Page 42 of A Sky Full of Stars
‘Hi,’ he said, as he caught sight of her. ‘Couldn’t keep away, huh?’
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ Charlotte shot back, unnerved by the soon-to-be-juxtaposition of her past relationship and her present one. ‘I thought you’d headed back to London, and your flight?’
‘I decided to stick around a while,’ Todd said, turning his best chocolate-brown-eyed gaze on her. ‘Thought it would be worth it.’
‘Not on my account, I hope!’ Charlotte tried desperately to make light of this situation. ‘I think I was pretty clear with you when we spoke.’
‘Oh, you were.’ Todd gave a brief, tight smile. ‘But a guy can hope, right?’ He turned away to sip his pint, and before Charlotte could conjure a suitably pithy response, he continued. ‘And anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking about those materials you shared with me. Something doesn’t add up. With your permission, I’d like to be your research partner on this one, if you’ll have me.’
Charlotte’s surprise, and not a small amount of suspicion, must have registered on her face as Todd instantly raised his hands in a placatory gesture. ‘Honestly, Charlotte, I’m on the level here. Ever since you sent me the photos of those documents, I’ve been racking my brain trying to work out why Martin and Laura Ashcombe aren’t mentioned with reference to the Volucris Binary. They were in contact with Professor Jacobson at North West Wessex, for goodness’ sake! Why would it just have ended there? I mean, not even a footnote in some journal somewhere? There’s got to be more to it than that.’
Reluctantly, Charlotte had to concede that Todd had a point: she’d been thinking along similar lines ever since she’d found the papers. Much as she resented Todd muscling in on this, she respected his knowledge and expertise. Perhaps it wouldn’t be unreasonable to make use of both if he was prepared to work with her?
‘All right,’ she said carefully. ‘Let’s research this together for a bit. It’s probably going to be a dead end, and there’s likely to be a rational explanation for why Volucris wasn’t documented back in the mid 1990s. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to keep digging. The observatory’s papers are going to be transferred to the North West Wessex archive at the end of the summer, in fact, some have gone already, so when they’re in situ back at the university, I’ll have more time to spend on this. For now, my job is to ensure the important documents are archived, but later on I’ll have more time to look for any connections.’
‘And I’ll take the Jacobson angle,’ Todd replied. He looked thoughtful. ‘I know he worked in the US for a while before he retired a few years back. Perhaps I can track him down… jog his memory about Volucris and the Ashcombe connection.’
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. ‘Wouldn’t he be in his nineties by now, if he’s still alive? How much is he going to remember from thirty-odd years ago? This was right at the birth of the internet, too. If the Lower Brambleton Astronomical Society hadn’t kept a printout of that early email, we’d have no idea about Martin and Laura’s discovery.’
‘Martin and Laura?’ It was Todd’s turn to look sceptical. ‘You sound like you knew them personally.’ He gave her a faintly patronising smile. ‘You get so involved when you’re on a job, don’t you? Almost as if you’re living the lives of the people you’re putting into storage.’
Charlotte realised then exactly why she and Todd would never have had a romantic future. He might be a skilled astronomer and researcher, but she couldn’t put up with his ‘pat on the head, what a good girl you are’ routine. She knew that whatever contact she had with him now would be purely in the name of research.
‘Well, I really must grab a table,’ she said briskly, biting down the urge to tell Todd to sling his hook. ‘I’ve got a lunch date, and I said I’d get us a seat if I got here first.’
‘Don’t let me keep you,’ Todd replied. ‘Who’s your date? Some local you’ve met while you’ve been down here?’
‘Something like that.’ Charlotte beamed as she saw Tristan ducking under the low doorway of the pub. ‘I’ll let you know what I turn up when I’ve spent some more time with the papers.’
‘You do that,’ Todd replied. He was clearly watching the trajectory of Charlotte’s gaze, and she was sure she saw a rather satisfying look of surprise and discomfort crossing his features as he laid eyes on Tristan. Todd made to move away towards the door that led to the rooms above the pub.
