But if there’s one truth about Flossie Blackwood, it’s that she never let fear of anything stop her from living.
Chapter 65
Gemma
The rest of the presentation is no less ghastly than the start. An hour and a half of intense questioning from a group who, it emerges, have just been through a major cost-cutting exercise and aren’t exactly keen on the idea of squandering resources on something as trifling as advertising.
I emerge from the auditorium sweating so much, it’s a wonder I don’t actually squelch when I reach the lift. And yet all I can think of is the call from Rich – whether he managed to get hold of Dan and – the real crux – whether we’re actually going to own this house by the end of today.
I emerge from the lift onto the ground floor and am about to dart out of the hotel to make my one, crucial phone call, when Sebastian smacks me on the shoulder.
‘So what do we think, kiddo? Triumph or damp squib?’
‘Hmm . . . I thought it went okay,’ I offer. ‘Your speech was great, Sebastian.’
He grins. ‘Thanks.’ Then he frowns. ‘Are you all right? You look a bit flushed.’
I’m about to protest that I’m fine, when I re-think it. ‘I am feeling a bit light-headed, now you mention it. I’m just going to step outside.’
At which point I scuttle to the door, turn on my phone and discover . . . precisely nothing. I’d expected to have a barrage of phone calls from Dan and Rich at least, telling me what was going on.
I dial Rich’s number but it goes straight to messages. I phone Dan’s number and that goes straight to messages. I phone the estate agent’s office and get through to Janine, the girl with the nose ring.
‘Oh, hello, Ms Johnston. You are
so
lucky to have a boyfriend like Dan. That letter he wrote – how romantic! I’m going to start setting my sights higher. All it used to take was a bag of chips and a Lambrini and I was anyone’s.’ She giggles.
‘Do you happen to know if Rich is there?’
‘He’s at a viewing. Should be back soon.’
‘Okay. I don’t suppose you know the outcome of his dealings with our owners? Did Dan get hold of her?’
She hesitates. ‘I’m not supposed to say anything.’
‘Oh please, come on! Put me out of my misery,’ I beg.
‘Well, I obviously don’t know the official line. But I know what Mrs Deaver told Rich on the phone.’
‘Which was?’
‘That they couldn’t possibly go with the higher offer after reading that.’
My knees almost buckle. ‘So Dan
did
get hold of her?’
‘Literally no idea. But I do know that they’ve said no to the people who put in the other offer.’
Dan doesn’t phone me back, despite repeated calls and messages. I’m desperate to update him about the house, to share what Janine told me with him. But as the phone goes to messages yet again, I feel a surge of despair.
I think back to the suspicion in Dan’s eyes this morning and am gripped by the possibility that he knows about Alex. That he’s found out and that’s why he won’t speak to me.
I phone Annabel to see if she’s heard from the Deavers’ solicitors about exchanging contracts, but she says she’s heard nothing yet.
‘Don’t worry though,’ she reassures me. ‘We seem to be all systems go, so all I need to do is pin down their solicitor. There’s still an hour. It can be done.’
I continue trying to get hold of Rich, but he proves as elusive as Dan. And in the meantime I’m dragged back into the auditorium to be grilled by the lot from Bang, answering questions such as, ‘Why can’t we have a bunny like the one in the John Lewis advert?’
I tell myself not to get my hopes up about the idea of stepping over the threshold in a few hours. We’ve been messed around before and it’s possible that Janine got this entirely wrong.
At the end, I dive out of the hotel and try Dan and Rich again, to no avail. The journey home is torture. I’m passing the village green of Thornton Hough when Rich finally,
finally
returns my calls.
My heart loops the loop as I pull in outside one of the Tudor facades and grab my phone.
Before he speaks, I gaze at two little boys on the lush lawn, giggling as they tumble over each other like baby lions play-fighting. I push my elbow onto the car window and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin as I’m filled by an overwhelming sense of optimism.
‘Gemma.’
‘Rich.’ I pause. ‘Tell me you have good news. Did you manage to get hold of Dan?’
‘Right, well, I’ll come to that in a minute. Let me get straight to the point. That’s what I’ve always prided myself on. None of that estate agency bullshit. I’m the Straight-Talking Kid.’
