‘He’s taken well to being outside again,’ Noah observed. ‘He seems a lot more chilled now he can get out and about.’
‘Cats love exploring the outdoors.’ Bella reached down and stroked Monty’s back, and felt his long tail curling around her hand in a gesture of affection. ‘He’s so happy to be home, Noah.’
As she said it, she glanced up from Monty to Noah and noticed a strange expression passing over Noah’s face. It was gone in an instant, but she began to wonder if it wasn’t only Monty who felt as though he’d come home.
39
This weekend living arrangement wasdefinitelygoing to take some getting used to, Bella thought the next morning as she shifted uncomfortably in the narrow single bed. She was dying for a pee, but she could hear the shower running in the bathroom and cursed herself for not getting in there sooner. The cottage only had the one loo, in the upstairs bathroom, and it seemed as though she was going to have to cross her legs and pray that Noah wasn’t in there much longer.
Christ, how much longer are you going to stand under there?Bella squirmed, the sound of the shower making her plight even more unbearable. She tried to take her mind off her bladder by thinking about what she needed to do today, but her thoughts kept wandering bathroomwards.Come on!
Eventually, the water stopped, and Bella heaved a sigh of relief. She waited until she heard the bathroom door open and then hurried out of her bedroom. So urgent was her mission that she didn’t look up as she scuttled across the small hallway, and when she hit something solid and damp in her path, she drew in a sharp breath.
‘Whoa!’ Noah’s voice, amused, brought her up short. ‘You’re in a rush this morning.’
Bella’s gaze rapidly moved from the cream carpet of the landing to take in a dark blue towel tucked low, a firm abdomen and a toned chest with a smattering of dark hair. She swallowed hard at the sight. Eyes rising further, she saw Noah, freshly shaved with the sharp, herbal scent of cologne emanating seductively from his skin, and dark hair slicked back from his face, staring at her in amusement. Clothed he was gorgeous anyway, but wearing only a towel… Bella, despite the protestations of her bladder, felt a rush of lust.
But needs must and reality intervened. ‘You could say that,’ she stammered. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to take quite so long in there.’ She fidgeted on the spot and Noah immediately got the message.
‘Oh, right. Sure, sorry.’ He stepped further away from the bathroom door. As Bella zoomed past him, he added, ‘Just bang on the door next time and I’ll be quicker.’
‘Will do!’ Bella called back, sinking gratefully onto the loo. Most pressing need met, she pondered the sight of a wet and semi-clad Noah on the landing. Perhaps, bathroom situation notwithstanding, there were advantages to this weekend arrangement, after all.
A short time later, having showered and dressed, Bella ambled down to the kitchen, drawn by the enticing scent of fresh coffee. She paused in the doorway and took a moment to look at Noah, thankfully now fully clothed in cargo shorts and a black polo shirt. She breathed out. She had to admit to herself that she fancied him, especially after seeing him in nothing but a towel. But that admission was going to stay in her own head for now.
‘Latte?’ He turned and spoke over his shoulder. ‘I noticed you’d got some pods in the cupboard.’
‘Yeah, thanks.’ Bella smiled at him briefly before grabbing a couple of slices of bread from the loaf on the counter. She edged past him, trying not to make physical contact in the very small kitchen space, and popped them into the toaster. Her stomach gave a peremptory rumble in anticipation of a much-needed breakfast.
‘Got much on today?’ Noah’s light tone suggested that he was feeling more at home with this arrangement than she was.
‘I said I’d pop over to the sanctuary and check in on a couple of new arrivals. Mollie’s running the place single-handed this weekend so she asked if I could.’
‘I don’t know how she does it.’ Noah shook his head. ‘She’s got to be pushing seventy, surely?’
‘It’s her vocation, I think,’ Bella replied. ‘She’s always said she prefers animals to people, and, to be honest, I think she’d be a bit lost without her cats. Although what’ll happen to Purrfect Paws once she’s too old to run it, I hate to think.’
Noah’s brow wrinkled. ‘Surely someone’ll take it on.’
Bella smiled as he passed her the latte he’d been making for her. ‘Difficult to say. Poor Mollie already has to campaign hard even to pay the basic running costs of the sanctuary. The charity shop brings in a fair amount when the weather is good, and people come to the village to visit, or on holiday, but it’s a precarious existence. And what with this landlord business, too…’
‘Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that,’ Noah said. ‘I know she needs to think of a longer-term solution for the shop, but in the meantime, what about fundraisers? Events? Surely there are enough people around here who could stick their hands in their pockets and fund such a local good cause?’
‘Times are hard for everyone, especially out here in the sticks.’ Bella pulled her toast out and swiftly buttered it. ‘Even with the new housing estate on Observatory Field, there aren’t enough places for people to move into and really be a part of the village. I hate to admit it, but it’s dying on its feet. Charities like Purrfect Paws are the ones who are going to bear the brunt of that rural decline.’ She felt her face beginning to colour as she realised that she was climbing on one of her favourite soapboxes and it wasn’t even nine in the morning yet.
‘I wish there was something I could do.’ Noah’s tone was thoughtful. ‘Mollie looked after Monty so well.’ As if on cue, Monty came ambling into the kitchen, yawning before making his own desire for breakfast heard. More used to Bella than he was Noah, he did a surprisingly spritely leap up onto her lap and began to sniff her freshly buttered toast.
‘Oy, pest!’ she admonished, pushing her plate away from Monty’s questing nose. Giving him a couple of strokes, she gently placed him down on the floor before pulling his favourite flavour of jelly cat food out of the cupboard and swiftly dispensing it into a small china bowl. Monty made an appreciativechick chicknoise before burying his nose into the bowl and finishing the food off in short order.
‘Nothing wrong with his appetite!’ Noah observed.
‘He’s definitely been eating more since he’s been back home.’ Bella smiled down at the cat before settling back at the kitchen table and polishing off her toast. ‘He really misses Jack, but somehow being back in the cottage has calmed him down.’
Noah’s momentary lack of response made Bella glance up from her plate again and she caught a glimpse of sadness in Noah’s expression before he turned his attention back to the toaster and sorted out some of his own. She knew Jack’s loss was still raw, and instinct told her to tread carefully.
‘So,’ she said softly. ‘How do you feel, being back here again?’
Noah’s turned back stiffened, and his voice was unnaturally light as he replied. ‘Oh, you know. It’s fine.’
