Chapter 29
Scarlett checked her watch before picking up her pace, her fast walk quickly turning into a jog and then a full-pelt run. She was going to be late for the village meeting, and she didn’t fancy her chances if she had to walk in late in front of everyone, particularly the esteemed mayoress.
As she rounded the corner, her heart sank.
She was late. The street and green outside the village hall was empty.
Everyone must have already gone inside. Slowing, she stopped and glanced behind in the direction of the safety of Pennycress Inn.
Did she just go back to Pennycress and pretend she’d forgotten all about the meeting, or did she brave it and see if she could sneak inside?
She’d wanted to attend, she’d wanted to experience first-hand the charm and quirkiness of these meetings, and she’d have been on time if it hadn’t been for the O’Sullivan boys having trodden mud all across the rug in the sitting room.
With Pennycress being fully booked and other guests likely to have been using the sitting room this evening, she couldn’t very well have left it to clean up later.
But now she was late. Lifting her thumb to her lip, she chewed on the cuticle.
She’d just go back. In fact, in some ways, it’d likely be a blessing in disguise, anyway.
If she wasn’t in the village meeting, then she wouldn’t see Rowan and she wouldn’t have to tell him about Tyler.
Instead, she could continue living in her dream a while longer. Yes, she’d head back.
‘Scarlett!’
Frowning, she turned around to see who had called her name.
‘Over here.’ Charlie appeared from behind a parked car and waved towards her. ‘You’re late too?’
‘Yep. Well, to be honest, I was just considering whether to head back to Pennycress or not.’ Scarlett waved her hand in the direction of the inn.
‘Aw, really? And there was me thinking that for once I wouldn’t have to sneak past Miss Cooke and complete the walk of shame up the aisle by myself.
’ Charlie chuckled. ‘I’m pretty sure I can get us in without having to pledge to sell our souls to raise money for a new bench or bunting or whatever else Miss Cooke is hoping to buy in next. ’
‘Haha, well, when you put it like that, okay, I’ll come.’ Scarlett shoved her hands in her pockets.
‘Great. Let’s get this over and done with then.’ Charlie grinned as he stepped forward and pulled open the door to the village hall, ushering her inside first.
Stepping through the door, Scarlett froze.
Literally every single person living in Meadowfield must be sitting in the chairs in front of her and every single one of them had swivelled their heads in slow motion to look at her.
She blinked under their gaze before she heard a microphone crackle behind her.
Turning, she spotted Miss Cooke standing on a low stage behind a lectern with a small microphone.
She held her hand up in a slight wave before thinking better of it and shoving it back in her pocket.
‘My apologies, Miss Cooke and everyone else.’ Coming up behind her, Charlie held his hand up confidently towards Miss Cooke, whose stern gaze broke into one of familiarity and warmth. ‘My fault entirely.’
Miss Cooke smiled. ‘Evening Charlie. Come on in.’
‘Thank you.’ Charlie turned to Scarlett and spoke loudly, ensuring Miss Cooke could hear every word. ‘Again, my apologies, Scarlett, for keeping you.’
Scarlett nodded, unsure how to answer before following Charlie down the aisle until they spotted Nicola who, much to Scarlett’s relief, had saved them both a seat.
Slipping onto one of the hard wooden chairs, Scarlett mouthed ‘thank you’ to Charlie before turning around to search the gathering for Rowan.
Spotting him a couple of rows behind them, she smiled as he grinned back at her.
‘And on to one of the most important events of the year, Meadowfield’s Christmas carol service.
’ Miss Cooke’s voice filled the old hall.
‘As you are all aware this takes place on Christmas Eve and enables all of Meadowfield’s residents to come together to sing carols and share the joy of Christmas. ’
A slight murmur of agreement filtered across the audience before Miss Cooke held her hand up for silence and continued.
‘Again, we are lucky to have Pennycress Inn supply us with hot chocolate and cake, and we’re also blessed to have Rowan join us with his coffee cart so there’ll be refreshments for all. Of course…’
As the topic turned to other matters, such as missing post and the success of the Christmas market, Scarlett tuned out, letting Miss Cooke’s words wash over her as she recited the speech she’d planned to give to Rowan over and over in her mind.