‘Okay, good. So have we got the house?’
‘Right.’ He takes a deep breath. ‘I think I need to fill you in on a little background first.’
‘I thought you were getting straight to the point?’
‘I am, I am. I mean, I will. But this is the point. Kind of.’
I decide it’ll be quicker to humour him. ‘Go on then.’
‘Mrs Deaver wanted to speak to you direct, simply because Dan had gone to the trouble of addressing his letter to
her
direct. But she’s now on a plane so can’t do that.’
‘Okay.’
‘Right, well, she’s asked me to do this instead. Mr and Mrs Deaver, as you know, were in the process of getting a divorce.’
‘Yes?’
‘And, well, as you know, another buyer came in and tried to gazump you.’
‘Yes?’
‘Well, I hand-delivered a copy of the letter to Mrs Deaver this afternoon. And Janine my assistant emailed another copy to Mr Deaver.’
‘And . . .?’
‘And after they read it, they said there was no way they could go with the other buyers.’
‘That’s what Janine told me,’ I say with a jolt of elation.
‘Right, well, basically they said they want to bring this whole thing to a conclusion as soon as possible.’
My jaw drops as I think about the implications of this. ‘Rich, you don’t know what this means to me,’ I begin. ‘I can’t wait to tell Dan. Oh God, after all this – oh Rich! Thank you, thank you!’
‘Gemma, STOP!’ he interrupts.
‘What’s the matter? You’ve just said they’ve already told the other buyers to go and whistle.’
‘They have. But – but I’m sorry to say . . .’
‘What?’
I ask sternly.
‘Dan’s letter – Mrs Deaver said it got them thinking. About true love, and commitment . . . and staying together. The upshot is, Gemma, they’ve decided to give their relationship another go.’
‘Whaaaat?’ I croak.
‘I’m sorry, Gemma. I’ve been instructed to remove the house from the market. They’re moving back in.’
I don’t feel sad about losing Pebble Cottage. It’s as if everything we’ve been through has stripped away its rosy glow and smeared it in something entirely less pleasant. I’m still angry about the money we’ve spent, the time we’ve wasted, the hopes and dreams that have been shattered, thanks to the emotional whims of a couple who clearly couldn’t make a firm decision if their lives depended on it.
But most of all, I feel a deep sense of love for a man who did everything within his power to get that house for me, even if it didn’t work out as he’d hoped.
I pull up the car into Buddington’s drive and realise to my surprise that Dan’s car is already here, prompting the question of why all my calls have gone unanswered.
I enter the house, with the letter he wrote – read out to me by Janine – still spinning around my head, and wondering how I’m going to break the news to him about Pebble Cottage. I head up to the bedroom, when I hear a noise from Belinda’s room.
I follow the sound of soft sobbing and find the door ajar. I remember the call she made to the publishers this morning and feel a stab of pity.
‘Belinda?’ I say, as I find her stuffing clothes into an overnight bag.
Then she turns round and I get a proper look at her face. And I immediately know that this is about something far, far bigger.
Chapter 66
Dan
I’m sitting at the lakeside throwing stones into the water as they plink onto the surface like an un-tuned piano. Despite everything that’s happening, my mind is surprisingly focused.
I feel a hand against my back and turn to see Gemma standing above me.
‘Dan, it’s raining,’ she says quietly. ‘Why don’t you come inside?’
I nod and push myself up. She rests her head against my neck, and it’s only as her hot tears touch my skin that I realise how cold I am.
‘Grandma had a heart attack,’ I whisper. She pulls back and nods, and can’t answer in any other way than for her face to crumple up with emotion.
‘Your mum told me what happened.’ Looking at her unleashes something inside me and, in front of the woman I love, I weep the tears of a baby, tears of pure grief.
I don’t know how long we stand in the rain. I just know that, against all the odds, having her hand in mine makes me feel better. It feels right. And I know that no matter what she’s done, I
need
this woman in my life.
We crunch towards the house, hand in hand, and the words that have been spinning around my head for the last week come crashing out of my mouth. ‘I know there’s someone else.’
She stops dead and looks at me. ‘What?’
‘I’d suspected for a while, Gemma. Then Sadie blew your cover last night.’
