Page 55 of The Wedding Cake Wish
‘I mean, only if you want to. I’m just thinking of your...erm...back.It might be very hard on the sofa bed and I’d feel terrible if you injuredyourself.’
‘That would indeed be a tragedy.’ He raises his eyebrows,gently teasing me.
‘So...’ My throat is suddenly as dry assandpaper. ‘Right, well, I sleep on the right side if that’s okay.’
He nods slowly. Then, standing up, he pulls me to my feet,and I stumble a little and end up tangled in his arms.
‘I’ll just go and...’ Laughing, I point atthe bedroom and flee, nerves throwing my whole system into uproar.
In the bathroom with my night things, I study my reflectionclosely. Make-up off and I’ll look like a ghost. But will make-up on seem likedesperation? A come-on, almost?
I clean my teeth slowly while I try to decide.
Then I tell myself to calm down. We’re friends sharing abed. That’s all. So it really doesn’t matter whether I take my make-up off ornot.
I’ll leave it on...
Quickly changing into the mid-thigh-length T-shirt I wearfor bed, I emerge rather self-consciously from the bathroom and dive into bed.Just as I hear Hudson’s phone ring on the other side of the room divide.
I sit up and strain to listen.
It’s Amelia. And judging by the sympathetic noises Hudson’smaking, I’m guessing she’s having a bad night. I lie back down and listen,thinking that if I were in trouble or feeling sad, just the sound of Hudson’ssoothing voice would make me feel instantly better.
After about ten minutes, he pops his head round, the phonestill at his ear, and points outside. ‘Bad signal,’ he mouths apologetically,and I nod.
He leaves the tent, zipping it up after him, and I picturehim walking across the field and through the car park, and emerging onto thehigh street, where the phone signal is hopefully better. It’s so cosy in thisbed. The bed linen is gorgeous and the pillows smell of fresh air. There’s noway I could sleep, though. Not while Hudson is away.
He’ll want to talk about Amelia when he gets back.
That’s my last thought as I drift off into slumber land...
*****
I wake to another blue-skied autumn day, the sun filteringinto the tent making light shapes on the floor.
I can hear sounds from beyond the room divide...theclink of a cup on a saucer and the leaves of a book being turned. And when Ishake out my hair and venture next door, Hudson – dressed and reclining on thesofa – looks up and smiles at me.
‘Morning, sleepyhead.’
‘Hi. Sorry, I was so tired last night, I must have fallenasleep.’
‘Don’t worry. I was talking on the phone for ages. You weresleeping peacefully when I got back, so I slept on the sofa bed so I wouldn’tdisturb you.’
‘Oh, poor you.’
He shakes his head. ‘It was actually surprisingly okay.’
I glance down awkwardly at my bare feet. ‘That’s good. Sohow was Amelia?’
‘Bad.’ He shakes his head. ‘She’s really suffering.’
I nod in sympathy. ‘She wouldn’t have known that you wereaway from home, I suppose.’
‘No, she did.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yes, I told her the other day that we were making a trip tothe Cotswolds.’
