Chapter 26
‘What are you doing here?’
The words were out of her mouth before she had the chance to think that better ones would have been ‘thank God you’re here’ or ‘it’s so good to see you’ – something like that – because surely there could be only one reason why Leo was currently standing in Cat’s kitchen?
She quieted her leaping heart and shushed her rising expectation.
Let the man answer, and then decide how you feel.
But Gemma’s body was having none of it. She was overwhelmingly pleased to see him.
He crossed the kitchen in an instant, taking the tin opener from her hands and setting both it and the can of chickpeas down on the counter. His hands were warm in hers.
‘Rowan and Willow both wanted to come,’ he said.
‘And they would have, except that…’ He smiled.
‘I basically begged them to let me come instead. That’s the only reason they’re not standing here now.
And I’ve had two and a half hours to come up with a really good reason why I did that.
I had a whole little speech planned, which I can’t remember a word of.
There are several reasons, obviously, the main one being that, although we all want you back, I wanted to be the one to ask you.
I wanted to swoop in – the white knight.
The brave and noble gentleman riding to your rescue on his trusty steed.
It’s my van, and I’m wearing the same jeans I had on yesterday, but…
’ His eyes widened. ‘Not that you need rescuing, of course. I don’t mean that.
You are brave, and maybe not exactly fearless, but you are brave and…
’ He trailed off. ‘I’m gabbling, aren’t I? ’
‘A little. But it’s quite endearing.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’
‘Actually, it’s quite a lot endearing.’ Gemma looked up at him. ‘And I’m very glad you came to rescue me.’ There was a tiny bit of stubble on his chin which was longer than all the rest. She seemed to be fixated with it.
She pursed her lips together, trying not to smile. ‘And I’d quite like to kiss you as well. Would that be okay?’
Moments later, they pulled apart, half out of a feeling that it had been a very long time since they had kissed like that, and half out of a vague doubt, from Gemma’s point of view anyway, that they weren’t teenagers any more and there were things they should discuss.
It was also due to the fact that, while Cat hadn’t exactly cleared her throat, her feet had never sounded so loud in the hallway before either, so Gemma was certain they were sorry-to-interrupt-whatever-you-might-be-doing-but-I’m-coming-in kind of footsteps.
Plus, she was wearing an enormous grin, so she had evidently deduced (or overheard) what their conversation had been about.
She crossed the kitchen to give Leo a peck on the cheek.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked, picking up from where they’d left off in the hallway.
At his nod, she continued. ‘So, you look well.’ She darted Gemma a look, one which was meant to convey her opinion that Leo was not just looking well, but extremely well, that the years had been very kind to him indeed. Gemma didn’t disagree.
‘You too,’ said Leo. ‘It’s been a…’ He broke off, searching for a word which conveyed the length of time which had elapsed without alluding to the weirdness of the situation, or the events of the past. ‘Long time…’ he finished, looking a little sheepish.
The last conversation he’d had with Cat was not long after he and Gemma had separated and Cat had bumped into him in the street.
She’d comprehensively chewed his ear off on that occasion.
‘And I’m sorry for turning up unannounced, just…’
Cat waved a hand. ‘No need to explain,’ she said. ‘I think I can guess.’ She smiled. ‘Are you whisking Gemma away now, or will you at least stay for dinner?’
Cat was a ruthless tease sometimes. Leo’s ears had gone bright pink.
‘Well, that rather depends on Gemma,’ he said. ‘We hadn’t quite got that far.’
Now it was Gemma’s turn to blush. She turned around to look at the pile of chopped vegetables on the board behind her.
‘I think we should probably eat,’ she said.
‘It’s bad enough that I descended on Cat, bringing chaos in my wake.
The least I can do is feed her—’ She broke off at the sound of the front door closing. ‘And Joe,’ she added, grinning.
Moments later, he appeared in the doorway, his normally dark hair made two shades paler by the layer of sawdust which covered it. In fact, it seemed to have covered pretty much his entire body.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not coming in any further,’ he said to Cat, holding up his hands in submission.
They were as filthy as the rest of him. ‘I’ll grab a quick shower before I’m made to stand in the naughty corner,’ he added, with a cheeky grin at Gemma.
‘Oh, hi, Leo… How are you, mate?’ With another broad smile at his wife, he turned on his heels and headed back out into the hallway.
