After she had taken full advantage of her hug buddy she kissed his cheek and they headed towards the Church and when they stepped out into the lane she thanked him again for his chivalry.
“You don’t have to thank me” he said “and you can do better than me anyway”
“I doubt that” she replied and slipped her arm through his as they crossed the road and then a voice called to them
“Wait for me”
They stopped on the safety of the footpath and looked back to see Elise Riley hurrying after them, she lived further along the lane with her Uncle Ian.
She was a smiley cheerful person in her mid-thirties who was born and bred in the village but spent five years living in Purplemere and moved back to the village after her divorce.
“Hello you two” she said, “are you going to Lucy’s?”
Elise always refereed to the church as Lucy’s rather than St Lucy’s; she had done it ever since she was a small child.
“Yes” they said in unison which was when she noticed Kayleigh’s arm through his and gave Jack an enquiring look.
“I have a spare arm,” he offered
“Well that’s ok then” she said and quickly took his arm and as they cordially strolled, arm in arm towards the church they did elicit the occasional sideways glance
“You do know that you two will be the talk of the village?” he said and they both looked at him a little old fashioned
“You’ll be the two jezebels hanging off the arms of the night club owner”
Jack said and they all laughed and they were still laughing as they reached the door of the church and the Reverend Watson was at the door as they approached, doing the meet and greet.
“Aren’t you worried about your reputation?” she called
“No I have broad shoulders Vicar” he replied
“Not you, you are tarnished beyond all hope”, she said smiling
“I was speaking to your companions”
“That’s most unfair Vicar and only goes to show how misunderstood I am,” Jack said feigning injury
“I have merely made it my mission in life to save fallen women, and I’m saving these two for later”
The Vicar laughed, Kayleigh punched him on the arm and Elise blushed and then they went inside.
It was a good service, short on sermonizing and long on rejoicing, and as usual the mix of hymns was a balance of the old and traditional with a sprinkling of the modern and the happy clappy.
Katie Watson always kept the sermon short and sweet and never ever over egged the pudding as a result the congregants always left St Lucy’s feeling invigorated and refreshed, that day was no exception.
There was always a coffee and mingle at the end, where those who wanted to, could chat and catch up with members of the congregation. Jack was still with Elise and Kayleigh and did the rounds amidst the congregants and then they said their goodbyes, however if the truth be told Jack could have gone around again as he was in the mood to socialize.
So as Kayleigh, Elise and Jack were leaving he said
“Do you two need to rush off?”
“I don’t have any plans” Elise replied
“No nor me” said Kayleigh
“How about lunch then? At the Hen and Chicks?” he suggested “my treat”
“I’m on” chirped Elise
“Me too” Kay said brightly just at the moment when they arrived at the door, where the Vicar was seeing the faithful out the door
“What's he up to now?” she said to his companions
“Lunch” said Elise
“Why don’t you join us?” he added “At the Hen and Chicks”
she looked blank for a moment as she processed the invitation almost as if she had been asked a question in English but had to translate it into German before she could answer.
“You know what? I would love too,” she said beaming
“I will have to meet you there though”
“No problem” Jack said and the three of them made their way through the village to the pub.
They had a very pleasant lunch and the Vicar was an absolute delight, very down to earth and very witty and was on very good form, reminiscent of the University days she and Jack shared.
To the casual observer you would probably have pencilled the Vicar in as a sherry drinker and they would have been shocked to the core to see Reverend Watson drinking pints of Guinness.
Elise was shocked because she had never been to the pub with Katie before and when Katie noticed the look on Elise’s face she said
“They don’t do it in half’s”
Elise nodded understandingly in response, and then the penny dropped and she laughed out loud.
In fact it was a lunchtime full of laughter and at one point she looked across at Kayleigh laughing so hard that tears were running down her cheeks and she whispered in Jacks ear
“You got her to thaw then”
“Very much so” he replied but Katie didn’t know the half of it.
At the end of an excellent lunch Katie reluctantly declined a third pint of the black stuff stating that she had to prepare for the evening service.
