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“Wait,” said Kate, rushing after Maddie as she headed to the door. “At least let Alex drive you to the station. Busses will be too unreliable over the Christmas period.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Come on Maddie, I’ll take you,” said Alex, ducking into the bedroom and throwing on a hoodie.
Maddie tried arguing, but it was two against one and she eventually relented. She gave Kate a brisk hug goodbye and carried her bag across to Alex’s car. She climbed into the passenger side and Kate blew a kiss through the window. Maddie turned away, not before Kate could see her cheeks were wet with tears.
Half an hour later, when Alex returned, Kate was waiting in bed, ready to get their reunion off to the start it deserved.
“Kate?”
“In here.”
Alex looked flustered as he walked into the room. He began gathering up the clothes he’d flung on the floor the evening before.
“Aren’t you going to come back to bed?” Kate asked. “We’ve got the house to ourselves now.”
“Sorry, Kate, another time. I had a call from work on my way to the station. Looks like I need to head back ASAP.”
“What? But why? Surely everyone’s still on holiday?”
“Exactly. A contract’s been ballsed up and there’s no one in the office to sort it. I’m really sorry.”
Kate felt the heat of humiliation rushing over her naked body. “Don’t forget your toothbrush in the bathroom,” she said.
“Thanks.”
As Alex left the room, Kate leapt out of bed and flung on her clothes. She didn’t want the added humiliation of him knowing how ready she had been to let him have his way, only for him to turn her down. Was there really a contract that couldn’t wait? It seemed a weak excuse given most of the country were sleeping off their festive indulgences.
“I’ll call you when I’m back in Bath,” said Alex, zipping up his bag and heading for the door.
“You do that.”
“See you,” he said, and let himself out of the house. Only as he was driving away, did Kate realise he hadn’t even kissed her goodbye.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
IDIOT, KATE MUTTEREDto herself as she scrubbed the kitchen worktops.Idiot idiot idiot. It wasn’t as though she needed the money. She’d accepted the latest booking request without even reading it properly, only realising afterwards that she had agreed to the use of her kitchen. That wasn’t a problem in itself, except the guests were two men coming on a New Year’sshootingtrip.
Kate hadn’t once felt threatened by opening her home to strangers, but this felt different. This feltstupid. A single woman, alone in a house with two men and their guns. Kate could picture the headlines now;Murdered woman brought it on herself.Woman killed after inviting gunmen into her home. It was bad enough she had no one to spend New Year's Eve with, but now she would be spending it locked in her room. Great.
Kate scrolled through the messages on her phone. Five messages seen by Maddie, all receiving no reply. As for Alex, he’d not been answering his phone since his surprise visit, claiming he was inundated with work and would be in touch after the holidays. Then there was Bob. He’d at least answered the phone to her, but sounded harassed, sayingnow isn’t a great timewhile Kate could’ve sworn she heard the sound of breaking glass in the background. Joy was busy with friends and WI commitments, leaving Kate utterly alone.
And so, she found herself waiting for two strangers on New Year’s Eve, with no plans and no friends. Perhaps Alex’s idea of moving back to Bath wasn’t such a bad one. At least Flo was there, and Kate could try and figure out what was going on with Maddie. Kate picked up the framed photograph of her grandmother. She didn’t look the type of woman who’d give up so easily.I’m not sure I’m enough, said Kate.I’m not sure I can honour your wishes for the house. I tried at Christmas, I really did, but there were more scowls than laughter and I still can’t work out what I did wrong.
Kate replaced the photo on the windowsill and looked out on the grey day. She thought back over the guests she’d had since she opened. How would Rissa and Jeff be spending New Year’s Eve? Kate pictured them surrounded by their girls, a family full of love, pushing away sadness to enjoy anotherlast. Would Ryan be in Hong Kong with his Dad? Kate hoped so. And Gloria, where would she be? Wherever it was, Kate was certain she wouldn’t be moping.
Stuck in traffic. ETA 1 hour.
Right, so she had an hour until her home was invaded. Kate grabbed her laptop and curled her legs up onto the sofa. She began scrolling through her Facebook page, but it was full of excited faces captionedCan’t wait for tonight!Kate was about to close the page in frustration when a post about New Year’s Resolutions caught her eye. That would be a way to fill her time. She picked a pad of paper out of the magazine rack, and jotted down numbers one to five.
1)Make more friends.
2)Grow the B&B business. Kate paused, chewing on the end of her pen, before adding a caveat/or decide where to move to.
3) Maybe two resolutions were enough? The conversation with Rissa floated through her mind, and in the end, number 3 was an easy choice.Go back to university.
Kate put down her list and returned to her laptop. She googled the Open University and felt bewildered by the choice of courses they offered. She checked various entry requirements and learned her two completed years at Bath meant she had accumulated credits and would only need to complete one year. At least that was something. Going to a real-life university may help her attack number one on her resolutions list, but she didn’t fancy being the token mature student, and besides, who knew where she’d be living when the course started.