‘See you,’ Charlotte replied. Not wanting to face the awkwardness of her past and present romantic lives colliding, she hurried over to meet Tristan halfway across the bar.
‘Hey,’ she said quickly, raising her face to his for a kiss of welcome. ‘I think I spotted a table out the back by the window if you fancy it.’
‘Great,’ Tristan replied. He appeared not to have clocked the interaction between Charlotte and Todd as he’d arrived. ‘I hope you’re hungry,’ he said as they made a beeline for the table, away from the main bar. ‘The Star and Telescope does a mean Sunday roast.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Charlotte replied. She was glad when they’d rounded the corner and taken their seats, out of Todd’s line of sight. She’d fill Tristan in this afternoon about everything, she thought. After all, this concerned his family; he had a right to know. All the same, she felt a nagging sense of worry about raising what she thought she’d found before she was truly certain. What if she told him about his parents’ link to Volucris and it turned out to be a trail that led to nothing? As a scientist, she was trained to test hypotheses and create theories based on hard evidence. Was she really at the stage where she actually had anything she could even call evidence yet? And what if Todd was right and there was more to it than they’d hitherto discovered? Resolving to enjoy lunch and then think about how she might raise the subject with Tristan, she settled down to make the far easier choice about which type of roast to go for.
42
‘You weren’t joking,’ Charlotte said as she put her knife and fork together on an empty plate, ‘that really was the best roast I’ve had in ages!’ Living alone, she never cooked the full Sunday lunch with all the trimmings, but when she felt the need for a bit of good old English tradition, she’d slink down to one of the university’s canteens and avail herself of theirs. The Star and Telescope’s incarnation of the meal, however, knocked spots off any university’s attempt. Succulent, locally reared roast pork, complete with crackling and homemade apple sauce, was the centrepiece of a plate that brimmed to overflowing with root vegetables, stuffing and even, to a non-purist’s delight, a gigantic, feather-light Yorkshire pudding. She’d devoured it all, and now was feeling replete.
As a result of last night’s wine, neither she nor Tristan had fancied alcohol, so they were both drinking elderflower cordial and feeling a whole lot better for it. Leaning back in her chair, Charlotte waved away the dessert menu. ‘Honestly, I couldn’t, but go ahead if you can.’
Tristan grinned. ‘How about a slab of apple pie and custard and two spoons?’
Charlotte tried to demur, but in the end, she had a good few mouthfuls of the most delectable shortcrust pastry that encased more locally grown Bramley apples, and a gloriously silky homemade custard.
‘I willnevereat again!’ she proclaimed a few minutes later as she pushed her spoon away from her.
Tristan shook his head. ‘I’m so glad you’re someone who likes to eat well.’ He paused, obviously debating whether to continue. ‘My, er, my previous girlfriend was always on some diet or other. I could never work out what to cook her, and although she grinned and bore it a lot of the time when I got things wrong, I never felt as though I got it right. But that was her decision, of course – each to their own.’
‘Were you together long?’ Charlotte asked. She was curious about who had held a place in Tristan’s life and his heart before her, and hoped that an insight might give her more of a handle on this rather complicated man.
Tristan shook his head. ‘It was a casual thing.’ He looked a little rueful. ‘I’ve, er, I’ve never been particularly good at commitment.’ He rushed to clarify. ‘Don’t get me wrong. I don’t screw around, and I’ve never cheated when I’ve been involved with someone.’ His face coloured slightly as he continued. ‘It might sound like a bit of a cliché, but I’ve never really met anyone I’ve felt able to see myself being with in the long term.’
‘It’s not a cliché,’ Charlotte said softly. ‘Sometimes, people come into our lives for different reasons, and at different times, and then they go again. Not every relationship has to start with the vision of a lifetime commitment.’
