‘Where are you taking me?’ said Will.
‘I don’t mind. Your place or mine? You choose.’
He grinned. ‘This day’s getting more amazing by the minute.’
‘Tell me more about your book.’
Ten minutes later, they reached Elliscombe. So enthralled by what he was saying that she forgot to panic about the traffic around them, Layla drove through the town and pulled into the lane behind her flat. There was the allocated parking spot that had stood empty ever since she’d bought the property two years ago. Without even pausing to wonder if she could do it, she reversed the car into the narrow space. It wasn’t quite straight, so she moved forward before reversing again: better this time. Her palms weren’t damp and her heart wasn’t racing; it was as if one of those TV hypnotists had cast their spell on her and quite literally siphoned all the terror from her brain.
‘. . . and that was it, she called to tell me she’d stayed up all night reading the manuscript. Well done,’ said Will.
‘I know. I think I’m cured.’ She held out her hands and admired their rock-steadiness.
‘Excellent. Do you have any clients to see this afternoon?’
‘Not a single one.’
‘Even more excellent.’
‘How about you?’ said Layla.
‘If anyone needs a taxi, they can call someone else. My phone’s staying switched off.’
As they made their way round to the front door, Will took her hand once more, and the sensation of his fingers interlocking with hers was the best feeling in the world. Every bit of her body was tingling with anticipation now; this was what she’d been waiting for for so—
‘Layla, perfect timing!’ Malcolm Painter, who ran the garage repair shop, was hurrying up the road towards her, waving a fat grey folder fastened with several elastic bands. ‘I need to go through these with you and it’s urgent.’
Was he mad? ‘It’ll have to wait till tomorrow, Malcolm.’
He looked horrified. ‘But it can’t wait! Come on, love, you always fit me in when I’m in a rush. Can’t we do it now?’
Honestly, you could tell he’d been married to his wife for forty-two years. Couldn’t he see that she was holding hands with Will, on her way into her flat with him, and that now simply wasn’t the time?
At her side, Will gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze and she knew he was letting her know that if she did want to go through Malcolm’s mountain of disorganised paperwork, it was fine by him, he was prepared to wait.
But Layla wasn’t. Sod that. She didn’t want to waste another minute standing out here on the pavement. In a firm but pleasant fashion, she said, ‘Sorry, Malcolm, but it’s a no.’
As soon as she’d closed the front door behind them, she pressed herself against Will and kissed him again until her entire body was ablaze with excitement. Then she said, ‘There’s something I need to tell you. Well, warn you about.’
‘Oh great, here we go. You have a husband. You have six children. You keep baby alligators in the bath.’
‘I talk a lot in my sleep.’
‘You do?’ Will lifted a strand of hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. ‘In that case, there’s something I’d better warn you about too. You’re not going to be getting any sleep.’
Chapter 45
‘Well this is a surprise! I didn’t know you were coming back.’
Didi’s face had lit up at the sight of her. Caz, dragging her overnight case across the ancient flagstones of the reception hall, inwardly melted with happiness, because it was this kind of genuinely warm welcome that made you choose to return to a hotel. She’d had enough practice over the years learning how to distinguish between those who put on a good show and those who actually meant it.
Didi was the real deal.
It was also lovely to know that someone you liked and admired liked you back and wasn’t merely being polite.
‘Another flying visit.’ She hugged Didi, breathing in the rose scent of her shampoo. ‘I’m meeting up with a director tomorrow morning who’s working at the RSC in Stratford.’
‘Well you’re looking fantastic. Is Shay with you?’
‘No, there was no point in him coming too. I’m heading back tomorrow, straight after the meeting.’
‘D’you have anything arranged for this evening? If you’re free, we could have dinner. Only if you want to,’ Didi went on hastily.
‘Oh hooray, I’d love that! How are things with you?’
‘Great. Though I’m not as tanned as you.’
‘This is what happens when you spend three weeks frying yourself on a Caribbean beach.’
‘And how’s Shay doing?’
‘Pretty good. Well, considering. He misses his dad.’
‘Of course he does. Look, I’m so sorry, but I have people waiting to see me. Can I leave you with Sylvia to check in? Shall we say eight this evening?’
‘Perfect,’ said Caz.
Didi gave her another hug. ‘Can’t wait. We’ll have a proper catch-up.’
They had dinner in Caz’s room. Neither of the suites was available so she’d been allocated one of the smaller doubles on the first floor, but it didn’t matter a bit.
‘It’s been all fancy stuff and seafood for the last few weeks,’ she said by way of apology, ‘so I’ve been craving pizza and chips. Is that OK?’
‘My favourite.’ Sitting cross-legged opposite her on the king-sized bed, Didi opened the lid of the cardboard takeaway box and swooned as a garlicky cloud of steam rose up to greet her. ‘Our restaurant’s great, but we don’t have a proper pizza oven. Carlo’s do the best ones for miles.’
‘Shay told me about them last week. He also said you always used to order pepperoni with mushrooms and chillies.’
‘He’s remembered that from years ago.’ Didi grinned and shook her head. She lifted out a slice and took a bite. ‘Ow, hot . . .’
‘What was Shay’s favourite?’
‘Spicy meat feast with extra olives and peppers, which used to cost eighty pence more than mine. Funny how these things stick in your mind. I’ve never understood how people can like olives.’
‘And how about Aaron?’ Caz watched as Didi expertly twirled a string of melted cheese around the index finger of her ring-free left hand and popped it into her mouth.
Didi put down the half-eaten slice of pizza. ‘Tomato and mozzarella. But we broke up.’
‘I know. I’m sorry.’ Didi’s eyes widened and Caz explained, ‘When I was checking in, I mentioned something about the wedding to Sylvia and she told me it was all off.’
‘It’s not a secret. And I’m not heartbroken. Sometimes you just realise these things aren’t going to work out.’
‘If his favourite pizza’s a margherita, I’m not surprised you couldn’t marry him. Sorry again.’ Caz waved a hand by way of apology. ‘But it’s definitely the most boring one. So when did you break up?’
Didi shrugged. ‘It was more of a gradual fading-away.’
‘According to Sylvia, it happened a while back. But you carried on wearing the ring, making out everything was fine. And now you’re looking kind of awkward,’ Caz said mildly. ‘Which is . . . interesting.’