The Dulcets were a
collection of villages and hamlets comprising of Dulcet Meadow, Dulcet St Mary,
Dulcet Green and Dulcet-on-Brooke, to name but a few, and of course Dulcet-on-Willow which was a large sprawling village
beside the gentle shallow River Willow, which ran unhurriedly from the
Pepperstock Hills to the more vibrant River Brooke, and
30 years old, Kerry Freeborn woke up very early
on Christmas Eve feeling apprehensive.
It was the first time she’d spent the night
in her own home since November, she had spent the time in between at the
Seaview Hotel in Sharpington, where she and her best friend Sharon Blackburn were
appearing at the Bluebird Theatre in Cinderella.
The theatre was dark on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day, so she returned home after the last performance on the 23rd.
But it was not her return home, nor her
waking alone that had left her feeling apprehensive, it was something that had
first begun on St Andrew’s Day at a dinner party.
It was in the part of Sharpington called Granite Hill, which in a nod to
San Francisco, the locals had nicknamed Nob Hill, and it was where local Children’s Writer, Alesha Khan, lived.
The hostess had first
met Kerry after they both took part in the World Book Day events at Sharpington
library and they became friends.
Also, at the party was
Jayson Mercer, Alesha’s Literary agent, who Kerry first met just after the
World Book Day events, when she was starring in a play at the Bluebird Theatre,
and there was an instant attraction, but Kerry found out he was married to his
business partner Kathryn, so she backed off, however she had since discovered
that they were not a couple.
Jayson and Kathryn had divorced the year before, but it was a
completely amicable split, because after eight years of marriage they both
realised it wasn’t really working, they loved each other, and still did, but
they were not in love.
In fact, they still lived under the same roof, in the same house,
after the split, and planned to sell the house, or buy the other one out, if
and when their personal circumstances changed.
So domestic life for them wasn’t really very different to when they
were married, and it really should have been if they belonged together as a
couple, so they knew they had made the right decision, and even after the
divorce they were still best friends, and of course they still worked together
at the Literary Agency they founded, Mercer and associates.
Even after they stopped living as man and wife, the split was so
amicable that they kept up their long-standing routine of travelling to and
from work together.
So, it was no wonder that Kerry jumped to the wrong conclusion, and
she’d left Sharpington when the theatre Company took the play to Abbottsford,
when she discovered the truth of the arrangement.
But when she was back in Sharpington, so was he and he was in touching
distance, although his ex was also at the dinner party, so she thought she
should be forgiven for getting the wrong end of the stick again.
From
the first moment she got “eyes on” she kept them on and when the time came for
them to take their seats she found that she was seated opposite him and
focussed all her attension on him and made it patently obvious she only had
eyes for him.
At the end of the
evening and they had said good night to Alesha her BFF Sharon had “Eyes on” a
man of her own so Jayson offered to walk her back to the hotel.
So, they walked down to Sharpington Promenade from the heights of
Granite Hill and chatted much as they had all evening and then they were
suddenly at the hotel almost before they had time to blink.
“Do you want to come in for a nightcap?” she asked desperately
“Ok just a quick one” he said, and she was feeling very smug as they
went inside
When she was half way down the glass of wine she said
“Perhaps we can do something over the weekend, dinner, maybe” she
suggested
“The Panto doesn’t open until Monday, so I’m completely free”
“Ah” he responded
“Ah?” she repeated “I don’t like the sound of “Ah”, is it an “Ah” I’m
back with my wife or “Ah” I’m with someone else or “Ah” I’m gay”
“None of the above” he said
“Phew”
“Do you remember me telling you during dinner that my sister Lizzie had twins?”
“Yes” she replied, “Oh God are they ill?”
“Not them” he replied
“Lizzie has PPD, Postpartum depression” he replied “and she’s not coping and nor is her
husband”
“Oh dear”
The upshot was that he
had to go to Millmoor to help out and would be away for a couple of weeks.
She knew that her next
day off wasn’t until the 13th so she invited him to dinner and he
said he would try and make it back.
They parted company in reception where he kissed her cheek and then she
watched him leave, and it hurt, it really hurt and that really surprised her,
why did it hurt? She knew she liked him, but obviously it was more than that if
it hurt.
“Why does it hurt?” she asked herself as she walked towards the stairs
and then she stopped
“My God I love him” she exclaimed
The time hung heavy until the 13th, St Lucy’s Day, but he did
make it back for their dinner date.
She was sitting at the bar, perched on a barstool drinking a brandy, and
feeling its warmth spread through her, and still wearing jeans and a sweater
after the St Lucy events, when Jayson arrived
“Hi” he said as he leant in and kissed her cheek and breathed in the
fragrance of apples on her hair, the aroma of coconut on her skin and an
overall presence of expensive perfume.
“Oh bugger” she screamed inside her head, she had planned to wear a
brand new white silk dress decorated with tiny pink roses, over some recently
purchased very classy lingerie, and be made up to perfection, and instead she
was wearing jeans and a sweater.
“You look lovely” he said as he sat down on the vacant stool.
“And you smell good enough to eat”
“I am supposed to look gorgeous” she said sadly
“You do look gorgeous” he said
During the dinner Kelly drank more than was good for her and she inadvertently
told him she loved him.
“I used the “L” word, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did” he confirmed “and it’s ok because I think I love you too,
but”
“But….”
“Oh shit, why is there a “but” I don’t like the “but”, one little bit”
“But….” He continued “I have to
go back to Millmoor tomorrow, and I’ll probably won’t be back until Christmas”
She looked crestfallen, so he took hold of her hand.
“I have to be there for my sister’s family right now, but I want there
to be an “us”, but I can’t give you that right now” he said as he held her hand
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to, do you understand?”
