Simon’s contact details hadn’t been the only ones Jake had swapped that night. One of the perks of being a bit of a wallflower was that Effie could linger, listening to the conversations that were being exchanged. She’d watched as people picked up Jake’s business cards, praised his work and sighed over the fact their favourite prints were already sold. She was sure he’d be inundated with requests for reprints.
‘Is this going to be a permanent gallery?’ Jake asked Freya.
‘For the summer and then we’ll see what happens. I was fed up of selling my stuff and paying commission, but I needed to see how tonight panned out. Would you be interested in selling more prints?’ Freya asked him. She had sold one of her paintings, and had spoken to someone about a commission, so it had been a successful night all round.
‘Definitely. It’d be great to have a place to run my business from. Maybe we can talk about sharing the cost of rent or something?’
‘I would be up for that! This place is currently owned by the landlord of the café, so I need to do some proper negotiations, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t have a permanent art space here in Polcarrow, especially as we have a thriving café and bookshop.’ Freya turned to Effie and asked, ‘How’s it going?’
‘Better than I expected. I thought it’d calm down after the opening and well, it has, but I’m still getting a steady stream of customers through the door.’
She’d received an email from Clive that morning congratulating her on the figures and the success of the shop but also to remind her that he was going on holiday the following week. Effie had been elated and then a little stressed about the pressure of keeping the shop going. She had some ideas up her sleeve to keep the promotions fresh, but she would be working flat out. When Clive was back from his holiday, she’d ask him about getting some additional help.
‘I’m going to start doing a book matchmaking service.’
‘A what?’ Lola asked as she joined them.
‘A book matchmaking service. A bit like a blind date with a book except the customer will tell me the sort of things they like to read, genres, authors and I’ll hand-pick a couple of titles for them. I’m thinking of doing it like a gift box. Put in a couple of treats. What do you think?’
‘That sounds delightful!’ Lola clapped her hands together.
Effie snuck a look at Jake, who was smiling down at her. ‘Do you think it’ll work?’
‘Of course it will,’ Jake said softly. ‘You can make anything work, Eff.’
They couldn’t help it; their bodies were drawn closer in the low lamplight. Effie wanted nothing more than to slip her arms around Jake and sway along to the music that was gently playing in the background, something soothing and classical, flowing as light as a dream around them. Jake gazed down at her and it was as if they were the only two people in the world. Effie sighed before stepping back.
She knew if Jake stuck around it would be tricky to just be friends. Tonight had only shown how they were still naturally drawn together. Effie yearned for the hopeful electricity they’d once shared but didn’t want to be burned by it again. Her lips missed the kisses and her heart melted for what could have been. She might have been romantically delayed in life, but she knew she deserved someone who could be fully her own, not someone who was unsure where he wanted to be, no matter how utterly gorgeous he was.
‘Did you have a nice time tonight, Eff?’ Jake asked.
She nodded. ‘Of course I did, but thanks for asking. It was great seeing how much everyone liked your photos. I’m so proud of you. I think you’re going to be really successful.’
‘Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me,’ Jake said, his voice serious. ‘Look, let’s get tidied up here and then we can join everyone in the pub, that’s if you’re OK to go.’
Effie knew they should show their faces at the pub for at least one drink. ‘Maybe for one, it’d be nice to celebrate with everyone.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘One hundred per cent.’ She was going to make him work for her attention.
Jake’s eyes swallowed her up, full of a desire that sparked in her heart.
‘Effie.’ Her name caught in his breath as he stepped forward, his finger tugging at one of her stray curls.
Effie closed her eyes, swallowed, tried to compose herself as all the air rushed out of the room. Her feelings were far too strong to be this close to him. ‘Jake . . . I . . . We . . . Don’t make this harder.’
‘Eff, please, I really need to speak to you, can we go somewhere quieter now?’ Jake swallowed nervously, as if he wanted to get whatever he needed to say off his chest as quickly as possible.
Effie lifted her face, her eyes catching his, their feelings swirling like a galaxy around them. She wanted to resist, wanted to protect her heart, but he was looking at her in a way no one had ever looked at her before, as if she was the whole universe. Effie opened her mouth to agree when the sound of Jake’s name being called shattered everything.
‘Jake! Jakey, my darling, I’m sorry, I got lost, didn’t I? Wrong village.’ The woman laughed.
Jake stepped back from Effie as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. A chill ran down Effie’s spine as she turned towards the door where an impossibly sleek-looking woman stood. Her flawless skin was expertly made up, her tan deep and not from a bottle, the black sheath dress she was wearing hanging off her perfect figure.
‘Tara?!’
Effie hadn’t even needed Jake to confirm who she was. She was even more stunning in real life than the photos.
