‘Oh, don’t worry about it.’ Sylvie waved her hand at him dismissively. ‘Well done, Ellie. You now, Sam.’
‘Dracula. They like to run it every other year at Halloween, now what channel is it, Roy? Is it Sky Arts or BBC Four? One of them. Nine p.m. tonight. Roy and I will be watching again, won’t we?’ Mrs Murray, round and smiley with a husband to match, was more than happy to fill Alex in.
‘We will.’ Roy nodded his head enthusiastically. Alex decided there and then that he would be too. A chance to see Sylvie dance, properly dance, not just take a class of young children – there was no way he was going to miss that.
After every door had been knocked on, every apple bobbed and marked with little teeth prints, and satsuma peel and lollipop sticks scattered recklessly upon the pavements, Sylvie and he led the children back home; both of whom were so hyped up on sugar that they insisted on acting outRoom on the Broombefore going into the kitchen to divide up their haul and do some more colouring.
Alex and Sylvie left them to it and headed back to their spots on the sofa, the habit now ingrained, and as she pulled up the blanket and reached for the remote he stopped her.
‘Tonight was ace. I’m so glad I moved to Penmenna.’
‘Do they not have Halloween in London?’ Sylvie teased.
‘You know what I mean, Penmenna’s pretty idyllic and the community spirit down here is insane. I love it and I know Ellie does. Plus there’s the fact that apart from tonight, obviously, which was terrifying, the most aggressive thing in the village is probably Marion. Oh, although there is a battle of the bands in the local pub by the way, Matt invited me on Sunday. Do you fancy coming?’
‘For sure. I haven’t been in for Sunday lunch for as long as I can remember. I went in with Mum last year but not since. I hibernated after her death until I met you, and your perniciousbad influence keeps dragging me out of the house and helping me find work and stuff!’
‘Ha! You found work by yourself, that had nothing to do with me. But talking of getting you out of the house, I do have some news. I’m excited about this but also a bit scared you’ll feel I’m micro-managing your life but…’ Alex paused and looked at her.
‘Well… come on!’
‘But I heard a rumour and thought I’d follow it up to see if it was even a possibility before I said anything.’
‘Oh, go on! Stop pausing and looking at me funny.’
‘OK. I heard that Matt and Rosy might be moving in together, but didn’t know who was going where or even if it had been agreed, but he rang me this afternoon and followed up on a conversation we had a couple of weeks ago. Matt is moving in with Rosy. Something about how she loves her tree. Anyway, he’s moving in with her and was looking to sublet his cottage on a long-term basis to someone he knows he can trust. Now he took some persuading because he’d heard that despite looking all fragile and ballerina bird-like that you have a shocking temper and a tendency to dance on tables but…’
‘I have never danced on a table outside of a theatre!’
‘I can live in hope. Maybe on Sunday. Anyway, Matt’s cottage. It’s available and he would quite like you and Sam as tenants. Provided your employer will give you a reference, obviously! The rent is fairly peppercorn because he’s more concerned about having the right person than turning a profit. What do you… whoa… let me breathe, I take it that’s a yes!’
Sylvie had launched herself across the sofa and thrown her arms around his neck, crossing them so that her hands were clenching his shoulders with excitement. Rather like he had seen Sam clench his fists open and closed when he was excited.
She drew back and looked him straight in the eye.
‘That is a huge yes. It’s a yes, yes, yes! Is it really peppercorn? I can afford it? Is this actually going to happen? Sam and I can live in the village and let Tom move Julie into Lovage Farm? He can stop fretting about me making him homeless and Sam and I can have our own fresh start, somewhere light and airy? Really?’ Her words tumbled out over themselves as she held eye contact and he felt the grin slowly creeping across his face to match hers. He was overwhelmed with the desire to just lean forward and briefly touch his lips to hers. Their eyes locked and then, from nowhere, he heard his own voice in his head,Don’t you dare spoil a good thing. And he broke eye contact, forced his shoulders back and flashed her a smile.
‘I think that you can probably afford it, and yes, I see no reason why Tom can’t have his love nest. Matt said tonight that they’ve moved most of his stuff out over half-term but he wants to give it a quick freshen-up, and then you can start moving your stuff in next weekend from Saturday lunchtime. I said you were starting your lessons in Penmenna on the Saturday and he said any time from then on was fine. Sunday works brilliantly too. He’s quite happy not to begin the tenancy until you’re fully moved in. You’re to let him know if you want it fully furnished and I’m to pass on his phone number for all the questions you’re bound to have.’
Sylvie rocked on her heels and sat back at her end of the sofa.
‘I don’t know how to thank you, but thank you. Life is going to be so much easier being in the village. Sam will have all his friends within walking distance, and it doesn’t matter how many times the crappy car dies on me, or at least not so much, Thank you.’
‘Absolute pleasure. It’ll be nice to have you in walking distance. We can spend more time together. Ells will love that.’ Alex knew the statement was true but felt a bit of a coward hiding behind his daughter. Couldn’t he just sayI would lovethat? No, because he could not afford to scare her away and rock the boat. Her presence in their lives was making his and Ellie’s so much better, and there was no way he was introducing any kind of drama that could upset the delicate, the perfect, balance they currently had. She had never indicated she wanted more than friendship and she had enough to deal with right now. Sure, having Matt’s cottage would help her out considerably and a secure tenancy in the village where she could live independently from her uncle was a great thing, but she would still have the stress of moving house, and her job was also still relatively new, as was setting up the ballet classes in the school. Now was not the time to throw more change at her; now, as her friend, he needed to put his own wishes to one side, support her with what she needed and accept that she just wasn’t interested in him as a potential partner. And that was fine. If he wasn’t her cup of tea then that was that. He just rather wished he was.
‘So, tell me how I can pay the favour back? How can I help you? You seem to have life so completely together I can’t think of anything you need help with.’
‘Ha! You have met my daughter, right? I needallthe help there, all of it. Seriously, you don’t need to do anything. It was just a happy coincidence that Matt told me he was considering asking Rosy if they could live together. Right place right time.’
‘I can’t believe it’s this simple, that you’ve completely sorted a house out for me. A house!’
‘Strictly a cottage and it turns out it was an itty-bitty thing that literally landed in my lap, and like I say, your presence in this village is keeping me sane – you tether me, and Ellie. Being able to give something back to you, it means I’ll sleep better at night.’
‘I’m keeping you awake at night?’ Her eyebrows shot through to the roots of her hair and she smiled the naughtiest little smile he had possibly ever seen.
Chapter Twenty-four
Sylvie had scooped Sam up and driven him home, and Ellie had had her story read – speed-read because it was late and Alex was aware that nine o’clock was fast approaching and he had no intention of missing a second ofDracula. Not a second.
