Page 46 of Rescuing Rosie
‘Poor Ant was heartbroken. Numb with shock. He hardly spoke for weeks afterwards. He was still at uni, doing his PhD, home for Christmas. He went back, finished his studies, then did nothing much for a year or so, just worked here in the bar a couple of nights a week. He lived with his parents, who didn’t know how to help him out of it. He and Gemma had been about to get engaged, apparently.’
‘That’s so, so sad.’ Tears brimmed in Rosie’s eyes as she pictured quiet, kind, serious Ant.
‘His mum and dad adopted the dog – he’d belonged to a relative who’d moved into a rest home. Poor Wainwright was really sad too, losing his master, but he and Ant bonded, and Ant began to come out of his shell once he had the dog to look after.’
Rosie nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek as she remembered those photos of Ant and Wainwright on the fell tops. Those two sad boys.
‘Last year Dale and Ant opened the shop. They’re both on the mountain rescue team – they joined after Gemma died – and wanted to do more to teach people about mountain safety. The accident didn’t in any way diminish Ant’s love for the fells.’
Rosie removed the tray from her lap and set it on the coffee table. Her ankle was cold and throbbing, and her appetite had flown.
‘So the reason Ant’s so loyal to Dale,’ she said, ‘is because his old friend helped him through that difficult time?’
‘Oh, Dale was equally devastated,’ said Ashley. ‘You see, Gemma was his twin sister.’
Chapter Nineteen
Rosie stared at him. ‘Ant’s girlfriend was Dale’s sister?’
‘Yep. The three of them grew up together, went walking together. Gemma and Dale were identical twins, a couple of livewires, while Ant was the quiet one. Gaz, the barman …?’ Rosie nodded. ‘He’s a good friend of the boys; he told me the reason Dale didn’t go with them that day, which happened to be their birthday, was because Ant was going to propose up on the summit.’
Rosie briefly closed her eyes. ‘Oh no …’Could this be any sadder?
Ashley resumed stroking Tabitha. ‘I thought you should know.’ He paused, and Rosie wondered why he was telling her all this. She was just a journalist up here to write a story about clothes and spa treatments, with celebrity content to pull in the punters.
‘Rosie Applepip!’ She looked up to see Jono entering the room. ‘Jesus, you gave us a fright,’ he said, looking at her foot with its ice pack. ‘I’d never have got another gig from Amara if you’d disappeared forever in the mist.’
Rosie glanced at Ashley. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, ‘but I’ve learned a lot about this place – and its inhabitants – in a very short spaceof time. Strangely, considering my adventures, I love it. And them.’
‘Me too,’ said Jono, sitting down beside her, also glancing at Ashley. He had his laptop with him. ‘I thought you might like to see,’ he said, opening it and clicking on a file of images labelledVybe. He showed her the fashion shoot photos, with Dale and Madison looking outdoorsy-gorgeous on Loughrigg.
‘Veronica must be so pleased,’ said Rosie.
‘She is, yes. And that was a good call, getting Dale involved.’ He held her gaze. ‘You did a great job with the reflector, but that one – he lights himself.’
Rosie stared at a photo of Dale, those flashing dark eyes, hair blowing artistically in the wind. Thinking about the sadness behind that cheeky grin.
Then he moved on to the shots he’d taken of Madison ‘from behind’, on … Dale’s Knob. Rosie swallowed a smile. Dale was outrageous, but hewasfunny.
The drone footage was fabulous, with panoramic bird’s-eye views of the fells and lakes, and Madison, hands in the air, on the rocky outcrop.
‘I thought you might like to see these too,’ said Jono, and he clicked on a folder labelledLakes.Rosie’s eyes widened as he showed her sunset shots of Grasmere. He’d also photographed the waterbirds, a buzzard soaring overhead; there was an amazing shot of a kingfisher the moment it hit the water, like an iridescent blue arrow. ‘First time I’ve ever got a kingfisher.’
‘They’refantastic,’ said Rosie. She raised her eyebrows at Ashley. ‘So you really were looking at Jono’s bird photos!’
‘Mostly.’
As Ashley helped her into the lift and along to Tennyson, Rosie’s mind returned to what he’d told her about Ant and Dale. She guessed the two men had dealt with Gemma’s death in verydifferent ways, one retreating into himself, the other partying hard.
Ashley let them in, and Madison soon appeared. ‘I’m hoping there are some nice bubbles for Rosie’s bath, Ashley?’ she said.
‘But of course,’ he said. ‘I’ll leave you to it, ladies.’
Rosie changed while Madison ran the bath. It was deep and steaming, and fragrant bubbles were spilling over the side.
Madison helped her in. ‘Thanks so much,’ said Rosie, sighing with pleasure as she slid into the hot water, her left foot resting on a soft, folded towel Madison had put on the side.Bliss.
‘Mind if I hang about for ten minutes?’ she said, sitting down on the loo.
