15

 

Hattie sat at breakfast with what she knew was a stupid grin on her face, but she had no wish to change it. She spread a thick layer of marmalade on her toast.

“You look happy,” Aunt Laurie commented. “Happier than you have for a while.”

“Cal proposed last night.”

“He what?”

Hattie grinned. “I told him I’d think about it.”

“What about Markus? Hasn’t he also proposed?”

“Markus?” Hattie shot elbows to the table. “He’s rich, but he’s… He’s just a friend. And Steve’s friend at that. But, Cal?” She paused, chewing on the toast, images of her tall, dark man in uniform dancing in her mind’s eye. “They’re complete opposites. Cal makes me feel alive. His kisses are like honey and fireworks. I spend every minute thinking about him and wanting to be with him, and when I am time just flies by.”

Aunt Laurie smiled. “Cal isn’t exactly poor, either.”

Hattie looked at the toast in her hand and caught a stray chunk of marmalade with her finger. “No, but he doesn’t flaunt it like Markus does. Besides, between you and me, Markus gives me the creeps at times. He suddenly sneaks up on me from nowhere.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve made your decision.”

“I told Cal to give me a week or so and he said take as long as I need. I mean he only asked me to be his girlfriend last night.”

Aunt Laurie winked. “Before or after he proposed.”

“Before he proposed. But admittedly that was after I discovered his favorite author is Lee Fredricks.”

Aunt Laurie raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”

“It might have slipped out. He was well impressed. The thing is,” she continued, changing the subject quickly. “I don’t want to rush into anything and find out ten years down the line that I made the wrong decision. Want my head to catch up with my heart and end up on the same page. I also want to pray it over, make sure God thinks it’s the right thing to do.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

She chewed for a moment. “When did you know Uncle Reg was the right man for you?”

Aunt Laurie drank half her coffee before she answered. “I just knew. But what sealed it was when he climbed a tree in my grandmother’s garden to rescue her cat Snowball. In the rain.”

Hattie laughed. “Oh, sweet.”

“Only Snowball didn’t want to be rescued and jumped from the tree to the windowsill and went back inside the house. So your uncle sat on the branch and launched into a version of Singing in the Rain which he made up on the spot.” She smiled. “I knew then.”

“You miss him, don’t you?”

“Every day.”

Hattie smiled. “You should finish the book, dedicate it to him. Even rename the hero after him.”

“Maybe I will.” She got up as the doorbell rang. “Wonder who that is.”

“You won’t know ’til you get there.” Hattie leaned back in her chair. She finished her tea and stretched her good arm. Then she got up to clear the table.

“Hattie.” Cal crossed the room in four strides, devastation on his face. His shoulders slumped and his normal tanned complexion was ashen as he fell into her arms.

Her tummy tied itself in knots of concern as she embraced him, she seached his anguished face. “What’s happened?”

“Carter’s been knocked off his bike during a time trial in Denmark. One of the support vehicles clipped his back wheel. Dad, Jess and I are flying out there today at some point to be with him and Rose, his wife. His manager is organizing flights now. We just have to get to the nearest airport on the mainland.”

“I’m so sorry.” Her heart thudded in her throat. “Is he OK?”

“It doesn’t sound good. He’s in intensive care.” He hugged her. “I wanted to let you know before I left. Especially after last night, I didn’t want you to think I was running out on you—”

“Shh….” Hattie put a finger over his lips. “Don’t worry about that now. I know how you feel about me. Right now, what matters is Carter and you getting out to Denmark to see him. Let me know how he is.”

“I will. I’ll have my mobile with me and you’ve got the number. I love you.” He kissed her with more passion than she was expecting.

She kissed him back. “Love you too.”

 

****

 

It was Wednesday before she heard anything.

A brief text apologizing for the delay in response, but getting a signal where they were was nigh on impossible. Carter was out of intensive care, but still critical.

