Page 100 of From Notting Hill with Love…Actually
“Then I’ll just have a jam donut.”
Greta looked at Rose, who appeared highly amused at my ordering technique.
“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” she grinned.
Greta rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen.
“WhenHarryMetSally, right?” Rose asked. “The way you ordered your pie?”
I nodded. “Sally knows exactly what she wants—and shewants to get it just right. So do I when I order food—it’s just the way I am. By the way, I liked your line, the ‘I’ll have whatever she’s having’ one. It comes from the movie too.”
Rose smiled. “Yes, I know. That’s why I said it.”
“Oh, sorry.” I blushed. “I didn’t realize you’d done it on purpose.”
“You like films, then?” Rose asked, her green eyes sparkling with interest.
“Yes, love them.”
“Me too.”
“I know, Dad said.” I closed my eyes.Duh!
Rose looked surprised. “Tom told you about me? I didn’t know if he would.”
“Only recently—he never said anything before.”
“So what happened recently to make him start?” Rose pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, that’s none of my business, perhaps you’d rather not say.”
I shrugged. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.” I wondered if I should tell her the real reason I’d come to London. But I decided against it for now. “Why did you leave?” I asked abruptly. I had no idea where the question came from—it certainly didn’t run itself past my brain for permission to exit before it blurted out.
Rose sighed deeply. “I knew you would ask me that question one day, Scarlett. And I’ve always known I wouldn’t be able to give you a worthy answer to it when you did.”
I turned my face to the window and watched the passing traffic crawling by. I might have guessed she wouldn’t tell me anything.
“You’ve turned into a fine young woman,” Rose continued. “Your father has obviously brought you up well on his own.” She thought for a moment. “I’m assuming he was on his own…or did he…remarry?”
I shook my head as I stared out of the window. “No, he didn’t get married again. Dad did it all on his own—he was the one who looked after me.” I thought about Dad for a second. I tried not to think about how he’d feel if he knew where I was right now. Then I turned back to face Rose. “He fed me, played with me, and changed my nappies. He listened to me read and helped me study for my exams. He even made my outfits when I was in the school play, even though he had to handsew everything because he couldn’t get the sewing machine to work. Dad let me cry on his shoulder when my first boyfriend dumped me, and he even came with me to buy my first bra. Yep, Dad was there for it all—whenyouweren’t.”
I took a deep breath to steady myself. Getting all that out of my system had left my heart pounding so hard I thought it might explode through my chest at any moment and land on the table in front of me.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett,” Rose said, looking startled by my outburst. “If it’s any consolation at all, I never stopped thinking about you.”
“Do you know something? It’s not!”
Rose looked down at the tablecloth while I stared hard out of the window again. This time I didn’t even see the cars as they pulled up at the traffic lights. It had started raining, and the wet glass was a blur of colored lights merging like the inside of a kaleidoscope.
“So?” I demanded, turning back to face her again after a fewseconds. “Where were you when all this was going on?” I was on a roll now—a floodgate had been opened on thoughts, feelings and questions that I’d had bottled up inside me for over twenty years. And it was going to take a lot to stem the fast-flowing river that contained them. “Living it up in London? Or was it New York then—or Paris?”
Rose looked confused. “How do you know I’ve lived in those places?”
“I…I don’t. Lucky guess, I suppose.”
“Scarlett, it’s a very, very long story.”
“So, we’ve got all night—unless you’ve got something better to do?” I challenged her, our eyes meeting across the table.
“No, nothing better.”
