Having sent the text, Lily sat holding her phone, watching for the little grey dots to appear, which would confirm he’d seen it and was writing a reply. Just as she was on the point of giving up, there it was.
Lily couldn’t believe what she’d done, but was as excited – and nervous – as a teenager who’d told her parents she was staying over at her best mate’s but was actually smuggling a bottle of cheap vodka out of the house to take to her first proper party. She dragged a brush through her hair and whizzed some eyeliner quickly along the top of her eyelids.
She was suddenly desperate for a gin and tonic, some Dutch courage before she saw him, but the facilities at the Glenmorrow didn’t stretch to minibars in the bedrooms. If she wanted a drink of anything other than tap water, she’d need to go into the residents’ lounge downstairs and ring the bell to summon Archie or Joan. There was no way she could risk that – she’d almost certainly get drawn into a long conversation with them, and after she’d left, she could just imagine them raising those Scottish eyebrows in tandem and discussing the fact that, because she was a middle-aged woman drinking alone in a guest house, she must surely be a functioning alcoholic. She didn’t really care what the Campbells thought of her, but could do without the hassle.
She pulled on her coat and went out of her bedroom, tiptoeing along the corridor and poking her head through Moira’s door. Her mother was asleep, a soft snoring coming from under the duvet. Perfect. She was highly unlikely to wake up, and anyway Lily wasn’t going to be out all night this time; this was going to be just one drink, she told herself as she ran down the main stairs. She just needed to see him for an hour.
By the time she walked through the front door of the Hamilton Hotel, her hair was dishevelled again and the skin on her cheeks was numb. The temperature had dropped today and a strong breeze had picked up around the lake. Keswick felt grim and exceptionally wintry.
A group of people were standing by the bar and several of the tables were taken – it was busier tonight than it had been earlier in the week. Jake was sitting in the far corner – in the same chair he’d been in when he’d glanced up and caught her eye as she came through this door five nights ago. Her pulse quickened at the sight of him and she walked across. He stood up too quickly and his chair toppled backwards, hitting the wooden floor with a crash.
‘Drunk already, Dr Jordan!’ yelled a man who was sat on one of the bar stools.
Jake grimaced at him and turned to pick up the chair. Lily suddenly realised he would know people here tonight. Of course he would. Not only was he one of the town’s GPs, but he had been staying in this hotel for weeks – he’d be a well-known face. Was this going to be awkward for him, being seen with her? Oh hell, why hadn’t she thought to suggest somewhere else. He gestured to the empty chair beside his; he did look a little uncomfortable.
‘I’m so sorry, this wasn’t the right place to meet, was it?’ she said. ‘Do you want to go somewhere else?’
‘No, it’s fine! Sit down.’ He picked up the bottle of wine on the table. ‘We can’t go anywhere until we’ve had this. Although, at the rate you drink, Lily Bennett, we’ll be out of here in fifteen minutes.’ He was smiling again now, the skin on either side of his beautiful brown eyes crinkling as he looked at her. Those eyes! She smiled back at him, shrugging off her coat and hanging it on the back of the chair. He leant forward and poured wine into a second glass and pushed it across to her.
‘Cheers, Ms Bennett. This was a nice surprise.’
‘Was it?’ she said before she could stop herself. ‘I know it was a bit sudden. Sorry. I was just sitting up there, in that awful bedroom in the guest house and I really wanted to see you.’
‘I’m glad you did,’ he said, as they clinked their glasses together. ‘Very glad.’
They took a sip of the wine, not taking their eyes off each other. Even in this crowded bar which smelt of woodsmoke and spilt beer, she could smell his aftershave.
‘How’s your mother?’
‘Oh, she seems much better. She got up after you left this afternoon and had an early supper with me downstairs in the dining room, so she’s getting her strength back. She also told the Campbells that her piece of steak looked and tasted like a dead rat, so she’s definitely feeling more like herself.’
He laughed and put down his glass, reaching his hand across the table. His fingers found hers and rested on top of them before sliding further forward. She looked down at them as they turned her own hand over and he began to run his thumb across her palm. As she looked up again, he was moving towards her and she closed her eyes as their lips met.
‘I’m glad you sent me that text,’ he whispered.
‘I’m glad I sent it as well.’ She couldn’t stop herself smiling.
They drew apart again and picked up their wine glasses.
‘Is this okay, us being here?’ she asked. ‘I mean, people obviously know you, and I don’t want to embarrass you.’
He nodded. ‘Don’t worry. I may be a pillar of the local community,’ he grinned at her, ‘but I’m also a grown-up and I can decide who I spend my time with – and what I do with them.’
‘But, what with your wife living here too, and everything.’
‘Ex-wife,’ he said. ‘We’re divorced.’
‘I know, but it still might be awkward – this is a small community and all that. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.’
‘That’s true enough. But I refer you to my first answer – I’m a grown-up.’
‘Is she…’ Lily paused. This was really none of her business. ‘I mean, I know you told me things were amicable between you, but do your paths still cross? You must have friends in common and you probably bump into each other – Keswick is a small place.’
He nodded and looked down at the table as he twisted the stem of his wine glass between his thumb and forefinger. ‘Yup, it happens. But it’s all relatively easy because it’s just the two of us and there aren’t any children involved. I think she’s seeing someone else, although she hasn’t told me specifically, but a mutual friend hinted at it.’
‘How does that make you feel?’ asked Lily, not really wanting to hear the answer.
‘A bit odd,’ he admitted. ‘But not in a sad sack, stalking ex-husband sort of way. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still love her, because we shared a lot together, but I’m not in love with her anymore and she’s not in love with me. I’ve already told you that and it’s true. Anyway, I can’t criticise her for moving on, because I’m sitting here with you, also moving on.’
Lily liked the sound of that. A lot. Although she was cross with herself for letting his words make her feel so happy. What was the point? She was leaving in a couple of days and taking Moira on the 360-mile journey back to Brighton. After which, she would never again see this handsome, gentle, funny man. So, they weren’t really moving on, in the traditional sense of the word – because there was nowhere for them to move on to. But that shouldn’t stop her enjoying this last, precious little bit of time with him.
She lifted up her glass. ‘Cheers,’ she said. ‘I’m very much enjoying being here with you, Dr Jordan. I just wish we weren’t in such a public place so that, to quote my mother, you could put those soft, warm hands all over me.’
She could hardly believe those words had come out of her own mouth – what on earth was happening to her? She had never been this forward with a man in her life. But sod it, life really was too short.
Jake snorted into his wine glass. ‘The feeling,’ he said, leaning forward to kiss her again. ‘Is mutual.’