“I’m proud of you too,” she says as she holds me tight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ANDRÉS
I send a text to Simon that I’m outside his aunt’s house and then wait. I feel jittery... is it nerves? It can’t be. I’m never nervous about anything. I never have been. I’ve always decided on what I wanted and focused on getting it. I’ve felt uncertainty for sure, but never this fluttering in my stomach, not being able to settle. But then, I’ve never met someone who’s affected me as much as Simon before.
Within a few minutes he comes out of the house. In my coat. It looks better on him than it ever did on me, the dark blue complementing his bright blue eyes. He takes my breath away with how beautiful he is. My memory is a poor substitute for the real thing. He climbs into the car, all smiley and cute.
“I can’t believe you’re here—we’re here,” I say. Not the greatest first words after a month, but they are certainly true.
“Yeah, same,” he says, his smile brilliant but as tongue-tied as me. I want to lean over and kiss him, but I don’t know whocould be watching and don’t want to make it awkward for him. Instead, I reach for his hand and interlock our fingers, then I bring our joined hands up to my mouth and touch my lips to his knuckles. When I raise my eyes to his, he’s biting his lower lip, his smile looking a little more coy. God, I’m going to kiss that look right off his face later. Now he’s physically here the jitters have settled and my focus has returned. I’m going to do everything I can to keep Simon in my life because living without him has been hard.
“Where are we going?” he asks as I finally release his hand and start driving.
“A pub in Larchdown, the next village. Home-cooked food, which I’m told is excellent.” It only takes us ten minutes before I’m pulling up in front of what might be one of the oldest buildings I’ve ever seen. It’s low, with a thatched roof and whitewashed walls. The sign outside shows a man holding a horse’s hoof. The Blacksmith’s Arms. We get out of the car and Simon looks around.
“I thought Blackwood Heath was quaint but this is something else. There’s an actual village green,” he laughs.
“What’s one of those?”
“That flat green space you can see over there. It’s a bit like a common ground. Sometimes people would play cricket on them if they were big enough, but mostly they’re used for community events. I bet this place has village fetes.” I don’t know what they are but he looks delighted, so I’m confident this was a good choice.
Inside, the pub has a low ceiling with wooden beams, painted black, and there’s a long bar across the back, opposite the door.On one side is a dining area where several tables are occupied. To the other side is an open fire, blazing to help with the cold, though I’m sure nothing is truly effective against the weather in this country. There’s a large group gathered around several tables pushed together. I spy Cole, the vet who came to check the horses when we landed from the States. Next to him is his husband, the massive Swede Johan, who came with him. The rest I don’t recognise, but Johan raises his hand in greeting, and I wave in return. I go to the bar, and after giving my name to a friendly looking short woman, we’re shown to a small table in the dining area.
“Getting to know the locals already?” Simon asks after the lady has taken our drinks orders.
“Not really, just Cole. He’s the dark-haired one and a vet. And the guy who waved is his husband, Johan.”
Simon looks over at the group thoughtfully. “Aunt Lizzie said this village and Blackwood Heath had a good gay community.” I follow his gaze and see that of the dozen or so people in the group, only two of them are women. And all of the group look like they could be couples.
“She knows about you, then?” I ask and he nods.
“I didn’t so much come out to her, but rather I confirmed what she already knew,” he says. “She’s intrigued about you, though.”
“Oh?”
“She wants to know how I managed to get a date so soon after arriving here. I told her about Aspen. Of course I kept it to the barest details.” He gives a small smile and his knee bumps mine, a seemingly innocent gesture but the hidden meaning has my blood pumping. I almost wish I could skip dinner and takeSimon to bed instead. But I’m determined to do this properly. My thoughts are interrupted by the lady bringing us our drinks.
“You must be the new guy up at Monkswood,” she says to me and I frown. How the hell does she know that? Simon, though, is chuckling.
“Um, yeah,” I say cautiously.
“Well, I appreciate you coming over here. It’s hard to compete with the King’s Head over in Blackwood Heath.”
“I was told you had the best food in the area,” I say with a smile, and she nods her head in acknowledgement of the compliment before taking our orders. As she leaves she gives Simon a curious look.
“What was all that about?” I ask as soon as she’s out of earshot.
“There’s nothing like small-town gossip; it’s like currency. Move over, new guy, it looks like I’m the new guy now. But two new people... and they turn up together... that really will get the rumour mill working overtime. I bet you that within twenty-four hours everyone will know who I am.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?”
“Not really. It might feel intrusive, but in small communities like this it can be beneficial. This place has a good vibe to it.”
I look in wonder at the gorgeous and confident guy in front of me, looking at home here in a way he never did in Aspen. He picks up his fork and begins to attack his poached salmon.
“So, I want to hear everything about your job. But first, the most important thing.” He looks at me with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips. “How’s my horse?”
