Page 63 of Jingle Bells in June
I sink down on the warm wood of the bench overlooking thepond, my mind a chaotic muddle of thoughts and memories.
Then a familiar voice breaks through my daze.
‘Kenzie. You need this. You’ll get sunstroke.’ Somethingcool lands on my head and when I turn in surprise, Aidan is standing there.
His smile is guarded. ‘It’s good to see you.’
‘You, too.’ I take off the hat and look at it. It’s a peakedcap with the name of his charity on it.
The Peg Project.
‘Wow, you really are doing it. Great name.’ I smile up athim, my heart beating wildly. ‘Congratulations. Today is wonderful. And Jay wasso amazing. He actually broke my heart then put it back together again.’
He nods. ‘What a success story. And yet he’s the most humbleguy I’ve ever met. It just shows what a bit of kindness can achieve.’ He sitsdown on the other end of the bench. ‘So how have you been, Kenzie?’
‘Oh, okay, I suppose. It’s lovely to see you.’
He gives me a lop-sided smile. ‘We made a promise, remember?That we’d go out and celebrate if today turned out to be a success.’
I gulp. ‘Yes. Yes, we did.’
‘I’d say it was a success, wouldn’t you?’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ I turn to look at the crowds milling aroundthe stalls... the huge queue at the ice-cream van...all the cars crammed close together, parked along the high street. ‘A few morepeople would be nice.’
Our eyes meet and we start to laugh. And suddenly, it’s likethe intervening weeks have vanished and we’re right back to that lovely timewhen I was helping him do up the cottage.
‘So what do you think? Shall we go out for dinner later andtalk about our success?’
I smile. ‘It’s nice of you to say “our success”, but it’sactually all yours.’
‘You were a big part of it at the start.’ He shrugs. ‘It wasyou who thought of having it here, on the village green. And the merry-go-roundand the helter skelter were definitely your idea.’
‘I guess so.’ I waft my face with the cap. ‘Phew, it’s hot.’
‘Dinner, then?’
I nod. ‘Okay. Lovely.’
‘Better get back there. Shall we say eight? At the Olive Tree?’
‘The Olive Tree it is. See you later.’
He gets up and wanders off, turning back once to smile atme, and I have to take some deep breaths to calm myself down because my heartis pounding so fast.
I’m such a bloody fool!
Seeing Aidan tonight will only make me long to be with him.But it’s hopeless because that can never happen.
He still doesn’t know it was me driving the car that day...and I can never, ever tell him.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO
I’m fidgeting with the napkin in the Olive Treerestaurant, waiting for Aidan, and wondering how on earth I’m going to manageto force any food past my lips. Every few seconds, my eyes flick to the door.Why on earth did I get here five minutes early? This is agony!
I have a plan that will keep me out of danger, though. I’llkeep the conversation light and breezy, we’ll enjoy our meal and perhaps aglass of wine or two, and we’ll part at the end of a lovely evening as friends.
Job done!
