After taking a moment to compose himself, Max went out the way he’d come. Annie nipped upstairs to change her cardigan and spray perfume in her hair. She didn’t want to spend the whole day smelling Max on herself.
“Max has agreed to buy me out! I can buy Saltwater Nook!” Annie whispered loudly into Gemma’s ear.
Gemma squealed and threw her arms around Annie, and together they did a sort of jump hug behind the counter, which earned them a few curious glances.
“Oh my God, I’m so relieved, and excited obviously. I can’t wait to tell John, I wish he’d hurry up!”
“He’s been,” said Gemma.
“What?”
“He came in when you were speaking to Max. He opened the door to the hall and then seemed to change his mind.”
Annie’s stomach plummeted.
“Did he say anything?”
“No, he just said he’d come back later. I asked him about Alfred, and he said he’s settled in and seemed happy enough. He left in kind of hurry, so I assumed he’d forgotten something.”
Or just seen me in Max’s arms, Annie thought. If she didn’t have a café to run, she would have jumped in her car and chased him down. Surely he wouldn’t think there was anything romantic in that hug? Max was blubbering into her hair, for God’s sake!
Gemma obviously sensed that the mood had changed.
“You’re buying Saltwater Nook, though!” Gemma said, smiling with all her teeth. “That’s amazing!”
* * *
—
Annie waited for John to come back to the café, in the hopes that Gemma was right, and he’d just forgotten something and would come bowling back in any minute. But her realist side knew John thought he’d witnessed a reconciliation between her and Max, and the day rolled by without hide nor hair of him. She wanted to message John and tell him he’d been mistaken, but what if he came back saying he’d never even considered that? Then she would look stupid, and she would have planted the idea in his head! Eventually she could stand it no longer; she messaged him as though the whole Max thing had never happened.
Gemma said you popped by. She said Alfred’s fine, which is great! How did he seem when you left him? Come and see me, I have big news! Don’t want to do it over the phone. Xxx
She got a reply—after a much longer delay than she would have liked.
Yes, Alfred seemed fine. It’s a big change but I’m hopeful he’ll see it’s the best thing for him. I said maybe in time he could get a place of his own in Willow Bay, rent somewhere, I’d help him with deposits and stuff. Anyway, fingers crossed. Big news? I’ll try and get down when I have time. X
She noted the one kiss, as well as the when I have time. That wasn’t good. She recognized a brush-off when she saw one. She was going to have face this head-on.
Just so you know. Annie messaged back. What you saw, in the hall, isn’t what you thought you saw. xx
Chapter 78
Annie spent the largest part of the following day wrestling with herself. She desperately wanted to call John and tell him that she was in a position to buy Saltwater Nook, but her pride kept pulling her finger away from tapping on his name each time she got out her phone to see if he’d messaged. Needless to say, neither of them had suggested tandem reading last night.
“What is with you?” asked Gemma.
“Oh, nothing, I’m just worried about Alfred and stewing about John.”
“You’ve not heard from John, then?”
“Not since yesterday.”
“Have you messaged him since?”
“Certainly not!”
Gemma rolled her eyes.
“Anyone heard how Alfred’s getting on?” asked Maeve, strolling in with Podrick panting along at her side. “I know it’s the best thing for him and all that, but it’s a blow for me. I could really use his help chopping some wood. I lost a yew tree last year in a storm and I’ve had it drying in one of the outbuildings. He’s jolly good company too. Doesn’t talk unless he’s got something worth saying.”
Annie and Gemma furnished her with as much as they knew.
“John not been down today?” she asked, looking round as if he might be lurking in a corner somewhere.
“Not today,” said Annie.
“Oh!” said Maeve. “I thought John pretty much had a foot in the Nook at all times these days.”
* * *
—
Just before seven the next evening, the wind buffeted Saltwater Nook so hard that the locks on the kiosk shutters gave up, causing the wooden shutters to slam back loudly and repeatedly against the wall.