‘Hey, what a lovely surprise! My two favourite girls in the world and they’re here together. Oh okay,’ said Max, leaning down to fuss Holly and Bella who were madly wagging their tails and circling his feet, ‘you’re two of my favourite girls too. So…’ Max looked from me to Katy, his eyes narrowed, that cute little line forming between his eyebrows. ‘You two are dog-walking buddies now?’
Max slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest, ruffling my hair with his hands. He smelt so good, his natural masculine scent playing with my senses.
‘I was walking Digby so just popped in to see how Katy was doing and as it was such a gorgeous morning, I managed to persuade her to come along with me.’
‘Really? Has my sister had a complete personality transplant in my absence? Fresh air, exercise, up and dressed and out of the house before midday? What on earth is going on? It’s a miracle.’
Not a miracle at all. It had been bloody hard work and determination from me that had got Katy out of her bed this morning. I’d wanted to check that she hadn’t suffered any ill effects from all the alcohol she’d drunk the previous night and see for myself that she hadn’t been murdered in her bed. Just a throwaway comment, I know, but it had come back to torment me at regular intervals during the night, waking me up with a start and an awful worried feeling at the pit of my stomach. More practically, I wanted to make sure Katy was presentable for when Max got home so he didn’t pick up on anything being amiss.
Using the back door key Max had given me, I’d let myself into the house, turned the dogs out into the garden, and filled the kettle. Five minutes later with a mug of steaming hot tea, I was upstairs rat-a-tat-tatting on Katy’s bedroom door.
‘Hello, it’s only me.’
Thankfully, she wasn’t dead, just reassuringly grumpy. From beneath the covers she’d groaned and stirred before a flash of auburn hair poked above the duvet.
‘Ugh, what are you doing here?’ she’d asked, rubbing at her eyes, her brow wrinkled in confusion.
‘Just checking up on you. How you feeling? How’s the head?’
‘Aargh, my head!’ She’d clasped her hands to her brow as though she’d only just remembered. ‘It hurts.’
‘Hardly surprising. You were definitely on the wrong side of merry last night. Anyway,’ I’d said wandering over to the window and drawing the curtains, ‘it’s a beautiful day out there. Some fresh air will do wonders for clearing any cobwebs.’
‘Are you kidding? What time is it?’
‘Just after nine.’
‘No way! Are you mad? It’s far too early and I’m not feeling very well. In fact, I think I could be dying.’ She’d disappeared beneath the covers again.
‘Oh no, you don’t,’ I’d said, whipping off the duvet and throwing it aside on the floor to much leg flailing and screeching from Katy. ‘Not dying, just hungover. Great feeling, isn’t it?’ I said, with barely disguised glee, hoping it was that great it might put her off drinking ever again.
I’d left her to come round with instructions that she needed to get downstairs as soon as, just in case Max decided to return home early.
Five minutes later, she slunk into the kitchen dressed in tracksuit bottoms, hoodie and with a killer scowl on her face, which I’d promptly ignored.
‘You should have something to eat before we go, might make you feel better.’
‘Eugh, no I couldn’t.’ She shook her head grimly. ‘Although I might just have some water,’ she said, running the tap and filling a glass, taking the smallest of sips. ‘Right, let’s go and do this, if we have to,’ she’d said with a sigh.
‘Great,’ I’d said, grinning. ‘It’s lovely out there.’
The dogs were much more excited by the prospect than Katy, but it was good to be outside in the cool morning air, and I felt certain it wouldn’t be long before Katy was feeling it too. As we walked, I savoured the beauty of our surroundings. I could never imagine tiring of this countryside, the rolling fields, the winding lanes and the changing landscape through the seasons. If I was ever feeling low or had something on my mind then I would always head outside with the dogs and walk. And walk and walk. There was something rejuvenating about breathing in the fresh air, focussing your mind on the here and now. It was as if the trees and the hedgerows and the swooping birds and scampering squirrels gathered you up in to their wholesomeness, offering a healing and protective back-to-nature hug. Invariably, after being outside for a couple of hours, I would have a different perspective on any troublesome situation and, if not a solution, then definitely a way forward. Last year when I’d been weighing up whether to stay in the village or return to London, my daily walks had offered me the clarity to come to the right decision. A decision I hadn’t regretted for one moment.
