Emma being back had really lifted my mood. I asked her about her upcoming date and what she was planning to wear and we talked a little about what restaurants might be good for after axe throwing. Then Emma started peeling the cardboard sleeve off her takeaway cup, a sure sign she was anxious about what she was about to say.
‘I, um… noticed the boat was gone, when I left early the other day. I went for a walk to clear my head and didn’t see it.’
My insides squirmed and I remembered the confrontation I’d had with Cooper in the shop. I hadn’t told Emma about it. There hadn’t been a chance to. The headline last time we’d spoken had been me getting back together with Richard. I hadn’t wanted to muddy the waters by bringing Cooper into it. Even though I wanted to tell her now, it felt like opening the door to more questions. Ones I didn’t want to answer. Ones I couldn’t answer, even in the privacy of my own head.
‘Oh?’ I said instead. ‘Yeah, I think I noticed later that day, actually. He must have moved on somewhere else. I bet the Facebook crusaders are pleased.’
‘Yeah, the whole community group was going nuts over the news. More comments than when they announced the new wind farm,’ Emma said meaningfully. ‘Bet they’re foaming at the keyboard to see he’s back.’
‘He’s… back?’ I repeated, a tingle of surprise and relief running through me. ‘When?’
Emma pulled a thoughtful face. ‘Not sure. He wasn’t there yesterday afternoon, because Margaret and some of the other busybodies went up there to post pictures of some flattened grass like it was the latest North Sea oil spill. But, when I parked up this morning, I was a bit… nervous… about coming in, and I went for a walk and the boat was there, puffing smoke. I saw the dog on deck, tied up to the railing. He’s cuter in person – or… in dog – than he is in that picture you took. Such a sweet, smooshable lil face.’
‘Yeah, that’s Charlie,’ I said, still processing. Cooper was back? Why? Or, to be more accurate, if he’d left for a reason, what had made him change his mind?
Emma was looking at me strangely and I could see the questions forming behind her eyes. She was putting things together and I couldn’t escape before she took a breath and asked, faux-casually, ‘So, you knew he was gone… did you find that out the same day I did or…’
It was so obvious she thought that Cooper leaving had been the thing that spurred me to get back together with Richard. It was both annoying and uncomfortably close to the truth. If I hadn’t been so wrong-footed by Cooper’s outburst in the shop, I never would have gone to see Mum and found out about her and Dad’s relationship. But I wasn’t back with Richard purely because Cooper had pushed me away. I hadn’t even been certain I was interested in Cooper. Just he made me feel… happy, when I was around him. At least he had until he turned into a completely different person, all cold and shuttered.
‘Yeah, I found out the same day you did,’ I said, truthfully enough. ‘We must have just missed each other on the towpath, to be honest. I’m not sure why he’d leave and come back again.’
Emma’s look of consideration lingered for a moment longer. ‘Maybe he needed to stretch his legs, so to speak? Or he realised he wasn’t quite ready to move on.’
‘Hmm,’ I hummed noncommittally and distracted myself by tidying a basket of ribbon bows that didn’t need tidying.
‘… Tabby?’
I looked up to find Emma watching me, nibbling her lip. ‘I don’t want to start prying again but… maybe this could be a good thing for you. You could go and see him. I thought you two were really hitting it off.’
‘I don’t really think I have any reason to go up there,’ I shrugged. ‘I gave him his clothes back and no one’s messaged me about the dog, so we’re pretty much done. Cup of tea?’
We’d only just finished our coffees but I escaped to hang out by the kettle and avoid further questions. When I returned with fresh brews, Emma didn’t broach the subject again. Whatever she thought she knew about me and Cooper, she was mistaken. There was nothing to know. Nothing to speculate over. He was just a random guy, outside the unit that was me and Richard. What did I care where he drove his boat?
Though later, as I busied myself with a budget spreadsheet, I kept finding myself looking up at the shop windows, waiting for a familiar jumper to pass by.
Chapter 25
By the time lunchtimerolled around, I was toying with the idea of going for a walk by the canal. Just to see if Emma was right and Cooper really was back. Not because there was a magnetic pull that had me wanting to be in the same space as Cooper. Nothing like that whatsoever. The more sensible side of my brain was telling me to get a sandwich from the bakery and ignore the boat entirely, but I was curious and the boat was nagging at me like a half-finished project in my crochet bag. I needed to see him. It. I had to seeit…
At five to twelve, though, the door jangled open and Richard came in. He was dressed for work in a dark blue suit and pink shirt, brown loafers tapping on the floor. He must have come straight from a viewing. He still had his zipped-up folio under his arm.
‘Hey,’ I smiled at him, feeling a little awkward because Emma was just in the back room behind me, making a Pot Noodle. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to seeing him. ‘Didn’t expect to see you until tonight.’
‘Eh, I binned off a few rental viewings – thought I’d take you out to The Black Swan for lunch.’
‘Really?’ I couldn’t help bursting out. The Black Swan was a swanky gastro-pub up past the viaduct, nestled into a bend in the canal. It was the sort of place you went for special wedding anniversaries, not a quick workday lunch. Mum and Dad had been for one of their friends’ retirement parties and said the food was ‘finicky’. I’d looked their menu up and seen the prices jumping out at me, prices starting with twos and threes, forsandwiches.
Guillotines had been built for less.
‘Yeah, really,’ Richard laughed at my expression. ‘You deserve a treat – you’ve been working really hard.’
‘I’ll be back in the hour, though, right?’ I asked Richard, uncertainly.
He pulled a face. ‘Come on, Tabs, live a little. Close up for the afternoon. You can invite Emma if you want. I can afford it.’
While I dithered, Emma appeared through the beaded curtain, noodle pot in hand. ‘I’ll mind the shop,’ she told me, without really engaging with Richard. ‘Don’t worry about it. I can make some posters to advertise the Stitch and Witch on the laptop, get a few more people in.’
‘If you’re sure,’ I said, not wanting to put her out after we’d only just made up.
