Worth Waiting For: A heart-warming and feel-good romantic comedy Read online

  One minute Ellie had been in reasonable control of her faculties, and the next, she seemed to be slurring and falling into Jethro every time she tried to move. It could have been something to do with the assortment of colourful and wittily named cocktails that seemed to appear in front of her every time she emptied a glass, but Ellie had to concede that Jethro’s promise to take her back to his flat legless had indeed come to successful fruition. It seemed that her companions were all pretty much in the same state, so when Jethro handed out a rather ill-advised invitation for them all to continue the drinking at his flat, everyone agreed with slurring enthusiasm.

  All it needed was for one of them to still possess the faculties to get them to the taxi rank and give the driver directions and for the drunker members of the party to avoid throwing up in said taxi. Not an easy task, but one they must have managed as they found themselves sitting in Jethro’s flat while he searched for more alcohol.

  ‘Aha!’ he shouted, his head stuck in a cupboard. ‘Got some.’

  Sam whistled while Ellie and Kasumi cheered in appreciation.

  Jethro turned and took a bow as he produced a tray and placed a selection of bottles on it. He blew into some shot glasses and then set the whole lot down in the middle of his living room floor. ‘What?’ he asked with a grin as everyone frowned at him. ‘They’re a bit dusty, that’s all.’

  ‘So you couldn’t wash them?’ Kasumi asked.

  ‘You could if it bothers you,’ Jethro said with a smirk as he sat down next to her. He leaned back on his elbows and stretched his legs in front of him. ‘But I’m staying right here.’

  ‘The alcohol will kill any germs that might be lurking anyway,’ Ellie said as she filled up her glass with a green liquid. She had no idea what it was – the label kept dancing around in front of her eyes – but she figured it would probably taste as bad as everything else on offer so it wouldn’t really matter. Besides, it did look so much prettier than the others. She glanced up at her companions and shook the bottle with a silent question.

  ‘Go on then,’ Kasumi said, taking a glass from the tray and holding it out. Ellie giggled as it dribbled down the side.

  ‘Ooops!’

  ‘You’re drunk,’ Kasumi admonished.

  ‘So are you.’

  ‘I know,’ Kasumi laughed.

  ‘Glad we got that cleared up,’ Sam raised his eyebrows as he looked at them in turn.

  ‘At least Jethro is suitably well-oiled,’ Kasumi continued. ‘He is the reason why we have all performed this enormous act of self-sacrifice, after all.’ She raised her glass. ‘To mending broken hearts!’

  The others laughed and raised theirs too. ‘To mending broken hearts!’ they repeated before all four downed their drinks in one.

  Ellie grimaced as the alcohol hit the back of her throat. ‘What is that? Tastes like bloody window cleaner.’

  ‘I think it might be,’ Jethro said, peering at the bottle.

  Ellie snorted and, amidst the gales of laughter, clamped a hand to her mouth and ran for the bathroom.

  Seven

  ‘Morning.’ Ellie dropped her satchel onto the floor beside her desk and switched on her PC.

  Ange looked up from a letter she was reading. ‘Good weekend?’ Her vague expression of recognition turned into a wicked grin. ‘Bloody hell, I can see you had a good weekend. You look like you’ve been trampled by a runaway JCB.’

  ‘Thanks for that,’ Ellie replied.

  ‘So… how was London?’

  ‘London was good,’ Ellie said in a neutral tone.

  ‘That’s good then,’ Ange replied in an equally neutral tone that Ellie recognised immediately as a gentle mocking. She looked across to see Ange raise her eyebrows questioningly.

  ‘OK, we got absolutely trollied and I can hardly remember a thing about it,’ Ellie groaned.

  Ange swung round on her chair and leaned forwards with a mischievous glint in her eye. ‘Ooooh, now that’s my kind of weekend. Do tell me more.’

  ‘How? I can’t remember anything.’

  ‘No drunken trysts with tall, dark strangers?’

