Page 35 of The Forever Cottage

‘Well, doesn’t everyone love chocolates?’ She grinned. ‘There was this most amazing shop we found which had tray after tray of tempting flavours so I picked some classic combinations which I hope you’ll enjoy.’

Rob offered her the box and she shook her head, even though she was sorely tempted.

‘No, these are for you to enjoy at your leisure.’

‘The best bit about a box of chocolates, a fancy box of chocolates at that, is sharing them with someone, so I absolutely insist,’ he said, nudging the box in her direction again.

‘Well, in that case,’ she said, pressing her lips together in anticipation, her fingers hovering over the chocolates before she picked one with an elaborate, swirly decoration on top. ‘Who am I to refuse?’ She bit into the hard shell, a smooth, unctuous caramel filling her mouth, making all her taste buds sing while Rob bit into his selection and simply nodded, clearly satisfied.

‘That is good. So, so good. Cherry,’ he added for her benefit, savouring the flavour sensations in his mouth. They sat in companionable silence, enjoying the moment, until Rob said, ‘We should have just one more and then I’ll put them away. What do you think?’

‘Well, it would be rude not to,’ said Tess, needing no persuading and helping herself to another chocolate.

‘Actually, I have got something for you as well,’ Rob said casually, which immediately grabbed Tess’s attention.

‘Really? What is it?’ she asked, intrigued.

‘Come across to my room and I’ll show you.’

She followed Rob the short distance across to the annexe and stepped inside at his invitation. It had been several weeks since she’d last been here and she was reminded of what a lovely space it was. With the double doors open, it was a bright and airy space, with a calming atmosphere, which was just as she’d envisaged it when she designed her craft room. Now there were a few additional masculine touches from Rob’s presence: his shoes and bags tidied away neatly in one corner, a musky, earthy scent that lingered in the air, some of his personal belongings on the side. It made her smile to see the room being put to such good use. By the doors, to one side, was an easel, which she’d put there to encourage her to start painting again. She’d taken a course locally many years ago, which she’d found stimulating. Not that she’d had any talent in painting, but she’d enjoyed the process and had wanted to explore her creativity further. When she knew Rob would be moving in, she’d left the easel there as a decorator’s piece, somewhere to hang a cardigan over, or a hat, or to rest a pen or magazine on, but now she noticed that there was something else resting there entirely. She wandered over to look closer and Rob, realising that she’d seen it, went to join her, standing alongside her.

‘Do you like it?’ he asked.

She gasped, unable to find any words. She turned to look at him, shaking her head, before returning to view the picture on the easel. Finally, she managed to utter, ‘Did you paint this?’

Rob nodded, trying to gauge her expression to see whether she liked it or not.

‘Oh my goodness!’ The image of Hollyhocks Cottage with its steep roof and honey-coloured bricks, the French doors opened onto the garden on a summer’s day, took Tess’s breath away. ‘This is amazing, Rob.’ She couldn’t take her eyes away from the image, which captured the idiosyncratic charm of her home perfectly. The detail in the picture, the muted pastel colours and the creative artistry came together to capture a likeness that was evocative and brought goosebumps to Tess’s skin. A beautiful English country cottage: her cottage. ‘I didn’t know you were so talented.’

‘Well, I trained in graphic design, but I’ve always been arty, and loved to paint and draw when I was younger. Once I started working, I didn’t really get the opportunity for recreational art and then when we started the business, there was always other stuff to do. So it’s been something of a revelation to get the paintbrush out again.’

‘Do I get to keep this?’

‘Of course you do!’

‘It’s amazing. I can’t thank you enough. Oh look.’ She pointed to the canvas, only just noticing a small detail in the bottom left-hand corner. ‘That’s you, Barney!’ She peered closer, smiling at the instantly recognisable back end of the dog, his brown-tipped tail held high, his snout and front paws nowhere to be seen within the depths of the bush. She turned to Rob. ‘I intend to get it framed and will cherish it forever.’ She felt incredibly touched by such a thoughtful gift and couldn’t help herself from throwing her arms around him in a hug. She squeezed him tight, feeling unexpectedly emotional. She quickly pulled away from him, still shaking her head, not wanting Rob to see her raw feelings prickly beneath the surface. ‘You know this is so professional, you could take commissions.’

