Chapter 21
21
Libby awoke with a start and immediately felt a blinding headache. She also had a stiff back where she had obviously lain awkwardly.
She became aware of someone lying next to her and turned her head to come face to face with Ethan.
She took a sharp intake of breath, trying to work out where they were and what had happened. For a brief second, it felt just like all those years ago in Las Vegas when she woke up after they’d got married. She even checked her ring finger, but thankfully it was bare. So where was she?
Ethan moved slightly and murmured, ‘Good morning,’ to her.
She gave him a half-hearted shove and sat up, staring around. She realised that they appeared to be in one of the old railway carriages, lying together on one of the long seats. What on earth had happened last night?
She had started off going to gin night with the girls but didn’t remember a whole lot after that. She must have drunk an awful lot to block so much of the evening out. But perhaps there was a whisper of a memory of being with Ethan in the darkness. Was that in the train carriage where they’d somehow ended up?
She was just about to ask him what had happened when she became aware of a massive jolt that ran through her whole body. Was this the worst hangover in the world ever?
Then she realised that it wasn’t just her. The whole of the compartment was moving.
They both sprang up at the same time and rushed to the window.
‘We’re moving!’ said Libby, staring as the lavender fields on the other side of the railway track began to move sideways.
‘Are you always this observant first thing in the morning?’ asked Ethan, yawning.
He was maddeningly calm whilst Libby intended to keep freaking out.
‘This train is moving!’ she said, beginning to raise her voice. ‘Why is this train moving? Who’s driving it? Why are we in this carriage? And why is this train moving when you’re the driver and you’re here next to me?’
Ethan winced and held up his hand. ‘Can you keep the yelling down to a dull roar until I work out what’s going on?’ he asked, leaning past her to pull down the window a couple of inches and try to peer out.
Libby patted down her jeans pockets before searching the floor for her phone, but she couldn’t see it. ‘Where’s my handbag?’ she asked. ‘And what are we doing in here anyway?’
‘I seem to remember you left your bag on the bench outside Platform 1 last night. You had an extremely good time at your ladies’ gin night and then insisted on having a tour of the carriage when I bumped into you on the way home,’ Ethan told her.
A cold draught whistled through the open window and around Libby’s shoulders and she hugged her arms around her.
‘And then what?’ asked Libby.
‘What do you mean?’ replied Ethan, looking back at her with a grin. ‘Are you asking whether you gave into the constant temptation that is my body?’
Libby rolled her eyes and glared at him.
He shook his head. ‘Don’t worry. You pretty much passed out on me as soon as we got in here. I guess I did too – more from weariness than the gin cocktails that you were enjoying.’
But Libby wasn’t concerned about the past. She was more worried about the days ahead.
‘Listen, Connolly, you’d better figure a way to get me off this train,’ she snapped. ‘I’ve got a tight deadline and a huge amount of chocolate truffles to make. I haven’t got time for a magical mystery tour this morning! Where are we going, by the way?’
‘I guess Dad and Grandad have decided to give it a test run without me,’ he told her, with a shrug. ‘I was supposed to be helping, but it looks like I overslept.’ He patted his jeans pocket and brought out his phone before grimacing at the screen. ‘And my battery’s dead.’
Libby groaned. ‘So what do we do now?’
Ethan leaned out of the small window as far as he could but was unable to make his shout of warning heard above the loud sound of the whistle being pulled from the driver’s cab at the same time.
Libby blanched and held her head at the noise. ‘Ow!’
But the train continued at its leisurely pace with no signs of slowing down.
‘I don’t believe this,’ said Libby, looking out at the countryside. ‘This is all your fault. You’d better work out a way to get this thing turned around!’
‘We weren’t planning on stopping until we get to Cranley junction which is five miles along the track,’ he told her.
‘Five miles!’ Libby nearly screamed in frustration. ‘What are we going to do until then?’ she asked.
‘Enjoy the journey,’ Ethan told her.
‘I don’t have time for this,’ she said, feeling decidedly grumpy as she slumped back down on the seat. The hangover wasn’t helping her mood either.