She missed Cal more than she was going to admit to anyone. Not even a job interview lifted her spirits. She wasn’t even sure she should go, just in case she messed up, but she did. She came out, even more miserable than when she went in. She’d blown the interview, but didn’t care. She just wanted Carter to be all right and for Cal to come home.

“Hello, Harriet.” Markus’s voice made her jump. “What’s the sad face for?”

“Markus, you startled me. I didn’t see you.”

“Is everything all right?”

“No, not really. Cal’s brother’s in the hospital in Denmark. He was run over. I was thinking about him and Cal.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Can I interest you in a spot of lunch? We need to talk.”

“No, thank you. I have a lot of things to do before meeting Aunt Laurie later.” She pulled up her collar against the drizzling rain.

“I don’t need much of your time. I missed you while I was away. I like spending time with you and even if you can only spare me twenty minutes for a lunch date, it would mean the world to me.”

“I said no, Markus. I’m with Cal now.”

Something nefarious flashed in his eyes for a brief moment before he covered it. “I see.”

“So, I’m sorry, but I can’t do a lunch date or any other kind of date. I’m spoken for.” The rain came down harder and she wished she had an umbrella.

“It’s just lunch or are you on one of these newfangled diets where you skip meals?”

“Markus…”

“Harriet, I have to insist. We can talk here in the rain or we can go and sit somewhere private and discuss it alone. Or we have lunch in a public place and talk, because we are having this conversation one way or the other, whether you like it or not.”

“OK, fine. Twenty minutes.” She agreed reluctantly, as she wasn’t really interested in what he had to say. But his request sounded more like a threat than anything else, which made lunch in a public place definitely the better and safer of the three options. She had no intentions of being alone with him, ever.

Markus put a hand against the small of her back. His touch nauseated her, but every time she tried to move away, he compensated, keeping the contact as he guided her two shops down and into the restaurant. Quickly getting a table, he pulled her chair out for her. “How are you keeping?”

“Fine. Still looking for work, nothing’s cropped up yet though. I was just coming out of an interview when I almost walked into you.”

“How did it go?”

“I don’t know.”

Too worried about Cal and Carter to eat, Hattie chose the salad and just picked at it, while Markus devoured a very rare steak, peas, and chips. Looking at the steak, she decided it if was any rarer, it’d get up and walk out of the building under its own steam.

Markus touched her hand. “I saw Steven whilst I was on the mainland. It was great to catch up with him. I told him about seeing you and that we’d been out a couple of times. Told him you said hi.”

Hattie shriveled inside. “You told him where I was? You promised not to.”

“I had to. He’s concerned about you. He was on the verge of calling the police to report you missing. So I put his mind at rest.”

She nodded stiffly, not going to deign to reply.

“He was telling me he’s probably going to have to close the guest house.”

She frowned. “Why? Because he’s concerned about me?”

“He can’t keep it going since you left. Plus, the accountants are all over him like a virus for some reason. He wouldn’t say why.”

She could guess though. And no doubt Steve would blame her for that as well. “He’s more than capable of running it. He just needs to employ someone to help rather than expecting them to work for next to nothing. I wasn’t even a partner in it, did he tell you that?”

“Then change that. Buy into it and run it with him.”

“You do it if you’re that fussed,” she snapped. She’d already bought into the guest house for all the good it had done, but Markus didn’t need to know that.

“Have you thought about my proposal? I want to marry you, Harriet.”

She tilted her head. He changed the subject more frequently than she changed her shoes. “I’ve already answered you, but once again, the answer is no.”

“Why?” He sounded like a petulant child, always used to getting his own way.

“I don’t love you and it wouldn’t be fair on either of us. And like I said earlier, I’m with Cal now.”

She got to her feet. This had to end and end now.

Opening her purse, she pulled out some cash and put it on the table. “That’s my share of the bill and tip. Goodbye, Markus.”

Exiting quickly into the wet street, she just hoped she hadn’t made an enemy there. She needed to speak to Cal more than ever. She sent him a text. So long as he replied, that would be fine. Just keep him safe and look after his brother.