‘Well, I don’t know about that, but what it has done is reignite my love for drawing and painting and it’s made me realise I want to devote more time to that in the future. Something I’ve learned these last few months is that I need to concentrate my energies on things that bring me happiness, like my kids, being outdoors and revisiting some of my old interests like drawing. It’s almost like I’m getting to know myself again, the person I really am, when everything else has been stripped away from me. Does that make any sense?’

‘Absolutely, it does. In a way, it’s a similar thing for me. I feel as though I’m stepping out and challenging myself to do new things all the time now. When you’ve been part of a couple for so many years, you do everything together, make decisions together, so to suddenly realise that you’re on your own and it’s all down to you… well, it takes some adjusting to. Not that I would want to go back to my old life. I’ve got lots of happy memories, but it’s as though they belong to someone else. I’m ready to move on. I really think we have to look on this next stage in our lives as one which is exciting and open to all sorts of possibilities and opportunities.’

‘Well, you’ve been a big part of helping me to take those next steps of my own. If it hadn’t been for your kindness, then who knows where I might be now. I certainly wouldn’t have got involved with the walking group and I wouldn’t have had the time to get my thoughts in order and to work out what it is I want from my life.’

‘And you know what that is now?’ she asked him.

‘Yes,’ he said, his intense blue eyes snagging on hers. ‘I think I do.’

26

Tess had woken early and headed outside for her daily walk with Barney around Lower Leaping. She loved those first hours of the day when the village was stirring into action, the sound of birdsong accompanying her steps, and the soft morning dew visible on the grass. She spotted Louis, the paper boy, with his large satchel slung over his neck, riding his bike over the wooden bridge, off to make his deliveries, and she gave him a wave as he went on his way. Barney padded along happily, his nose tracking every scent on the ground, his tail constantly wagging, with Tess chiding him to get a move on when he found something particularly tempting and refused to budge.

When they returned to Hollyhocks after their morning jaunt, Tess quickly fed Barney before she dashed out again, popping into the local church to arrange the flowers for the weekend.

It was only after completing her jobs and making a quick trip to the village store to pick up some provisions that she went home to Hollyhocks, made herself a mug of coffee and popped a couple of slices of sourdough bread into the toaster.

Taking her breakfast into the orangery, she couldn’t shift the underlying anxiety that had been running through her veins all morning. She sighed, wondering what had possessed her to agree to go out on a date with Nico in the first place. Probably it was her dearest friends egging her on to do it. She’d thought about cancelling, but time had run away from her, and now on the day of their agreed meeting, she realised she’d left it too late. It would be rude at this late stage to call off, even if she could come up with a believable excuse, so she had no other alternative but to make the most of it. She told herself that it would be fine. That Nico was a lovely guy and if he harboured any ideas about taking their relationship in a more personal direction, and she wasn’t sure that he did, then she could simply tell him that it wasn’t what she was looking for.

What she didn’t need on top of worrying about the evening plans was an unexpected visit from Charles. She groaned, seeing his car pull up on the gravel driveway and she felt a sense of dread lodge in her chest. It wasn’t that long ago that his arrival at the cottage, after a day in the office, brought a sense of excitable anticipation to her mood. Both she and Barney would greet him at the door with a big hug from her and plenty of tail wagging from the dog, and then she would fix him a G&T and listen interestedly as he told her about the trials of his day. Now, if it was down to her, she would much rather speak to him via email or text message. Even the dog had sloped off into the garden to find Rob, but with no chance of escape for Tess, she put on a tight smile as she greeted Charles, who wandered in through the back door as he’d done on so many occasions before.

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