‘Thanks, Lisa,’ Sascha replies.
‘Shall we have some champagne?’ I ask. ‘I know you can’t have any, Sash, but we should celebrate.’
‘Have you got some of that elderflower fizz that you serve with the afternoon teas?’ she asks.
‘Coming right up!’ I say, getting up to go to the fridge to collect the drinks.
I pour the champagne and hand Sascha her elderflower drink.
‘To Sascha, Geoff and baby,’ Bessie says holding up her glass.
‘Sascha, Geoff and the baby,’ we all repeat as we clink glasses.
‘Hello, ladies, what are we celebrating?’ asks a voice from the doorway. We all turn around as one unit.
‘Ben,’ I say. I feel my face heat up and break into a grin so wide I might split in two. He’s even more handsome than I remember, his dark hair falling into his eyes, and I want to run up to him and wrap my arms around him but I’m not doing that in front of Sanderson Bay’s foremost gossips, so I stay where I am. He stands with his hands in his coat pockets and smiles back at me. ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’
‘You really need to start locking this door,’ he replies. ‘You never know who might walk in.’
‘We’re celebrating Sascha’s news,’ Bessie says. ‘She’s having a baby!’
Ben walks over to us. ‘That’s wonderful, Sascha,’ he says. ‘Congratulations to you and Geoff.’
‘Are you staying at the hotel?’ Sascha asks. ‘You’re not booked in until later this week.’
‘No this is just a flying visit today,’ he replies and I feel my stomach drop.
‘Well come and have some champagne at least,’ Bessie says.
‘I’d better not as I’m driving. I was just wondering if I could borrow Ellie for a few minutes.’
‘Sure,’ I say. ‘What do you need?’
He steps a little closer to me. ‘Can we go for a walk?’ he asks quietly. All eyes are on us, burning holes in our backs.
‘Just let me get my coat.’ I run upstairs as quickly as I can so as not to leave Ben alone with the knitting ladies for too long. As I leave I stick my head around the living room door where Marcus is watching TV.
‘Hey,’ I say. ‘I’ve got to go out for a while. If the ladies need to leave can you lock up after them? I’ve got my key.’
‘Where are you going?’ he asks.
‘Just out,’ I reply, not wanting to tell him that Ben is here. It’s not really any of his business anyway.
He looks at me for a moment knowing I haven’t told him the whole story.
‘OK,’ he says turning back to the TV screen.
Once I’m back downstairs I tell Miranda to call Marcus down if they all want to go.
‘He’ll lock up after you,’ I say, unsure of how long I’ll be.
‘Have fun,’ Bessie calls after us.
16
‘Who’s Marcus?’ Ben asks as we step outside. He offers me his arm and I slip my hand into the crook of his elbow just as I had done after the pub quiz.
‘My ex,’ I reply.
He doesn’t say anything but I can feel his body tense.
‘He turned up out of nowhere last Monday night,’ I continue. ‘People seem to be making a habit of appearing in the café on Monday nights.’
He lets out a breath of air, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘It’s none of my business – you don’t have to tell me.’
‘We used to work together at York University,’ I begin. ‘We broke up just over a year ago. It was really sudden and came out of nowhere.’ I miss out the part where I thought Marcus was going to propose. ‘He took me out for dinner one night and told me that he had quit his job and was leaving to go to Thailand in two weeks. It was…’ I pause.
‘A shock?’ Ben asks.
‘Amongst other things yes.’
‘Were you living together?’
‘Yes, it kind of threw my whole life into disarray to be honest. But it worked out for the best in the end.’
‘Because it brought you here,’ Ben says quietly. We’re walking down the High Street towards the beach. It’s a freezing cold night and the sky is very clear so that you can see the stars and the fingernail whiteness of a crescent moon. I stop and look out over the sea.
‘It brought me here at exactly the right time,’ I say. ‘Moby’s were really pressuring my aunt and uncle to sell the café. It was a really stressful time for them.’ I pause and turn to him. ‘My aunt has an arthritic condition that is just getting worse – you might have noticed she was in a wheelchair on the night of the carol singing?’
He nods and looks at me so intently I can barely hold his gaze.
‘By leaving my job, selling my flat, moving away and persuading the bank to lend me a large amount of money, I was able to raise enough to buy the café off them, which shut Moby’s up once and for all.’
My hand is still on his arm and I feel him tense up again.
‘It’s OK,’ I say. ‘I don’t blame you personally for what Moby’s does. I know it’s just a job.’
I watch as he swallows. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that,’ he says solemnly and I’m not sure if he means splitting up with Marcus or dealing with Moby’s.
‘Like I said, it all worked out.’
We start to walk towards the sea again.
‘I missed this place,’ Ben says. ‘I’m surprised by how quickly I came to love it again after avoiding it for so long.’
I want to ask him why he’s been avoiding coming back but I don’t. He will tell me when he’s ready.
‘It has a habit of getting under your skin really quickly,’ I say instead.
He stops by the railings of the promenade and turns me towards him, his hands on my forearms.
‘It’s not just the town that’s got under my skin,’ he says quietly and I feel my stomach somersault, my mouth go dry.
‘I really like you, Ellie,’ he says his eyes flicking away from me for a moment. ‘I might have totally misread this but I think you maybe feel the same?’
‘You haven’t misread it,’ I reply. My voice is barely more than a whisper.
‘I’m sorry to just appear suddenly without telling you like this and I’m sorry if I was quiet and standoffish when I was here before.’
‘That’s OK,’ I say.
‘On Sunday morning when Eric interrupted us…’ he begins.
I don’t say anything, I just hold my breath and wait.
‘What about Marcus?’ he asks eventually.
I let go of the breath I’m holding. ‘What about Marcus? He isn’t… We’re not…’
Before I’ve managed to finish the sentence, Ben ducks his head and I feel his lips brush against mine gently, tentatively. I put my hands on his waist and draw him closer as he deepens the kiss and I respond, my tongue finding his as my hands slip inside his coat, exploring the muscles of his back through his jumper. I feel his hands in my hair, his thumbs massaging the nape of my neck as he pulls me against him and I can hardly breathe for the intensity of it. Kissing Marcus had never felt like this.