  ‘Sadly not. Unless you count me sleeping on the sofa of a tall, dark, completely-known-to-me boy.’

  ‘That’s too bad,’ Ange said, turning back to her work, her interest waning as quickly as it had been fired up.

  Ellie watched the screen intently as she logged in and waited for her desktop to appear. After a moment’s silence she spoke again.

  ‘Can I ask you a favour, Ange?’

  ‘Fire away.’

  ‘Ben Kelly…’

  ‘You want me to follow up any new developments?’

  ‘Yes, but…’

  ‘Patrick mentioned it to me earlier.’

  Ellie frowned. ‘Patrick never comes in that early.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Did he mention anything else?’

  Ange paused for a moment. Ellie guessed from the pregnant silence that a discussion had taken place and she had been the subject of it.

  ‘Never mind,’ Ellie said, more to spare Ange’s embarrassment than because she didn’t want to know.

  ‘You know you can talk to me,’ Ange began slowly, ‘about anything that’s bothering you, even if that’s something at home.’

  ‘I know I can. But there really isn’t anything.’

  Ange turned back to her screen without reply.

  ‘So…’ Ellie said with a forced carelessness, ‘what’s on the menu today?’ She logged onto her desk answerphone, grabbed a notepad and began to jot down the messages. ‘Hmmm, pensioner does a bungee jump for charity, escaped wallaby spotted on Ferndale Road, Holden Finn has been seen driving through the Bircheswood estate… well, that one has to be a case of mistaken identity because there’s no way someone like him would be driving through that godforsaken hole… school dress up, council protests… ugh.’

  Putting the pad to one side, Ellie pulled her phone from her bag. There was a missed call from Kasumi. ‘She’s keen,’ Ellie murmured as she unlocked the screen. She turned to Ange. ‘I won’t disturb you if I make a quick call, will I?’

  ‘Don’t mind me.’

  Ellie listened as Kasumi answered with an excited squeal, sounding thoroughly refreshed and raring to go despite having had the same weekend as Ellie.

  ‘Catherine loved the story about your street corner guy,’ Kasumi gushed. ‘She wants to get him featured on Every Morning.’

  ‘Blimey,’ Ellie said in a bemused voice, ‘that was quick work.’

  ‘Oh for goodness’ sake, Ellie, we’ve been in the office since seven-thirty; there are none of your nine a.m. middle-of-the-day starts here, you know.’

  ‘Really?’ Ellie glanced across at Ange, who was engrossed in something on her screen. As she hadn’t mentioned anything to the contrary, Ellie had to assume that Ben had spent the weekend on Constance Street and the situation remained unchanged. It must have been a miserable weekend if the weather in Millrise was anything like it had been in London. Ellie knew she ought to be glad of Kasumi’s enthusiasm; they had discussed TV involvement at length and how it would be fantastic to put Ellie’s home town on the map, but now that Kasumi had presented it as a possibility, it filled her with unease. There was no reason for it, not really, but no matter how Ellie tried to shake it, the feeling wouldn’t leave her.

  ‘Are you thinking of coming to see him then?’ Ellie asked as these thoughts whirled through her mind.

  ‘As soon as we can. Can you give me his mobile number?’

  ‘I don’t have a number. But I’ll go and see him later.’

  ‘Brilliant!’ Kasumi squeaked. ‘How exciting!’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ellie replied, her voice betraying a complete lack of excitement about the whole thing. ‘Does that mean you’ll be coming to Millrise?’

  ‘Oh no, it’ll be a roving team. Catherine can’t spare me right now. Ring me later when you’ve spoken to him. Ciao for now.’

  Ellie ended the call. ‘Ange, I�
��ll just have to pop over and see Ben Kelly. It looks like we’re getting our national coverage after all.’

  Ange swung around to face her. ‘Really?’

  ‘Every Morning want to meet him. I need to let him know that they’re coming, make sure he’s OK with that.’

