‘OK, I’ll grant you that. Listen, d’you think Francis knows? I mean .?.?. it’s shocking. I feel awful for him. She deliberately targeted him as a good catch, plus, between ourselves, he’s due an inheritance .?.?.’
‘Ah, don’t be soft, sure he was lapping it up .?.?. Anyway, he’s been trying to get you, so I’d say he knows.’
Hopefully, he did – the thought of having to break it to him was awful.
‘Anyhow, never mind about that. Do you think Pete would lend us the van?’
‘Erm, if I begged him .?.?. I’d say so.’
‘Great. That’s all that matters. See you at the balloon shop at five thirty tomorrow. Bye.’
Ally fed the baby fish, then the grown-ups, and then sat on the floor and thought back over the day .?.?. About Kathleen and how they’d warmed to each other. About the kiss in the van, and her feeling as though the rest of the world had vanished and all they had in that moment was each other – and how that felt like more than she’d ever hoped to find.
Chapter 24
Just get dressed!she told herself the following morning.
It was one thing to have a passionate kiss with Pete and a declaration of all he’d like to do for her, but quite another to turn up for work in the same small café and have to work beside him under the watchful eye of Evelyn. To be honest, she was feeling a mixture of longing and trepidation at the thought of meeting Pete in public after what they’d shared. Oh well, lots of work relationships had probably started like that. And ended too.
When in doubt, glam up. She pulled out her dark-denim wide-legged jeans and a new cream top with a corset bodice which could have looked a bit provocative, except for the long sleeves that toned it down sufficiently. Then she added a swipe of eyeliner, red lipstick and a cropped red cardigan to make the top look a bit more work-friendly. Grand. Oh God, better have a party dress with her, just in case .?.?. it was the week before Christmas after all .?.?. She pulled out a blue satin minidress and her favourite black lace ankle boots – cheapie but almost identical to the Dolce and Gabbana ones – and shoved the lot into her bag. Fabulous.
* * *
There was no sign of Pete anywhere. Still, it meant she’d no option but to throw herself into serving the regulars, who were turning up with the sweetest Christmas cards; Noel and Christie wrote:
Best grub in town, where would we be without Owl’s Nest HQ?
The gym bunnies wrote:
Thanks for our regular caffeine boosts, here’s to another year of fitness goals.
Ally secretly suspected that Niamh was angling to get her discount back before the year was out.
The staff were leaning into the Christmas spirit too: Evelyn was wearing a sparkly crochet top, while Dave was in a full-on reindeer jumper. They were working flat-out when her phone buzzed. At the sight of Pete’s name her heart leaped.
Van keys under counter. Dave knows X
OK. A bit minimal, but she knew better than to take it personally. There was an X after all. Pete was liable to say less than he felt, unlike a lot of other people.
* * *
By 5 p.m. Ally was sitting in the van, realising the pedals were miles away from her feet and having the strangest experience of trespassing on Pete’s world: a packet of gum thrown on the dashboard, a half-open pack of sandpaper on the passenger seat, all suffused with a particular smell – not sweat, not unpleasant, but uniquely him. No time for that, she thought, wrestlingwith the mirrors and the seat until everything was just about reachable and she pulled out into the traffic, feeling like she was driving a small building through town. Finally, she pulled up at the balloon shop where Rosemarie was waving at her with both arms and, between them, they spent twenty minutes wedging 200 balloons into the back of the van, which ended up feeling like the inside of a giant Aero bar.
It felt weird going up in the lift at Celtic Concrete with a massive bunch of balloons in each hand, hoping to God she wouldn’t run into Con on the way to the main office. Once there, she and Rosemarie hung up thewinter wishesbanner, which looked the opposite of festive; in fact, it evoked some version of purgatory, featuring warm wine and soggy snacks.
‘Right, that’s it, all ready,’ said Rosemarie. ‘It looks shite. Wait till Crystal sees her vision in action.’
* * *
Driving back across town in the van, with the music blaring and chewing a stick of Pete’s gum, Ally felt elated for no particular reason. Almost like she’d revisited her old world, only to find that, at some stage, she’d shed a skin and her life had grown too big for Celtic Concrete. She was just pulling up the lane to the back entrance to the café, when she noticed the light was on. Oh good, that meant Pete must be back. Her heart leaped with excitement. She parked up and ran around to the front, buzzing to share the silliness of the whole situation. She could see through the glass that the café was only half-lit, so to a casual passer-by it wouldn’t have looked open. Puzzled, Ally tried the door and found it unlocked, so she turned the handle and walked in.
‘Hello?’
Down the back, but just visible, was Pete .?.?. and he had his arms around a blonde woman, who Ally recognised from photos as .?.?. Tanya, his ex. Her head reeled in shock.
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
She was already too far inside the café to slip out unnoticed, so she found herself simply frozen to the spot. They both swung around to face her, and it wasn’t clear which of them was more surprised.
