Page 37 of Escape to the Country

I shivered as I had the feeling that I was being watched. My eye was drawn to that upstairs window where, once again, I saw a shadow step back from the curtains, but it was definitely there. Was it Alex again?

‘I’m tired, Jamie, so I’m going to say goodnight.’

‘Oh, babe. My poor wounded heart.’

I swallowed down the words that I wanted to say. It wasmyheart that had been wounded byhim, and it was still very delicate and I was treating it with kid gloves.

‘Goodnight, Jamie, thank you for a lovely evening. See you soon.’ I leaned forward to kiss his cheek, but he moved his head and before I knew it, his soft lips touched mine. I melted into his arms, and as he kissed me, his tongue flicked across my lips, which I kept tightly closed. I wasn’t quite ready for that.

‘I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed you, Maddy; it feels so right to be with you again. Please tell me that you’ll consider us getting back together. I want us to be a couple again. I want that more than anything and I hope you do too.’ His hands wound their way into my hair and began to stroke my neck. I leaned into his hand, that familiar touch that he knew I loved. ‘I could stay with you tonight. We don’t have to do anything. I could just hold you.’ That old chestnut; I’d definitely heard that before.

My eyes were drawn to the curtains in that upstairs window which swiftly shut and brought me back to my senses.

‘Goodnight, Jamie.’ It took all the willpower in the world to walk through my front door that night and not look back.

* * *

Being greeted at the door by Baxter that night I think was one of the best things in the world. He was so uncomplicated, adorable and fussy. He loved me for who I was. He didn’t care about anything apart from me. When I headed up to bed, he was right by my side, even sitting at the bathroom door while I went to the loo and brushed my teeth. He seemed to sense that I needed some calm in my life right now and when I got under the duvet, he snuggled right into me and I was soon hearing sweet little doggy snores.

* * *

It seemed like there was only Russell and me at work the following morning. Uncle Tom and Alex were nowhere to be seen and we were rushed off our feet with viewings as it was getting to the end of the summer and people were booking last-minute holidays and wanted to check out where they were leaving their precious furry friends. Just before midday, Uncle Tom came over with two steaming mugs of coffee for us and told us to take a breather.

‘So sorry to leave you in the lurch this morning, guys. Had to drop Alex off at the airport. Not sure why, but he decided to book a flight back to America late last night and he left this morning. Something must have rattled his cage but he wouldn’t say what. He must have had a call from Sophie or something last night.’

Alex leaving made me feel incredibly sad. I loved being around him. Even now I’d got my head round the fact that he’d never be mine, I still loved being in his company. Bloody Sophie didn’t realise how lucky she was.

* * *

My phone pinged two days later with a text from Jamie asking if I’d like to go out for dinner again soon. I knew that I needed cheering up, and he may as well be the one to do it. Alex and I would never be together, but it didn’t stop me missing him being around.

I was in two minds about another night out with Jamie. Up until recently, it had been a while since I’d been wined and dined at posh restaurants like we used to visit all the time, and even though I didn’t think I was missing that old life, it was nice to be spoiled when we went out recently. Yet there was also a little niggle in the back of my mind about what Lou said to me at the restaurant. Would I ever be able to trust Jamie again? I suppose there was really only one way to find out.

* * *

I was flicking through the channels on the TV and there wasn’t a fat lot that I fancied watching, so I snuggled up on the sofa with a book. I really had become a big bookworm since my visit to the library and Amazon’s biggest customer of late. Even the local delivery guy knew me by my first name now and found it highly amusing when he delivered yet another book-shaped parcel. Two seconds later, I felt a warm, furry body press itself into mine and Baxter had climbed onto the settee commando-style without me even noticing and had snuggled up against me. He couldn’t have got closer if he’d tried. I stroked his head and we settled down, and within seconds he was snoring gently. He seemed quite content. The next time I looked round at him, he was lying upside down with his tongue hanging out and his dangly bits on display for all the world to see. I rubbed his tummy and I’m sure he smiled at me. He really was a delight and I could see that we were going to be the best of friends. When it came to bedtime, he looked at me sadly as I left him in the kitchen, telling him to be a good boy and go to sleep. I woke in the middle of the night to whining and padded downstairs in my slippers and dressing gown to see if he was OK. Letting him out for a wee seemed to do the trick but before I could turn the key in the lock afterwards, he’d shot up the stairs and had plonked himself on the corner of the bed by the time I got up there. ‘You are a funny little thing, aren’t you?’ I said to him as I stroked his head, and I’m sure he winked at me. We both settled down to sleep and the next thing I knew it was eight o’clock the following morning and I’d slept longer than I’d slept for weeks. Good job it was Saturday.

