“Yes, Jill, you’re quite right. It is anenormousstroke of luck that you have your assistant working with you at the shop this morning and therefore have some free time to squeeze in a visit from an old friend. I can’t wait to see you. I’ll just finish this cup of tea here in the café and then I’ll pop over for a visit … Yes, I’m excited to see you too! Cheerio for now!”
Miriam hung up, looking pleased with herself as she turned her gaze to Ryan.
“Er, what was that all about?” Ryan asked, his frown deepening.
“Well, you’re a smart young man with a good pair of ears on the side of your head, and I’m sure you caught the gist of it,” Miriam said. “That shop over theredoesbelong to my old friend Jill, and, as it happens, her shop assistant is on shift this morning, which means she can take some time away from the counter for a nice chat. It will be wonderful to see her after so long.”
“What about the walk you wanted to have in the countryside?” Ryan asked.
Miriam gave a dismissive wave. “I’ll have a walk with you both in the afternoon instead. I’m sure you don’t mind me sneaking off to say hello to my old friend, Ryan. After all, you have Grace here to keep you company.”
Grace couldn’t miss the twinkle in Miriam’s eyes as she said this, nor could she escape the distinct impression thatthere was something else going on here that she didn’t quite understand. Judging by the suspicious look Ryan was giving his grandmother, his thoughts were running along the same tracks as hers.
“We’ll meet up here again before lunch and by then I will have caught up with all my friend’s news,” Miriam said. “At which point, we’ll decide which of these lovely pubs we’d like to have lunch in. How does that sound?”
Ryan held his grandmother’s gaze for a long beat before he answered. “That sounds fine, Grandma. You’ll text me if you have any problems?”
“Of course. I don’t anticipate any trouble, though. Well, having said that, judging from what I can see already in my friend’s shop window, I may end up making rather too many purchases from her lovely selection of gifts, but that hardly constitutes trouble, does it?”
Miriam chuckled and drained the last of her tea before rising from her seat.
“Grace, you don’t mind me scooting off to see my friend, do you?”
“Not at all. I hope you enjoy catching up.”
“Thank you, dear. Right, I’ll see you both later. Send me a text message when you’ve finished your walk and we’ll all meet up and take things from there. Bye!”
Miriam opened her purse and laid a note on the table to cover their drinks and then left the café, throwing a wave in their direction as she exited. Grace watched the woman march briskly across the road to where her friend, Jill, was already opening the shop door and welcoming her inside with a warm embrace.
When Grace looked back at Ryan, she saw his narrowed gaze still tracking his grandmother as she disappeared inside the shop across the road.
“Sorry about that,” Ryan said at length and turned to Grace. “I thought Grandma was really keen on going for this walk. I had no idea she was about to dash off and leave us to our own devices. Although…”
When he trailed off, Grace prompted him to continue. “Although…?”
Ryan’s gaze narrowed again to where his grandmother had vanished into the gift shop, before he shook his head and gave Grace an amused smile. “Nothing. Listen, now that my grandmother has abandoned us, if you’d rather not bother going for a walk, I understand.”
“I’m looking forward to it, and so is Stanley,” she said, finishing her coffee. At the mention of his name, Stanley got to his feet and stretched.
“I’ve got the walking route here on my phone,” Ryan said, glancing at the screen. “I downloaded a map, so I’d have it to hand offline in case there were any mobile black spots. I didn’t want us to end up wandering off the trail and getting lost.”
“Good thinking. I’m ready if you are.”
They rose from the table and followed Stanley, who was already making his way to the door. Grace thought about how Miriam had suddenly dashed off and left Ryan alone with her, and how that meant they’d be taking this countryside walk together alone, too.
The idea of walking alone in the wilds with Ryan made Grace’s skin tingle with excited anticipation. But if the troubled look on Ryan’s face was anything to go by, he might not feel the same way.
Grace considered his clouded expression, and was relieved to see it vanish as he opened the café door for her and gave her a smile. Stepping outside, Grace just hoped that this walk they were about to embark on wouldn’t turn into an awkward disaster.
