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The beep told her her time was up and she stared at the phone stupidly before putting it down. Had she told him she loved him? She couldn't remember now. Had she? She must have done. She had been going to say it when she'd been cut off but she must have said it before, surely? Or perhaps not.
She surprised Harvey by stamping her foot, the tears streaming down her face. She couldn't even make a telephone call. How could she hope to put things right when she couldn't even make a telephone call? She would call him again tomorrow. She would keep on calling until he talked to her.
Ten minutes later she and Harvey were in the car, heading away from London. The twilight shadows were thick now but it wasn't completely dark, although it would be by the time she arrived. She couldn't wait to get to the cottage. She had felt totally at odds from the Second she'd arrived back in the city. It had been as though she had always lived in the tranquil surroundings of Shropshire rather than the other way round. The traffic noise, the dust, the heat, had seemed overwhelm¬ing, even the things she'd always loved—the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan life, the shops, the entertainment—had held no appeal. Nothing had held any appeal. But then it wouldn't without Travis.
The cottage was wonderfully familiar when Beth finally nosed the car into the front garden after opening the big swing gate. She felt as if she had come home. Blinking back the tears, she let an ecstatic Harvey out of the car and retrieved the key from under the plant pot, lugging in her bags and cases as Harvey began a thorough inspection of the lawn and flowerbeds. She had just put the last items away in the fridge when Harvey began a frenzied barking.
Travis? She rushed to the front door but, on opening it, saw Harvey was in a corner of the lawn, nosing at something and then leaping back before trying again, barking all the time and totally ignoring her when she called his name.
It had to be one of the resident hedgehogs. Harvey had had run-ins with them before, which always resulted in the hedge¬hogs ambling off scot free and smug and Harvey with a pricked and sore nose. She didn't fancy another visit to the local vet tomorrow for antibiotics and goodness knew what.
Yelling did no good, so after finding her shoes, which she'd kicked off minutes before, Beth ran across the lawn. She was halfway when awful reality dawned. Stopping dead, she turned. The door was shut. The key was inside. The car was locked. Instinct had made her pull the door to behind her and the latch had clicked. She had done it again.
She checked the door but she knew it was useless. It didn't budge an inch.
For a second Beth didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the event she did neither. After lugging Harvey away from the disdainful hedgehog, she sat down on the step and considered her options. It didn't take long.
It was just past midnight on a Friday night. A warm, moonlit summer's night, admittedly, but it would still get a mite chilly in the early hours and she wasn't even wearing a cardigan over the vest top and combat trousers she'd changed into for the drive from London. She could either sit it out through the hours of darkness and then trudge the few miles to the village in the morning, or walk to Travis's house right now and see if he was up for the weekend. Throw herself on his mercy—again.
A couple of minutes later she and Harvey were carefully picking their way along the lane, or at least she was. Harvey was prancing about like something demented, beside himself with excitement at the unexpected bonus of a midnight walk.
Beth tried not to think about what she would say to Travis if he was at home. This was made easier by the fact she was having to concentrate very hard on not stumbling in the darkness; the trees bordering the lane formed a canopy overhead which was very picturesque in daylight but made the lane almost pitch-black compared with the moonlit night beyond it.
Eventually the gates were in front of her—she'd arrived. And, toe-curlingly, there were lights downstairs and two vehicles on the drive. Two ? Beth peered at them from the gate. The Mercedes Estate and a Range Rover. Travis had a visitor. Her stomach did such a flip she involuntarily put her hands on it. It didn't have to be a woman. She shut her eyes tightly before opening them wide. The urge to turn tail and walk away was strong. Truth time, she told herself silently. Do you believe in him or not?
Flooded by emotions as chaotic as a stormy sea, Beth walked up the pebbled drive to the large horseshoe-shaped area directly in front of the house where the cars were parked. Harvey had raced ahead, delighted with where they had finished up. Sheba and Sky lived here so it had to be good.
She stood, her heart racing, for some moments before she rang the bell. Then she waited. Harvey had sat down expectantly at her feet, his eyes trained on the front door. In other circum-aances the earnestness in his stance would have made her smile.
