He’s shaking his head. ‘Oh no, the credit for that is all yours, I just put up the hashtags. I knew it would go wild because of all the ones before it.’
I have to hand it to him. ‘In that case, thank you for your good judgement.’
He gives a cough. ‘I do have an idea for a follow-up…’
‘Come on then. If you see potential you have to tell me.’
His grin is sheepish. ‘How about we do a little Mr and Mrs happy-ever-after post featuring the St Aidan recipe book?’
I roll my eyes. ‘Are you going all Beyoncé on me?’ Not that I’d be complaining if he were, but it’s best to be clear.
He laughs. ‘I mean Mr and Mrs in the loosest sense. If it’s okay with you, I’ll leave my big proposal for a day when Dieselhasn’teaten the cake.’ He’s already got his phone in his hand. ‘You have copies of the book here, let’s do a shout-out and tell the world we’re an item before you change your mind.’
‘What, now?’
He gives a slow smile. ‘What I’d really like is to take you to bed right away and stay there for a week, but…’
I’m hesitating too, resting my forehead on his. ‘Neither of us will be able to settle until we have news of Walter.’
He’s pulling me in towards him. ‘So how about we do our piece to camera, then we’ll wake Diesel and see if we can get him down to the garden. And we’ll take it from there.’
There’s a lot to be said for decisive action. Fifteen minutes later our brief but very cute selfie clip goes live, so 3 a.m. today will go down in history as the time Ross and I officially came out to the world as a couple. And ten minutes and quite a few kisses after that, as we make it down into the garden and out onto the beach, Ross’s phone pings with a text that lets us know that Walter is okay, and staying in overnight for observation, but due to come home in the morning. The moon is playing hide and seek between the clouds, sending splashes of light quivering across the water. As I walk with my shoulder against Ross’s chest, with the strong grasp of his arm around me, we fall into step and follow Diesel down to where the wavy lines of foam are running up the beach.
Ross stops, stoops for another soft and very delicious kiss, then pulls me into a hug. ‘There you go, I told you Walter wouldn’t let us down.’
I push back my hair as the wind catches it. ‘I don’t know about his heart rate being raised, he certainly raised ours.’
Ross turns to look at Diesel, whose head is up sniffing the air. ‘One patient on the mend. All we need now is for Diesel to pass a motion, and the world will be right again.’ He laughs. ‘That’s one of the hazards of falling in love with a vet – if we’re not covered in poop we’re probably thinking about it.’
I smile up at him. ‘I just hope you can cope with loving a baker – you realise you can never say “no” to tasting the cakes?’
‘As if that would ever happen!’ He’s grinning down at me, and then his smile fades and he pulls me into a sudden squeeze. ‘We’ve got our second chance here, Bertie. I never dared to hope we would.’
And suddenly as we stand there, our bodies fused together in the warmth of the night air, I know. ‘We would have been all right, wouldn’t we? If we’d had our baby, I mean.’
Ross looks down at me and nods slowly. ‘I think we would.’
It’s silly. It doesn’t relate to anything that’s actually real. But somehow it’s a comfort to have that confirmed. To agree on it as the people we are now. On behalf of the people we used to be. It’s a strange realisation to get to, when I’ve spent so many years thinking the opposite. But after two and a half months of being with Ross every day, he might not have been there the actual second I needed him, but I know now he would have come through for us all. And with his massive heart, we’d have become that same team we are now.
He’s looking down at me. ‘We can always try again. So long as you don’t mind that none of those three-year-olds got my jokes.’
I laugh. ‘You’ll have plenty of time to polish your comedy. In the meantime, Diesel is just coming through for us. Which means once we’ve picked up we can go home and work on the rest.’
And as we walk back towards Seaspray Cottage there are salty tears rolling quietly down my cheeks. I’m the happiest woman in St Aidan, because I’m with the man I’ve loved since the start of time, and I know now there’s no one in the whole world who is a better man for me.
42
The book launch at Kittiwake Court
Silver fish and new hair
Saturday
Let’s face it – any book launch in St Aidan is always going to be well supported. When it’s for a book so many people have their recipes in… By two o’clock on Saturday afternoon Kittiwake Court is bursting, and residents, staff and visitors are all bursting too, with excitement.
Ross and I are a full three minutes late arriving, which is unusual as Ross is famous for turning up everywhere at least half an hour ahead of schedule. Obviously, with the local grapevine being as healthy as it is, everyone knows we’re together. But as it’s our first outing in public as a couple, we’re both feeling a little bit shy as we skirt the crowds going round to the doors on the beach side. As we head for the entrance next to Jen’s office Ross drops his arm from my shoulders, grasps my hand tightly and grins at me. ‘Now you’re mine I don’t want to let go of you for a second.’
I grin back at him and drop a kiss on his cheek. ‘I love where you’re coming from there, Bradbury, but spot the deliberate mistake. We’ve come in without any of the unicorn cupcakes I’ve made, so one of us needs to go back to the car and get them.’
