Page 10 of A Summer Wedding at Pennycress Inn
Glancing across at him, Ellie tightened her grasp on the pile of Laura’s sketchbooks on her lap. What did he want from her? To explain himself? To give her the answers she’d spent years pursuing, searching for? Why would he? He wouldn’t. Not after the way he’d left her.
‘Whereabouts?’ Murray hitched a forefinger from the steering wheel and pointed down the street.
Shaking herself from her thoughts, Ellie nodded towards her little cottage and cringed internally. She really would have to find the time to sort the front garden out. It was the scruffiest in the row of cottages hugging the side of the narrow road. Huh, maybe she should start looking at the positives for once – no TV would equal the time to garden.
As soon as the van slowed to a stop, Ellie jumped out, clutching the sketchbooks to her chest as she bent to retrieve her bag from the footwell. ‘Thanks for the lift.’
‘You’re welcome.’ After pulling the handbrake up, Murray opened his door, joining her on the path.
Walking quickly towards the garden gate, Ellie laid her hand on the latch and looked back at him. He needed to go. ‘Thank you again for the lift.’ She spoke firmly, hoping he’d get the message and leave.
Widening his stance, Murray looked at his trainers and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Do you mind if I come in quickly? If we’re both going to be living here, I think it’s best we have a talk.’
‘Talk?’ Ellie parroted back, her mouth suddenly unable to form any coherent words of her own. Of course, that’s what he’d said he wanted when he’d given her a lift, but she’d been so focused on trying not to let the tears fall in front of Murray, she’d somehow let it slip her mind that he’d actually wanted to talk. But after all this time? Which had been what? Nine years?
Letting her hand drop from the latch, she hefted her bag higher up on her shoulder. Who was she kidding? She knew exactly how long it had been, but that was the point, wasn’t it? Murray had always been her ‘one that got away’, the man who had scorched a scar so deep on her heart that it had taken her years to recover, had taken every ounce of her being to learn to live without him, to carve a new life for herself.
And now that she had, she didn’t know if she wanted to hear his excuses, she didn’t know if she wanted to learn the reasons he’d walked away after promising her the stars. It had been too long. And too much had happened in both their lives for anything he said now to be of any relevance to her, to either of them, anymore.
Lifting her head, she met his gaze with more strength than she felt and shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Let’s leave the past behind us.’
Murray’s forehead furrowed as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his scruffy jeans. ‘I really think it would be good to clear the air now we’re both living in the same village.’
Ellie glanced towards the cottage. Even if she decided to relent and let him speak whatever nonsense he was planning on saying, she couldn’t very well invite him in. Not that she wanted to.
She nodded towards the sketchbooks in her arms. ‘I’m sorry. I’m really up against a tight deadline at the moment.’
Murray tore his eyes from her and leaned forward, easily opening the latch and swinging the gate open. ‘Another time then?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Hurrying through the open gateway, Ellie glanced behind her to watch him return to his van before heading into the cottage. Closing the front door firmly behind her, she placed the pile of sketchbooks onto the window ledge and held her hip against them to stop them from falling as she looked out of the tiny hallway window, watching him leave.
What would he have told her if she’d let him in? Apart from being completely shocked by the absolute state of the desolate cottage, that was. And why had he been so insistent on wanting to drag up the past? She’d needed his explanation years ago, when they’d first split up, not now. She’d put him, their relationship, the future she’d thought they’d have together, in the past, secured them in the part of her mind which she didn’t want to access anymore.
Turning away, she picked up the sketchbooks before slipping her shoes off and heading into the living room.
No, she wasn’t about to drag up emotions she’d long ago stored away, the same emotions which had single-handedly built the walls around her heart. Not even for him.
8
Standing awkwardly in the vast hallway of Pennycress Inn, Ellie shifted from foot to foot as she glanced towards the closed door to the sitting room. Perhaps she should have rung the doorbell or knocked instead of letting herself in. She never knew what to do in places like this. On her previous visit, Jill had told her to go straight in, but had that just been because Jill was out the front? Should she have rung the doorbell and waited? And now she was inside, what should she do?
Voices rose and a hoot of laughter escaped the sitting room before the door opened and Laura appeared. ‘Hi, Ellie. I hope you’ve not been waiting long?’
‘No, not long.’ Ellie shook her head and smiled. ‘Sorry, I’m never sure whether to let myself in or not.’
‘You’re always welcome to come straight in.’ Laura glanced back towards the sitting room door before indicating the kitchen doorway. ‘The only time the door gets locked during the day is if we have a kids’ party or something going on.’
‘You sound busy though. I can come back later if another time is better for you?’ Ellie followed her through to the kitchen, the heat from the oven hitting her as soon as she stepped into the room.
‘Oh no, this is perfect timing. Miss Cooke is holding a Community Hub meeting in the sitting room, so I’m more than relieved to have a legitimate excuse not to hang around and get myself roped into helping organise the Summer Vegetable Growing Competition or tidy up the village planters.’ Laura laughed as she beelined for the kettle. ‘Coffee?’
‘That would be amazing, thank you.’ Having finished off the last of the instant coffee granules Rick had left her with yesterday, Ellie could feel a caffeine withdrawal headache developing. As she lowered her bags to the table, Ellie tilted her head. Above the chatter filtering through from the sitting room, she could hear a rhythmic tapping coming from out the back. ‘Have you got some work going on at the moment?’
‘Ah, yes. The carpenter. Believe it or not, he started on the decking early this morning. I know he said yesterday that he had a free slot for us, but it hadn’t occurred to me or Jackson that he meant he could literally start work the next day!’ Laura grinned as she poured coffee into two mugs.
‘Wow, that is good.’ Sinking into the chair, Ellie rummaged through a large canvas bag and pulled out her trusty notebook. She’d spent yesterday afternoon looking through Laura and Jackson’s wedding ideas before drawing up her own suggestions and a plan of action.
‘Yes, there’s a lot to do, but at least with him being able to start today, the repairs should all be completed before the big day.’ Turning, Laura lowered the two mugs to the table before sitting opposite Ellie.
