Page 45 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘Okay… the Botanist?’
‘Oh. I thought he’d said the Alchemist. I was in the wrong place.’
He grinned as if that was the explanation for all of it. If he thought that was a good excuse, in the age of mobile phones, he was wrong.
‘And you didn’t call me because…?’
He faltered. It was astounding that he hadn’t thought of this before.
‘I’m sorry, it didn’t occur to me. I thought you’d decided to go somewhere else so I came back here and went to bed.’
‘Honestly Ed. That whole explanation sounds so… weird. I don’t know if it’s the truth or not, but if it is it’s only marginally better than me thinking you decided to ditch me. Either way, you missed the tour and I thought that’s what you’d enjoy the most.’ She shook her head in disbelief, not knowing what to think.
She climbed out of bed, glad that she’d worn the night-shirt she’d packed but thought she wouldn’t need. ‘I’m going to get dressed and go down to breakfast and then I’m leaving.’
He shot out of bed. ‘Well, I’ll come with you.’
‘Whatever.’
She got dressed in record time but he was just as speedy and they went down for breakfast together in silence. She was glad that neither Matt nor Oliver were in the restaurant. Forced jollity this early in the morning would have been too much. Oliver had offered her a lift back to Worcester and she texted him to confirm because forty minutes on the train with Ed wasn’t something she wanted to put herself through.
‘So you went to New Street station and then pretended to go to the loo and left him there?’ Oliver said, laughing. ‘Christ Pats, that’s classic.’ He had picked her up in front of the Mailbox where he’d parked his car overnight.
‘He ditched me, I ditch him.’ And he’d got the message that was what had happened because he’d texted her and said sorry again and that he’d hopefully see her soon.
‘From a purely selfish point of view, do you think he’ll finish the projector if you’re not seeing him any more?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said, laughing at his honesty at a time of personal crisis. ‘I’m so out of practice with this kind of stuff, I don’t know whether it’s break-up-worthy or just a blip. We had a great afternoon yesterday, I thought things were good between us so perhaps it’s too soon to say it’s over. I do think it’s a wake-up call and a sign to maybe slow things down a bit. I think I’ll know when I see him again.’
‘Mmm. Speaking of break-ups, I think Amy and I might be calling it a day.’
‘Really? Because of the cinema?’
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. ‘I think that was the beginning of the end. She’s asked for her investment in the coffee house back.’
‘But… can she do that?’
‘We went into it as partners, and she’s turned into a silent one over the past couple of years but it’s her money. The thing is, she knows that I’d have to pull some of my investment out of the cinema if I have to pay her back.’
‘She’s playing games, Ollie.’ Patsy was indignant, able to see quite clearly what Amy’s game was. ‘She’s trying to force you to give up on it.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. But I think it’s safe to say the love has gone.’ He glanced at Patsy with a sad smile.
‘Can you get a loan?’ She wasn’t going to start telling him she was sorry about Amy. He deserved someone better. Someone who loved him and supported him in whatever he wanted to do.
‘I’ve already got one, that’s how I paid for the building in the first place. The problem is that it comes in chunks and each chunk is contingent on something being finished. So I got one when the outside was done, and the next one will come when the kitchen’s in. If I use any of that money to pay Amy back, we won’t be able to afford to do the work to get the next chunk of money.’
‘I wish I could help, somehow.’
‘I appreciate the sentiment but I’ll sort something out, Pats. It’s not your problem to fix.’
‘Bloody Amy.’ Patsy wound her window down once they got off the motorway, enjoying the wind on her face.
‘Maybe it’s for the best. At least this way I’m not going to be beholden to her. I can’t stay with her just to get through the project.’
‘Can’t you? I’m joking,’ she added when he gave her a look of disbelief.
‘In the long run, if she’s not on my side, it’s better to know now rather than down the line when our affairs are even more tangled together.’
