Page 102 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
She took one last look back towards the castle as she hopped on the bus. This was the best thing. It saved Bella and Adam, who were good and kind and generous, from the pain of having to look her in the eye and tell her she had to go. And there was nothing she could have said to Pavel that would make this better. There was only one thing she could say to him and she’d put that in her letter. Adam and Bella would explain it better than she ever could.
Sunlight was already streaming through the thin curtains when Pavel woke up. For a second he wasn’t sure why he was waking up under a floral counterpane rather than his own simple blue duvet, and then of course he knew. He’d stayed with Gemma. He smiled. He’d slept better than he had for years and woken without the niggling sense in the back of his head that he had to get up, had to push on, had to make himself useful. He felt quite at ease lying back and waiting for his girlfriend to return.
He listened out for the sounds of her in the kitchen or the shower, but the cottage was quiet. Pavel reached for his phone on the floor and checked the time. Already half past eight. She was most likely up and off to work already. She could have woken him for a lift. He smiled at the idea of Gemma deciding to let him sleep.
Pavel pulled his clothes on and picked up his phone. He tapped out a text.
Morning. Are you still at Lowbridge?
Her phone buzzed on the bedside table at the other side of the bed. Great. Pavel headed over to the castle kitchen in search of life, wondering if she was already on her way over to the McKenzie estate. He should probably pick her phone up and take it over with him.
He arrived in the kitchen feeling slightly sheepish. Everyone at the castle was a friend and he knew he’d always be welcome at their table but they weren’t used to him turning up for breakfast wearing yesterday’s clothes. He braced for the inevitable teasing.
Instead he was met with silence. Adam, Bella and Darcy were all sitting at the kitchen island, but the room wasn’t full of the sort of chatter he was used to. ‘What’s up with you lot?’
‘Pav.’ Adam tilted his head. ‘How are you doing?’
‘I’m fine.’ He looked around for a mug. ‘Do you mind if I get some coffee?’
‘Course not.’ Adam nodded. ‘Get whatever you need.’
‘Coffee’s fine.’ He turned back to the group at the table. ‘Seriously, what’s up?’
Adam closed his eyes for a second. ‘She didn’t tell you, did she?’
‘Who didn’t tell me what?’ This really was starting to feel strange.
Adam looked at his fiancée. She was holding an envelope between her fingers. She passed it to Adam. ‘Why don’t we leave you to it for a minute?’
Adam nodded. Darcy followed Bella out of the room, pausing in the doorway. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘Sit down, mate.’
Pavel did as he was told. ‘OK. You’re freaking me out a bit now. What’s happened?’
‘So Gemma.’ He rubbed his eyes. ‘Jodie. There is no Gemma. She was Jodie all along. She was pretending to be Gemma cos she needed a job and yeah…’
‘What?’ Adam wasn’t making any sense. ‘She’s pretending to be Jodie at the McKenzie place.’
‘Yeah. She is, but that’s her real name.’ Adam spoke quickly. ‘She’s Jodie Simpson. Gemma, the real Gemma, was her ex and that was who we offered the job to. Jodie pretended to be her.’
‘No.’ Why would Adam be saying something like this?
‘I’m not joking.’
Pavel looked at his friend’s face. He really wasn’t joking. People didn’t do that though. They didn’t pretend to be someone else to get a job in a run-down castle in the middle of nowhere. They didn’t travel across the country based on a lie and a prayer.
And then Pavel remembered her on the very first day, trying to run away before she’d begun, convinced that she’d made a terrible mistake. He remembered the way she shut down every time anyone asked about her home or her life before Lowbridge. He remembered Bella teasing her for lying about how much she knew about cookery before they offered her the job. He remembered every time he thought he’d seen her, and every time she’d closed down again. He hadn’t known what was wrong, but he’d known that something was. He’d known that she wasn’t showing him all of herself.
But he had seen her. He’d seen the way her face changed when he called her darling. He’d seen her fighting for breath when panic was overtaking her. He’d seen her weeping at the strains of a carol. He’d laughed with her. He’d made love to her, and that had been real. She’d promised him it was real.
Adam was still holding the envelope Bella had handed him. ‘She left this.’ He pulled out two sheets of paper and held one out. ‘This one’s for you. Well, it’s for us to tell you but you might as well read it for yourself.’
Pavel unfolded the paper.
Please tell Pavel I’m sorry. And tell him it wasn’t all a lie. Tell my darling Pavel that all of that was real. I’m so so sorry if I hurt him.
‘If she hurt me?’ He looked at his friend.