Walking along the lanes in companionable silence with Katy I’d wondered if the charms of Little Leyton wouldn’t work their magic on her too.
‘Have you heard from your mum?’ I’d ventured when we stopped by the river and the dogs had launched themselves into the water, their paws clawing through the water as their heads bobbed up and down happily.
‘Yep, she texts all the time. Says I’ve got to go home, so that we can talk, “resolve our differences”.’
‘Ah right, and I’m guessing you’re no closer to wanting to do that?’
‘No. I’m not.’ She’d shook her head vigorously. ‘She’s just feeling guilty, but that’s her problem.’
‘I see. And what does she have to feel guilty about?’
Katy had turned her head sharply to look at me and I wondered if I’d overstepped the mark, if my question hadn’t been too intrusive.
‘Oh just stuff.’ For a moment I’d thought she was about to open up to me, but then she batted the question away. ‘Stuff I don’t want to think about now. I’m almost eighteen. I don’t have to go home. Spain isn’t my home anyway. I was born here in the UK, it was Mum’s decision to move away when I was small. Now I’m old enough to make my own decisions and I’ve decided I want to be here.’
‘Right.’ I picked up the ball that Digby had just deposited at my feet and threw it in the water, watching him scamper down the bank to retrieve it. ‘And have you had any more thoughts about what you’ll do?’ I really hoped she’d gone off the idea of going to London.
‘Don’t know yet. I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ll have to do something. Maybe take the summer off and get something lined up for the autumn?’ She fell silent into her thoughts again. ‘Max wouldn’t mind me staying here for a while, would he?’
‘I wouldn’t have thought so, but you’d have to ask him to be sure. You should talk to him, Katy. I’m sure he’d want to help you if he can.’
‘Yeah, maybe,’ she’d replied, pulling a doubtful face.
I could understand her reluctance. Max sometimes came across as being cold and unsentimental, but that was just because most of the time he was preoccupied with work and often forgot to take his business head off. Underneath his brusque exterior, he was the kindest and most thoughtful person ever. If Katy asked him for his help, I knew that he would do whatever he could to support her.
‘You won’t mention anything about last night, will you?’ she asked me again, on the way back from our walk.
‘Don’t worry,’ I told her. ‘It’ll be our little secret.’
Now, with Max in the kitchen, so obviously pleased to be home, making a fuss of me and Katy, and the dogs, it occurred to me just how bad it was going to make me feel, knowing I wasn’t being totally honest with him. I had to remind myself that this was for Katy’s benefit, and absolutely no good would come of Max finding out the truth. It wasn’t as if any real damage had been done and Katy had promised me that there would be no repeat performance of her drunken antics last night. What harm was there in one little white lie?
I looked across at Max and smiled, guiltily. He was shaking his head as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
‘Well, I'm amazed, but thrilled that you’ve decided to become acquainted with the early mornings. Best part of the day, I reckon, and honestly, I didn't think you had it in you,' he said, his tone playful.
‘That’s charming,’ said Katy, laughing. ‘I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself you know.’ Her gaze flittered over to me and I had to turn away, for fear of giving the game away.
‘Yes, of course, I know that,’ said Max, ‘it’s just good to see you looking happier in yourself, that’s all. I’ll have to go away more often if I come back to this happy domestic scenario.’
‘You need to have more faith in your little sister,’ she said breezily, and I smiled weakly, fearful that she was overplaying it now. When she said she was going up to have a shower, I almost let out an audible sigh of relief.
‘Katy,’ I called after her. ‘Are you up for a shopping trip into town soon? I need to find a christening present for Stella, and to buy some new clothes too. I’m such a rubbish shopper, can never find anything that I like. You could help me choose. We could make a day of it, if you like. Shop till we drop and then lunch, and then more shopping. How does that sound?’
‘Great.’ Katy’s face lit up. ‘I’d love to come. I could do with picking some bits up myself.’
Max turned to look at me when Katy left, complete astonishment in his expression. ‘Well I don’t know what you’ve done, but she seems in much better spirits than when I left. I do appreciate it you know, you spending time with her.’
‘Well, she’s a great kid. I just want her to feel welcome.’
