Page 39 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘Well, I didn’t see that coming,’ Val said, laughing. ‘No, seriously. I could see it coming a mile off,’ she said when Nora looked confused. ‘And I know you’re stressed out today, but you’ve looked happier than I’ve seen you in years.’
‘Really?’ Nora said, feeling pleased. ‘You don’t think it’s too soon?’
‘Why? I might be talking out of turn, but I don’t think you and Julian had been in love for a while. You needed time to get used to being by yourself, but that’s not the same as needing time to get over someone. I don’t think you needed to do that, did you?’
‘No.’ It was true. She simply hadn’t been heartbroken. She’d settled into life in Croftwood and the new routine of travelling up to Stoke from there, pretty quickly.
‘So what’s it like going out with a lord?’
‘You have to stop calling him that, Val. It’s weird. I don’t think of him like that at all.’
‘Really? I thought that was part of the appeal. You know, in Bridgerton. Anthony, Lord Bridgerton. He’s so commanding. Doesn’t Archie have that going on?’
Nora laughed because the thought of Archie being commanding was quite funny. ‘No, he doesn’t have that going on. He has the deepest soul. It makes my heart ache to look at him.’
‘Oh my god,’ Val said, putting her hand on her chest. ‘You’re in love with him.’
‘No,’ Nora said, frowning and delving into her slice of lemon drizzle cake. ‘It’s too soon to be talking about love.’
‘You are,’ Val insisted. ‘I’ve known you a long time, Nora Hartford, and this is a Nora Hartford I’ve never seen.’
‘You’re so dramatic.’
‘I’m right. And you’ll look back on this moment and marvel about how right I am. You haven’t admitted it to yourself yet. And I get that. It’s a big step. But there’s no denying what’s staring me straight in the face,’ Val said, pointing her fork at Nora.
‘You’re up.’ Neil popped his head around the door and then disappeared. Nora abandoned her cake and sped after him, Val’s words spinning in her head. Was she in love with Archie?
All thoughts of Archie were abandoned as she and Neil carefully unloaded the kiln. The glazes looked spectacular.
‘I should have bought a new kiln years ago,’ she said to Neil.
‘They look tidy,’ he said, picking one up and turning it around in his hands. ‘Very tidy.’
‘What a relief!’ Aside from meaning that this shipment would be on time, it meant that Nora had a whole other batch she had made, just in case. Now, that could be glazed and kept on hand for another order. She’d never been in the position of having any of her bespoke pieces on hand as stock before. It had been a slog to make the extra pieces, working every day in Stoke for the past few weeks, but it meant she could reap the rewards and take her foot off the gas a little.
She spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and finishing the pieces ready for being packed and shipped. It was one of her favourite things to do, aside from throwing the pots in the first place. Making sure that they were perfect, sending them on their way and saying goodbye to them. It sounded strange, but it was an important part of the process for her. Every piece she created was part of her in a small way.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a text from Archie.
Would you like to come to the Court for lunch tomorrow? A x
He didn’t say that it was lunch with him and Constance, but Nora knew that was what lunch at the Court meant.
I’d love to. What time? Should I bring anything? xx
Noon would be perfect. I’d like to show you around before lunch. No need to bring anything. A x
Nora was considerably more excited about seeing the inside of the Court than she was about the prospect of lunch with Constance. But she couldn’t wait to see Archie again. Since kissing at the lake, they’d been kissing a lot. All the time. She’d wondered whether kissing might persuade Archie to swim with her, because as yet, he still hadn’t ventured into the water. She also wondered when they might progress from kissing. Travelling to Stoke every day this week had been tiring, but aside from that, it seemed too calculating to invite him over to her house without offering him dinner or any other reason to visit, apart from it being a blatant booty call, and she hadn’t had time for that.
When she’d finished with her pots, she went to find Val again.
‘What have we got that I can take to impress Archie’s mother? Something she can’t buy from Cushions and Candles in Croftwood.’
‘You’d better check with Michelle what they’ve ordered, or you could take something from the Christmas collection. Nobody’s got that yet.’
‘That’s probably impressive enough,’ said Nora.
‘Actually we have a handful of Christmas candlesticks where we didn’t have the glaze mix quite right. They look a lot less Christmassy and we won’t be able to sell them except as seconds.
