Page 30 of Fireworks at Pennycress Inn
At her desk, she placed the mug down. It would have to wait until Monday to be washed; if she missed the six o’clock bus, she’d be stuck there for at least another hour. ‘Sorry, I’d best get going. My bus is at six.’
Whistling through his teeth, Harold locked up the meeting room. ‘You should get a wriggle on then. You’ve only got a few minutes.’
Grabbing her tote bag, she shoved her notebook and pen inside before glancing back at the mug. She couldn’t leave it until Monday. It would become the classic office science experiment. Besides, no one else had left any dirty mugs on their desks. Picking it up, she glanced at the clock again before dithering on the spot.
‘I’ll sort that for you. I’ve got two of my own to wash up, as I missed the last dishwasher call.’ Harold nodded towards the mug in her hand.
‘Are you sure? I feel bad leaving it for you.’ Polly bit down on her bottom lip.
‘No worries. It’s only a mug. Off you go, love, before you miss your bus.’ Walking towards the door out to the foyer, Harold pulled it open, his back against it, as he held his hand out.
‘Thank you. I owe you.’ Walking over to him, she gave him the mug before slipping through the door. Two minutes. She had two minutes to get to the bus stop.
‘Enjoy your weekend,’ Harold called after her before the office door clicked closed again.
‘You too,’ she called feebly as she made her way through the foyer. If she knew one thing, it would be that she wouldn’t be enjoying this weekend. In fact, this weekend was set to be one of the hardest she’d had since losing her grandma.
20
Letting the front door to Pennycress Inn close softly behind her, Polly ran towards the stairs, pausing on the first step up as Laura emerged from the kitchen.
‘Hi, Polly. How was work? Are you joining us for dinner tonight?’
‘Umm, sorry, not tonight. Thank you though. I’ve got to go back home this weekend.’ She pulled her tote bag higher up on her shoulder, her metal water bottle digging into her side.
‘Ooh, I bet that will be nice then. Catching up with friends, are you?’ Walking across to the bottom of the stairs, Laura folded the tea towel in her hands.
Polly gripped her fingers around the straps of her bag. If only that was what she was doing, a catch-up in person with Stacey was just what she needed, but there was no chance she’d have any time for that. Although, thinking about it, she might just be able to rope her into helping. ‘I’m not sure I’ll have time, to be honest. I’ve got some bits to do for work and also have to get my grandparents’ flat ready for a viewing on Monday.’
‘Oh, it sounds like you have a busy time ahead of yourself, then.’ Laura glanced towards the kitchen door as the oven timer beeped. ‘Oops, I’d best go and get that out of the oven.’
‘It smells delicious.’ Polly smiled as Laura hurried back through the hallway. It was strange how, in such a short amount of time, she’d begun to think of Pennycress Inn as her home. Which was odd because it was an inn, and also because she hardly knew Laura, Nicola and Jackson. But after spending time with them during breakfasts, dinners and coffee breaks, she felt as though she’d known them a whole lot longer than she actually had.
Shaking her head, she headed up the stairs. If she’d read the bus timetable correctly, then she had about fifteen minutes to pack and get to the bus stop. Not long, but definitely doable.
In her room, she pulled her battered old suitcase from where she’d stashed it beneath the bed before tilting her head and looking at it. She wouldn’t need all that much stuff for just a weekend and the thought of hefting that big thing onto various buses and trains filled her with a dread she didn’t need, not today. Nope, she could fit a change of clothes and her toothbrush in her tote bag. Besides, she’d left what she hadn’t been able to fit into her suitcase back in the flat, so she’d be able to find old clothes to wear for painting.
Pushing the suitcase back under her bed, Polly pulled a few things from the drawers before shoving them in her tote bag. Yep, it was bulging at the seams, but it would be a whole lot more convenient than carrying her battered suitcase around. Pulling it onto her shoulder, she grabbed her coat and headed out onto the landing.
As she opened the door to her room, she paused, her hand on the door handle. She could hear voices in the hallway. Nicola’s, Laura’s and Zac’s. Great. She glanced at her mobile to check the time. She literally had ten minutes before the bus arrived. She didn’t have time to wait until Zac had disappeared and the coast was clear.
Sighing, she took a final look around her room, the soft bed tempting her to enjoy a lazy weekend, and closed the door softly. Hopefully, she’d be able to slip out without being noticed. The last thing she wanted to do was to highlight how awkward things were between her and Zac, and only more so since the conversation they’d had on the phone with Mr Bob. Not in front of Laura and Nicola, who had been nothing but welcoming and friendly. Yes, after their conversation Nicola was aware of the history between them both, but she didn’t want it to affect things here. She didn’t want them to feel any awkward vibes in their bed and breakfast.
Walking down the stairs, Polly was careful to keep to the edge nearest the wall, away from any of the squeaky floorboards she’d noticed, and with her head down, she crept across the hallway, holding her breath and hoping she wasn’t spotted as she made her way to the front door. Laura and Nicola had their backs towards her, and she was certain Zac wouldn’t want to engage in conversation even if he did see her.
At the front door, she turned around and called over her shoulder so as not to appear rude, before hurrying outside. ‘Bye. Have a lovely weekend.’
‘See you Sunday, Polly.’
Polly heard Laura’s reply as she closed the front door and breathed a sigh of relief. There was only so much Zac time she could handle, and she’d definitely had enough for the week. In fact, in a weird way, she was pleased to be going back home. She made her way down the path through the front garden and opened the wrought-iron gate.
Huh, no, that wasn’t true. She’d have given anything to hole up in Pennycress for the weekend, work on designing the leaflet for the reserve at her leisure and take a wander into the village centre for lunch, but instead she had to face the one thing she’d been putting off since her grandma had passed away.
Checking the time again, she closed the gate and picked up her pace. She had two minutes. That was fine. The bus stop was only at the end of the road and by the looks of it, someone else was waiting for it too, which meant that it hadn’t got there early. That was always a good thing.
‘Hi.’ Coming to a halt next to the small wooden bus shelter, she smiled at the woman standing there, her short white hair set into perfect curls.
‘Evening.’ The woman turned to face her, the large bag sitting by her feet shifting slightly as she did. ‘You were at the village meeting, weren’t you? One of the newbies staying at Pennycress? That’s right, isn’t it, love?’