“Yes, I think so”
“Can you wait?”
“Yes” she said “on one condition”
“Name it”
“That you give me your mobile number, so I can talk to you or text you
or something” she said
“I’ve already put it in your phone”
“You have?”
“Yes” he replied “Now I think it’s time to get you to bed”
“Oh goody, I like the sound of that”
“Calm down hot stuff” he said “I need to get you to bed so you have a
good night’s sleep and then we can spend an enjoyable few hours together
tomorrow morning, before I have to leave for Millmoor and you have to be at the
theatre”
Kelly tottered along the corridor beside him but when they paused to
allow an elderly lady to go through the fire doors ahead of them, she looked up
at him through soulful eyes and he kissed her, a kiss she had longed for since
the moment she first met him.
After the long-awaited kiss, they walked hand in hand to the door of her
room where they kissed again before he unlocked the door and pushed it open,
but Kelly paused in the doorway
“I’m sorry” she said
“For what?”
“For being so needy”
“You’re not needy, so don’t apologize for being you” he said and kissed
her once more.
They met for breakfast the next morning and stayed together until
lunchtime when he had to leave and it was
heart-breaking to watch him drive away but she knew he was doing the right
thing and it was only going to be ten days, she had done longer before and this
time she could contact him, and she had the memory of hearing her declaration
of love returned in word and deed and that would sustain her.
The panto kept her
distracted as did Sharon, when she wasn’t off with her new man, but it was
impossible of course to exclude him from her thoughts or stop him invading her
dreams.
They were inconstant
touch vie text, phone and email, though it wasn’t easy to find a mutually
convenient time for a lengthy converse, due to her keeping different hours, but
they managed somehow.
It was just before
lunch on Christmas Eve when he phoned, she had just finished putting the last
of the decorations up, and she didn’t look at the caller ID she just took a
deep breath and hit the button.
“Hello” she said
“Hey Kelly” he said
“Jayson?” she asked
“God it’s good to hear your voice”
“Ditto” he replied,
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the Dulcets” she
replied, “Are you still in Millmoor?”
“No, I’m back in Sharpington”
he replied
“When are you coming?”
“Tonight” he replied
“I need to spend a couple of hours in the office first”
“I can’t wait” she
said “Have you made a decision? About us”
“Yes, I have” he
replied
“And?” she enquired
trying to keep the anxiety out of her voice
“Well let me put it
this way, you remember that sexy outfit you were going to wear when we went out
for dinner?”
“Yes”
“Wear it tonight” he
said
“Really?”
“Really” he confirmed
“So what time
tonight?”
“Around seven” he
replied
“I’d better get to the
shop, I’ve got nothing in” she said excitedly
“Let yourself in if
I’m not back, I’ll email you a map to the house and the secret hiding place, so
you know where the key is”
“Ok, I’ll see you
tonight then” he said
“Ok, bye”
She immediately left
the house after hanging up the phone and drove to the nearest Stephenson’s
Supermarket to stock up on essentials and while she was there she bought the
makings of a Christmas dinner, just in case Jayson stayed over, and to make
sure she made an unrelated purchase.
After the shopping
expedition, she put the groceries away and tidied up, then she changed the
bedding before having a shower, she would have preferred a leisurely bath but
she didn’t have time, and then she got perfumed, powdered, preened and made up to
perfection, then she put on the outfit she had planned to
wear when they met for dinner at the Hotel, her brand new bought for the
occasion white silk dress decorated with tiny pink roses, over the very classy
lingerie she bought at the same time, the only addition were the stockings
she’d bought that afternoon.
After slipping on her
shoes she looked at the slim figure in the mirror and smiled at her reflection.
“Not bad” she declared
and flicked at her shoulder length brunette hair.
Then she looked at the
clock and realised she had almost an hour before he was due, so she sat in the
armchair and checked her phone.
It was after six o’clock when Jayson left Sharpington and travelled
the short distance to Dulcet-on-Willow.
He had used the post code Kelly had given him, and almost as soon as
it informed him
“You have arrived”
Her house came into view, so he indicated and pulled onto the drive, there
were lights on downstairs, so he knocked on the door, but there was no answer.
So as per Kelly’s instructions he reached up under the right-hand side
of the porch and retrieved the key and let himself in.
He dropped his bag quietly in the hall and opened the lounge door and
when he walked into the room he saw her, and his heart soared.
She was wearing a beautiful silk dress and was curled up in an arm
chair with her feet tucked beneath her, and beneath the folds of her dress he
could just make out her stocking top.
Kelly was hugging a cushion to her chest, and instantly an unabated wave
of love washed over him, and he immediately knew he wanted her in his life
forever.
He had missed her so much while he was away, but there she was, stunningly
attractive, and staggeringly sexy, and furthermore she loved him.
The first time he saw her he thought she was the sexiest girl he’d ever seen,
and he thought so still.
He stood over Kelly and stared affectionately down at her for the
longest time, as she slept so soundly.
He didn’t really want to wake her, she looked so at peace, he should have let
her sleep, but if he had she would not have thanked him, in fact she would have
been very miffed.
So he knelt beside her and roused her gently and as she stirred from her
slumber, her eyes slowly opened and then widened.
“Hello Darling” he said and when she saw him she smiled.
“I fell asleep” she said “While I was waiting for you”
“I know honey” he said
“I was having a lovely dream”
“Were you? What was it about?”
“It was about you” she replied
“Tell me about it?” he asked
“I can’t”
“Why not?”
“It was rude” she replied coyly and blushed
“Tell me later then” he said and kissed her
“Hmmm” she responded “I’ve missed you”
“I missed you too” he replied and then he scooped the woman he loved in
his arms and carried her to bed.
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