‘He’s still a carpenter then,’ said Leo, the corners of his mouth twitching.
Cat nodded. ‘Still a carpenter. Still comes home every day looking like that.’
‘But you wouldn’t change it for the world,’ said Gemma.
‘I wouldn’t,’ Cat replied.
And who could blame her? Cat had always said she’d hit the jackpot when she married Joe, and in turn Joe obviously felt the same way about Cat.
His unfazed acceptance of finding Leo in his house was so like him – he had always seemed to take life in his stride.
That wasn’t to say he didn’t care about things, quite the reverse.
He was one of the most thoughtful people Gemma knew, and the kindest. And his ability to calmly accept whatever came his way was the perfect accompaniment to Cat’s warm generosity.
Gemma used to envy them their easy and loving relationship, wondering whether she and Leo would ever find such peace within theirs.
At times she even thought it unfair that Cat and Joe’s life seemed so unmarred by tragedy and grief, that they had never really faced any challenges together, but now she knew better.
They had had their share of difficult times, just the same as everyone else but, unlike her and Leo, they had never sought to apportion blame when things went wrong.
There was so much Gemma needed to say to Leo, but she wasn’t sure whether it would make a difference, not after all this time.
They had traded so many blows in the past; perhaps too many.
Would they ever be able to fully recover what they once had?
She hoped so. And the difference was that this time, she wouldn’t give up.
Dinner was delicious and the atmosphere companionable and friendly, just as it always had been when the four of them got together.
Leo and Joe got on well, and the two of them chatted away as if the last two decades had never happened, but Gemma still couldn’t properly relax.
She was acutely aware of the farm, only two and a half hours away, but which had never felt further. And the clock was still ticking.
She wanted to get up and run out of the door, drive like a maniac and get there in half the time, but she knew none of those things was possible.
She must be patient. Leo was worn out, and returning to the farm this evening would mean another long drive on top of the one he’d already had.
It was too much. Cat had already offered him the sofa for the night, clearly thinking along the same lines.
Besides, Gemma still hadn’t come up with a proper plan for Thistledown yet.
She was part of the way there, mulling over a few ideas as to how she thought things could work, but none of it was fully formed.
She just needed a little while longer to—
Her attention snapped back to the table as Cat waved a hand in front of her face. ‘And she’s back in the room…’
Gemma smiled. ‘Sorry, my head is going round and round thinking about the farm. I’m being terrible company.’
‘And have you come to any conclusions?’ asked Leo.
‘Some…’ She was reluctant to tell him anything until she was certain she had hold of something good. Although, hadn’t her reluctance in confiding in him been part of the problem in the past? Perhaps it was time to start trusting Leo…
‘Well, fortunately for you, I’ve just remembered that tonight is supposed to be mine and Joe’s date night,’ said Cat. ‘So as long as you two don’t mind, we can go on our merry way and leave you both to discuss… things.’
Gemma narrowed her eyes, instantly suspicious. Joe looked as surprised as she did. ‘You’ve never mentioned date night before.’
‘I don’t tell you everything, you know.’
‘Funny, but I can’t picture it.’ She slid Leo a sideways glance. ‘So how long has this been a thing?’
Cat looked at Joe. ‘Gosh… I don’t know, maybe a couple of years? Something like that.’
Joe nodded. ‘Must be, at least,’ he said.
‘Been anywhere nice?’ asked Gemma. ‘I think I know most places around here.’
‘Um… It’s mainly just the cinema, or Nando’s,’ said Joe. ‘Nothing too elaborate.’
‘Cheapskate,’ said Gemma, grinning. ‘If I give you a few more minutes, do you think you might come up with a better answer?’
Cat put her hand over her heart as if shocked. ‘Well, really… how rude.’ She pushed her chair away from the table. ‘Right, come on, Joe, that level of cheek gives us the right to delegate the washing-up.’ She stuck out her tongue at Gemma. ‘Shame we’ve eaten, really, I quite fancy a Nando’s.’
Gemma’s heart was racing as she carried two mugs of tea into the living room a little while later.
She felt incredibly self-conscious all of a sudden, but that wasn’t all.
‘I feel terrible,’ she said, putting down the drinks on the coffee table.
‘I’ve caused enough trouble as it is, and now we’ve practically hounded Cat and Joe out of their own house. ’