Glancing down at her hand, she laughed as she picked at the remaining butterfly wing stuck to her skin before holding it up. ‘I was crafting.’
‘Ah, dare I ask where that was supposed to end up? I’m assuming not on your thumb?’ Murray grinned.
Placing the remains of the half-winged butterfly on the windowsill, she looked at him, his grin contagious. ‘I’m supposed to be decorating headdresses for Laura’s bridesmaid and flower girl.’
‘And how’s that going?’
She led the way through to the living room and nodded at the mound of crafting materials on the floor. ‘The headdresses? Not so great.’
‘How about the wedding planning? It’s getting close now, isn’t it?’
Taking a deep breath in, Ellie let out a slow sigh as she picked up her notebook and flicked through to her never-ending to-do list before holding it out to show him. ‘I’ll get there. Hopefully. I’m just thankful I’ve not got any other weddings to plan alongside it.’
Whistling through his teeth, Murray widened his eyes. ‘Wow, that’s quite some list. I don’t know how you do it.’
She shrugged. ‘Just the same as you run your business.’
‘Uh, nope. I go from job to job and only have to think about sourcing materials for the job in hand. I could never even juggle half that amount of workload.’
Closing the notebook again, she dropped it to the sofa. ‘It looks a heck of a lot worse than it is. Most of the items on the list are a work in progress and will get ticked off sooner rather than later. It’s just the damn caterers I’m struggling to source.’
‘You must have a lot of contacts though?’
Biting down on her bottom lip, Ellie could feel her cheeks flush. She wasn’t sure she was quite ready to tell him the whole sorry affair of why her contacts might not be being quite as cooperative as she’d hoped. ‘Things are a bit tricky at the moment. I’ll probably tell you all about it once I’ve got a glass or two of wine in me, but, for now, I’ll just say I’m basically starting from scratch in regard to contacts. Plus, of course, the short notice isn’t helping matters either.’
‘Fair enough.’ Murray gave her a sympathetic smile and she was grateful he didn’t push her to disclose anything else. ‘Oh, how about asking Ruby?’
‘Ruby? The restaurant owner from last night?’ Did she dare to get her hopes up? Their meal had been absolutely delicious and if what they’d eaten last night was anything to go by, she’d be proud to serve Ruby’s food at the wedding. ‘Does she cater for weddings?’
‘I don’t know. I’m pretty sure she caters for events though, so I’m guessing a wedding wouldn’t be much different.’ He grinned again, illuminating his dimple. ‘It’s worth an ask.’
She nodded her head vigorously, feeling a weight lifting. ‘Wow, Murray, you might have just solved all my problems!’
‘Haha, I’d be happy to solve just one.’
‘Honestly, if she could…’ Without thinking, she took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him, feeling his arms reach around her too. Worrying about finding a caterer had been a huge factor in her sleepless nights. Suddenly embarrassed, she jumped back and rubbed her arms as though they had taken on a life of their own. ‘I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…’
‘Shouldn’t have what?’ He tilted his head, his eyes piercing hers. ‘Hugged me? Why not?’
‘Well, I…’ What was she supposed to say? That, no, she shouldn’t have because his touch had brought up a million memories and confusing emotions to the forefront of her mind, feelings she wanted to rekindle their love more and more each time she laid eyes on him? ‘I’ll grab some glasses.’
Giving a slight shake of his head, he almost seamlessly followed her lead in the change of conversation. ‘You have glasses?’
‘Er, I’m not actually sure. Rick took the last bottle of the wine we had in the fridge before he left, so I’ve not reached for the glasses yet.’ She grimaced as she turned to the kitchen, desperate to put as much physical distance between them as she could.
Chuckling, Murray shook his head whilst following her through. ‘I’m sure it’ll taste good whatever we have to drink it from. It looks as though it’s good stuff.’
Pulling open the kitchen cupboard, Ellie scrunched her nose up. ‘One mug and one… umm… egg cup okay?’
‘I’m sure we’ll cope.’ Murray grinned as he picked up the mug from the draining board, waiting until Ellie had placed the blue ceramic hen-shaped egg cup on the work surface next to the mug. ‘I’ll take the egg cup, I can pretend I’m drinking shots and it’ll take me back to my student days.’
‘Haha, fair enough.’ She looked out of the window, the sun was slowly beginning to set, but the air was warm. Sensing him watching her, Ellie glanced quickly behind her and, sure enough, his eyes were trained on her. What was he thinking? Had that quick hug taken him back to happier times too, or was that just wishful thinking on her part? ‘Shall we take it outside?’
20
Throwing her head back, Ellie laughed. ‘No, it was you! I remember vividly that it was you who stuck your head out of your stepdad’s car window and threw up all down the side of the door. Not me.’
‘Ah, you might be right.’ Rubbing his hand across his face, Murray chuckled. ‘I think that’s the last time I really went out clubbing. All those years ago before I…’
