything to do with you.’
Frankie glanced down at her hands. ‘It didn’t feel good to find out people I considered my friends didn’t trust me with the truth,’ she admitted.
She raised her head and met his gaze. ‘It made me feel like maybe they’d been nice to me simply to keep me sweet and make sure everything with the production ran smoothly. ’
Her phone started to ring again and Frankie stiffened. Why couldn’t they take a hint?
‘You could’ve waited until you were back in London before sending that text, you know.’ Ed’s comment was soft but it struck straight through her defences.
Her head shot up. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘I’m just wondering if maybe the reason you sent it is because you hoped they’d reach out and try and persuade you to stay.
’ Ed extended a hand across the table towards her.
‘You don’t strike me as someone who’s naturally disorganised and yet I found you this morning in complete disarray.
You haven’t booked a ticket, haven’t thought about cleaning up or emptying the fridge. ’
‘That’s a bit rich coming from the man who didn’t bother to let his family know he was coming home after being away for months on end!’
Ed shrugged. ‘I’m a work in progress. What’s your excuse?’
‘I don’t need to explain myself to you. I don’t need to explain myself to anyone,’ she snapped, then shook her head.
Getting angry at him wasn’t going to help her avoid the truth.
He was right, there’d been no need to text the girls before she left.
Unless she’d wanted to test them. Unless she’d wanted to make them feel bad for hurting her, even though she knew they hadn’t meant to. It was an uncomfortable thought.
Without another word she left the table and returned to the front room. She picked up her phone, took a deep breath and pressed the missed called message. It barely had time to ring before it was answered. ‘Hi, Chloe.’
‘Don’t hi me! I knew something was up last night but you kept insisting it was okay and then you drop a text and say you’re going back to London!
I know I got myself in a tangle trying to explain everything, but you’ve known me long enough to know I open my mouth without thinking and anyway friends are supposed to tell each other when they’ve screwed up and give them a chance to apologise and make up for it! ’
‘Take a breath, Chloe, before you pass out!’ Frankie exclaimed, laughing in spite of herself.
She knew Chloe meant what she was saying because there was no way to have faked that stream of consciousness.
The gush of words was exactly what she would’ve expected from the other woman, having witnessed it often enough over the past few weeks.
Chloe’s lack of guile was one of the things Frankie liked most about her.
Had liked, Frankie tried to correct herself, but it was a wasted effort.
She liked Chloe. She liked all of her new friends and that was why she’d been so hurt by what had happened.
‘Sorry! Sorry!’ Chloe exclaimed. ‘I know I don’t have any right to ask, but please don’t hang up until I’ve had a chance to explain.’
‘You don’t have to explain, Chloe. I understand why you said what you said last night, and if I was in your position I’d certainly be more concerned about my brother’s future than that of someone you hardly know.’
‘Pfft!’ Chloe blew a rude noise down the phone.
‘Don’t you start with that nonsense. There isn’t a competitive hierarchy here.
You just blindsided us a bit with your announcement about the cottage, that’s all.
We’d love you to stay – we want you to stay, Frankie, and it’s entirely our fault that we kept Matt’s hassles from you.
We weren’t trying to cut you out or deliberately lie to you, I promise. ’
Every word rang with sincerity. ‘I believe that none of you did this to deliberately hurt me,’ Frankie conceded.
‘We didn’t, I swear it! Does that mean you’re going to stay?’
Chloe’s eagerness was as sweet as it was sharp.
If Frankie did decide to stay then it would mean getting in deeper with everyone, including Ed.
Now he’d cracked open that door of possibility she wasn’t sure she was strong enough not to push it wide.
She’d been on her own for so long that the prospect of intimacy was almost irresistible.
Why risk it when experience had taught her it would only end in tears?
But what if it didn’t this time?
God damn that hopeful little girl inside her. God damn the woman who yearned and hoped even when she knew better.
Frankie glanced around the chaos of the room.
More than half of what had happened last night was down to her own trust issues, and her self-preservation instincts were still in high gear and urging her to get out of there while the going was good.
A noise behind her made her turn to see Ed standing in the doorway to the kitchen, watching her with an intensity that made her far too self-conscious.
Frankie allowed herself to properly notice him for the first time.
To take in the breadth of his shoulders, the slim taper of his body to his waist and down to the powerful thighs stretching the denim of his jeans.
Her mouth turned dry as the photo of him water-flecked in only a towel jumped into her mind.
All that could be hers – if she wanted it. And my God, she wanted it.
‘I’ll stay until the new year.’
She’d spoken them into the phone, but the words were for Ed, and Ed alone.