Chapter 22

The birdsong had never sounded so sweet when she woke the next morning. She practically floated down to breakfast.

“Someone’s cheerful this morning.” Annette poured them both coffee. “Had a good night did you?”

“Very good.”

Annette waited, a sly smile on her face. Josie didn’t elaborate, just sipped her coffee and beamed.

“Sam’s coming over later.” Annette popped bread in the toaster but kept a close eye on Josie’s reaction. “I’ve got some jobs for him.”

Josie pursed her lips together in an attempt to stop grinning, but it didn’t help much. She couldn’t wait to see him again and was happy she wouldn’t have to search him out or spend time wondering when she’d see him again.

“Lizzie called last night too.” Annette put toast on the table and sat opposite Josie. “She and Max are going to come over later. They want to take us out to the pub for dinner. I think I’ll stay here though and let you young ‘uns go alone.”

“Don’t be daft,” Josie said. “We’ll all go. It’ll be fun.”

***

After breakfast, Josie went through the usual routine with the dogs. They had two beagles staying – cute dogs and well behaved. It was a glorious day in late May. The weather was unusually warm. Josie spent a pleasant morning walking the dogs and playing with them. In the afternoon, she put on a pair of shorts and vest top to work on her tan. Although, after spending so much time outdoors she already had a lovely bronze glow. After applying a layer of sunscreen, she lay with her face to the sun. The noisy birds sang sweetly, making her smile. They’d annoyed her so much when she’d first arrived, but now she found the sound soothing.

It was utterly relaxing, and sleep had just begun to creep over her when the sound of an engine rumbling disturbed her peace. Sam was down at the barn on a ride-on lawnmower. He drove it up to the house and then killed the motor.

“You’re going to tell me to move, aren’t you?” she said, her face lighting up.

“’Fraid so,” he replied.

“Well there’s no need to look so happy about disturbing my peace!”

“It won’t take long.” He looked slightly apologetic. “Then you can have your spot back.”

She gathered up the blanket. They exchanged a look before she left him to it and went inside.

“I could mow the lawn,” she said to Annette in the living room. “Don’t we look a bit pathetic getting a man to cut the grass? I’m quite capable of driving the mower around.”

“Sam always does it,” Annette said, looking amused. “If that makes me pathetic, so be it! And I wanted him to do it today before this job in Brighton starts. I thought you’d be happy to see him.”

“I was enjoying the peace until he showed up,” she said, but her face gave away how happy she was to see him. “He’s working in Brighton?”

“Hmm. Didn’t he mention it?”

“No. I haven’t really had chance to talk to him properly.”

“You told him about Jack, though?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“And what did he have to say about that?”

Josie laughed. “You’re very nosey today!” Annette just smiled and looked at her expectantly. “He didn’t say a lot … but he seemed quite happy about it.” The memory of kissing him the previous evening jumped into her head. He’d definitely seemed happy.

Annette didn’t comment further, and Josie grabbed a cold drink and wandered back outside. She spread her blanket out again and sat down, inhaling the wonderful aroma of freshly cut grass. Sam was working his way from the house towards the barn. For a few minutes, Josie watched him, taking in the look of concentration on his face. When he glanced over, she was embarrassed at being caught and lay down to enjoy the sunshine once again.

The noise of the lawnmower finally died out half an hour later. A few minutes after that, Josie was aware of a shadow falling across her and opened her eyes as Sam flopped down beside her.

“I’m hot,” he said wearily.

She passed him her bottle of water and he gulped at it before lying down on the blanket and closing his eyes. Josie stared at his face, then watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. He looked so relaxed. Her heart was beating fast and she averted her gaze, worried that he’d catch her staring again.

“I told Annette I could mow the grass,” she said. “Seems daft for you to do it when I’m quite capable.”

Lazily, he opened his eyes. “Don’t ever cut this grass,” he said flatly.

Her mouth twitched to a confused smile. “Why not?”

“It’s my job,” he muttered.

“What?” She couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not.

His eyes opened fully and he sat up, his gaze roaming over the freshly cut lawn. “I’ve been cutting this grass since I was ten years old. So that’s like …” He winced slightly and sucked in a breath. “Twenty-five years. For twenty-five years no one but me has mowed this lawn. Even when I was living in Bristol I used to come back and mow the grass. Don’t start stealing my jobs.”

“Okay,” she said, beaming. “Since you have so much experience!”

He lay down again. “Annette will still offer to pay me. I think the last time I accepted money I was about sixteen, but she still offers. I don’t know what the rate would be now. Do you reckon she’d give me more than the 50p she used to give me when I was a teenager?”

Josie laughed and lay beside him. She concentrated on the fluffy clouds above, hoping that might help bring her heart rate back to a more normal tempo.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she said, after a few minutes, “but I’ve been reading all these books about dogs. About training dogs and different dog breeds and stuff … and now all the clouds look dog-shaped. Is that just me?”

“Yes,” he said. “It’s just you.”

“Seriously, though …” She raised an arm to point. “German shepherd … beagle ... bulldog … Airedale.”

“I think you know your dogs better than your clouds …” He moved her arm. “Cumulus … stratus … cirrus …”

She batted him away, laughing. “Okay, know-it-all, you’re ruining my fun!”

“Well I don’t see dogs,” he said. “But I see a dinosaur.”

“It’s actually a golden retriever standing on its back legs, begging.”

