‘I forgot the umbrella.’
And then there was no doubt about it. Nadia’s question didn’t need an answer because the sprinkling of rain upped its tempo as the clouds gave up on holding it all in.
‘There’s a bus shelter!’ Hudson, with her hand in his, led the way as they began to run. The bus shelter was at the end of the street, with a view overlooking the river and they were a mere fifty or so metres away.
Both of them laughed uncontrollably as they headed for shelter; both of them were absolutely drenched in less than a few minutes.
It took a while to catch their breath once they were under cover.
Nadia squeezed the ends of her blouse, wringing out some of the drips, and did the same with her hair. ‘Well, your neighbour did warn us.’
He laughed. ‘She’ll be looking out of her window later, saying, “I told you so.”’
Never had Nadia looked so beautiful. The rain had made her eye make-up start to run, her hair was so wet, it looked shades darker than its natural blonde, but none of it mattered.
Water dripped from his forearms, his upper lip as he reached out and cradled her face with his hands.
And then they were kissing, like they’d both been waiting for this moment forever, like they should’ve been doing this all along.
He was glad they’d waited, glad he kissed her here, now, in this moment with the beauty of the river in the background, the sound of rain hammering on the bus shelter roof. And they had each other for warmth, huddled together on the bench while the summer storm unleashed and let them all know who was in charge.
When the clouds had passed by, the rain had stopped and the sun had come out once again, they made their way back to Hudson’s, hand in hand, no doubt from either of them that this really was the start of something.
29
Archie had dropped Monica at the airbase in time for lunch and she and Nadia made the most of a glorious summer’s day. They had Bella with them in the pushchair they’d borrowed from the childminder who had come to the rescue with Giles the day of Monica’s labour. They walked from the airbase, followed the road almost to the entrance to the airfield where they cut right and found themselves at a clearing with a bench and view of the surrounding countryside.
As they’d walked, Nadia told Monica a bit about Hudson. It had been a little over three weeks since they went out for dinner and Beau babysat Carys, slightly more than that since their first kiss in the bus shelter which, when Nadia thought about it, still sent tingles all over her body.
‘He seems like a lovely man,’ Monica told her as they laid out a picnic rug and put the pushchair’s wheels on one end in case a breeze picked up on this otherwise sunny, still day.
‘He’s wonderful.’
Monica had crossed paths with Hudson a handful of times but it was still early days for Monica and Nadia; they hadn’t yetreached the stage of being able to confide in each other. Nadia hoped that that was something they could work on.
‘Wonderful? That’s an understatement; I can tell you’re smitten.’
It had taken long enough to admit it to herself but the more she did, the more comfortable she was beginning to feel with the strong feelings she’d begun to develop for the new man in her life.
Over sausage rolls, a cheese and spinach quiche and slices of homemade pizza, they talked about regular things as sisters – the places they wanted to visit someday, home improvements Monica wanted to do to add on a playroom for the kids, plans for Bella’s christening, and the relief Monica felt that Giles didn’t seem scarred from what had been quite a dramatic summer for him.
‘He can’t wait to start school,’ said Monica, who finished feeding Bella and passed her to her auntie for a cuddle.
Nadia wanted to squeeze in as much auntie time as possible, while she still could.
They talked some more about Giles and when Bella felt so heavy that Nadia realised she was falling asleep, Nadia settled her into the pushchair and with one hand moved it gently back and forth.
‘You’re a great cook. The quiche is amazing.’ Monica lifted up another slice ready to put on a plate. ‘Let me take over; you enjoy this.’
‘I’m fine; pass it up to me.’ She took the slice of quiche with her free hand. ‘I’m glad you like my cooking. I thought I’d made too much for us.’
‘I’m breastfeeding; it’s making me so hungry, I don’t think there will be much left.’
‘Was it the same with Giles?’
And just like that, they were on to talking about babies, the struggles as well as the triumphs, and Nadia’s sadness didn’t feel quite so overwhelming. Maybe it was because she had these four people in her life now; there’d been a gap before, and she hadn’t realised that there might be more than one way to fill it.
‘When are you next seeing Hudson?’ Monica asked when they’d had enough and had packed everything away, ready to stow in the shopping basket beneath the pushchair for the walk back.
