Page 83 of Birds of a Feather

‘I hope it’s okay that I’m here. I know you said not to come, but—’

‘Are you kidding? I’m so happy to see you,’ I whispered into his chest. ‘Thank you for ignoring me.’

‘I’m going to head in,’ Gerry said.

Nick and I stood, locked in what felt like our own private oasis, in the middle of the path, in the middle of the most painful time of my life.

‘When did you leave London?’ I asked, finally releasing him so I could look him over to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

‘Well, that’s hard to define with time zones and travel time. I think I left some time before lunchtime tomorrow.’

‘Why didn’t you call? I would have picked you up.’

‘What, and miss the opportunity to see you water your shoes?’

I looked down at my new shoes, which were sodden and most likely ruined. I could not have cared less; Nick was here.

‘But you’ve been messaging me all day. How did you do that if you were on a plane?’

‘They’ve got wi-fi on planes now, you know.’

Of course.

‘I do have something important to ask, though,’ he continued, his demeanour becoming serious.

‘What’s that?’ I urged.

‘May I please use the bathroom?’

‘Of course,’ I said grabbing his hand and leading him up the path and into Gran’s house where I steered him towards the bathroom.

‘Well, you’re a little bit sneaky,’ I said to Gerry when I found her in the kitchen filling up the kettle.

‘Don’t look at me,’ she said, grinning widely. ‘It was all him. I simply gave him the address.’

She looked very pleased with herself.

‘You know, I’ll be fine here if you want to head off to your place for the night. The last thing you want is me cramping your style. I’m sure the two of you have plenty to catch up on.’ Her voice was thick with innuendo.

She avoided making eye contact with me as she busied herself detangling the strings of teabags that had become entwined in the box. But she needn’t have bothered; I was avoiding her gaze too, hoping she wouldn’t notice the heat in my cheeks. I knew from my years of staying in the spare bedroom and hearing my grandparents’ snoring that nighttime sounds carried in this house.

‘Are you sure? I mean, I do need to put some washing on, and I will need to get my clothes for the funeral tomorrow.’ It wasn’t a complete lie.

‘Yes,’ she said sincerely. ‘You two go and have some fun. Tomorrow will be hard, so you should go and enjoy each other.’

I chuckled awkwardly.

‘I mean, each other’s company,’ she said, quickly.

Nick emerged from the hallway looking more comfortable.

‘Oh, that looks good,’ he said, gesturing to the cup of tea.

‘Funny,’ Gerry said. ‘Beth was just telling me about all the different types of tea she’s got at her place. You should head on back there before it gets too late. I’m going to head to bed now anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

She turned and walked out of the kitchen, switching off the light as she left, plunging us into darkness save the tiny green glow from the illuminated numbers on the microwave.

Nick and I moved silently towards each other, guided by an instinctive pull. I stopped just short of him, suddenly self-conscious that I’d misunderstood his intentions. What if I had it all wrong, and he really was just here to see Gerry? Or the quokkas? But as he reached out, drew me in and touched his lips to mine – gently at first and then more wantonly as I kissed him back – I knew that this was definitely something.

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