A text came in from Jamie asking if he could come over as he had a proposition for me and it couldn’t wait until we met for dinner. Mmmm! This really got me wondering what on earth he wanted to talk to me about that he couldn’t have brought up at dinner. I was still mulling over Geoff’s job offer too. Although I realised Jamie was being deliberately vague so I would agree to see him to find out what he meant, I was intrigued, despite myself. I told him that I could be free at twelve thirty, once the dogs were all settled for a lunchtime nap.

Jamie pulled up into the yard in his perfectly polished dark green Aston Martin DB9, and I stood at the door and waited for him. As he walked towards me, he was looking suave, in smart jeans and a blazer, clean-shaven and as handsome as ever. Baxter tried to jump up at him as he came in and he turned his nose up and shoved him away. I understood that he probably didn’t want dog hairs all over his nice clothes and explained that I was just looking after him for a friend when Jamie questioned why I’d been stupid enough to get a dog. I’m not sure why I’d slipped back into my old ways of making him hear what he wanted to hear, instead of just admitting the truth.

Baxter barked as if to get our attention, and as we turned to look at him, the little monkey ran over to Jamie’s car and seemed to grin at us as he cocked his leg up the passenger side front wheel. I couldn’t help but smirk when Jamie tried unsuccessfully to shoo him away – nothing was putting Baxter off the longest wee I think he’d ever had.

After much cajoling to get Baxter back to me, we retreated to the barn. It felt a bit weird having Jamie in my personal space, which was strange, as I hadn’t felt that at all when Baxter moved in.

I invited him to take a seat at the dining room table, not wanting to be too informal and certainly not wanting to end up sitting on a settee next to him. Curious as to what he was going to say, I purposely asked him if he preferred tea or coffee and how he took it when he chose tea. I didn’t want him to think that I still remembered every little thing about him. I cupped my hands around my steaming mug of coffee as they were shaking.

‘Madison. I’m just going to say what’s on my mind, if that’s OK.’ He started before I’d even acknowledged with a yes or a no, as usual so confident that I wouldn’t question a word that he said. ‘When Geoff offered you a job the other night, it was like a light bulb went off in my brain. I know I’d joked about it earlier in the evening, but it made me realise that you and Ishouldbe working together. We are awesome together, we always have been, and just the ideas that you were coming up with when we were chatting were amazing and I’ve not been able to stop thinking about it since. I’ll match what Geoff offered you financially, and you can come back when you’re ready and even do some work here part-time in the meantime if you want to until Beth is ready to come back full time.

‘We can get you booked into the hairdressers and get that dreadful hair sorted out.’

I put my hand up to my hair. These days, I let it dry naturally and it went quite wavy, but I actually liked it. It probably did look a mess compared with how it used to be. When I was with Jamie, it was permanently pulled back into a tidy but severe bun, which actually used to give me a headache and I couldn’t wait to shake it loose at the end of the day.

‘Then we’ll book you into a beautician and get your hands and feet sorted out. I’ve never seen you before without polish on your nails. I can’t see your feet when you are in those clodhoppy boots, but the Maddy standing before me today is just not the Maddy I know and love. We definitely need to get that sorted out before we put you in front of customers. And the clothes. Er… wow! Where to start? Obviously, we need to get you back into wearing those smart suits that you used to wear. I presume you still have them. You might think you are rocking the wax dungarees babe’ – he looked me up and down and shook his head – ‘but I have to honest with you – they really need to go.’

For once, I was speechless. He was on a roll and he wasn’t stopping now.

‘You don’t have to give me an answer straight away, but all I will ask is that you promise me you’ll seriously think about it. Imagine, darling, we could work hard and play hard but we’d be doing it together. You could even work on Geoff’s account, that would soften the blow for him and I’m sure he’d be fine with that. And we could have all our wonderful things again.’

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