Page 103 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
“But... I don’t know. It was like she was just playing a role, starring in her own miniseries. It wasn’t long before the novelty began to wear off. She began to grumble about being buried down here in the wilds of Devon, missing all the parties and premieres. She started trying to persuade me to move up to London with her.”
Vicky’s eyes widened in surprise. “But surely she should have known you’d never do that. You’d never leave the farm.”
“Quite.” His mouth thinned. “For a while I did consider selling the organics business, splitting my time between here and London. But it was never going to work — Dad’s not getting any younger, and he couldn’t manage the farm without me. Besides, Nyree wouldn’t be satisfied with that sort of arrangement. She was used to getting her own way, and whenshe found out it wasn’t going to happen, she... wasn’t very happy.”
Vicky didn’t need the translation — ‘wasn’t very happy’ was probably a very big understatement.
“Then she got an offer of a part in some big TV series in America. I’m not going to lie — by then it was nothing but a relief.”
She put her hand up to his cheek. “So you didn’t mind her going?”
He smiled crookedly. “She left scars. She didn’t break my heart, but she made me... wary. Wary of getting involved again — wary of outsiders.”
“Like me.”
“That was what I thought at first. That’s why I was a bit off with you.”
“Abit?”
He laughed. “Okay — more than a bit. I was trying not to be attracted to you — which was difficult, as Iwasattracted to you. But then I realised that in teaching me a hard lesson about when to be wary, she’d taught me something even more important — how to recognise the right one when she came along.” He slid his arms around her and drew her close. “Which I did.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “By the way, have I told you this evening that I love you?”
“I think you might have mentioned it once or twice. Um... remind me. Have I told you that I love you?”
“You did say something along those lines, but I don’t mind hearing it again.” He took both her hands, lacing his fingers in hers. “Come and dance with me.”
Her heart was already dancing.The right one... Not second best.
Instead of leading her out through the sitting room to the back garden, he drew her out to the front. Here it was quiet,private. A soft breeze was blowing in from the sea, rustling through the leaves of the trees and stirring the lingering fragrance of jasmine and roses from the flowerbeds. A million stars glittered in the inky sky — the moon was a thin silver crescent like the imprint of a thumbnail.
The grass was soft and springy beneath their feet as he drew her into his arms, and they danced slowly to the music that was spilling out through the open windows. His mouth came down to claim hers in a long, sweet, tender kiss.
Love is the stars and the summer breeze
Love is the silence in a kiss
At last she could let herself believe that he really was in love with her. And as she lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck, her hands came together and her fingers brushed against the ring on her finger. Aunt Molly’s ring — entwined hearts.
Molly had had the courage to love, and to follow her dreams. Maybe her own dreams hadn’t been quite as dramatic, but she had found out how important it was to follow them.
And ‘sensible’ be damned!
THE END