Elise also took her leave as she had a prior commitment that afternoon so Kayleigh and Jack stayed for one more and walked out into the pleasant afternoon sunshine of an October Sunday.
Jack had very much enjoyed their lunch and was in no hurry for it to end so he suggested
“Coffee?”
“Oh yes please” she replied because she too was reluctant to lose his company.
So they had coffee sat on the sofa and began watching an old movie on BBC2, but about half an hour into it she yawned and rested her head on his shoulder and half an hour later she was still sleeping and ten minutes after that, courtesy of the late night and a boozy lunch Jack fell asleep in front of the TV as well only waking when Kayleigh kissed his cheek.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to wake you”
“That’s ok, it’s a lovely way to be woken up” he said and she blushed
“I have to go and see Carl” she explained
“See you later?” he asked hopefully
“Only if you can put up with me again” she said “And you’re not getting fed up of me”
“Never” Jack said and she smiled “I’ll make us some supper”
Over the following week they saw each other every day, even if it was only for an hour or two, in between her visits to Plaxton Park and his time at the Waterside club.
But he was up early on Sunday morning because he was eager to spend as much of the day with Kayleigh as possible, so after calling for her they walked down to the church and met up with Elise outside St Lucy’s and was surprised to find that once inside the Reverend Watson was conspicuous by her absence.
A replacement Priest, in the form of a middle aged bespectacled buffoon by the name of Laurence Blake, who was a locum Vicar from Purplemere, who sermonized at length and the dullness of which was only made worse only by its lack of brevity.
After the service, rumour’s abounded about the Vicars absence, Jack was at a loss to explain it as he had seen her only two days before and everything seemed fine.
Some spoke of an accident, but no details were forthcoming although hospital was mentioned a lot.
A death in the family was a popular candidate, as was a parishioner with cancer, a sick child, a crisis of faith.
The truth was in there somewhere but if anyone really knew they kept it well hidden.
After they thanked the Vicar “for a marvellous sermon” and said all their goodbyes Jack and Kayleigh walked the short distance to the Hen and Chicks and had one of Carol Pitts marvellous Sunday lunches, where further rumours circulated, the general tone of which was sympathetic to the Vicar rather than derogatory, that couldn’t be a good sign Jack thought.
Afterwards he settled the bill and they both agreed that they were so stuffed full that a constitutional was necessary to walk it off.
It was a pleasant enough afternoon for it, very sunny but with a chill wind, so they opted for the Ryden’s Forest which would give them the benefit of the sun but shield them from the wind.
They walked the woodland for over an hour and when they reached a cross roads, they looked at each other and agreed they had had enough exercise and they took the route that led back to his Cottage where there was a warm room with a comfy sofa in it.
After spending another Sunday together they didn’t see very much of each other at all for the next two weeks because he was having to spend almost all of his time at the club, partly because of Halloween and in part because Jacey was on holiday for a week to attend his Brother’s wedding in New Zealand.
But on his return to Turnoak on the Friday night his first port of call was next door to Kayleigh’s House.
When the door opened in response to his knock he looked at her lovely face and she smiled him a beaming smile and then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
“I’ve missed you so much” she said
“And I’ve missed you too” he admitted and then she released her grip on him and pulled him across the threshold and closed the door behind him.
“I’ve been thinking about us a lot while you’ve been away” she said
“So have I” he concurred
“And I have thought long and hard in the cold light of day about it and as I’m stone cold sober and you’re here and I’ve missed you and you’ve missed me I want to do this again” she said and kissed him
It was a long, slow, passionate kiss which, had they not already have been on fire for each other, would definitely have lit their boilers.
A line was crossed that night, a line they had been hesitant to cross and one which they had not traversed lightly, but it was one they had wanted to cross for some time.
They made love that night for the first time and spent much of the following day in much the same vein and once the genie was out of the bottle neither of them were of the mind to put it back.
But for the sake of propriety they had decided that they would keep the true nature of their affair to themselves and continue to present the platonic relationship of friendship to the wider world and conduct their intimate affair in secret.
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