Chapter Thirty
“Shall I take these trays up to the Centre?” Sophie asked.
“No thanks. I’ll do it today. I can’t avoid the place forever. Besides, I think I’ve made a bit of a decision. If Zane’s around, I’m going to invite him to the party for the locals after the lights switch-on.”
“The one in the pub?”
Faith nodded. “The Centre has done a lot in terms of sponsorship and support for the village, and for the Christmas season festivities. He deserves to be there.”
“What about Matt? Are you going to invite him too?”
“Of course. All the guys from the Centre should be there. I assume Dave will be going along to the party with you?”
“Definitely,” Sophie grinned.
“You two are still going strong aren’t you?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Getting serious eh?”
“Heading in that direction. The only problem, as I think I’ve told you, is that I still live at home with my parents and he shares a flat with two of his mates. Doesn’t give us much privacy. We had, tentatively, talked about getting a place together, renting a flat maybe, if we can afford it.”
“Wow. That’s great.” Faith pulled Sophie into a hug. “Well, if I ever move out you’d make terrific tenants for my flat. I’d get people I could rely on, and you’d be a handy caretaker for the café downstairs too.”
“Brill. That would be ideal. Let’s do it!” Sophie squealed.
“Hey! Hang on! What about me? Where am I going to live?”
Sophie grinned. “Well if you and Zane ever get your act together, then you can move in with him. All sorted.”
Faith knew she shouldn’t have tried to carry quite so much at once. She was trying to balance two platters of food for the Centre at the same time as shutting the doors on her car. One of the platters was tipping precariously and she didn’t have a free hand to try to save it from clattering to the ground.
“Hey, watch out!”
Faith looked up to see Matt appearing at her side. He grabbed the tray just before it slid from her arms.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling gratefully. “If that tray had hit the floor I’d have been in serious trouble all round. Your clients would have ended up having to share just one and a half sandwiches each, hardly enough to fuel all that abseiling and stuff.”
“I’m sure we’d have managed somehow. Come through to the rec room and I’ll give you a hand with this lot.”
Faith followed Matt into the Centre. He leaned against each door to hold them open for her, smiling the smile that had made many a woman go weak at the knees over the years. She should know; she used to be one of them.
The problem was, Matt wasn’t the person she wanted to be helping her out today, opening doors, smiling at her.
“Is Zane around?”
As soon as the words had left her mouth Faith knew she shouldn’t have asked the question. Matt’s smile vanished. “You’re kidding me right?”
“Sorry? How do you mean?”
“Is Zane here? He practically lives here these days. Of course he’s here.”
At the look on her face his voice softened.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to snap. It’s just that since you guys split up, Zane is doing all our heads in down here. He’s constantly in a foul mood. Works even more hours than he was doing before, and constantly complains about anything and everything. He bawled Dave out something terrible yesterday for being just five minutes late, poor lad was really shocked.” Matt paused and fixed a look on Faith before adding, “And, as we all know, Zane doesn’t usually do the whole yelling-at-people-for-little-or-no-reason-stuff. Not his style.”
Faith started to set the food out on the tables. “I wanted to talk to him today if possible.”
Matt pushed himself up from the edge of the table just as the doors to the rec room flew open. “Here’s your chance. Good luck with that.”
Faith turned to see Zane standing in the doorway, looking as though he was having an argument with himself as to whether he should just turn right around and walk back out.
Before he could decide either way Faith stepped forward and forced a smile on her face, just as Matt made his exit, glaring at Zane as he did so.
“Hi, I was just setting up the food for the lunches,” Faith offered, by way of an entirely unnecessary explanation.
“So I see. The guys will be in soon. Can I give you a hand with anything?”
“No, it’s fine, thanks. Matt helped me.”
At the look on Zane’s face she flinched inwardly. She shouldn’t have mentioned Matt.
“OK. Well, I have some stuff to sort in the office so I’ll leave you to it.”
Faith stood and watched him walk away. It hurt. The emotional pain wasn’t getting any less with each passing day. In truth, it was getting worse. She missed him so much it was like an overwhelming ache throughout every single inch of her.
The doors closed behind him and in that second she knew she had to make a decision.
She could force herself to avoid him and try to forget him. She sighed. Not much chance of that working. OK. So she had to go and talk to him. If he was going to be stubborn about things, she would have to try to be the bigger person. She would have to be the one who made the move to find out what on earth was going on.
She headed for the doors.
Zane was on the phone when she neared the office doorway. She could hear him talking to someone about a booking for climbing lessons. She hung back, waiting for him to finish the call.
“Hi.”
He looked up from the desk, his face unreadable.
“Hi again.” He picked up some papers, walked over to the filing cabinet and began searching through the cabinet drawer.
“Was there something you wanted?” he asked, without looking at her.
Now that was a leading question if ever there was one.
“Yes. There was.”
Faith moved forward, leaning against the door-frame. Waiting for him to look at her. Part of her was sorely tempted to tell him the truth about what she wanted. What, she wondered, would be his reaction if she said what she wanted was him?
The words played on her lips, such was her urge to kiss him. Why did he have this effect on her?
No. It wouldn’t work. She’d tried seducing Zane before when he didn’t want to be seduced, and she wasn’t about to make an idiot of herself doing that again.
Finally he shut the cabinet drawer and looked across at her questioningly.
She took a deep breath, quickly let it out and started to speak.
“After the Christmas lights switch-on tomorrow there’s always a late night party at the Holly pub. It’s just for the local businesses, members of the Tourism Association. Just a little celebration of our own for the start of the Christmas season. I wanted to invite you along.”
There. He might have been quick to hide it but she’d spotted it. Something in his eyes that was a mixture of surprise and pleasure. He was pleased she’d invited him; she was sure of it.
He moved around to lean on the edge of the desk. “Is this a personal invitation, or one that extends to everyone at the Centre?”
Briefly Faith wondered how to answer that one. If she said it was for the Centre then whatever tiny step forward she felt they’d just made would probably be wasted. If she said the invite was personal then she lay herself open to him rejecting her. Again.
Now or never...
“It’s a personal invitation.”
She searched his face for any sign he was pleased. There was none.
When she’d first asked about the party he’d been surprised, caught off guard. Clearly this time he’d had time to prepare himself, and mask his expression accordingly. But now…
Was he going to do it again? Reject her? She was being patient with him, like Matt had suggested. She was giving given him, in a roundabout way, a chance to try again. A lifeline. Would he throw it back at her?
“OK.”
He pushed himself up from the desk and took a couple of steps towards her, reaching for a jacket on a hook on the wall.
“Thanks. I’ll be there.”
She felt her stomach do a flip. He was still standing pretty close to her, the jacket now in his hands. She could smell his aftershave, almost feel his energy, the warmth of his body.
She swallowed and smiled.
“Great. I’ll see you there then.”
Turning she left the office, almost running down the corridors of the centre, outside. She was back in her car and reversing out of the parking area before she allowed herself the biggest smile.
He’d said yes.