Chapter Ten
It was gone midnight before they started to head inside. Lily and Amanda had gone first complaining it was too chilly in their summer clothes with bare legs and arms pinpricked with goosebumps. Timothy lit a cigarette and remained sitting at the table puffing smoke into the clear night. Milo had wandered off to explore the garden, not that he could see much.
Jenna cleared away the last of the glasses, smiling at Timothy before heading inside. She dumped the glasses next to the sink, finding the tiniest bit of space among the mess. They’d pretty much used every glass, mug and plate in the place. Lily and Amanda were chatting in the living room, the only sound disturbing the peaceful night. She was about to join them when she realised she’d left her mobile outside.
It was much cooler now. The sky was black and twinkled with the silver of tiny stars. It was so different to the washed out sky back in London, polluted by the glow of the city. Earlier in the evening she’d strung outdoor lights around the picnic umbrella, but what little light they gave off only pooled around the edges of the table. The moon cast a silvery glow over the cottage but the trees surrounding the edges of the garden were shrouded in darkness.
Timothy was no longer sitting at the table and her mobile wasn’t on it either. She searched around and found it on the grass. She began to head back around to the front of the cottage to join Lily and Amanda when she glimpsed movement. She paused, straining to look through the night, expecting to see a fox or possibly a deer. The moonlight gave just enough light to make out Milo and Timothy half-hidden among the trees with their arms wrapped around each other, kissing.
She couldn’t look away, needing to make sure she’d seen right. Her heart thudded and her palms were sweaty. Milo had been flirting with her on set and the other evening at the hotel, plus after what he’d said in the garden before the others arrived... She was staring at them, with her mouth open. Gripping her mobile, she backed away and crept across the lawn.
Laughter filtered into the night air from inside, amplifying the stillness and silence of the garden. A screech from the living room startled something in the undergrowth. Jenna shuddered at the rustling and exchanged the fresh night air for the warm kitchen. She closed the door behind her.
‘Hey Jenna,’ Lily called. ‘Where you been?’
Jenna walked across the slate floor to the living room. ‘Just clearing up.’
Amanda’s legs were curled up on the armchair and her usually pristine chestnut hair was now wild. ‘Where are Milo and Timothy?’
Jenna flopped down on the sofa next to Lily giving herself time to reply and not really sure what to make of what she’d seen. ‘Still outside; I think Milo’s having a smoke.’
‘How are you still looking so with it?’ Lily sighed.
‘I don’t feel it. I’m going to regret how much I’ve drunk in the morning.’
‘Good genes, that’s what it is.’ Amanda pointed across the room at her. ‘You always look amazing even first thing in the morning before the make-up girls have had a go at us.’
‘Hey, I’m not the only one.’ Jenna threw a cushion at her. ‘You two have the loveliest clearest skin...’
‘Freckles,’ Lily said. ‘I have freckles.’
The front door creaked open and footsteps pounded across the slate floor. Milo appeared in the living room doorway.
‘We okay to crash here tonight?’ He looked at Jenna. ‘I’m dog-tired.’
‘Of course. Wherever there’s space; there’s a spare room upstairs, this sofa.’
‘Thank God I’ve not got an early call time tomorrow,’ he said.
Jenna pulled a face. ‘Unlike me. I’ve got to be there by seven.’
‘Me too.’ Timothy sidled in, squeezing past Milo. He caught Milo’s eye and sat down in the empty armchair opposite Amanda.
Jenna looked between Milo and Timothy. She was certain they hadn’t seen her outside. They were behaving completely normally. Milo squeezed into the space on the sofa between her and Lily, his thigh touching hers. She was utterly confused. She’d been flattered by his attention. After all, he was the lead on the film, a big-name actor, a proper Hollywood star, and although his suggestive comments earlier had taken her by surprise, the more she thought about it as the night went on, the more the idea of being with Milo Blake appealed to her. Famous and influential with his model looks, dark hair and those deep brown eyes that made Jenna believe she was the only person in the world when he looked at her. And yet, she knew what she’d seen outside.
‘I’m bagging the spare room,’ Milo said with a grin.
‘Of course you would, Hollywood star and all,’ Lily said. She looked past him to Jenna. ‘I’ve already called a taxi for me and Amanda. We’re going to head back to the hotel in a bit. You can join us if you want, Tim?’
Timothy yawned. ‘Not sure I can be bothered. Might crash on the sofa if that’s okay with you, Jenna?’
‘Of course it is.’
Was that another look between Milo and Timothy or was she imagining things?
~
Lily and Amanda left half an hour later. The bright headlights of the taxi punctured the darkness as it backed out of the drive and disappeared along the lane. Jenna closed the front door and locked
