Page 5 of Watch For Me By Candlelight

* * *

It had been her hair that caught his attention at first — and one of the main things that had struck him about her this morning, when they’d collided on the main street. The other thing that had struck him was that he knew her from somewhere. But perhaps that was just wishful thinking; he’d always had a thing for red-heads and this particular red-head was also very nicely packaged up in a pair of skin-tight jeans.

There didn’t look as if there was a lot of room inside those jeans for the cake she was demolishing, but apparently there was enough. She finished the little pink thing in a couple of bites and it was quite impressive to witness.

She looked around as if checking to see if anyone had seen her; and that’s when she spotted him, looking at her. She blushed and Theo Kent couldn’t help but laugh.

The girl hesitated a moment, then smiled and shrugged. ‘I recommend the fairy cakes.’

‘I’m glad to hear it! How did you get on at the bakery?’ She was standing next to the bureau where the spoons and the sugar were. Theo moved towards her with his takeaway coffee and she made room for him.

‘Oh! Fine thank you. Again — I’m so sorry for almost mowing you down.’

‘As you can see, there was no lasting damage.’ He ripped the corner off a packet of sugar and tipped it in the drink. ‘Enjoy your day.’ He nodded at her. Then he grinned suddenly. ‘I hope we bump into each other again.’

She crumpled the bag up and laughed. ‘It’s a small village. We’re bound to. You have a good day too!’

‘Your Panini’s ready my love,’ called the lady behind the counter. She held up a polystyrene container and the girl hurried over and relieved her of it.

Theo stirred his coffee and watched until the red-head dashed out of the coffee shop and across the road. He wondered where she was heading and also, idly, whether she was single.

Not that it really mattered; he had other things to worry about.

He adjusted his backpack. He needed to finish his lunch, head back to the campsite and get sorted. Then he was hoping to make it to the Folk Museum before it closed. Maeve had said he’d find it interesting. He only had a few days in Suffolk, but he was hoping to squeeze a lot in. And he wouldn’t get much squeezing done if he loitered here instead of re-reading his map to find out where the hell he was supposed to be going.

* * *

Kate had her lunch at one of the picnic tables next to the duck pond. Her feathered friends squawked over to her, gabbling incessantly about how starving they were, and she tossed some crumbs down for them, lobbing the scraps as far away as she could. Those ducks had been known to clamber up onto the tables before now and terrorise the visitors.

It really was a beautiful day. Not too hot, but just right. Kate stretched her legs out in front of her and wiggled her toes in her sandals. It wasn’t hot enough for her to shed her jeans yet, but at least she had lost her trainers. It was progress.

Kate looked up at the first cottage where the reception was and again cursed Jenna. It was just as well Jenna wasn’t that interested in the rest of the museum, as Kate would have been particularly offended to have her anywhere near the ice-skates — or, even worse, the last house. The one that was done out as an estate cottage. It had been the blacksmith’s home once upon a time; there was a horseshoe on the front door and a pile of crumbled stones not very far along the road. Within the ruin, they had located evidence of a possible furnace and it all made sense. It was, according to some old maps of the area, his forge. Kate liked horses and she thought that being a blacksmith would have been quite a nice job. It would have been a fairly steady one as well, seeing as the Hartsford family had always loved their racehorses.

Anyway, it was two o’clock and Kate’s lunch break was over. She couldn’t dwell on how lovely it must have been to work with horses; it was time to get back to the museum. She weaved her way between the rabid ducks and wondered if she could get rid of Jenna a little bit early. She couldn’t be bothered with her for the next few hours anyway and she was pretty sure Jenna wouldn’t object. Maybe if she just covered until the lunchtime rush had abated? Which — Kate checked her watch — would be about now.

In fact: ‘Jenna, do you want an early finish?’ she asked as she walked back in. ‘I’m sure it’ll die down now and I’ve got nothing else planned. You might as well take advantage.’

The girl was twirling her hair around her fingers and posturing somewhat. ‘Oh. Kate. Hi.’ She had the courtesy to look away from the man leaning on the nearest wall. ‘He was just waiting for you.’

‘Oh. Hi, Chris,’ Kate said, thrown a little.

‘Hey, Kate,’ her boyfriend said.

Chris leaned over and kissed her. ‘Surprise!’

‘Indeed, it is a surprise. I thought you were busy this weekend.’ Kate kissed him back. Chris lived and worked in London as a management consultant and they didn’t get to spend a lot of time together. Kate had lived down there with him, and worked at the British Museum for a while, but she’d never really settled into the City life at all. Then the job at Hartsford came up, and they’d made the decision that she should go for it, and see how it went. It had been successful so far — she enjoyed Suffolk, and Chris, apparently, enjoyed devoting more of his time to work. He’d never complained too much about her not being there. The long-distance thing seemed to be working, and they had more or less settled into a routine — of sorts, anyway.

Occasionally, he made noises about a virtual world and how you could work anywhere and how it might be interesting to branch out into Suffolk — but the noises never seemed to come to anything more. There was always a new contract to work on, or a different customer to please. Kate had begun to doubt it would ever happen.

‘I put my bags upstairs. That’s fine, right?’ He smiled at her, knowing she’d never normally object to that. He had a key after all and it made sense.

‘Yes, no problem all.’ Kate smiled back. ‘It’s good to see you.’

‘And you. Dinner tonight at the Green Dragon?’

‘Don’t see why not.’

‘The Green Dragon’s for old people,’ interjected Jenna. ‘I think you’d be better off at the wine bar, to be honest.’ She was, Kate noticed, addressing Chris, not Kate.