red sports car, the keys in his hand. He looked just as handsome as ever: age didn’t seem to have withered his beauty and it couldn’t have staled his infinite variety because he never had any. His predictability was one of the things I’d appreciated most about him six years before: a calm harbour after the storm.
While I was still standing transfixed, he slammed the car door shut and strode over. ‘I knew it was you!’ Looking delighted, he kissed me on both cheeks, then held me away slightly and said, ‘And you look absolutely wonderful!’
I felt flattered, since I didn’t think I did really. My hair needed cutting and my nose was probably pink from the chilly breeze.
‘You look pretty good too,’ I said, finding I was quite happy to see him once I was over that initial surprise. Now he was closer I could see new lines on his face and some silver among his dark chestnut hair (he is several years older than me, after all), but it just made him look distinguished. Nature is unfair to the sexes like that.
‘You remember my friend Felix, don’t you?’
‘Yes, of course,’ he said with a brief, polite smile. ‘Nice to meet you again.’
‘Yes, you too,’ Felix said unenthusiastically. ‘I’ll go on into the pub, Chloe – see you there shortly.’
He walked off and David turned his full attention back to me. ‘I’ve often thought about you, Chloe. How have things been with you and what are you doing here?’
‘I was about to ask you the same thing!’
‘I have friends who live nearby and we sometimes meet up at the Green Man. But today I had a client over in this direction, so I stopped for a quick bar snack.’
‘You never did move out into the country then, David?’
‘No, I stayed in the city and I’m still living the bachelor life in my flat…though actually, that might be about to change. How about you? I don’t suppose you’re still in Merchester?’
‘No. In fact, we’ve just moved to Sticklepond.’
‘We?’ he queried quickly.
‘The whole family – Jake, Grandfather, Zillah. Grumps bought the Old Smithy at the other end of the High Street.’
‘Oh?’ He digested this information. ‘Jake’s still at home? He must be…how old now?’
‘Nearly nineteen and off to university this autumn, if he ever actually gets down to some exam revision.’
‘And your mother never came back? I was right about that?’
He might as well have added, ‘Told you so!’ But then, he’d never believed me when I said I knew she was alive.
‘No, she never came back.’
‘So – no husband, children, significant other?’ His hazel eyes looked deep into mine. ‘You surprise me.’
‘Not at the moment,’ I said, not wanting to come across as Little Miss Desperate, which I wasn’t in the least. ‘My Chocolate Wishes business is thriving and that, plus being Grumps’ PA, takes up most of my time these days.’
He looked at an expensive watch. ‘Look, I’ve got something on and I’m running late, but I’d love to catch up with you soon. We could even meet here one evening – how about it?’
‘I usually go to the Falling Star down the other end of the village with Poppy and Felix. You remember Poppy, don’t you?’
‘Oh, yes,’ he said, in the sort of voice that meant he had totally forgotten about her, though six years ago Poppy had been all set to be my bridesmaid at the registry office. ‘The Green Man might be better, though, because I’d like to catch up with you alone the first time – I feel I have a lot to apologise for!’
‘Oh, no, really you haven’t,’ I assured him, taken by surprise.
‘I’ve always regretted not being more understanding at the time, Chloe,’ he said with rather a wry smile.
‘No, I meant it, David, because later, when I wasn’t so upset, I could see your point of view too.’ This was true, though admittedly not for an awfully long time afterwards and the way he had detailed his secretary to help me cancel the wedding plans and return the presents had only added insult to injury.
‘Look, how about if we meet early one evening at the Falling Star for a chat, then, before your friends get there?’ he compromised. ‘Can you make it Friday?’
‘OK,’ I agreed, because I really couldn’t see why not. Although I’d felt surprisingly pleased to see him again, I didn’t think there were any embers left to stir into a flame, so it would just be a friendly chat.
‘There’s no reason why we can’t be friends now, is there, Chloe?’ he said with his attractive smile, seeming to read my mind – and really, there wasn’t.
In the pub, Felix was already established in a dark corner with a good view over the room. He was inclined to be sulky and sarcastic about David’s reappearance in my life, even when I told him that I wasn’t about to fall for him all over again, and that I saw no reason why we couldn’t have a drink together for old times’ sake.
‘I think having anything to do with a man who could let you down like that is a big mistake,’ he warned me, and would have said more, except that Poppy came in just then. She gave us a little half-wave, got a glass of mineral water and settled into a table near the door.
‘I do wish she would let me advise her about makeup and clothes a bit,’ I muttered. ‘I’m no fashion plate, but I do make an effort when I go out.’
‘At least she’s not wearing jodhpurs with the down-filled gilet that makes her look three feet wide,’ he said.
‘No, though actually they suit her better than that blouse, because she’s not a spot, ruffle and pussycat bow sort of girl.’
The pub door opened and I nudged him. ‘Look, that must be the date!’
A tallish, thin man with thick grey hair had come in, and paused on the threshold, looking around the room. Then he walked across to Poppy, holding out his hand.
‘He looks fairly normal,’ Felix said critically.
‘Actually, he looks rather nice,’ I agreed. ‘He’s older than I expected, though – early fifties, I should think – but that grey hair with the tan and the bright blue eyes are a pretty good combination.’
So far as we could tell, he and Poppy seemed to get on well too, and we started to feel pretty redundant as watchdogs. But when they got up to leave together, Felix was still all for following them, to make sure Poppy was all right, and I was still trying to dissuade him when Poppy walked back in again, alone.
She was pink and smiling dreamily. ‘Gosh, he’s sooo nice – and he seemed to like me! He couldn’t stay long tonight, so when he left I pretended to go too, then doubled back. We’re having lunch tomorrow.’
‘Where?’ I asked.
‘At
