Page 84 of All Wrapped Up
‘I do,’ she said passionately. ‘I really do. I know I got on Ash’s nerves when he first moved here and now, I’ve wound you up too. I’ve no desire to leave Wynbridge under a cloud, so I’m committing to taking care of my own business from this moment on and only my business.’
‘Well.’ I smiled, hoping she’d be able to stick to that declar-ation and wondering if this was finally the opportunity to askher what she was really feeling about leaving. ‘That’s music to my ears and the flowers are the perfect apology. One of my absolute favourite things, in fact.’
I endeavoured to always have a fresh vase or jug of flowers in the cottage, but since I’d become involved with the festival, I’d let the tradition slip a bit. Joanne’s fabulous peace offering would more than kick it off again. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I had enough jugs, vases, pots and jars to hold them all. What a wonderful issue to have!
‘Finally, I’ve got something right.’ Joanne smiled.
‘Would you like a coffee while I make a start on arranging them?’ I offered.
She considered her answer.
‘No,’ she finally said. ‘Best not. I’m only just getting the hang of this not being a pain in the backside behaviour and I don’t want to bugger it up on my first day.’
‘In that case,’ I then suggested, thinking this really was too good an opportunity to miss, ‘how about we switch that scenario around? You stay andIpotentially make a hash of saying something wrong to you, rather than the other way around?’
She looked wary, but agreed.
‘So,’ I said, as I began deconstructing the elaborate bouquet and filling the containers I’d gathered together and half filled with water, ‘Lizzie tells me you’re definitely leaving Wynbridge at the end of the year.’
That was common knowledge, but I had to start somewhere.
‘Yes,’ she said, passing me one of the dahlias. ‘That’s right.’
‘And heading off to…’
‘Germany,’ she said on an out breath, which I for one hadn’t known. ‘Aiden and I are moving to Germany.’
I waited for her to carry on because she usually had so much to say for herself, but she didn’t and when I considered it, I realised she hadn’t sounded all that keen on her and Aiden’s destination.
‘And how are you feeling about that?’ I therefore asked.
‘Not good!’ she burst out after a brief pause. ‘I don’t know anyone there. Or a word of the language. I’ve been trying to learn, but I just can’t get to grips with it. I had thought I was going to be joining Aiden in Australia, which is where he is now and where I know a few people, and the language of course, but he’s taken up the offer to be relocated to Germany!’
‘I see, well—’ I started to say, but the dam was breached and the words that poured out of her were determined to keep flowing now they’d been given the chance.
‘I’ve actually been trying not to think about it,’ she rushed on. ‘Which is why I’ve stayed so focused on you and Ash, even though I said I wouldn’t.’ That certainly explained her continued preoccupation with us. ‘And then, when I realised that you’d been living on your own for so long, I started to wonder if I could do it, too…’
And that accounted for the questions about my current lifestyle and her ‘lone wolf’ comment to Ash in the café.
‘But you don’t really want to break up with Aiden and live on your own, do you?’
‘No!’ she gasped. ‘But maybe I could get my own place and we could do long distance, long-term, because I don’t want to move to Germany with him, either. I was rubbish at languages at school and the thought of having no one to talk to…’
‘I can see how that might be an issue for you,’ I quipped,in an attempt to make her laugh, but her eyes filled with tears and I realised I’d said the wrong thing. ‘Sorry,’ I apologised.
‘I suppose I deserved that.’ She sniffed, handing me another stem.
‘Perhaps.’ I nodded. ‘But I am truly sorry that you’re feeling this way. We all thought you were super excited about going. Everyone thought you were really keen.’
‘When I thought I was going to Australia, I was super excited,’ she explained. ‘Really, really keen, but I don’t want to live in Germany. Not that I’ve got anything against the country, but how am I going to find work there or make friends if I don’t speak the language?’
It was certainly a conundrum and not one I had an answer for.
‘Anyway,’ she then nudged me, ‘not everyone thought I was keen, did they? You’d obviously worked out I’d had a change of heart about my big departure, even if Lizzie and Jemma hadn’t.’
‘Well,’ I said. ‘I was privy to a conversation they didn’t hear and I’ve picked up on a couple of things while you’ve been talking to them, too.’
‘I think I’ve been getting on their nerves too much for them to take any real notice of me,’ she said. I wasn’t sure that was entirely true because they were simply so busy, but I didn’t interrupt. ‘And I know that’s my own fault, because in my effort to distract myself from what’s to come, I’ve gone into meddling overdrive and rubbed practically everyone I love up the wrong way. It’s little wonder my boss hasn’t seen anything’s amiss, is it?’
