Page 71 of All Wrapped Up
‘Hey,’ I then said to Ash, who joined me. ‘Let me get you a drink.’
The action gave me something to do and meant I didn’t have to look at him for a few more seconds. I had almost recovered, but not quite.
‘No time,’ he said. ‘But thanks. I need to get to the practice.’
‘Oh no,’ I said, though actually I felt a bit relieved as I glanced at him. ‘You’re not leaving?’
‘Afraid so,’ he nodded. ‘And then,’ he added, not quite looking at me, either, ‘in the morning, I’m off to stay with Mum and Dad for a few days.’
‘You didn’t mention it before.’
‘Did I not?’ He frowned. ‘I meant to.’
‘Will you be gone long?’ I asked.
‘I’ll be back in time for the start of the pumpkin picking,’ he promised.
He still wasn’t looking at me properly.
‘You know, Ash,’ I started to say. ‘That dance just now—’
‘Sorry, Clem,’ he said, taking a step away, ‘I really need to go. Say goodbye to Fliss and the others for me, will you?’
‘Of course,’ I said. ‘But Ash…’
My words trailed off as he walked away. He didn’t look back and I hoped our mad moment wasn’t the reason behind his sudden departure from the county because I was certain it hadn’t been in the offing before. But if that was the case, and I’d already managed to rationalise what had happened, why hadn’t he?
Chapter 17
I didn’t sleep soundly that night, but the next day I strengthened my resolve to further distance myself from what had happened at the Fenview Feast, because actually, nothing of worrying significance had happened. Ash and I had danced together. Full stop. We’d had a dance and a laugh and that was it.
I had nothing to feel guilty about and the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that Ashmusthave made his plan to visit his parents before he thought to mention it to me because he didn’t have the sort of job where you could just take off, did he? Ergo, all was right with the world.
‘All hail the dancing queen,’ Joanne greeted me, when I looked in at the gallery, with Pixie in tow on Saturday morning. ‘I heard you had fun at the Fenview Feast and I’ve been hoping you’d come and tell us all about it.’
‘I think that particular title belongs to Tom,’ I said, thinking back to his extraordinary moves on the makeshift dancefloor. ‘He was the one who really let himself go.’
‘He does have that reputation,’ Lizzie laughed. ‘There’s never a dull moment at a party if he’s invited.’
‘I can well believe that,’ I laughed.
‘How’s everything going?’ Lizzie then asked.
‘Really well. I’ve been booking and scheduling some extra events and making sure the socials are all up to date with the details, too.’
‘Brilliant.’ Lizzie nodded.
‘That’s why I’ve not been around much,’ I added for her assistant’s benefit. ‘I’ve been far too busy to come in here and gossip with you, Joanne.’
‘That’s you told,’ Lizzie laughed and Joanne looked chastened. ‘So, what are you up to today, Clemmie?’
I glanced at Joanne and felt a bit bad that I’d been so blunt with her in front of Lizzie. If there was something on her mind that she was masking through her apparent interest in other people’s lives, then publicly telling her off was hardly the way to go about gaining her trust and getting her to confide, was it?
‘Nothing in particular,’ I replied to Lizzie. ‘Now I’ve got everything sorted again, I’m going to be a free agent for a little while.’
The decision to still pace myself and balance the bouts of getting out and about with being back in the cottage with Pixie, was making all the difference to my confidence levels, but I was in no rush to tip the scales too far in either direction and sacrifice one for the other.
‘In that case,’ she said, putting her hands together in a pleading gesture, ‘is there the slightest chance that you might consider helping me out in here today? Jemma really needs Joanne in the café because of staff illness, so I’m going to be trying to run two workshops back-to-back until late in the day and with no support.’
