Page 71 of The World Outside My Window

All three women stand for a moment, unsure what to say next. Then the silence is broken by the tinkle of the bell over the door and they turn in unison to see Ben. He stops dead. ‘Oh, hello.’ He scans their faces, then his face breaks into a huge grin. ‘Laura! You made it all the way here!’

‘I did.’ She smiles back shyly and behind her Jane and Tracy exchange a look.

‘Hello, Ben, love, everything all right?’ Tracy says and he tears his eyes away from Laura to meet her gaze.

‘Yes, great, thanks, Trace.’

‘What can I get you?’

‘Just this paper, please,’ he says, waving it in front of his face awkwardly.

She rings it up and he looks at Laura again as he hands over the correct change. ‘I’m not being a sexist pig or anything, but those bags look heavy – would you like me to give you a hand?’

Laura glances down at the carrier bags cutting into her hand and nods gratefully. ‘Would you mind? Thanks so much.’

He takes a bag from her and then they leave with another tinkle of the bell, calling out their goodbyes as they go.

‘Well, well, well,’ Tracy says as soon as they’re out of earshot.

‘I told you.’

‘I think you’re right. But I don’t think it’s just him, you know.’

‘No. Quite.’ Jane grins. ‘Oh, I know it’s not the right time to be matchmaking but – you know, if Jim doesn’t come home, wouldn’t they make a cute couple?’

‘They would. And who wouldn’t like him? He’s such a lovely man. In fact if I were thirty years younger I’d be making a play for him myself.’ Tracy chuckles wickedly.

‘Well, let’s see,’ Jane says, smiling to herself.

* * *

‘Thank you so much,’ Laura says as they head back towards Willow Crescent. Between them, Rocky tugs on his lead, sniffing the ground. Laura is surprised how pleased she is to see Ben.

‘It’s no problem,’ he says.

They walk along in silence for a moment. Laura feels unexpectedly calm, out here on the street with cars passing by, when she’s walking beside Ben. There’s something about him that soothes her.

Ben, on the other hand, is in turmoil. He’s been trying not to see Laura too much over the last few days because he’s become increasingly aware that whenever he spends time with her, he likes her a little bit more. And there is absolutely nothing less appropriate than developing feelings for a married woman searching for her missing husband. Staying away has seemed the easier option: that, and hoping that his feelings might diminish if he ignores them.

But now here she is, and his feelings haven’t dissipated in the slightest. In fact, if anything, he likes Laura even more. There’s just something about her that makes his stomach do a little flutter when he sees her. He knows that Tracy noticed his reaction too, which was why he couldn’t get away fast enough. The last thing he needs is for someone else to point out how wrong his burgeoning feelings are.

They turn into Willow Crescent and a few steps later turn into Laura’s front garden. ‘Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?’ she says. ‘I’ve got some cake too.’ She holds up her carrier bag awkwardly.

Ben wants to scream, YES, YES, YES! But instead he smiles and says, ‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely. It would be nice to have some company.’Your companyshe doesn’t say.

‘I’d love to – if you don’t mind Rocky coming too?’

‘Course not.’ She bends and ruffles the top of the dog’s soft head.

Ben doesn’t dare look round as he walks up Laura’s path and enters her house, because he doesn’t want to know who might be watching them.

Over the next half an hour they drink tea and talk while Rocky snores gently at their feet. Ben tells Laura about Helen and how hard it was when she died; he tells her about his love of cycling, and how he used to play football semi-professionally before he realised he was never going to make it and his father told him to find a proper job; he tells her about setting up his own architectural firm and how many hours he had to work for the first few years, and how when Helen died he regretted those hours spent away from her. He tells her about how Rocky has become his lifeline since he’s been on his own.

In return Laura finds herself opening up in a way she hasn’t for a long time to anyone other than Debbie. She tells him about her love of cooking; how she used to spend time baking with her dad, how she misses her mum and keeps imagining picking up the phone and speaking to her, asking for her help. She tells him about meeting Jim, and about their wedding in Gretna Green and how it wasn’t the day she’d always dreamed of. And she tells him about the night she was attacked.

‘I always thought that was the day that mine and Jim’s marriage started to fall apart,’ she says. ‘But now I’m not sure it was ever right in the first place.’

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