Chapter 19
‘Come on,’ I said, pulling Minnie out from under the table and holding her close.
I could feel her little body trembling, but my mind was made up and I knew that if we didn’t get going straightaway we wouldn’t make it at all. I pulled on Gwen’s old gardening mackintosh, locked the cottage door, ushered three very startled hens into their coop, dumped Minnie in the bike basket and set off at full speed. I kept my eyes fixed on the road ahead, rather than the rampaging cloud that the wind was whipping towards us far quicker than I had initially realised.
I wasn’t all that sure how far it was from Cuckoo Cottage to George’s place, but if I pedalled like the wind I was sure I could make it. We could spend the afternoon together watching the storm unfold from the safety of his little house and then I would cycle home to survey the damage when it was all over. But of course, as with most of life’s big ideas, my fail-safe plan didn’t quite work out like that.
The rain began to fall just as what I guessed was Will’s barn came into view, but I knew there was no point turning back. I would just have to keep going at the crazy speed I had worked the creaking bike up to and hope we weren’t in for too much of a soaking. To begin with, the drops were few and far between. They plopped heavily on the road, with just the occasional smattering managing to hit us, but they in no way prepared us for the onslaught we were about to experience.
‘There you go,’ I whispered soothingly to Minnie, naively thinking everything was going to be all right. ‘I told you we’d be OK.’
I was just about to stroke the top of her head, and tell her what a clever mummy I was, when I was blinded by a bolt of lightning which touched down terrifyingly close in the field on our right. No longer tracking the River Wyn, the storm had leapt towards us in mere seconds and the clap of thunder which accompanied the flash made my eardrums ache. The rain suddenly began to pummel down and I knew I had to run. I dumped the bike in the verge, held Minnie tight, kept my eyes firmly fixed on the horizon and set off, my legs working like pistons and my heart hammering in fear.
More lightning flashed around us, even closer this time, and the menacing rumble that began straight after it rolled on and on. The depth of sound was so intense I could feel it resonating in my chest and through the road beneath my feet. The next flash struck the power lines either side of us and they began to crackle and spark and as I looked up, just for a second, my foot caught in a pothole and I was sent sprawling. I dropped Minnie and landed hard on the unforgiving road, my hands thankfully saving me from hitting my head.
I’d never felt more of a fool in my life. My knees and palms were bloody and my teeth were chattering, but worse than all of the damage I’d done to myself was the sight of poor Minnie who had made no attempt to run off but stood shivering and crying at my side. My stupid decision to leave the cottage had probably inflicted more psychological harm on the poor little scrap than I was ever going to be able to undo and I forced myself to reach out for her, drag myself up and then carry on, feeling every bit as scared, hurt and miserable as I deserved.
It seemed to take forever for Will to hear me hammering on the door, but eventually he appeared, wearing nothing but a navy bath towel slung low round his hips. He looked as shocked to see me as I was to be standing there and when he wrenched open the door I collapsed sobbing and pathetic into his arms.
‘Jesus, Lottie,’ he gasped as my cold wet body slammed into his. ‘What the hell’s happened?’
I opened my mouth to explain, but the words just wouldn’t come.
‘Here,’ he said, pulling me inside and closing the door. ‘Give me Minnie. Quick.’
My hands were shaking so much as I handed her over I almost dropped her. Will rushed off and came back with her wrapped in a smaller version of the towel he was still wearing. Conscious that my soaked clothes were dripping and steadily soaking the floor, I stayed rooted to the doormat and watched as he sat and began to rub her dry. When he had finished, he snuggled her down among the cushions in a fresh towel and came back to me.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘We have to get you out of these wet clothes.’
He knelt down and pulled my feet out of the wellies, taking in the state of my knees, and then stood back up and gently slipped the saturated mackintosh from my shoulders. My clothes underneath were just as wet and I couldn’t stop shaking, no matter how hard I tried.
‘And these,’ he said.
I stared at him, but still couldn’t find my voice or move.
‘I’m serious,’ he said firmly. ‘You’re freezing, Lottie, and probably in shock. Come on, quickly. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, remember?’
My fingers finally fumbled to unbutton my blouse, but I just couldn’t do it. Will stepped closer again and took over. I could feel his breath and the warmth from his body as he slipped off my blouse and then reached around my back to undo the zip on my skirt, which fell to the floor.
