Maybe it’s a sign from the universe. I feel like everything has been against me from day one, apart from Bram. Maybe this was never meant for me. Maybe I was stupid to attempt to take on my own tearoom with no experience. Marnie still needs an assistant at the bookshop and I bet Bram could get his job at the carousel back… I sigh because the thought spiral is getting me down, and I step back until I can nudge his arm instead. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yeah.’ He glances down at me. ‘I have a suit for Sunday. A perfectly normal grey one with a tartan waistcoat and a tie. He won’t find anything to complain about. But I’ve been winding him and Laura up by threatening to wear wild outfits and they don’t realise that the more wound up they get, the more I wind them up. He doesn’t understand the concept of teasing.’
Even I know that about Bram, and I’ve only known him for two months.
‘He doesn’t mean any harm, not really. He’s just trying to make sure I don’t look like me. He bought me a box of dark hair dye last week. I’ve heard the “that hair is going to be in your sister’s wedding photos for the rest of her life” speech three times in the past two weeks. I offered to not be in the wedding photos if it offends them that much.’
We’re standing underneath the magnolia tree and still watching Mr Hastings’ car reversing slowly towards the gate. I reach up and stroke Bram’s hair back from where it’s covering his ear, and then whisper into it, ‘Never change.’
I hear his breath catch, and his arm goes around my waist, low on my back, his fingers curl into my hip on the other side, and he holds me against him. I let my hand slide over his shoulder and then rest my head on it as we watch Mr Hastings’ fancy car reverse through the gate.
‘You mean that? My life is full of people who wish I was different.’
‘I think he’s trying, in his horribly misguided way. I think he wishes he understood you better, but he doesn’t know how.’
He lets out a sigh and his head drops to rest against mine and it feels like he simply breathes for a few moments, and I appreciate the calm stillness because any meeting with Mr Hastings is always fraught with tension for both of us.
‘How long before Marnie and Darcy realise we’ve been out here canoodling?’
‘No canoodling!’ I smack his arm and he laughs, making that single dimple dent inwards, and without giving myself a chance to second guess it, I use my grip on his shoulder to pull him down while I push myself up on tiptoes and brush my lips across it.
His fingers touch his cheek like he isn’t sure what just happened. ‘That was definitely canoodley.’
I blush. ‘You have a way with words, Bram.’
‘Usually the wrong way, except when I’m with you. Nothing seems wrong when I’m with you.’
I look up into his eyes and can’t imagine being anything but honest in this moment. ‘Same.’
His mouth twitches as he tries not to smile. ‘Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser.’
18
It’s Saturday night and the wedding is tomorrow. After Bram and I stocked the tearoom this morning, Marnie and Franca have run it for the day while we finished off the last few batches of Jaffa Cake brownies, Cherry Bakewell cupcakes, Cheshire Cat macaron stacks, and checked in with everyone else who is making things. It was 9 p.m. when I said goodbye to him and wished him luck for tomorrow, because he dreads family events and I won’t see him until the reception.
After a shower and changing into my pyjamas, I snuggled down in bed and… tossed and turned. And now it’s nearly midnight and I’m annoyed at myself because I’ve got to be up at the crack of daylight tomorrow. I wanted an early night, but sleep is just not happening. I turn over and squash the pillow into a better shape, like that is solely responsible for stopping me sleeping, and just as I’ve closed my eyes again, I jump out of my skin when there’s a knock on the caravan door. Adrenaline shoots through me and my heart is instantly pounding. Marnie’s got a special knock and that’s not it. Who on earth would be knocking on my caravan door at this time of night?
‘It’s me, Cleonidas.’ Bram’s voice comes through from outside.
I scramble out of bed so fast that my legs get tangled in the duvet. ‘Are you okay? What’s wrong?’ I call out as I flail across the small space.
My heart is still hammering but with worry now. I expect to find him horribly injured or with news that something dreadful has befallen the cakes we’ve made for the wedding, but when I yank the door open so hard that it nearly comes off in my hands, he’s standing on the driveway with a cheerful grin on his face.
‘’ello.’ He holds up a picnic basket. ‘Fancy a midnight picnic?’
‘Bram! It’s midnight!’
‘Yeeeah.’ He draws the word out, sounding as confused as he looks. ‘The clue is in the title? Midnight picnic? Be a bit pointless at 11 a.m., wouldn’t it?’
‘I could’ve been asleep!’
‘Were you?’
‘Well, no, but…’
‘There we go then. You know what they say, the best things in life are unexpected.’
‘Free! The best things in life are free!’ I snap, still trying to persuade my heart rate to calm down.
‘Well, a midnight picnic is both free and unexpected. Bonus points.’ His grin is so wide that it’s absolutely impossible to be annoyed at him.
I shake my head fondly. ‘You really are a nuthatch, aren’t you?’
His grin gets even wider. ‘When someone says it like that, I take it as a compliment.’
I’m above him in the caravan, looking down, and it makes a change to be taller than him, and the sight of his smile makes me want to take his face in my hands and pull his lips to mine. It was definitely a compliment.
‘If we stand here for much longer, it’s going to be a 1 a.m. picnic, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Can I come in while you get ready? It’s freezing out here.’
‘And you want to go for a picnic in this weather?’
‘Yeah, why not?’
‘Because…’ I trail off. Because it’s so unusual. Because it’s not what other people do. Because it’s so unexpected. All qualities I love about Bram. Who the heck wants to be normal when you can be someone who turns up at midnight for a picnic?
He grins at me like he can read every thought going through my head, and I step back to let him in. He knew where I’m staying because he gave me a lift home one night, but I didn’t invite him in because… the caravan is so embarrassing. It’s cramped and damp and I’m convinced it smells of mould, and I have too much stuff and it’s a squash for one person in here, never mind two, plus the fact that I’m in my mid-thirties and still can’t afford a place of my own, especially when he lives in the nicest house I’ve ever seen…
‘Nice pyjamas.’ He reaches out like he’s going to touch them and then stops himself.
