Stage Fright by Kate Lloyd

Author:Kate Lloyd [Lloyd, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781735241104
Publisher: Union Bay Publishing
Published: 2020-08-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Sitting next to Roxanne on the bus an hour later, I snuggled into my jacket to keep warm. Only a trace of heat escaped from the vent at my feet.

Nick cranked the bus out onto the road and around a tight corner, forcing oncoming traffic to stop. For the first time on the trip, he leaned on the horn and grumbled at a motorist, reminding me of the driver we had our first day in London. I hadn’t seen Nick at breakfast and he’d barely said good morning as I boarded the bus. Had I done something to offend him?

Traveling south over hills toward Bath on a road that ribboned through villages of thatch-roofed cottages, the bus slowed as it crossed a one-lane bridge. I noticed weeping willows dipping their branches into a stream. Three helmeted children riding piebald ponies ambled down a path at the water’s edge.

Several miles further, the bus neared the village of Shottery and ground to a halt in a car park next to Anne Hathaway’s cottage. I had been looking forward to seeing where William Shakespeare’s wife had lived. Glancing out the window, I could see the cottage’s dark brown-and-cream facade, its diamond-paned windows, and its shaggy thatched roof. Wanting to speak to Nick first, I purposely sorted through my purse to find my ChapStick as the others got off the bus.

“Go ahead without me,” I told Roxanne, twisting off the cap and dabbing the glossy gel on my lips. “I’ll be a few minutes.”

Roxanne grabbed her water bottle and headed for the door. When everyone else had departed, I moseyed outside. Smelling a hint of smoke, I noticed a gray thread curling up from one of the cottage’s three chimneys. As I wandered toward the cottage, I saw Nick returning from the ticket booth near the entrance. I didn’t believe for a moment he’d accidentally left the bus door open last night the way Hal suggested.

“Good morning,” I said. “How are you?”

He came to a halt, his chin raised. “How would you expect me to be after last night?”

“What do you mean?” I hoped he and Hal weren’t disputing Nick’s competence.

“Couldn’t you have waited five minutes for me to return?” He jiggled his keys. “Any little thing is more important than me.”

“It’s not that.” I recalled the damp insoles of my shoes and how I’d draped my waterlogged jacket over the radiator in my room to dry it. “I was cold and tired and didn’t know when you’d be back.”

“After that nice dinner I assumed we’d spend more time together.”

Had I neglected to express my gratitude properly? “It was a delicious meal, and I’d like to thank you by buying you lunch today.”

“No,” he said, “I don’t want that. I want you.” His hands reached for my waist, but he pulled back, and folded his arms across his chest. “Every moment we have together is precious. There’s so little time left.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Non importa. You don’t owe me an apology.”

“If I’ve hurt your feelings, I do.

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