‘Christ,’ he said, gazing down at me. ‘You’re soaked right through.’
I looked down in dismay. My underwear was plastered to me like a second skin and it was completely see-through, but I didn’t care. I didn’t have the energy to care, and like he’d said, there was nothing on show that he hadn’t seen before in even more detail.
‘Come with me,’ he commanded, taking hold of my wrist when it was obvious that I was still in no fit state to offer an explanation as to what had happened.
I tripped numbly along behind him and into the bathroom.
‘I’ve set it to warm,’ he said when he’d eventually finished fiddling with the shower settings. ‘And there are plenty of towels. Take your time, but don’t lock the door. I don’t want to have to break it down if you pass out.’
I nodded.
‘All right?’ he frowned, determined to make me speak.
‘OK,’ I whispered, amazed that I still had a voice.
‘Put this on when you get out,’ he said, laying a bathrobe on the stool next to the shower. ‘And then we’ll have a look at your knees.’
‘And my hands,’ I croaked, holding up my scratched, bleeding palms.
Will shook his head in disbelief and tutted.
‘Whatever were you doing out there?’
I shook my head and listened to the storm which was still raging right over our heads.
‘Well, you’ve done a thorough job of hurting yourself,’ he said. ‘I’ll get you a drink ready,’ he added, ‘something to warm you up on the inside.’
‘Not tea,’ I begged.
Even though I was numb with shock, I still felt, Skylark Scrumpy aside, as though I’d drunk nothing other than tea since I first arrived in Wynbridge.
‘Definitely not tea,’ he agreed.
I stood under the warm flow of water in Will’s walk-in shower, willing myself not to cry and trying not to think about the fact that even though my body felt like it had been hit by a bus, I had been incredibly turned on as he had peeled off my clothes and undressed me. The brush of his warm skin on my frozen flesh had aroused goosebumps that I was sure had nothing to do with the tumble I had taken on the road.
Struggling to dismiss my feelings, I rinsed my hair and reached for the shower gel. It seemed such an intimate thing to do, covering myself with Will’s masculine woody scent, but there were no traces of anything even remotely feminine anywhere, which, I was perturbed to realise, I felt rather pleased about.
‘You all right in there?’ Will called through the door. ‘Do you need a hand?’
‘No thanks,’ I squeaked as visions of him towelling me down made me feel light-headed all over again. ‘I’m all right. I’m almost done.’
Gingerly I patted my scraped knees and palms dry, slipped on the bathrobe – Will’s bathrobe – and opened the door.
‘All right?’ he asked, his brow creased in concern.
‘I think so,’ I croaked.
‘And have you warmed up a bit?’
‘Yes,’ I nodded. ‘Yes, thank you, and my knees have stopped shaking, although I can’t say the same about my hands.’
‘Well, that’s a start,’ he said, looking at me seriously.
He had swapped his towel for a pair of jogging bottoms and a close-fitting T-shirt, but his feet were still bare. He looked incredibly handsome, as if he’d just stepped off the pages of the latest Boss ad campaign, and I wondered if perhaps I had hit my head on the road after all.
I’d spent so much of our brief relationship feeling annoyed with my unlikely hero that I hadn’t allowed myself to really think about just how drop-dead gorgeous he actually was and the fact that he was now being so kind did nothing to calm the muddled feelings playing out in my head.
‘Come and sit down,’ he said as yet another clap of thunder shook the barn and the rain lashed against the windows.
I sat as instructed and Minnie shuffled along and curled up by my side.
‘I’m so sorry, sweetheart,’ I whispered, my eyes filling with tears. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’
She licked the back of my hand and closed her eyes again.
Will knelt down in front of me and gently lifted the dressing gown, revealing knees which looked as if they’d tripped straight off the school playground.
‘I have to ask,’ he said, as he began gently picking out the tiny bits of stone that the shower hadn’t managed to dislodge. ‘What the hell were you doing? I take it you had a good reason to be passing my door during the mother of all storms?’
I shook my head, feeling thoroughly embarrassed by the whole silly situation.
‘Not really.’
‘So what were you doing?’
‘I was too afraid to stay at the cottage,’ I explained, gasping from the pain. ‘The electrician called and told me not to go anywhere near that blasted fuse box if the power went off and I got spooked. I panicked and convinced myself it was going to catch fire or something if the storm hit.’
