31 Days of Winter (53 page)

Dan

I watched her walk away
from me and sank into a chair.
Stop her leaving, tell her the truth you
idiot,
my inner voice screamed. I wasn’t sure that even the truth would
convince her that I never meant to hurt her, that I really did care for her,
more than I’d ever cared for anyone, other than my parents. Ellie Baxter really
had gotten to me. From the moment I saw the photo on that report, I’d known I
was in trouble. Hearing her voice amplified the attraction, but nothing
compared with seeing her that first day, in this very airport, her bright green
eyes enhanced by the green, almost see through, top that showed off her perfect
breasts and stiff nipples. I may have been with hundreds of women, been attracted
to hundreds of women, but all of them paled into insignificance to how I felt
when I shook hands with Ellie. I felt an inexplicable pull to her, emotionally
and sexually. She’d suffered such loss with the death of her parents, yet she
showed such compassion looking after the child of the lorry driver who killed
them. I still felt badly that I’d had to play dumb and ask questions that I
already knew the answers to, but even before I got to know her better, that
file told me that she had a big heart and capacity, no, a
willingness,
for
love unlike any I’d ever known. Then she’d gone and gotten herself into
relationships with two guys who didn’t deserve her. They were beneath her, they
lied and cheated. I gave myself a wry smile. I guess I was no better than they
were. My heart constricted as I watched her wipe away her tears and climb the
steps to the plane.
Leave her alone, walk away, she deserves better than you,
I told myself
.

Ellie

I woke up in my hotel
bedroom in London. I’d caught a flight from Edinburgh and made it back at two
in the morning, so had checked into an airport hotel and had paid extra to have
the room until three o’clock. I needed time to sleep, to try and make myself
look better, as well as feel better, before Brooke pummelled me for
information. If she saw me looking like I did when I got into bed last night,
she’d know something had gone wrong instantly. We usually shared everything,
but I couldn’t bear to go through it all with her quite yet, I needed a few
more hours to try and process it myself before I told her I was back and gave
her the truth. It was only nine a.m. so I rang room service and ordered some
French toast, orange juice and a large pot of coffee and pulled the duvet over
my head again and found myself playing with my “Ellie” bracelet he’d given me
and started crying again.

After eating and spending the morning feeling
sorry for myself, I showered and made an effort with my appearance. Dan was
not
going to strip me of my last shred of self-confidence. So I’d fallen for a
married guy again, but that wasn’t my fault, he’d not been honest with me. I’d
followed my heart and that was something Mum and Dad had always instilled in
me. “No matter if it leads you down the wrong path, mistakes are what make you
stronger, Ellie,” my dad would tell me. He was right, you grew from them,
learned by them, became more resilient to future catastrophes.
Keep telling
yourself that, Ellie
, I silently told my reflection in the mirror. He may
have duped me, but I knew deep down that I’d gotten to him, he really had cared
about me, under different circumstances we could have been perfect together.
Too bad he was already taken and had turned out to be another lying, cheating
arsehole. I must have a sign tattooed on my forehead,
Arseholes Welcome Here,
that was invisible to all but them. I took a deep breath and rang Brooke.

‘Ellie? Is everything ok? You’re still coming back,
right? I can’t wait to see you tonight.’

‘O Brooke, it’s so good to hear your voice,’ I sighed
with a big smile plastered all over my face.

‘Are you at the airport already? I didn’t think
your flight left until seven-thirty.’

‘Don’t get mad, I got back late last night and
checked into a hotel, I needed a bit of time on my own.’

‘You’re back?’ she gasped and I winced as I heard
the hurt in her voice.

‘Yes, I’m so sorry. Things all went tits up and I
fled in tears. I wanted to cry it out before I saw you.’

‘O, babe. Tell me I can come and get you now?’

‘I’d love that, I’ve really missed you.’

‘Well of course you have, Brooke’s the best friend
any girl could have. I’m at your new house, I’ve unpacked all your cases and
parcels. You have a welcome basket and a note on the dining table, I assume from
the owner, the place is
spotless
and I washed and tumble dried your new
bed linen and towels and made the bed for you. I’ve been shopping for some flowers
to pretty it up as well. I got some extra bits and pieces in, on top of what
was in your gift basket, just to tide us over until you can go shopping tomorrow.’

‘Brooke, you’re amazing.’

‘Damn right I am. What hotel are you in. I’ll come
in the van now.’

