Page 36 of A Summer Wedding at Pennycress Inn
As his voice trailed off, Ellie nodded, the atmosphere between them suddenly shifting. They must have been out in the garden for well over an hour now. The sun had almost set and the little solar-powered fairy lights she’d strewn up along the fence beside the metal table and chair set flickered to life. ‘Is there any more of that wine?’
Picking up the bottle sitting on the table between them, Murray gave it a little shake. ‘Enough for one last one each, I think.’
‘Well, that’s not hard being as you’re sipping out of that egg cup, is it?’ Holding her empty mug across to him, she grinned. She might just be a bit tipsy, but he must be too judging by the number of wine shots he’d been throwing back.
‘Haha, it would be fine if every time I took a sip, I didn’t end up with the chicken’s bottom feathers sticking up my nostril.’ Wrapping his fingers around her mug, he steadied it as he poured, his fingers brushing with hers.
‘Thanks.’ She watched as he lowered the bottle to the table again, his fingers still holding her mug, his skin still against hers.
Looking her in the eye, he lowered his voice, barely above a whisper. ‘Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if I hadn’t left?’
Blinking, she searched his face. Had he just said what she’d thought he had or was she just imagining things? This was the first time she’d drunk in months, was she imagining this conversation?
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that.’ Letting go of her mug, he picked up his egg cup and took a quick drink.
As she lowered her wine to the table, she kept her eyes focused on him. His cheeks were pinking. ‘Ask me again.’
Leaning forward in his chair, he sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck before leaning back again and meeting her gaze. ‘I asked you if you ever wondered what life would have been like if I hadn’t left for the States.’
Every single day. And more so since Rick had left. That’s what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. She could hardly force enough breath into her lungs in order to keep her heart beating, let alone talk. After seconds had turned to a minute or two, she managed to squeak back, ‘Do you?’
‘I do.’ Murray nodded slowly and placed his hand on the table between them, turning his palm up, waiting.
‘I do as well.’ Her voice sounded hoarse as she tried not to think what this might mean, what those few short words might lead to. Gingerly, she reached across and laid her hand in his palm, watching as he laced his fingers through hers, feeling the warmth and strength from his hand against her skin.
As they sat there, looking at each other, their fingers interlaced on the tabletop between them, Ellie hardly dared to move. She didn’t want this moment to end, whatever it was, whatever it meant. She just wanted to stay like this forever, the wave of warmth emanating from her chest told her this wasn’t just a bit of hand-holding. This meant something and she didn’t want the spell to break.
‘Do you…?’ Just as soon as Murray had begun speaking, a rush of flapping wings and the whoosh of air was quickly followed by a huge pigeon flailing towards them. Snatching his hand away, Murray pushed his chair back and stood up a second before the pigeon crash-landed on the table, knocking the wine bottle which skidded across the metal surface before crashing to the floor.
Ellie froze for a second, stunned by Purdy’s ungainly interruption before she reached forward towards the bird, who then sprang back to life and flew back over the fence into Mrs Jedd’s garden. Standing up, she spun around. She’d never had one of the pigeons dive-bomb her before and they’d lived here long before she had. Yes, they came up to her and weren’t shy to beg for food, but they’d never dive-bombed at her. ‘Purdy, are you okay?’
‘Purdy?’ Murray raised his eyebrow.
Walking across towards the fence, Ellie ducked as Purdy returned, again, seemingly in as much of a fluster as she’d been the first time. She watched in stunned silence as the pigeon once again circled back and dove down into Mrs Jedd’s garden. ‘Yes, Purdy the pigeon.’ She frowned as she walked gingerly over to the fence between the gardens. ‘But she and Pedro never normally leave each other’s side.’
Joining her, Murray peered into Mrs Jedd’s garden before pointing. ‘Well, I think we’ve just found Pedro.’
Following Murray’s gaze, Ellie watched in amazement as Purdy, who had now landed, hopped across towards a sheet of netting covering both the pond and Mrs Jedd’s precious gnomes. Sure enough, Murray was right, Pedro was jumping up and down flapping his wings in panic and trying to free his little foot, which had somehow got caught in the netting.
Ellie turned to Murray, her heart beating hard in her chest. ‘What do we do? If Mrs Jedd catches him, there’s no guessing what she might do to him. I need to free him before she sees. They’ve been coming into my garden forever, I can’t just leave him.’
Narrowing his eyes, Murray looked across at Mrs Jedd’s cottage. ‘If she’s a danger to a pigeon, what do you think she’d do to a human if she caught them skulking around in her garden?’
‘You’re thinking what I’m thinking?’ She bit down on her bottom lip as she watched him drag a chair across towards the fence.
‘Yep, I’m going over.’ As he clambered up onto the chair, Ellie shot out her arm to steady him. Yep, he’d clearly had as much to drink as her. ‘You keep a lookout.’
Before she had the chance to protest and tell him she’d go instead, she watched as he dropped to the other side, narrowly missing flattening the yellow marigolds growing in the flower bed.
‘It’s okay, little one. I’m here to help you.’ As he approached Pedro, Murray sank to his knees and gently untangled the petrified pigeon.
As soon as he was free from the netting, Pedro launched himself into the air to join Purdy and they both settled into their usual position on the ridge of the fence.
Hearing a clattering from Mrs Jedd’s cottage, Ellie glanced across and watched as the kitchen light was switched on. Waving at Murray, she whispered loudly, ‘Quick, she’s coming out!’
Pausing, Murray looked towards the cottage as Mrs Jedd’s figure emerged in the window. Dropping to his knees behind a large pot brimming with herbs, Murray took a sharp intake of breath.
Ellie glanced wildly from Murray to Mrs Jedd and back again. If she noticed him, she’d ring the police and have him charged with… what? Trespassing to save a life? Or worse, attempting to encourage the defacing of Norman’s nose?
