Chapter Forty-Two
Hattie was desperate to make her excuses, grab an overnight bag from Sheila’s house and go back with Luke. She set off to find Sheila.
‘Hi—’ she began.
‘Oh, Hattie!’ Sheila exclaimed. ‘I thought I’d missed you. I wanted to say thank you again for taking Fiona to see the puppies and doing such a splendid job as celebrant.’
‘That was all an absolute pleasure,’ said Hattie, ‘but now—’
‘It couldn’t have gone better, could it?’
‘No, but, Sheila—’
Something about the way she said it finally got Sheila’s attention. ‘It’s me and Luke,’ said Hattie. ‘We’ve got together—’
She didn’t have time to finish her sentence before Sheila embraced her. ‘Oh, my darling! I couldn’t be more delighted! But how? He couldn’t make the wedding. Did he show up at the last minute?
‘I went to see him, on impulse,’ said Hattie. ‘Inspired by the wedding,’ she added, feeling the need to provide some sort of explanation. One day she’d tell Luke aboutthe visions, of course she would, but not now. ‘And now I want to get some things from your house as well as my car—’
‘Go! And I want all the details very soon!’
At last she was back with Luke in the car park.
‘Rose and Sam had to go,’ Luke said.
‘I know. That’s why I got the panicky text.’ She smiled. ‘If you drop me back at Sheila’s, then I can pick up my car and drive to yours?’
He smiled. ‘Don’t hang around.’
Luke hadn’t waited for her at Sheila’s, and when Hattie arrived back at Luke’s house, she understood why. He had done a rapid but effective tidy-up. There were flowers, picked from the garden, in a jug on the table. There was a bottle of champagne in a bucket – a black polythene builder’s bucket.
He kissed her briefly. ‘Stay here for a moment or two. I haven’t finished in the bedroom.’
Hattie found her place on the sofa and the dogs instantly got up and sat next to her, leaning into her embrace. She sat there, anticipation and even slight anxiety mingling with her desire for Luke. How could she get through the next few moments, waiting for him to come and fetch her? Could you actually die from longing? Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long.
Luke put out a hand and pulled her to her feet. Then he swept her up into his arms and carried her, right past the unopened champagne and up to the bedroom. She could smell line-dried sheets and his cologne. He dropped her on to the bed and had a stern word with the dogs before shutting the door.Hattie was happy. Just now, she didn’t want to share Luke with anyone.
The following morning, Hattie and Luke were in bed drinking tea. The bottle in the builder’s bucket was now empty and upside down. Frank and Fearless had joined them on the bed. Hattie had never felt so happy before in her life.
Then suddenly the dogs were on full alert. Luke sat up. ‘Who on earth could that be?’ He looked at his watch. ‘It’s nearly eleven.’
‘Oh,’ said Hattie, feeling very caught out.
The doorbell rang and Luke got out of bed and started pulling on his clothes.
‘We could pretend we’re not here,’ suggested Hattie, getting up too now. She realised her overnight bag had never made it to the bedroom and she didn’t fancy fighting her way back into her wedding finery. ‘Can I borrow something to wear, Luke? A shirt?’
He pulled one from a hanger and threw it towards her.
‘It might be a delivery or something.’ Luke was now dressed. ‘I’ll go and see who it is.’
‘And can you get my case for me?’
‘Sure,’ he said, and left the room.
Soon she could hear voices and Luke being welcoming; it was obviously not a delivery.
Hattie had an extremely quick shower and pulled on the shirt which was long enough to make her almost decent. Then she peeked out of the window and saw her sister’s car parked behind hers.
