Guy had a barrage of questions he wanted to ask Nell, but they would just have to wait until they got back from the pub.
‘I’ll fill you in as much as I can en route.
‘I can’t wait! Will they mind if I tag along tonight and gatecrash the party?’
‘Mind? Not at all. Lloyd is joining us too. The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned,’ she said leaning in and kissing him on his mouth.
‘Do we have to go out?’
‘We do but …’ she said, brushing his lips with her finger, ‘I can’t wait for later.’ She replied with a sparkle in her eye.
‘What time can we make our excuses?’
‘Guy, behave,’ she grinned, pushing him out on to the deck of the ‘Nollie’.
Within a couple of minutes Nell and Guy joined everyone in the pub. They were all standing around the table in the far corner admiring Fern’s painting.
Bea looked up and spotted Nell walking towards them.
‘Here she is, what’s been keeping you?’ She tapped her watch, ‘That must have been a hell of meeting about re-wiring.’ She pretended to yawn, before noticing Guy standing at the side of Nell.
‘I believe congratulations are in order,’ Guy leant in and gave Bea a peck on the cheek.
‘OMG you’re back!’ she snagged a quick look at her best friend, who was grinning from ear to ear. ‘How, when, why?’ she exclaimed.
‘So many questions,’ laughed Nell, putting her bag down on the table.
‘Are you here for a while?’
‘I hope so,’ Guy beamed, squeezing Nell’s hand.
‘That’s good to hear! And Nell look at this,’ she insisted, turning Fern’s painting towards them.
‘Wow! That’s amazing, look at the detail and oh my, the Nollie is on there. You have an amazing talent, Fern.’
‘Thank you,’ she blushed.
‘Maybe you should paint some pictures to decorate the deli walls, we could even see if you could sell a few,’ Bea suggested, propping the picture up against the wall.
‘I’d love that.’
‘And please forgive my manners. Can I introduce you to Guy? This is my sister Fern.’
Guy shook her hand and gave her a huge smile, ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Likewise.’
Nathan patted him on his back, ‘Welcome back, mate.’
‘Thanks,’ he said, giving him a friendly handshake.
Bea stared in Nell’s direction and mouthed, ‘Does he know?’
Nell grinned widely, ‘Yes, he knows.’
Bea did her best to suppress her squeal. As soon as Guy and Nathan were out of earshot, Bea leant in towards Nell. ‘That’s a turn up for the books. What’s going on? There’s never a dull moment around here?’
‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’ Nell kept her voice to a whisper. ‘You know he only went back to Ireland to try and make it work for the baby’s sake?’
‘So what happened?’ Bea’s eyes locked with Nell’s.
She took a deep breath, ‘Because there is no baby, just a big fat lie.’
Bea sat back in her chair still staring at Nell. ‘Whoa! Are you telling me she wasn’t pregnant?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m telling you. It appears she made it up to lure Guy back to Ireland.’
‘But what did he say about your baby?’
‘I’ll fill you in later, but I think everything is going to be alright!’
‘That’s brilliant, you do make a lovely couple and it’s great to see that twinkle back in your eye.’
There was no denying Nell shimmered with happiness. ‘I can’t believe he’s actually back. I literally had a heart attack when I saw him.’ Her smile turned into a huge grin.
‘He is quite delicious,’ Bea pretended to fan her face whispering, ‘Hot, hot, hot’ under her breath.
‘Stop! Seriously, just stop, he’ll hear you,’ Nell stifled a giggle and swiped Bea’s leg under the table. Nell looked up at Guy, her eyes sparkled as he settled in the seat next to her and looped his arm through hers. In the last few hours her life had changed once more in such a short space of time: Guy was back and everything was feeling fresh and exciting again.
‘We need a photo,’ Nell suddenly declared.
Everyone groaned jokingly.
‘She makes no apologies,’ Guy said in a heavily accented Irish accent.
Both Nell and Bea swooned, ‘That accent,’ Nell placed her hand on her heart.
‘There’s something about that voice,’ Bea laughed, batting her eyelashes.
‘Behave,’ Guy grinned, picking up his pint glass.