‘Listen, from what I’ve seen over the past few days, this is the first time you’ve seen daylight for a while,’ he said. ‘So just relax and enjoy the vitamin D, would you?’
She sighed heavily. ‘I don’t have time to relax.’
He frowned. ‘Why is this order stressing you so much?’ he asked.
‘Because it’s a ridiculously large order that I need to complete. I need the money since losing my job,’ she told him. ‘What else do you expect Dad and I to live on?’
‘Perhaps you could ask everyone for help as I previously suggested,’ he told her, raising an eyebrow at her.
But Libby automatically shook her head. ‘I don’t need help,’ she said. ‘Nobody else can make the chocolate.’ She sighed. ‘All I know is that I don’t have time to sit and look at the countryside this morning.’
‘Even when it’s this beautiful?’ he asked.
He had a point, she had to concede. From the large windows, she could see out across the fields, where the mist hung on to the cold ground and, in the distance, the hills rolled out to the horizon. The trees had begun to change to a kaleidoscope of golds, reds and orange as autumn went on.
Despite the many exotic places she had visited through her flight attendant job, nowhere had ever matched the beauty of her own village and surrounding area.
‘See?’ he said, in a smug tone.
‘Just get us out of here,’ she told him, not wanting to admit that he was right.
To her surprise, he walked over and sat next to her.
‘You do this every time,’ he said, his tone more serious. ‘Ever since I first met you, in fact. As soon as you’re in trouble, you isolate yourself away from your friends and don’t tell us anything.’
She frowned at him. ‘Us?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah. I was your friend too, remember? Not just the girls. So I know the signs that you’re struggling, Libby Jacobs.’
She shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to admit that he was right. ‘It’s always been a struggle,’ she muttered. ‘You know that.’ She paused before carrying on. ‘I only got through my childhood because of you.’
It was true. Ethan had always been there to cheer her up with some silly joke or to whisk her away into Cranbridge where they could spend hours messing about beside the river, being anywhere other than their unhappy homes.
‘Right back at you,’ he replied before he frowned. ‘At least you took care of your dad when he needed you,’ he carried on. ‘I’m the weak one. I’m the one who kept running, leaving Ryan to deal with everything this past year.’
‘You’re back here now,’ she said. ‘That’s the most important thing.’
‘Only for now,’ he reminded her. ‘My next job starts after Halloween so I’ll be gone again.’
She felt suddenly felt sad that she wouldn’t be seeing Ethan on a daily basis for much longer.
‘But I’m sure I can drive you mad whilst I’m still here,’ he told her with a smile. ‘As always.’
As usual, he was deflecting any sort of discussion about his own personal feelings with humour. He was the same, familiar Ethan that she had always known. The best friend that had been missing for so long in her life.
She gave a start as he covered her hand with his larger, warmer one and squeezed it. She blinked back the sudden tears that were pricking her eyes.
She couldn’t stop herself from blurting out, ‘I’m so glad we’re friends again.’
He gave her a long look. ‘Friends?’ he said, raising his eyebrows.
For a second she couldn’t breathe as she read the unspoken words in his eyes.
After a long pause, Ethan broke into a smile. ‘Okay. Friends it is,’ he said. ‘Unless you want to make me a partner in that profitable chocolate business of yours?’
‘The only thing I want you to do is stop this train,’ she replied, swiftly moving her hand away from his and getting up to look out of the window once more, hoping the cool air would help lessen the heat that had flared up in her cheeks.
What concerned her most at that moment, even more than the chocolate sitting unmade in the school kitchen, was what had happened to her the night before. She had probably needed to blow off a bit of steam, but surely she’d have done that with her friends rather than Ethan?
Of course, the two of them had been friends once. So many years ago, he had been her everything. He knew her inside out, but the years had passed and they had grown apart. Or so she had thought.
Now, when she had let her guard down, he had roared back into her life. She didn’t even know what they had talked about the previous evening. Apparently, she had slept in his arms too and she had absolutely no idea how she felt about that.
All she knew was that she was never drinking gin ever again.