‘Where’s Maisie?’ I asked, dreading the answer.

‘In your new garage with her dust cover on. Molly
drove the van for me this morning and I brought your car.’

‘Molly’s with you?’ I pulled a face, I thought she
was supposed to be working. Much as I wanted to meet Brooke’s new girlfriend, I
was really hoping it would just be the two of us tonight and tomorrow.

‘Not now, she’s working, she just helped out this
morning. I love her and all, but I want time with my best friend on my own.’ I
smiled, happy to know we were still on the same wavelength.

‘You don’t need to come and get me, I can get the
tube to Kensington and walk over.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, it will be going dark by the
time you get here. I’ll come and get you.’

‘Ok, bring Maisie though, I’ve missed driving her.
I only have my one case which will fit in her boot. I’m in the Hampton by
Hilton. I need to vacate the room, so I’ll go and wait in the bar and have a coffee
or something.’

‘Ok, I’ll leave now. Champagne’s already chilling,
I downloaded your local take out menus so we can ring up for dinner to be
delivered and there’s ice cream and chocolate on standby too.’

‘Tissues?’ I enquired with a sigh.

‘
Please.
This isn’t my first “girlfriend in
crisis intervention,” you know. Love you babe, hang up so I can come and get
you and give you a big hug.’

‘Looking forward to it like you wouldn’t believe. See
you in a while.’

I rapped my phone on my knee as I waited in a
comfy armchair in the bar for her. I’d politely turned away two guys who’d
already offered to buy me drinks and keep me company. I giggled as I heard the
hoot of a horn in the same pattern I did when I was trying to attract Brooke’s
attention when I picked her up. I grabbed my case and virtually ran to the main
entrance and spotted her getting out of Maisie in the car park. She screamed
when she saw me and we met somewhere in the middle in a collision of hugs,
kisses and hair in each other’s mouths.

‘God, has it really only been four weeks? It feels
like four months,’ she sighed as we rocked each other.

‘Tell me about it,’ I nodded. ‘Shit, do you have
those tissues, I’ve already started.’

‘When will you admit you’re in love with the
Brooke?’

‘Around the time you stop referring to yourself
like that, which is never,’ I laughed with a sniff.

‘Come on. Hold your news if you can because you’re
not driving, missy. You look exhausted and about to bawl your eyes out and I
can’t comfort you if you’re crying while I’m driving. I’ll fill you in on Molly
and Dad’s hilarious computer crisis number two. We’ll give you a tour of your
new home, order our delivery and sit down with Champagne and food and you can
fill me in on
every
detail.’

‘What?’ I exclaimed as Brooke pressed a button and
the garage door automatically lifted.

‘Your landlord is
loaded
with a capital L,
babe. Welcome to your new swank pad.’

‘I can’t believe I’m living here, in this street
in
Kensington
, Brooke!’

‘Me neither. You so hit the jackpot with this pad.
I don’t even have to tell the garage door to shut, it knows when the car’s in
or out and the lights come on automatically.’

I looked around at the clean bright white room.
This wasn’t your typical British garage that was used for anything but cars.
There were no storage boxes filled with memorabilia, photos albums and old junk
people didn’t have the heart to throw away, and you could eat your dinner off
the polished concrete floor. Brooke led me through the limestone tiled utility
room, which housed the boiler and a massive washing machine and tumble dryer
and small sink and a handy under stairs cupboard full of cleaning supplies. She
opened a door and indicated for me to go through and I walked into my new large
open plan kitchen diner and gasped and covered my mouth with my hands. It was
even better than I remembered from the agents particulars. Especially as Brooke
had put out my new kitchen gadgets and dotted free standing bouquets of flowers
around.

‘Brooke, it’s amazing.’

‘You’re going to love cooking and entertaining in
here.’

‘I am. Starting with waffles, bacon and maple
syrup for breakfast once I’ve been shopping, then I’ll do a Sunday roast and
make a casserole with the leftovers.’

‘Come on, stop drooling over stainless steel
worktops and come and see the rest.’ She dragged me upstairs to the first
floor, where I saw the spare double guest room, bathroom with shower and we
went up a few more steps to the huge lounge with the French doors which opened
onto the Juliet balconies. I tested out the conker brown broken-in leather
corner sofa and marvelled at the flat screen Smart TV on the wall. I’d never
seen one so large, it looked bigger than the one I’d seen on the details, maybe
that had stopped working and Mr. Davenport had replaced it. ‘Bedroom, you’re
going to drool again,’ Brooke giggled as she dragged me upstairs.

