Page 86 of A Scottish Country Escape

Pain and longing swallowed me. ‘I’d better get back to the shop,’ I managed, returning my attention back to Dean. ‘We can discuss things more there.’

Dean and I moved off, making our way back to Paper Roses.

Dexter watched us go.

Chapter Fifty-Three

My grandmother was one of the most perceptive women I knew.

She kept glancing over at me as Dean Ellwood spoke enthusiastically about the autumn fair.

I managed to smile and nod in the correct places, delighted by his enthusiasm, but annoyed at myself for even allowing Dexter headspace.

Dean departed from Paper Roses and I escorted him back to his car, a Mazda affair in electric blue. Gran was loitering by the shop door when I returned.

‘What’s wrong, Elle?’

I rubbed at my face. ‘Not much gets past you.’

‘And you’ve only just realised this?’

I forced a small smile.

One of the young girls who worked as a junior in the local hairdresser’s darted in to buy a birthday card for her auntie and once Gran had served her and observed the girl’s flash of black denim skirt swish out the door, she stared me down.

She didn’t have to ask me anything. The simple gesture of her firing up her eyebrows made me cave. Out it came in a painful rush about having just seen Dexter, Nadia, and the little girl’s mother, strolling along. ‘You should have seen the three of them together, Gran.’ I bit back the stabbing hurt. ‘Nadia looks so much like the two of them.’ They had been a picture-perfect family scene, like something out of a Benetton advert.

Grandma listened, not making any initial comment. But the more I could hear myself churning it over in my mind, the more painful it became.

It was what it was. Dexter had a gorgeous little daughter who needed him, either here or back in London. And the arrival of the girl’s mother, I should have seen coming.

But what would I have thought of him if Dexter had told me about Nadia and then admitted he didn’t want anything to do with her? At least he seemed to be making a concerted effort to be a good father. I couldn’t fault him for that.

The arrival of Nadia seemed to be having a positive effect on him too. The Linda Carlucci curse even seemed to have been pushed into the background, as far as Dexter’s priorities were concerned. Nadia should come first. That could only be a good thing.

Surely he was being genuine and not playing at being a dad to try and break the curse? My skin flushed. I felt ashamed for even contemplating such a thing.

Grandma moved to speak, but I straightened the bow on my blouse and raised one hand. ‘I’m fine, Gran. Really. It did give me a jolt seeing them all together as a family like that for the first time.’

My grandmother’s face was riven with concern. ‘Elle.’

I jumped to my feet, pushing back my chair. ‘If they decide to stay round here, I’m just going to have to get used to it. And I will.’

I clapped my hands together and forced a smile. ‘Right. I’ve still got lots to do before next Saturday.’

* * *

The week of the run-up to the Nature Reserve Knees-Up was frantic.

I found myself getting up earlier each morning with the birds fizzing in the trees outside. Every day I arrived at Paper Roses at the same time as the newspaper shop cranking open its shutters, so that I could get a head start on ensuring final preparations were in order, before opening at 9 a.m.

Cate and Gran were invaluable, taking it in turns to assist me in Paper Roses or insisting on making follow-up phone calls to everyone involved in the fair, from the stallholders to the bunting suppliers. At least this gave me some respite, so I could concentrate on the shop for a while.

By Wednesday that week, I possessed a final list of the stall sellers and the musicians (Dean Ellwood headlining) and where they would be pitched along the main throng of the street.

Cate had taken it upon herself to update the Paper Roses Twitter feed and our other social media accounts with what was happening and Gran had roped in several of her book club and bridge-playing buddies, to hand out homemade leaflets Cate had helped me with at the local train station and in the park.

Fir Haven Radio had already made several mentions of the event in the last few days and was sending a reporter along on Saturday. Our local newspaper had been very supportive too, covering all the background to our opposition to the development and they were also despatching a photographer.