She knew she needed to tell him that she had, effectively, been having an affair with a married man, and she would – but however she planned to tell him, whichever words she chose, it all came down to one thing: whether he’d be able to see past the cold harsh truth and believe she’d had no idea or whether he’d just hear the surface level of it.
Whether he’d even give her the time of day to explain.
Especially since he’d seen the other side of things. He’d been the one who had been cheated on. He’d been the one left at home alone and hurt.
‘…Rowan Pinter and Meadowfield’s newcomer, Scarlett Wynters.’
Scarlett jerked her head up towards Miss Cooke at the mention of her name. What had she missed? As a round of applause erupted around her, Scarlett turned to Nicola and raised her eyebrows.
Holding her hand in front of her mouth, Nicola leaned towards her as she whispered, ‘She’s talking about you and Rowan rescuing the new runaway sheep.’
‘Ah, thanks.’ After whispering back, Scarlett glanced over her shoulder, seeking out Rowan again, who gave her a thumbs-up. Well, this was the first time and likely the last time she’d even been or be mentioned at a village meeting. Wait until she told Devon!
‘And of course, huge thanks to the wonderful Charlie who has once again stepped in to save the village and agreed to give the deviant sheep a home. You could say he’s become Meadowfield’s very own lost sheep collector.
’ Miss Cooke chuckled at her own joke before speaking again.
‘That matter brings us to the end of our meeting. Thank you, everyone, for attending and Merry Christmas to those who won’t be able to make the carol service on Christmas Eve. ’
A murmur of Merry Christmases filtered around the large room as chairs were scraped back, coats zipped up and gloves pulled on as people began filtering out of the hall.
‘So what do you think about your very first village meeting? Was it everything you’ve ever hoped for?’ Nicola laughed as she shrugged into her coat.
‘Haha, it was rather sweet.’ Scarlett smiled. Or she was sure it would have been if she hadn’t been quite so distracted by the thought of speaking to Rowan.
‘Right, I need to rush off back to the farm.’ Charlie leaned across and kissed Nicola on the cheek. ‘Shall I meet you there?’
‘I’ll come with you.’ Nicola turned towards Scarlett. ‘Unless anything else needs doing at Pennycress?’
‘Nope, I think everything’s in hand.’ Scarlett pulled her mobile from her pocket and frowned. Seven missed calls from Tyler. Great.
‘I’ll see you in the morning then.’ After touching her lightly on the arm, Nicola followed Charlie out of the hall.
Leaning down, Scarlett picked up her bag and pulled the strap over her shoulder as she realised Rowan was waiting at the end of the row of chairs for her.
She looked down at her coat and buttoned it up, intentionally taking her time.
She could feel the nervous energy inside her pooling in her stomach as she made her way down the row, the seat of the last chair jabbing her in the back of the leg, the pain a welcome distraction to her thoughts. ‘Hi.’
‘Hey. Sorry I missed you. I waited outside until the last moment.’ Leaning forward, Rowan closed the gap between them, bringing his arms around her in a hug.
As she wrapped her arms around him, she tilted her head to avoid his kiss and instead leaned her cheek on his shoulder.
Closing her eyes, she wished this moment could last forever, the anticipation of the potential relationship unfolding in front of them, the feeling that he wanted to be with her. Her. Scarlett Wynters.
It was all going to change, and it was all going to change tonight. She could feel it, sense the dread drawing closer.
Rubbing her arms as he stepped back, he smiled. ‘Do you fancy going to the pub? We could maybe grab a bite to eat? Unless you’ve eaten, in which case we could just have a drink or play some pool or people watch?’
As they walked down the aisle between the rows of chairs, she looked down at her boots, the thick soles clumping against the worn floorboards. Taking a breath, she looked up and met his gaze. ‘That sounds lovely, but do you mind if we go for a walk first?’
‘Sure, good plan. Maybe we could walk towards the edge of the village? The fields were looking beautiful all dusted in white this morning.’
‘Great.’ She winced at how deadpan her voice was. He sounded so eager to spend time with her, she just hoped what she had to tell him wouldn’t change the way he was feeling about her.
