Pippa nodded. ‘Need anything else while I’m out?’
‘Just the cake for later,’ said Brett.
‘Okay, but I get to choose the flavour,’ grinned Pippa.
***
Pippa shifted her weightuncomfortably from foot to foot as she stood at the front door of the house she’d frequented daily over a decade ago. She raised her hand and grabbed the knocker, and lifted it, but she made no attempt to drop it.
She looked down at the brown envelope in her other hand, contemplating posting it through the letterbox, but quickly expelled the thought. There were important documents inside. They needed to be placed directly into Oliver’s hands.
The knocked slammed down and Pippa was filled with nostalgia as she remembered the excited feeling she used to get when she came to see Oliver when they were dating back in highschool.
She wondered if his bedroom was still decorated the same. She was surprised they’d kept the family house. According to her friends, Mina and Hayley, Oliver’s mum had decided to live elsewhere when his father had taken Oliver to live with him in America and the property had remained empty for years.
The door flung open and it was as if she’d been whipped back in time. Pippa looked up into the face she’d called upon all those years ago. Oliver’s beard and moustache were gone. She looked up at his clean-shaven face and her eyes instantly strayed to his mouth. Her chest fluttered. She’d forgotten how full his lips were.
His cologne teased its way up her nostrils, adding a stomach clench to the chest flutter. Her eyes dropped from his lips to take in the rest of him. He was wearing a crisp white shirt, open at the neck by one button. A few strands of dark chest hair peeked out from the top.Thatwas a new addition on the Oliver of old. The shirt was tucked into navy blue suit trousers with precision creases pinched down the front of each leg. His feet were adorned in shiny dress shoes that were polished to within an inch of their life.
‘Pippa? This is a surprise. I was expecting someone else.
Pippa’s head flicked back up and she looked into his almost black eyes, fringed with dark lashes that looked as if they’d tripled in thickness now his beard was gone.
Her arm lifted subconsciously and she handed him the envelope. ‘Aunt Morgan asked me to give you this.’
Oliver made no attempt to take it, but stepped aside, opening the door wide. ‘Come in.’
Pippa took a step over the threshold and the historically familiar smells and sounds greeted her. The loud ticking of the grandfather clock in the hallway. The mahogany of the antique table next to it.
Jess barked and came trotting into the hall. ‘Jess. Hello girl.’ Pippa placed the envelope down on the table and went down on her haunches to pet Jess.
Oliver pulled up some slack in his trousers and joined her. ‘Some guard dog you are.’ Pippa laughed as Jess licked at Oliver’s freshly shaved face. ‘Jess thinks I’m lunch. She hasn’t stopped licking me since I shaved it off. She’s never seen me without a beard before.’
‘You look great.’ Oliver’s eyes appeared to twinkle at her comment. She quickly added, ‘Going somewhere special?’
‘To see my bank manager.’
Pippa rose to her feet and Oliver followed her. ‘Yes. Congratulations. I’m genuinely pleased it’s you taking on the pub.’
Oliver nodded. ‘Thank you.’
‘So, you managed to secure a sleeping partner?’
Oliver appeared hesitant to answer. ‘Yes.’
A knock on the door cut the conversation short. ‘Look, I’ll catch up with you later. You are still working at the pub aren’t you?’ Pippa lifted an eyebrow questioningly as she walked towards the door.
Oliver nodded as he followed and reached around her to open it. ‘Yes, of course. We’ll speak later.’
He pulled open the door and Pippa leaned back slightly, surprised by his caller. Ava was dressed equally impressive as Oliver in a skirted cream suit. Her hair was teased into its immaculate French twist with not a hair out of place. Pippa eyed her perfect make-up. It looked as if it had been applied by a professional. Had she hired a crew of professional beauticians to come to the hotel each morning to make her look this good while she was in the UK? Pippa made a mental note to ask Lizzy, the hotel housekeeper.
Ava’s eyes ran up and down Pippa, displaying a look of distaste. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise Pippa was coming with us.’
Pippa looked from Ava to Oliver. He pulled at his collar, looking uncomfortable for the first time in his designer shirt that fit him like a glove. He opened his mouth to speak, but Pippa answered before him. ‘I’m just delivering paperwork.’ She stepped past Ava and glanced over her shoulder as she walked down the stone path to the short distance towards the gate. ‘I’ll see you later, Oliver.’
She couldn’t get away from there quick enough. Her stomach had become a coiled knot. Oliver had told her he was going to see the bank manager. He hadn’t been expecting to see her because he was expecting Ava. She’d turned up to go with him. Were they dating again? Friends didn’t accompany friends to appointments as important as seeing the bank manager—only people in very close relationships did that together.
Pippa still wasn’t thinking straight when she walked into Katherine’s café trying to hunt down homemade cake to celebrate the selling of the pub with her father and aunt when she got back.