Nell whipped out her phone from her bag,
‘I don’t mind taking the photo of you all.’ They looked up to see Lloyd standing at the side of the table.
‘You will not, you need to be in the picture,’ Nell declared, giving the phone to the passing waiter.
‘Come on, everyone. Lloyd, you sit next to Mum. Everyone snuggled in close and smiled. Once the photos were taken, Nell picked up her glass and declared a toast.
‘Today has been a very special day.’
Nathan gave his wife a proud look of affection while Fern squeezed her hand.
‘Not only is Bea a truly special individual and my best friend, but she without a doubt owns the best deli in the country, and we know that as of today it became official. It’s an absolute pleasure to be part of the team and a huge thank you to Bea for taking me under her wing when I needed looking after the most.’
Bea’s eyes brimmed with tears, ‘You’d do the same for me.’
‘Not only has Bea been awarded with Deli of the Year, Fern has learnt to cook an egg …’
Everyone chuckled.
‘I absolutely love working alongside you all, we are the dream team,’ chipped in Fern.
‘Guy is back,’ Nell smiled towards him,
‘For good,’ he added.
‘And Mum has been reunited with her brother. I think that’s enough drama for Little Rock Marina this week!’
Everyone laughed.
Nell raised her glass, ‘To Bea and The Melting Pot.’
‘To Bea,’ everyone echoed.
‘And to Nell, my best friend,’ Bea raised her glass once more, ‘Here’s to happy ever after.’
Bea took a sip of her drink then suddenly sadness flashed across her face and her shoulders slumped.
Nell met Bea’s eyes, ‘What’s the matter?’ She placed her glass on the table.
‘Nothing, I’m just being daft.’
‘Go on, we’re amongst friends.’
Her eyes briefly slid from Nell’s, ‘Because, it’s all about to change.’
Nell grabbed her hand, ‘Don’t get all morose. This is your day.’
‘I said I was being daft, but we’re all embarking on new adventures: me with the twins and you with the Old Picture House and the baby.’
‘Adventures that no doubt will be bringing us closer together, especially when the boys are on babysitting duties and we are out on the town,’ winked Nell.
‘That sounds like a great idea,’ smiled Bea.
‘Not to me, it doesn’t,’ laughed Nathan.
‘And Gilly and I will be working hard in The Melting Pot to keep things ticking over, especially now I can boil eggs, fry eggs and poach eggs! I’ll be giving Jamie Oliver a run for his money yet.’ Fern smiled at her sister.
‘Don’t get too carried away,’ she teased.
Fern brought her hand up to her chest in mock outrage and grinned.
For the next hour everyone sat and chatted about anything and everything. Lloyd mesmerised them with stories from his past, from how he got his first acting break to having lunch with Frank Sinatra. Everyone was in awe. It was such a wonderful evening.
‘You know when you don’t want an evening to end, well, that’s me right now.’ Everyone looked towards Bea, ‘but I’m beginning to feel tired.’
‘I’ll get the bill,’ Nathan stopped the passing waiter and put his bank card down on the table.
‘I’ve had the best night,’ Nell squeezed her friend’s hand.
‘I think we all have,’ agreed Fern.
‘Nathan can you carry the painting to the car for me? And thanks again, Fern, I absolute love it.’
‘Of course.’
Gilly and Lloyd rose to their feet, ‘Lloyd’s going to walk me home,’ said Gilly, ‘Thanks again everyone for such a wonderful evening.’ Nell rose to her feet and kissed them both on their cheeks and waved to everyone as they left the pub.
‘And then there were two,’ Nell turned towards Guy, holding on tightly to her smile.
‘Two indeed, another drink?’
Nell scrunched up her face, ‘It’s not much fun when you can’t drink.’
‘Ha, yes, sorry! Any other suggestions, then?’ he grinned his handsome smile and swept his fringe from his eyes.
‘I have a few, now grab your coat.’
‘Okay, captain,’ he saluted, before following Nell through the crowded bar.
As they opened the double doors and stepped outside the pub they stopped and stared up at the stars, ‘Are you happy?’ Guy asked Nell, linking his arm through hers.
‘More than you’ll ever know, Guy Cornish, more than you’ll ever know.