Page 71 of The Bookshop at the Cornish Cove

I smiled, not having a clue of what he said and for some reason muttered my thanks.

Twenty minutes later, I was finally at the front of the queue and peered in through the window of the cab, citing the address to the driver.

‘Hop in, love. Won’t take too long.’

I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that the end of my journey for today was not too far away and glad that I decided to stop overnight and then go to find Dennis tomorrow. We’d waited this long, another day wouldn’t matter, and it might be better for me to turn up looking fresh-faced anyway, and not like I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards.

‘First time in London, love?’ the driver asked.

‘That obvious, hey?’ I laughed.

‘It’s that rabbit in the headlights look. Here on business or pleasure?’

I sighed.

‘Pleasure hopefully. I’m hoping to surprise someone. If it all works out.’

‘Ah, that’s nice. Not enough surprises in life. My wife now, she’s constantly surprising me. Says it’s the way to keep a marriage alive.’ His eyes connected with mine through the mirror.

‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

‘Yeah, just as I think we’re getting into a bit of a rut, she does something mad.’

‘Have you been married long?’

‘Thirty-five years.’

‘Wow. That’s an achievement.’

‘It is these days. She’s wonderful and I wouldn’t swap her for the world. I don’t deserve her really. Punching way above my weight, my friends said when we first got together, and that it would never last. But I love her just as much now as I did the moment I saw her in the school playground. It’s now four children and seven grandchildren later.’

‘Wow. What a lovely story.’

‘True love for you. And I tell her I love her and appreciate her every single day. I hope the person you’ve come to surprise appreciates you, darlin’. Don’t be wasting time now on someone who doesn’t love you equally as much as you love them. Sorry, I’m wittering on. My wife is always telling me not to dish out advice unless I’m asked. I’ll shut up now. Leave you to your thoughts.’

‘It’s lovely to talk to someone, to be honest. I feel like I’ve landed in a very anonymous city.’

‘Yeah, that’s London for you. Not everyone, but most keep themselves very much to themselves. Have you come far?’

We chatted about my journey and life in Driftwood Bay and he told me that he proposed to his wife in Cornwall and had wonderful memories there.

The journey took no time at all and before long we arrived at my hotel.

‘Good luck with everything, darlin’. Just be brave and I hope everything turns out well for you.’

I thanked him and gave him a huge tip. The receptionist at the hotel was equally as lovely and explained how to get to my room. She offered to reserve me a table in the restaurant that night, but I didn’t fancy dining alone somewhere I didn’t know and said I’d grab some room service instead. As I kicked off my shoes and walked across to look out from the window of my room, the lights of high-rise office blocks reflected in the vast expanse of water as raindrops started to fall. It still looked incredibly pretty though, even if I felt like a very small person in the midst of a massive city.

Maybe London wasn’t so bad after all. Meeting that nice friendly taxi driver had given me hope that things might turn out well. But all after a burger and fries from room service, a big glass of wine and a good night’s sleep. It had been quite a day.

I took a deep breath as I closed my hotel room door behind me, double-checking it was locked properly. Hopefully, the next time I was in the room, I would have found Dennis and he would be with me. I grinned at the thought. This room might have cost me an arm and a leg, more than a week’s holiday to Spain in Dan’s opinion, but I hoped it would be worth every penny. I felt that I deserved to stay in a nice place and not a run-down motel. I was worth investing in, Dennis had always said. Also, if he did come back with me, I wanted it to be somewhere nice. He was used to luxurious hotels in swanky places, so I didn’t want to give him less than he was used to.

Dressed in a new-to-me floral dress that I’d not worn before, in mid-height long boots and a fake fur coat, I felt glamorous for the first time in a long time. I had made extra effort with my make-up and had straightened my hair, wanting it to look different to the normal surfer shaggy look that I wore.

The sun came out just as I stepped out onto the pavement outside the hotel. I hoped it was a good sign. I was clutching the instructions from the concierge of how to get to the address on the business card I was holding in the other hand.

Just ten minutes later, I arrived at the large glass-fronted building where Dennis worked. I started to run various scenarios through my head. He’d left and didn’t work there any more. He’d gone on holiday. He was off sick. He’d refuse to see me. In none of them did I see him standing with open arms welcoming me to him.

Remembering the taxi driver’s last words to me from the day before, I took a deep breath, pushed on the revolving door and walked towards the reception desk, which was manned by a very glamorous young woman who was talking into a headset. She just stared at me as I approached and I wasn’t sure whether she was talking to me or someone on the other end of her headset when she tutted and said, ‘Yes?’, looking me in the eye questioningly.

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