Josephine sipped her cava, her eyes not leaving Pepper’s.
‘All you really need to ask yourself is: do I want to be with Finn for the long haul?’ she said. ‘If the answer is yes, then you must do everything you can to make it work, even if that means making some big changes to your life.’
‘But I can’t.’ Pepper rubbed at her eyes in agitation. ‘I can’t leave Suffolk.’
‘Can’t?’ Josephine raised a single eyebrow. ‘Or won’t?’
It was dark by the time they left Cal Pep, but the streetlights cast a marmalade glow across the cobbles. The air carried the rich scent of a hundred kitchen windows propped open, and notes of music danced past them from bars that were only now beginning to usher in the night.
‘Do you know, I think I may have overdone it a tad,’ remarked Josephine, wobbling unsteadily on her walking stick. With her frizzy grey hair brushed out and her long green trousers dusting the cobbles, she reminded Pepper of a dandelion.
‘No, we are not walking back,’ Pepper said firmly, stepping in front of Josephine as her friend attempted to scuttle past the waiting line of taxis.
‘Bossy boots!’ Josephine blew a friendly raspberry at Pepper as they slid across the backseat.
It didn’t take them long to reach the hotel, but instead of waiting for Pepper to pay the driver, Josephine opened her door on the traffic side of the car and clambered out.
The next few seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. There was a loud honking of horns, a screech of alarm and a male voice shouting. Before Pepper could even untangle herself from the seatbelt, Josephine had been hoisted up in the air by a tall man in a hooded top, and the motorbike that had almost hit her was speeding away, its driver yelling obscenities over his shoulder.
Rushing around the bonnet of the taxi, Pepper practically fell across Josephine, who had just been lowered gently to the ground by her rescuer.
‘Are you OK?’ she exclaimed, then, when Josephine nodded, ‘You gave me the scare of my life. What were you thinking? Jesus Christ, woman!’
Glancing up, she was just about to start thanking the man when he pulled down his hood and smiled at her.
‘Wh––?’
Josephine beamed up at them both from the pavement.
‘Finn, darling!’ she giggled. ‘Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?’
Chapter 37
In spite of the fact she had come less than an inch from death by angry motorcyclist, Josephine batted away Pepper’s suggestion that she see a doctor.
‘Not a scratch on me, thanks to this one,’ she said, linking an arm through Finn’s. ‘But I will let you come up and make me a hot toddy, if you insist.’
‘No more alcohol!’ Pepper implored, signalling to Finn with her eyes to back her up.
‘You heard what the lady said,’ he told her obediently. ‘I think it is best that we get you into bed.’
‘But it’s my final night.’ Josephine tried to wheel around as they reached the hotel entrance. ‘I was rather hoping to go out dancing. Jorge and I would go down to the beach at sunrise and dance across the sand. Did I ever tell you that?’
‘You did.’ Pepper smiled. ‘And if you want me to wake you up before sunrise so we can go and do the same thing together, then I will.’
This seemed to satisfy her, and between them, they managed to get Josephine into the lift and up to her room without too much trouble. Finn boiled the kettle for tea while Pepper helped Josephine remove her make-up and wash her face. There was a black scuff mark on the hem of her beautiful trousers where they had been run over by the motorbike.
‘Are you sure nothing hurts?’ Pepper checked.
‘Only my pride,’ Josephine said, extracting a packet of ibuprofen from her washbag and swallowing two dry. ‘And I’m too old to worry about that now, thank heavens.’
Pepper’s heart still raced. Her friend could so easily have hit her head, or had her arm broken.
When they emerged from the bathroom, Finn was nowhere to be seen. Pepper held Josephine’s tea up to her lips so she could sip it, then tucked the sheets in around her and switched on the bedside lamp.
‘I’m only a few doors down, so just call my phone if you need me. It doesn’t matter what time it is.’
‘Thank you, darling.’ Josephine was already closing her eyes. ‘And thank Finn for me too.’
Finn. Their knight in efficient German armour. Where to even begin?
Letting herself out of Josephine’s room, however, Pepper almost tripped right over him. Finn was sitting on the carpeted corridor, his back against the wall.
‘Hallo,’ he said.
Pepper slid down until she was sitting beside him.
‘Hey.’
‘I’m sorry,’ they both said at once, and Finn jerked his head backwards in surprise.
‘What have you got to be sorry for?’ he asked. ‘You have not done anything wrong.’
Pepper chose to ignore the implication behind his words – that he had done something wrong – and said instead, ‘All those calls and messages. You must have thought I was a right old nag.’
‘No.’ Finn was adamant. ‘I should have called. I did not want you to worry, but I knew that if I spoke to you, then I would have to tell you. And I wanted to––’ He stopped, clearly struggling. Pepper pressed her knee against his.
‘Tell me what?’
Finn’s hands found the drawstring of his hoodie and he pulled each one until his face disappeared from view.
‘Scheisse,’ he muttered, banging the back of his head against the wall. ‘Scheisse, scheisse, scheisse.’
‘Listen, Finn.’ Pepper’s voice sounded steadier than she felt. ‘Whatever it is, you can tell me. I’m not a monster, you know. I won’t bite.’
He was still hidden in the depths of his hoodie, so Pepper hooked a finger in the gap and eased it open.
‘Why don’t you start,’ she said, ‘by telling me why you flew all the way out here. I mean, not that I’m not thrilled to see you – I am – but I would probably have been fine to wait until you came to Suffolk in a few weeks’ time.’
At this, Finn emitted a grunt.
Pepper prised the material apart until she could see his eyes, then knelt in front of him, her hands resting on her knees.
‘It was Clara’s idea that I come,’ he said.
Pepper had not been expecting that.
‘And it is not so far,’ he added, finally pushing back his hood. His hair was sticking out at all angles, but for once, Pepper did not feel able to reach across and smooth it down.
‘And I am glad that I came,’ he said. ‘I had been sitting outside the hotel for two hours, waiting for you. Every car that pulled up, I was staring at it, hoping it would be you. So, when I saw Josephine, I got up and ran.’
‘Thank God you did,’ she said. ‘You’re her hero.’
‘But not yours?’ he probed gently.
Pepper sighed and rubbed at the beginnings of a headache. There had been too much sun and alcohol today, and nowhere near enough water. Finn sat forwards, his dark-blue eyes hopeful. He wanted to kiss her, but Pepper could not let herself melt into his arms – not yet.