‘So, how’s your day been then? You must have impressed Miss Cooke this morning during the Community Hub meeting at the inn, or else she wouldn’t have been quite so forgiving when you arrived late here.’ Rowan chuckled as he took her hand in his.
‘Umm, I think that had more to do with the fact Charlie covered for me. Nicola is convinced Miss Cooke has a soft spot for him.’ She tightened her grip on Rowan’s hand, enjoying what might be the last few minutes of his warmth against her skin.
‘Haha, that does seem to be true. I think she’s happy to have Little Mead remain as a local farm rather than have one of these great big corporate chains run it or dismantle it and sell it off piece by piece.’
Scarlett nodded. Nicola had told her that Charlie had inherited Little Mead from his uncle not so long ago and that his first instinct had been to sell it and carry on with his old way of life.
She could imagine the villagers must have been bracing themselves for a big developer to swoop in and build a huge housing estate at the edge of the village. ‘That’s true.’
‘Yep. Good job you met Charlie before you came in though. She’d only just finished telling off a couple who live down the street from me for arriving two minutes late.’ Rowan smiled across at her.
She nodded. As they came to the door, she took a deep breath; the air was quiet, still, cold, and as she looked up, she realised the sky was still laden with snow, ready to drop at any moment.
She just hoped it might wait a little. At least until they’d been on their walk, and she’d had the chance to tell him about her and Tyler’s relationship and what she’d discovered at the end of it.
Crossing the road, they began to walk in the direction of Wisteria Lane and Pennycress leading out of the village.
As they strolled slowly towards Pennycress, she could almost feel the air suffocating her.
She needed to tell him, and the best way was for her to just come out with it. ‘Rowan, can we talk?’
Pausing, he turned to face her and rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. ‘You don’t want this, do you? It’s all been a mistake?’
‘No, no, it’s not been a mistake.’ Reaching out, she clasped both his hands in hers and searched his eyes. ‘Not for me. Not at all. Has it for you?’
‘Of course not.’ Looking down at their hands, Rowan squeezed her gently. ‘If it’s not that then what is it you want to talk to me about?’
‘About my last relationship.’ Taking a deep breath in, she looked him in the eye. ‘It was messy. And complicated.’
‘It was?’
‘Yes, so complicated.’ She rolled her eyes. The word didn’t give her and Tyler’s relationship the due it deserved or had earned, but she couldn’t think of a better one, so ‘complicated’ would have to do.
‘Well, as long as you weren’t dating someone behind their partner’s back, I think we’ll be okay.’ Rowan chuckled. ‘That’s how my ex-best-mate described his relationship with my ex, “complicated”. As if…’
He continued speaking but Scarlett wasn’t sure at what point she forgot to breathe.
All she could focus on was that her and Tyler’s relationship had been no better than Rowan’s ex’s with his former best mate.
She had been seeing Tyler behind Donna’s back, and to make matters worse they’d had a child, too.
Letting his words trail off, Rowan reached up and touched Scarlett’s cheek. ‘Are you okay? You’ve gone super pale.’
‘No, I’m not, I…’ She couldn’t get the words out.
The street was spinning around her, and she felt as though she was losing control of the conversation, the situation, of everything.
She liked him, really liked him, she was falling for him, and yet he’d already confirmed they’d have no future together if she told him the truth. But what else could she do?
‘Let’s get you inside. Pennycress is just up here. We can talk in there, in the warm.’ Wrapping one arm around her shoulders, he began leading them towards the inn.
Leaning into his side, she let herself be led, but she could feel the opportunity to come clean slipping away, and she wasn’t sure when she’d have another chance.
Christmas Eve was in a couple of days and that would bring its own excitement.
And their days would be full of festivities and chaos with her at the inn and him working hard at his coffee cart.
Leaning across her, Rowan pushed open the gate into Pennycress’ front garden, and that’s when she saw him.
That’s when she realised, with a sickening blow, that she’d been right; the opportunity for her to tell Rowan had passed.
At least the chance for her to tell him of her own accord, anyway.
Fisting her hands, she dug her nails into her palms as she looked up to the figure standing on the decking outside the front door. ‘Tyler.’