The workspace on the right of the stairs looked
perfect for me to sit and write at, but the bedroom … the
bedroom
was to
die for. It was nearly as large as the lounge downstairs, the missing section
was a walk in wardrobe with loads of room for my handbags and shoes, all of
which Brooke had already stowed. The large super king conker brown leather
sleigh bed and dark oriental bedside tables against the chocolate brown suede wall
looked really masculine, but the cream carpet softened it, as did my cream and
gold bed linen and the extra flowers Brooke had placed on one of the bedside
tables. I laughed as I saw a picture of her framed on my favourite side of the
bed. She giggled and directed me into my new en-suite. It was the same size as
the guest room right below it. There were twin sinks, a large walk in shower,
claw foot traditional bath, as well as a toilet and bidet. It was all done in
tones of black slate, cream, and silver. I pulled off my jumper, the underfloor
heating in here was set too high for me, or maybe it was the excitement.

‘Brooke, is this really happening?’ I gasped as I
leaned against the sink countertop.

‘It is. Want me to pinch you?’

‘Yes, please,’ I nodded, then squealed as she did.
‘Shit, that
hurt
.’

‘That’s the point, you know you’re awake and what
the fuck have you done to your arm? It looks awful,’ she exclaimed as she
pointed at my deep purple bruise and butterfly stitched tear.

‘I cut it on either the jetty or ice as I fell in
the loch,’ I nodded. ‘I think I’ll be left with a scar.’

‘You were so lucky he was nearby and came in after
you,’ she replied with a shake of her head.

‘I know,’ I nodded. That was the selfless caring
Dan that had helped me that day, not the cheating husband of another woman. A
woman I’d unwittingly made a fool of.
Again.

‘Serious face. Come on, Champagne awaits. Your
choice what take out you want and we’ll hunker down on that massive sofa and
catch up properly.’

As Brooke popped the Champagne and located some
beautiful modernistic champagne flutes in one of the cupboards, I opened the
welcome basket and was hit with nostalgia. It was just like the basket Dan had
given me when I’d arrived on the island. There was a bottle of my favourite
white wine, a box of truffles, some luxury bath oils and bombs, and a gift
voucher for Sunday lunch for two at the Savoy Grill. I felt my stomach flip as
I saw an envelope with “
Miss Baxter”
written in Dan’s writing on the
front. I opened it as Brooke babbled on about the standard of the glass and
silverware in the cupboards.

My dearest Ellie, A little something to welcome
you to your new home. I hope that you’ll be very happy here and find all the
luck and love that you’re searching for. I don’t know anyone who deserves it
more. I never gave you the name of the jewellers for your ring. Go to
Havershams on Slone Street and tell them you were sent by your landlord,
they’ll do you a good deal. If only I’d met you years ago Ellie Baxter, things
could have been so different. With fondest memories, always. Dan x

‘All part of the service,’ I whispered as I wiped
my eyes. I assumed he’d had this delivered before I’d found out all about him.

‘O shit, the tears have started already? We
haven’t ordered the food and made it to the sofa yet. Here, drink some
Champers.’ She thrust the glass at me and I nodded and took a sip.

‘Brooke, this is
seriously
good Champagne.’

‘Wish I could take the credit, but I swiped it
from your basket. From arsehole three?’

‘Yes,’ I giggled with a sniff. ‘Fancy lunch at the
Savoy tomorrow?’ I asked as I waved the voucher at her.

‘Na, I spend too much time in posh hotels as it
is. Save it, you can wow your first proper date with it when we’ve got you back
on the horse. So what’s your poison?’ she asked as she spread the take out
menus in front of me.

‘Cantonese,’ I nodded.

‘Get your arse up onto that sofa, Brooke’s in
control and knows exactly what to order. Tissues are on the lamp table ready,’
she nodded as she dialled.

‘You’re a star,’ I smiled.

‘A bloody flaming supernova,’ she chuckled and put
a finger to her lips as she reeled off our favourite items and I headed up with
the bottle.

Two hours later, full of food, Champagne and wine
and all cried out, Brooke had heard it all and was as stunned as I’d been when
I’d got the call and seen the file.

‘So there you are, another man to add to the
disaster that is Ellie Baxter’s love life.’