‘Come here.’ Max pulled me close, pressing his lips against mine. My body immediately responded to his proximity, his touch alighting something deep down in my core. ‘I missed you,’ he told me, while massaging my back with his hand. ‘I know we can go for days and not see each other in the village, but when I’m away from home that distance between us seems magnified somehow. I like knowing that you’re round the corner, that I can pop in and see you whenever I want to. Yesterday, after I spoke to you on the phone, I had to go off to some boring business meeting and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of seeing you, hearing your voice, touching you.’ He nuzzled his face into my neck, depositing a kiss there, his mouth on my skin making me squirm with delight at the delicious sensation.
‘Well, I’m sorry if I was distracting you from your work?’ I said, teasingly.
‘Those sorts of distractions I don’t mind at all.’ He pulled back to look at me, his gaze unwavering on mine. ‘The thing was I kept going over our conversation in my head. Wondering if you’d really said what you said?’
‘What I said?’ I repeated, my stomach performing a loop-the-loop, knowing exactly what he meant.
‘Yeah,’ he whispered in my face. ‘What you said. Because you hadn’t said it before, so I noticed. Did you mean it?’
Admitting my true feelings on the phone was one thing but saying it to his face was something else entirely, but there was no going back now.
‘I meant it,’ I said, smiling, and then without any hesitation at all. ‘I love you, Max.’
Max’s eyes were filled with longing.
‘Good. Because I love you too, Ellie.’ He paused, the faintest of smiles forming on his lips. ‘Just tell me again, in case I didn't hear you properly.’
'I love you Max.’
‘I should bloody well think so too,’ he said, turning into a vampire and making loud slurping noises as he sucked on my neck.
‘Stop it! Get off,’ I said giggling. ‘I have to get back to the pub.’
He made a low grumbling noise in my ear.
‘Oh, what it is to be in love with a woman in demand.’ His lips curled in that sexy way of his that did funny things to my insides. I would never tire of hearing him say he loved me, although there was a small part of me that still needed to pinch myself to believe this was actually happening to us. ‘Okay, okay. I can take a hint’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Shit! I should be somewhere else too. I have a meeting and should have been there ten minutes ago. I need to go.’ He paused, and I noticed something unfathomable flash across his features. Our playful romantic mood shattered in an instant as real-life intruded once again.
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah. I should have mentioned it, but it’s Sasha I’m seeing actually.’ His mouth formed into a half grimace.
‘Sasha?’ Just the mention of her name made my heart plummet to the depths of my stomach. ‘What, are you two working together again?’
‘No, not exactly. She’s thinking of moving back here.’
‘Really?’ That made no sense at all. Sasha wasn’t a local girl, what possible reason could she have for moving to Little Leyton?
Max shrugged, looking apologetic. ‘She’s after a place to rent and asked me if I could help. As it happens one of the farm cottages at the bottom of Bluebell Lane became empty a couple of weeks ago so she’s having a look at that today.’
‘Oh…’ A hundred questions flooded my head, but I managed only one. ‘I wonder why she wants to move here?’
‘Well you’ve said yourself that Little Leyton holds a special magic. Perhaps she wants a quieter pace of life. I know she always loved living in the village. Maybe she’s after a bit of the good life that we’re experiencing.’
‘Yes, but…’ I really couldn’t put a voice to all the thoughts currently flooding my mind. Why here, though? Why now? ‘But what about her work?’ I managed.
‘Honestly, Ellie, I don’t know.’ I heard the exasperation in his voice. ‘It’s not a problem is it?’
At this precise moment it seemed like a huge problem to me. Life was complicated enough without glamorous ex-girlfriends moving in just down the road. Why the hell couldn’t Max have told her that he didn’t have any properties to rent, like any normal man?
‘No. I just wondered… that was all.’
I was left wondering. Of course it wasn’t strange that Sasha wanted to move back into the village. Just down the road from her ex. There wasn’t anything suspect about that behaviour at all. Well, if Max’s reaction was anything to go by, there wasn’t.
‘Look, I’ll have to go, darling.’ He kissed me on the cheek. ‘We can catch up later, yeah?’
‘Yeah,’ I said. The sensation of his kiss on my face wasn’t the only thing Max left me with. Now I had a rising sense of panic in my chest too.