‘Thanks.’ Standing up, Ellie hurried across and took her mobile. It was Ruby, the caterer. ‘Sorry, I need to get this.’
‘It’s okay, Eleanor. You get on with your work. I’m going to take a stroll down to the shops.’ Kathy stood up and smoothed her skirt down.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Perfectly sure. Hopefully, I might even run into that lovely mayoress of yours. We had a lovely chat the last time I visited.’
‘Okay, thanks, Mum.’
‘No problem. I’ll probably get an early night tonight, so if I don’t see you back here, I’ll see you in the morning.’ Kathy paused beside her daughter and gave her a peck on the cheek.
Once she’d seen her mum off, Ellie turned back to Laura. ‘It’s Ruby. I think she’ll probably be after your menu choices, so do you and Jackson have a spare few minutes to finish choosing them before I ring her back, please?’
‘Oh yes.’ Laura grinned. ‘How could we have forgotten about the food?’
Ellie smiled at the memory of Laura running after Jackson when he was searching for her wedding dress, the menus lying scattered and forgotten on the table behind them. ‘I should have asked, did he find your dress in the end?’
‘Nope.’ Laura shook her head. ‘I have sneaked it over to Nicola and Charlie’s house, though. Just in case he goes looking for it again. I’ll go and find him, and we’ll get the food choices made.’
‘Okay, thanks.’
As soon as Laura had disappeared upstairs again, Ellie made her way through the kitchen and outside. Standing on the decking, she shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun with her hand and looked around. Where was Murray? She shrugged. Maybe her mum had scared him off for the day? She wouldn’t blame him if she had. She’d send him a text and see if he wanted to grab dinner together. If her mum was having an early night, then they’d best make use of the time together. Ellie did not know how long her mum was staying, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to take the news that Ellie and Murray were in a relationship together again very well.
28
Ellie glanced at her mobile again. Murray was twenty minutes late now and hadn’t left so much as a text message. She’d messaged to ask him if he wanted to come round for a takeaway tonight, and he’d replied yes, but that had been over two hours ago. She’d not heard from him since.
She tapped the edge of her mobile against the palm of her hand. If there was one thing Murray never was, it was late. He had always been a stickler for being on time. Or if not on time, then often early.
Scrolling through her contact list, she hit his name and held the phone to her ear. She tapped her foot against the bare floorboards in time with the empty rings. Nothing.
What if he’d hurt himself and she was here merrily ringing him? She’d give him five more minutes and drive across to his workshop.
Navigating to their last messages to each other, she reread them, checking the time and location they’d decided upon. Yep, definitely her cottage and at seven.
Standing up, she paced towards the window, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.
Shaking her head, she walked into the hallway and picked up her keys. What was she waiting for? She knew he was usually on time, so something was obviously keeping him, and with him living out of his workshop, she couldn’t help but worry he’d cut himself on a saw or a stack of wood had fallen on him. Besides, if he arrived here at the cottage whilst she was out, he could always ring or message her to find out where she was.
Stepping out into the warm evening, Ellie headed to her Ford Fiesta and jumped in. After starting the ignition, she let the engine roll whilst she quickly checked her phone again. Still nothing. Although there was a missed call from her mum.
Setting her mobile in its little cradle she had clipped into the heating vents, she scrolled through to her mum’s contact and hit call. She might as well use this time whilst she was driving to find out what she wanted.
‘Eleanor, love.’ Kathy’s voice filled the car. ‘I’m so relieved you rang back.’
‘Hi, Mum. What’s up? I thought you were hoping for an early night tonight?’ Ellie scoured the road as she drove, hoping to pass Murray’s van on his way to her cottage.
‘I was. I was. I just need to speak to you a moment. Will you come to the inn?’ Kathy’s voice wavered.
Frowning, Ellie glanced at the screen of her mobile as though she might have better luck working out what had led to her mum’s sudden change of plans. ‘I’m a bit busy at the moment. I’m supposed to be meeting someone. Can it wait?’
‘Oh, love. No, I don’t think it can.’
Ellie breathed out a sigh. This is what she’d been hoping to avoid. And guessing she probably wouldn’t be able to. She felt awful, but she really didn’t want her mum’s sudden surprise arrival to impact the time she could spend with Murray. Not that she wasn’t grateful her mum had been worried enough to visit. Annoyed, she was being overprotective, but grateful at the same time. ‘Okay. I can pop by in a few hours? I know it’ll be late, but?—’
‘I…’ Kathy’s voice trailed off. ‘Where are you off to, love? I can hear you’re in your car, am I right?’
Ellie chewed on her bottom lip. What was she supposed to say? She couldn’t very well tell her mum she was on her way to Murray’s, could she? She’d never hear the end of all the reasons she shouldn’t be seeing him again. ‘I am.’