Her eyes drift away from me, but then she grips my hand. ‘Dan, there isn’t anyone else,’ she says emphatically. ‘Not like that. Well, not—’
‘Before you continue,’ I interrupt. ‘I want to say something.’
‘But—’
‘Please.’
I leave her with no choice but to listen, even if she is shaking her head in protest.
‘Gemma, there is literally nobody else I want. I’m done with playing the field. I’m done with being single. I don’t want to be like my dad, with a succession of women on the go. When I met you, everything changed. You make me the man I want to be.’ I say the next words from my heart.
‘You’re everything I ever wanted, Gemma. I’d do anything not to lose you. So please, whoever he is . . . I suppose what I’m asking you to do is simply this: choose me.’
‘Dan, I’ve already chosen you,’ she whispers. ‘But . . . I think I’ve got some explaining to do.’
Chapter 67
Gemma
The only thing left to do is to tell the truth. Nothing less will do, after all the trouble I’ve got myself into in the last few months.
So I tell Dan about Alex, about how I loved him once – or at least a version of me loved him. I tell him that I met up with him for coffee and that I replied to his texts. I tell him about meeting Alex in Dimitri’s after our row . . . and I tell him that I’ve seen him today too.
‘Is this an affair you’re confessing to, Gemma?’ Dan asks, fear in his eyes.
‘No, no. I suppose I’m confessing to . . . being distracted by him. And flattered by him. I knew he had feelings for me and in the light of that, I should’ve cut all contact. But I didn’t. And I’m so sorry for that.’
‘But you never slept with him?’
‘God, no.’
‘Did you kiss him?’
‘No.’
‘And what happened when you saw him today?’
‘I told him that I couldn’t ever see him again and that I was totally in love with you and always will be.’
Dan hesitates for a moment, taking in this information as my heart seems to stop. When he speaks, his voice is choked. ‘Well, what more could I ask for than that?’
He leans in and slowly sinks his lips into mine as a waterfall of relief rushes through me.
Then I remember that there’s one piece of news I
haven’t
broken to him. I pull away. ‘We’ve lost the house, I’m afraid,’ I sigh.
He blinks. ‘Seriously? They’ve given it to the couple who offered more money?’
‘No. They’re getting back together. They’re staying in the house. Thank you for writing that letter though.’ I feel tears slipping down my face again as I clasp his hand. ‘I don’t deserve you.’
‘Of course you do. Besides, it clearly didn’t do a great deal of good. Bastards.’ He forces a smile.
‘Tossers.’ I force a smile back.
He looks tenderly at me. ‘At least we’ve got each other.’
I nod. ‘And a roof over our heads. Your mum has always said we could stay as long as we wanted.’
‘Which is very kind of her. But I’ll be putting the call in to our old landlord first thing tomorrow.’
Chapter 68
Dan
Grandma has been in a coma, on a life-support machine, for four days and is showing no signs of improvement. Nobody has mentioned ‘decisions’ about the future, but given that recovery seems so unlikely, that will become inevitable.
The only thing to be said about the world around you going catastrophically wrong is that it at least crystallises what’s important. Which is why I’m prepared to abandon any self-respect, get down on my knees and beg for my old job back at the Chapterhouse Centre until someone threatens me with a restraining order.
Pete and Jade are still holding their breath when I walk out of the chief executive’s office.
‘What did he say?’ Pete asks.
‘He said he
wants
me back.’
‘I knew he’d jump at it!’ Pete grins.
‘Don’t crack open the alcopops yet – it’s out of his hands. He thinks my job is already gone, swallowed up by the council before I’ve even left the building.’
‘God almighty, they were quick,’ Pete mutters.
‘That’s how it works these days,’ I say miserably. ‘He’s going to make some calls, but Jade – he’s asked if you could dig out the relevant file and see what correspondence there’s been about it so far.’
Jade doesn’t move.
‘What is it?’
‘Well . . . you know your notice letter? The one I was meant to send to the council . . .’ She reaches down, opens a drawer and pulls out an envelope. ‘I was having a terrible week.’ She shrugs mischievously. ‘The whole thing totally slipped my mind.’
‘But you never forget a thing,’ Pete points out.
She winks at me. ‘Silly me.’