Eventually, she could bear it no longer and pulled him up close to her. ‘I want you,’ she whispered in between kisses. She reached down to stroke him and his deep, guttural groan made it clear that he felt the same way. Fears and inhibitions were forgotten and their bodies melted together in a blissful union.
After, they lay entwined in each other’s arms, both happy and deeply satisfied.
‘It’s been a wonderful evening, thank you, Annie, the perfect way to say goodbye.’ He kissed her cheek then pulled her onto him as he settled into his pillow. With her head on his chest, she didn’t see the sad look in his eyes as he spoke the words.
Within moments his breathing had deepened and he was asleep. But Annabel lay there, wide awake, for some time, reflecting on what he had said. Goodbye. Had part of her hoped that there was some way that this could have continued?Yes, perhaps it had. She was not naive enough to think that straight out of the ashes of two recently failed relationships a long-distance romance could have kindled, but the finality of goodbye made a part of her ache.
Annabel woke early. Her mouth was dry and her head was thumping. She checked her watch: 5.27 a.m. She looked down at James, sleeping peacefully beside her. His brow smooth, he looked younger and so carefree. Memories of the previous night flooded back and her stomach flipped as she remembered his touch and his kisses. How she wished things could have been different, that they could have met under more straightforward circumstances.
She slipped out of bed and quietly got dressed. Her flight was at eleven and she needed to get back to Emma’s to finish packing and say goodbye to the family. Without disturbing James, she gathered up her things and scribbled a note to leave on the kitchen table.
She hated goodbyes. It had been lovely while it lasted, but now it was time to go home.
CHAPTER 30
Cornwall
Three weeks later
The sun was shining as Annabel and her brother William greeted guests at the door of All Saints’ Church in Wincastle. It was early summer and the weather was obligingly warm and pleasant for the morning of their grandmother’s funeral. Annabel looked around the churchyard and smiled at the magnolia tree in full bloom and the magnificent carpet of bluebells under the trees.
‘Dotty would have loved this!’ she said, her eyes shining with unshed emotion.
William put an arm around his sister. ‘I know. But she’s here, sis, I’m sure of that.’ He squeezed her shoulder. ‘You know she was never one to miss a good party!’ He gave her a cheerful wink.
Inside the church, their father Noel was handing out the orders of service, perched on a stool to rest his hip, as per his wife’s instructions. His recovery had been slow and steady, but a minor setback had delayed their trip to Cornwall – and, consequently the funeral – by a couple of weeks. Jeanette, looking chic and elegant in a navy-blue coat dress, was chatting to the vicar, Reverend Pascoe. The beautiful strains of ‘Ave Maria’ came from the organ and the scent oflilies filled the air. The church was packed. In a bittersweet echo of her one hundredth birthday party, Dotty’s nearest and dearest had turned out in their masses for her. But this time it was to bid farewell.
It had been three weeks since Annabel’s return from Singapore and, once she had recovered from the jet lag, she had kept herself busy. Her first task had been to meet Luke for a coffee and spell out, in no uncertain terms, that it was over between them. She ignored his pleas for forgiveness and reminded him that apart from wantingdifferent things out of life, ultimately, he had lost her trust and respect.
‘There’s someone else, isn’t there?’ he had asked, bitterness and accusation in his voice.
Annabel’s stomach had twisted as her mind had drifted back to James. Was there someone else? She wasn’t sure. She had fought hard to push him out of her mind, but hadn’t yet managed to make it through a day without him interrupting her thoughts. They had exchanged occasional messages since her return to England, but at such distance and in different time zones, their former intimacy had turned into polite chit-chat.
Annabel decided that it was for the best to draw a line and move on. He lived on the other side of the world, for goodness’ sake, never mind the fact that he was also reeling from an unfaithful wife and trying to cope with what sounded like an acrimonious divorce. He was trying to be a good dad to his daughter and carve out some sort of new life for himself. As for her, she needed time to figure things out for herself after her break-up, too. It was all just too complicated. It had been a holiday romance, fun while it lasted.
‘No, of course not,’ she had replied, somewhat defensively. She could feel the colour rise in her cheeks. ‘But even if there was, Luke, I don’t think you’re exactly in a position to accuse me of infidelity!’
She had ripped off the proverbial Band Aid and left Luke in the café, looking dejected and miserable. His time alone while she’d been away had not done him any good. She could tell that he’d been drinking more than usual and having too many late nights. His face, usually so handsome, looked pale and puffy. He was unshaven and she could smell that he’d started smoking again. His whole aura was unkempt and unhealthy and did nothing to change Annabel’s mind.
Her next visits were to her Head of Faculty at Bristol University and her estate agent in Bath. For a while, she had been mulling over the idea of taking some time off work to focus on the book she was writing and now seemed like the right moment. Her request for a one-year sabbatical was approved and arrangements were made for her house in Oldfield Park to be rented out.
Since Dotty’s death she had been feeling such a strong pull to Cornwall and, for a while at least, she planned to make Penrose Farm her home. She had given Luke two weeks’ notice to move out of her house, then had packed up her things and headed off down the M5 without a backward glance.
She couldn’t wait to get back to the farm. After everything she had found out in Singapore, it was almost like she needed to get to know her grandmother again, through this new lens. She had volunteered to sort Dotty’s belongings during her stay, for which her father was grateful, and the sea air, endless beaches and wide, open countryside would be the perfect tonic to get herself back on track after Luke.
‘It’s Annabel, isn’t it?’ Her thoughts were interrupted by a lilting Cornish voice.
Annabel took in the smiling face and blonde curly hair of the lady approaching the church door and smiled. ‘Hello, Sue!’ she said, recognising the nurse who had taken care of Dotty in her final days. The older woman beamed and wrapped her in a warm hug.
‘I’m so sorry, again, for your loss, my love. You must miss her very much. Your grandmother was a wonderful lady, I felt I had to come and pay my respects.’
Annabel thanked her for coming, then introduced her to William. When the next guests arrived and William started chatting to them, Annabel saw an opportunity and took Sue to one side.
‘Sue, you said something in the hospital that has been playing on my mind. After she died, you said that Dotty was a very brave lady. Do you remember?’
Sue nodded, her smiling face becoming serious.
‘At the time, I just thought you meant she’d been brave after her fall, coping with being in hospital and so on. But that wasn’t what you meant, was it?’