I knew it sounded ridiculous. It was ridiculous.
‘But I thought you were going to have the box replaced.’
‘I am,’ I said. ‘It was supposed to be done this morning, but the guy had an emergency and didn’t show up. If he’d turned up when he should have done it would have all been done by now. Jesus!’ I winced. ‘Sorry. Crikey, that stings.’
Will ignored me and carried on. As a highly decorated soldier, I guessed he’d seen far worse than my few cuts and grazes.
‘So have you made arrangements for him to come back then?’
‘Not yet,’ I said, realising I hadn’t.
Simon had been quick to say he would come out and reset the fuse box if the power was knocked out, but we hadn’t set another date for him to come and carry out the work.
‘And who is this guy?’ Will frowned, turning his attention from my knees to my grazed palms.
‘Some chap called Simon,’ I explained. ‘He’s a cousin of Matt’s, apparently.’
I held my breath, waiting for him to say something scathing about my choice of builder again, but he didn’t.
‘There,’ he said instead. ‘All done and this is exactly why we need to get you sorted out with Mags’s minivan as soon as possible, isn’t it?’
‘I guess so,’ I said, feeling like a child who was being lectured by someone older and wiser.
‘No,’ said Will. ‘You know so, Lottie. You can’t risk this sort of thing happening again and please don’t look so downhearted about it. When I said I’d accompany you on the road until you get used to driving again, I really meant it.’
‘Thank you,’ I smiled. ‘I would appreciate that. I can drive. I just haven’t for a long time.’
I forced down the reason why I was so reluctant and focused on Will’s kind words instead.
‘Well, give it a few weeks and you’ll be wondering how you’ve managed without a car for so long,’ he said, walking over to the kitchen. ‘I promise.’
‘Anything’s got to be better than relying on that rust-ridden bike,’ I relented, with another shake of my head.
‘Talking of which,’ Will frowned, ‘what have you done with it?’
‘I dumped it on the verge,’ I confessed. ‘It isn’t on the road or anything so it should be fine. I’ll pick it up when I walk back to the cottage.’
‘You won’t be walking anywhere,’ said Will. ‘Now, drink this while I go and set the machine to dry your clothes. I’ve given them a quick rinse. I hope that was OK?’
‘Yes,’ I croaked, ‘thanks.’ I was surprised by how organised he was.
‘I thought I’d better do it quickly in case the power goes off.’ He smiled. ‘We can’t have you going home in my bathrobe, can we?’
‘No,’ I sighed. ‘I guess not.’
Given how soft and comforting it was, I wouldn’t have minded if I never took it off again.
‘So what is this?’ I said, peering into the depths of the glass of amber liquid he handed me.
‘Whisky,’ he said, as another rumble of thunder ripped through the ground. ‘Neat, single malt. It’ll warm you from the inside out.’
Personally I couldn’t help thinking I already had enough fire in my belly, but I knocked it back in one and began to splutter.
‘You don’t have to neck it!’ Will laughed. ‘You’d better just sip the next one.’
Given the way my throat was burning, I didn’t much want another one. I was just about to say as much when the room was lit up and then plunged into darkness.
‘Damn,’ muttered Will. ‘That’s the power out then. I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait for your clothes after all. You aren’t in any rush to get home, are you?’
‘No,’ I said. The last thing I wanted was to be home alone with the fuse box from hell. ‘As long as I’m not in your way.’
‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘It’s actually nice to have some company, although I think you could have timed your arrival a little better.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, when I first saw you on the doorstep,’ he grinned, pointing back towards the bathroom, ‘just for a split second I thought you were here to get your own back.’
‘As if,’ I gasped. ‘How could you think such a thing?’
Will wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and reached for his phone.
‘Bugger,’ he muttered, throwing it back down again. ‘No signal. Will you be all right if I just nip out?’ he asked, reaching for a fleece that was hanging next to the door and pulling on a pair of trainers. ‘I’ll be back in a bit.’
‘Where are you going?’
Funnily enough I didn’t feel daunted by the thought of being alone during the storm in Will’s place at all.
‘Just down the road to check on George,’ he said, dashing out into the rain. ‘I know he won’t thank me for it, but I just want to make sure he’s OK. You never know, he might even want to come here and see the storm out with us. Make yourself at home, won’t you?’
‘OK,’ I nodded, biting my lip. ‘Thanks Will.’