A man was walking across the cricket pitch with two dogs running close by. Dressed in a white T-shirt and dark jeans, the man repeatedly bent to pick up a stick for one of his dogs. Each time he threw the stick, he’d push his dark hair away from his face and occasionally his T-shirt would lift to reveal a taut stomach. Pimm’s momentarily forgotten, they stared transfixed.
‘I wish I had a dog,’ said Tess.
‘Dogs?’
‘Just one.’
‘Are you serious? Adonis is striding across Halston cricket pitch and you’re looking at his dogs?’ Holly shook her head. ‘Tell me he’s your neighbour and he’s single.’
Tess took a sip of her drink then fished out a slice of cucumber from her glass. ‘I’ve seen him once before coming out of Jackson’s Store.’ She slowly turned the slice between her fingers, biting the dark green ring of peel while leaving a fleshy star-shaped slice.
‘And?’
‘And nothing. I don’t know who he is. I suppose he must be local if he shops at Jackson’s and walks his dogs here.’
Every now and then Holly would swivel in her seat to look at the man and his dogs. They watched him laugh when one of his dogs lay panting on the grass, refusing to fetch the stick. He crouched, sitting on his heels and patted his exhausted spaniel.
Tess laughed. ‘You’re incorrigible.’ She watched her friend who was leaning on her elbows and resting her chin on her cupped palms. Holly had a pretty face with delicate features and blue eyes. Her blonde highlighted hair wasn’t the yellowy-blonde hair that looked disastrous after a cheap lean-over-the-bath session at home. Holly spent a fortune every six weeks on professional highlights and a trim off her shoulder length bob. Her style was only let down by the fact that she rarely left herself enough time to blow-dry her hair. So there she sat, looking dreamily at the man and his dogs, with sections of her hair sticking out while others curled under.
‘Don’t look. Sit still. Oh my God, he’s coming this way.’ Holly smoothed her hair and sat upright.
Twenty seconds passed. They sat, heads bowed, pretending to drink.
‘Where is he?’ whispered Holly.
‘By the boundary line.’
‘Where is he now?’
‘Shhh!’
They both sucked on their straws, eyes lowered. Two spaniels ran past their bench followed shortly by their owner. As he strode past them, they both looked up.
‘Lovely evening.’ He smiled, looking directly at Tess.
She felt a rush of blood to her face. ‘Yes.’
He walked on.
‘Yes?’ squeaked Holly, mimicking her friend when he was out of earshot. ‘All you can say is, “yes”?’
Tess didn’t answer. She turned and watched the man’s back view stride away. She noticed the valley of the line of his spine under his T-shirt, made by the muscles on his back rising up on either side. She watched his hair move in the breeze. Something inexplicable had happened in that split second they’d met each other’s glance. She couldn’t think of a single witty thing to say to Holly. She just sat gazing in his direction, watching as he walked away across the village green.
Chapter Four
It was the last day of June and Tess hadn’t seen Blake for several days. She’d invited him for dinner that evening in order to explain why she wanted to end their relationship. She knew it was a strange way to end things but she also thought that after two years together, Blake deserved more than a text to say goodbye. For goodness’ sake, weren’t there parties for celebrating divorce and greeting cards from the dog or the cat these days? Surely she could cook Blake a you’re dumped meal and add a little explanation into the pot.
Tess had blown caution and finance to the wind with a huge shop at Sainsbury’s. She’d bought an ocean of seafood, a bottle of wine, a date and walnut loaf, blackberries the size of fifty pence pieces and dark organic chocolate. She was going to cook his favourite meal of seafood linguine and blackberry and apple crumble. It didn’t stretch her culinary skills, but once, when they’d played a game of What If, he’d chosen this meal to be his last request meal. It somehow seemed appropriate.
Tess had been descaling fish and peeling prawns for ten minutes before she realised that she’d left the linguine in the staff room.
‘Damn.’
She held her forehead in frustration. She could hardly ask Blake to pick up his you’re dumped ingredients himself, so she didn’t have a choice. She’d have to drive a couple of miles to Jackson’s Store in the next village and as it was now nearly six o’clock already, she’d have to get a move on before the shop closed. Tess hurriedly covered the prawns with a food net, washed her hands and grabbed her handbag from the kitchen table.
Soon she was driving along the narrow winding country roads, her mind awash with thoughts of how to finish with Blake. Perhaps she should explain in the Star Trek terminology he was familiar with. ‘I need space, this is the final frontier.’
Tess slowed her car down to a walking pace, enabling a large delivery van to edge past her on the other side of the narrow twisting lane. Driving closer to the lane’s hedges, she cringed as twigs squeaked along her car’s windows and paintwork. In her rear-view mirror she saw a black Land Rover Defender pull up behind her as the delivery van manoeuvred his way past them. She peered into her rear-view mirror again to look at the driver. He looked vaguely familiar.
Catching sight of her face in the mirror, she stared in horror. Her reflection was crusty and peeling, reminding her of Marlow in The Singing Detective. How could she have suddenly developed psoriasis of such monstrous proportions? On closer inspection, and to her great relief, she recognised fish scales.
The road was now clear and a quick beep from the Land Rover behind only gave her a few seconds to brush the scales off her face. She slipped the gear stick into first, pressed her foot on the accelerator and continued on to the store.
Indicating left, she turned into the small parking area outside Jackson’s. She was looking in her handbag, hunting for a mint, when the Land Rover pulled alongside her. It towered above her Mini, its paintwork gleaming like melted tar in the bright sunshine. She was still searching through her messy bag when the Defender door slammed shut on the driver’s side. Tess looked up and saw two dogs rubbing dribble against the inside of the rear window. Recognising them, her heartbeat quickened.
Then she saw him. He walked so close to the front of her bonnet that she could almost see his eyelashes. Tess breathed deeply and looked back at the two furry faces that were panting in much the same way that she was.
What should she do now? She needed pasta. Should she wait until he’d left? Surely she couldn’t come face-to-face with him without her make-up on and smelling of prawns? But it was getting late and she had to prepare the crumble before Blake arrived. She had no option. She’d just have to dodge him in the aisles. Her heart was hammering. She opened the car door, climbed out and walked towards the shop. Tess hesitated. Her hand rested on the flaking paintwork before she took a deep breath and pushed open the door.
A smell of spices filled the air. She couldn’t see him but there were only five small aisles so he couldn’t be far away. It was a small intimate shop and she was beginning to waver again and think about hiding in the car until he’d left. Walking alongside shelving that displayed loaves, rolls and cakes, Tess’s eyes scanned ahead. The pasta wasn’t on this aisle so there wouldn’t be a quick getaway. Turning into the next aisle, she stopped. He was sitting on his heels studying a dog food label, with two pints of semi-skimmed milk tucked under one arm.