I laugh. ‘Okay, Dad, I’m on it. Shall I dig out the hip flask as well?’
He grins and squeezes my hand. ‘You’re getting the idea. Now, get back to Hart’s End and that treehouse. I can’t wait to see it.’
*****
The train glides into the station and I alight, smiling wistfully as I recall Theo practically lifting me off onto the platform the last time. My foolish heart is beating faster, just knowing he’s nearby and I could bump into him around the next corner.
Walking along the high street, I’m so deep in thought – wondering how long it takes to get over someone you’ve never even been out with in the first place – I almost don’t notice the two people emerging from The Three Blackbirds pub. Then with a shock, I hear a laugh I recognise.
Theo.
He’s lingering at the entrance, chatting with the woman, who has bright blonde hair and a very slim figure in jeans and a white T-shirt. Casually, he drapes his arm around her shoulders and she leans into his side, turning slightly so finally, I can see who it is.
My heart sinks like a lift plummeting all the way to the basement.
Olivia.
I nip into a shop doorway and watch as they walk together along the high street. They’re on the other side of the road, walking away from me, so there’s no chance I’ll be spotted.
They look very at ease in each other’s company, and a pang of pure, green-eyed jealousy punches me in the stomach. I didn’t think it would be long before Olivia won Theo over … and seeing them looking so cosy together, I was right.
I set off, following them, walking at a distance but keeping them in my sights all the time. I feel sick. I know I shouldn’t be trailing them – I’m really not some sort of mad stalker – but my legs seem to have a will of their own. I need to know where they’re going. If it’s back to her place, I don’t know what I’ll do …
They turn off the high street and head up a little alley, so I quickly cross the road and follow them. Apart from a church, there’s little else along there except green fields.
As I round the corner, I’m just in time to see Olivia stretch up on tiptoe and kiss Theo on the mouth. He grabs her and kisses her back, and my heart turns over. Olivia does a cute, flirty wave and heads back up the alley, so I quickly nip back into another shop doorway until she’s walked off along the high street.
Cautiously I peer round the corner, just in time to see Theo walking into the churchyard, through the little lych gate. My heart swoops in sympathy. Oh God, perhaps he’s visiting Rachel’s grave. Watching from a discreet distance, sure enough I see him standing, solemn and still, by a grave just inside the churchyard entrance.
My throat feels thick with emotion. How often does he visit Rachel’s grave like this? I long to be there for him, to help him get over his grief.
But he doesn’t want me …
At last, he starts walking slowly back in the direction of the high street, and I go into the nearby newsagent’s and buy a newspaper. When I come out, he’s nowhere to be seen. I linger for a while. Then I start walking round the corner to the church. I don’t know why, but I have to see for myself.
Slipping through the gate, I find the grave and when I read the words there, my heart starts beating uncomfortably fast.
Margaret and John Steel, loving parents of Theobald. Missed every day but you will live in my heart forever.
A lump fills my throat. It’s not his fiancée, Rachel, as I’d assumed.
Poor Theo, losing both his parents …
Then I read the dates, and two things strike me.
Margaret and John Steel died on the very same day.
And they were only in their forties.
I stand there, just as Theo did ten minutes earlier, staring at the gravestone, feeling utterly shell-shocked. His parents must have perished in some kind of accident. And saddest of all, if my calculations are correct, when the tragedy happened, Theo was little more than a boy.
After such a devastating blow so early in life, then losing his fiancée as well, I’m starting to see why Theo would feel so terrified to love someone …
*****
I head back to Honey Cottage and start unpacking, my head full of Theo’s sad past.
It’s nearly five o’clock by the time I’m finished. Betty and Doreen will be preparing to close up the café. I decide to call in and see them.
They greet me like their favourite niece, fussing over me. Betty takes my backpack and Doreen starts brewing my favourite coffee, and after asking about Dad and anxiously enquiring after Mum, they chatter away about how much they’re looking forward to working in the treehouse.
‘Jake’s been in here every day this week,’ says Betty. ‘Nice big strapping lad. Isn’t he, Doreen?’
‘Oh, yes. He’s very partial to my cherry macaroons. And the treehouse is coming on in leaps and bounds. Have you seen it?’
‘No, not yet. But I can’t wait.’
A car draws up outside and Betty pops her head round the door. ‘Another customer before we close up?’
To my surprise, in walks Jane. I haven’t seen her since the day of the run when she told me about Lucy changing her mind and refusing the funds she promised for Harry.
‘Hi. Betty said you’d be back this afternoon. How’s your dad doing?’
‘Better, thanks.’ I grin. ‘He’s at home now, ordering everyone about from his favourite armchair.’
She nods. ‘Good. I know how horrible it is, knowing there’s nothing you can do but wait by the bedside. You feel so utterly helpless.’
‘Will you still manage to get to America?’
She smiles grimly. ‘Oh, yes. Even if I have to rob a bank. Look, I just wanted to thank you