When she put her arm back down it landed alongside Sam’s. The feel of his skin against hers made her light-headed. She was glad she was lying down.

“I think you need to get away from here more often,” Sam said. “You’ve got dogs on the brain.”

“You might be right.” She paused, conscious of his hand so close to hers. She moved her little finger and it grazed the back of his hand. In return he gently stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. “I quite like it here, though.”

“Do you?” He propped himself up on his elbow.

“Yes. Why?”

“I don’t know. I just always had the impression that you wouldn’t stay around long.”

She looked into his green eyes, then quickly shifted her gaze to the clouds again. “Who knows. I’m surprised by how much I like it here. Everything is turning out way better than I expected.”

His fingers continued trailing over her hand. “Did Annette tell you I’ll be working in Brighton for a few weeks?”

“She mentioned something.”

“I leave tomorrow.”

Josie felt a ridiculous sense of panic, which she hoped didn’t show. “So you stay down there and come back at the weekends?”

“We only get Sunday off and it’s too far to come back for a day.”

“Oh.” Josie’s voice was barely a squeak. “What is it you’re doing there?”

“It’s a new build. Some big six-bedroom house. It’s already underway but they keep hitting problems, and now the company’s so far behind schedule that they’re bringing in a load of guys to get it finished as quickly as possible.”

“How long will that take then?”

“I don’t really know. They’re saying three to four weeks but that could change.”

Josie stared at the changing shapes of the clouds, trying to think of something casual to say. Nothing sprang to mind. She actually wanted to laugh. Finally, she’d split up with Jack and could spend time with Sam without feeling guilty, but he wasn’t going to be around.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sam said, hooking his hands behind his head.

She flashed him a puzzled smile.

“You’re wondering how you’re going to get home from the pub on Friday nights without me to escort you.”

She spluttered out a laugh. Although, now that he mentioned it, she realised he had a point. She loved her evening walk with Sam after a night in the Bluebell Inn. “I don’t know how I’ll manage!”

“I’ll have a word with Andy. He’ll be happy to drive you home. Obviously he’s not as charming and quick-witted as I am, but he’ll get you safely home.”

Their eyes locked, and after a moment Josie’s smile faltered. “I’ll miss you,” she blurted out quietly.

“I’ll miss you too.” He leaned closer, his lips gently brushing hers. Her heart hammered on her ribcage, and she hooked an arm around his neck, greedily pulling him closer.

After a few minutes they broke apart, grinning at each other.

“I was going to ask you to have dinner with me tonight,” Sam said. “But Max called me earlier and said we’re all going to the pub. It’ll just have to be another double date, I’m afraid.”

Josie closed her eyes in embarrassment as she remembered her conversation with Lizzie the previous week. “You heard me talking to Lizzie, didn’t you?”

“It was hard not to. The window was wide open.”

Josie felt her cheeks turning pink.

“It’s all right,” Sam said. “I can’t stop thinking about you either.”

She reached up and lightly kissed his lips. “That’s okay then.”

“As soon as I get back from Brighton I’ll take you on a proper date.”

“I can’t wait.”

“I think I better go home and shower now.”

She wrinkled her nose as she pretended to sniff him. “Good idea.”

 

***

 

Max and Lizzie arrived late in the afternoon, just as Sam was arriving back, fresh from his shower. Between the four of them, they convinced Annette to have dinner at the pub too. She jokily told Andy that she’d been bullied into it when they arrived but seemed to enjoy herself regardless.

It was yet another evening when Lizzie didn’t drink. She used driving as an excuse, but Josie didn’t quite buy it. There was something different about Lizzie too. She looked exhausted and yawned frequently throughout their meal in the pub. With a laugh, she blamed it on jet lag, but that was surely dragging on a bit now. For the first time, Josie had an inkling that Sam might be right. Maybe Lizzie was pregnant. If she was, she obviously didn’t want anyone to know yet.

It was a lovely evening. The atmosphere was relaxed and conversation was light and cheerful as always. As much as Josie enjoyed it, she looked forward to a date with just her and Sam. It was an effort to keep her hands off him. She hoped the next few weeks without him around would go quickly. She expected the opposite, and on the walk home she felt suddenly melancholy. Lizzie dropped back to walk with her.

“I take it something’s going on with you and Sam,” she said quietly. “Judging from the way you gazed at each other all evening!”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes!”

Josie managed a half-smile and shook her head. “I can’t believe I finally split up with Jack and Sam’s going away. Talk about bad timing.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing,” Lizzie mused. “You don’t want to jump straight into another relationship. A bit of breathing space will probably be good.” It was a typical response from Lizzie; she was always so sensible and level-headed.

“Maybe,” Josie said, though really she disagreed. She didn’t need breathing space. Her feelings for Sam were nothing like what she’d felt for Jack. And it wasn’t just the excitement of a new relationship; it was more than that. “But I hate the thought of not seeing him for three weeks. I’ll miss him so much.”

“Aww! You love him!”

Josie blushed bright red and bumped her shoulder against Lizzie’s.

“Seriously, though,” Lizzie said. “You never spoke about Jack like that. I’ve never heard you talk about any guy like that.”

Josie stared ahead at Sam and butterflies took flight around her whole body. 

“He’ll be back before you know it,” Lizzie said, then went quiet when they caught up to the others at the gate.

She hoped so.