  ‘Would you rather I went to see him?’

  Ellie pondered Ange’s offer. Perhaps it would be better if her colleague went instead. Right now, her mood was so unpredictable and irrational that she couldn’t trust herself to keep things on a professional level. She wanted to go and duck her head in a vat of ice cold water to clear it. Perhaps, she mused, it was down to her wild weekend and nothing more. A good night’s sleep and she would be back to her practical self.

  ‘If you don’t mind, that would be good,’ she replied finally. ‘I don’t have much in the way of solid details but as soon as Kasumi tells me more I can let you know so you can relay them to him. Would that be alright?’

  ‘Of course. Any excuse to go and see that parcel of deliciousness in the flesh,’ Ange grinned.

  ‘You’ll get a reputation as a cougar if you carry on.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ange said airily, ‘one that is well-deserved and painstakingly cultivated by me.’

  Ange arrived back at the office long after Ellie had swept the lunchtime sandwich crumbs from her desk. Vernon was at some all-day strategy meeting or other – one of the few such duties that put Ellie off progressing to editor one day. For her, it was all about the stories, the thrill of chasing that elusive gem, the satisfaction of seeing her words on paper, and all the other bits of her job were distracting, if necessary, filler.

  ‘Good God, half the street is out with that boy; it’s like Live Aid.’ Ange flopped onto her chair and dropped her bag to the floor.

  ‘Everything was OK?’

  ‘It depends on your idea of OK.’

  Patrick bounded in. ‘You’ve missed the riot of the century on Constance Street,’ he grinned.

  Ellie frowned. ‘OK, what’s been happening?’

  ‘When we got there,’ Patrick began, ‘the street was heaving with residents all outside on the corner. Ben was talking to some bloke from the council. Charlie’s Angels were going berserk and some blokes – presumably their hubbies – were arguing with them. The upshot is that the council are going to serve some sort of eviction notice on Ben and it sounds like some of the Ben Kelly Widowers Club instigated the whole thing.’

  ‘So he has to move on?’ Ellie asked, aware that her pulse was suddenly racing without a clue why.

  ‘Not yet,’ Ange said. ‘The man from the council has to come back with a formal notice, so Ben has a bit of time yet.’

  Ellie couldn’t decide what she felt about this new information. ‘So there’s time enough for the TV crew to come and film their piece?’

  ‘To be honest, there’s time enough to get us to Valentine’s Day, I think,’ Patrick said. ‘It takes the council weeks to do anything. I reckon if Gemma hasn’t come back by then, he might as well give up anyway. If there’s one day that’s going to swing it, then it has to be that one.’

  ‘I think so too,’ Ange said. ‘If feeling all romantic and seeing hearts and flowers everywhere isn’t going to soften her towards him, nothing will.’

  Ellie chewed her lip as she stared into space. There had been no word from Gemma since she had seen her at her home and had promised not to tell Ben what they had discussed. She had no idea when Gemma was planning to put him out of his misery but she hoped it would be sooner rather than later. Or had she now changed her mind? ‘I’m not so sure.’

  Patrick exchanged a glance with Ange. He turned back to Ellie. ‘What makes you say that?’

  Ellie shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Was it something she said when you interviewed her?’

  Ellie felt a stab of guilt. Gemma saw her as an ally and a friend but she didn’t feel very deserving of that right now.

  ‘Are you sure there’s nothing you want to share with us about her?’ Ange pressed.

  Ellie opened one of her desk drawers, found half a packet of bourbons and stuffed one into her mouth so that she wouldn’t have to reply. She tossed them to Patrick.

  ‘We got some cracking photos, though,’ Patrick continued, clearly sensing that a change of subject was in order.

  More than anything, Ellie wanted to ask if Ben was alright. Did he look well; did he look clean and fed? How was his mood? Did he still seem optimistic? Had he asked about her? But those questions didn’t seem like the right ones to ask.

  ‘Let’s have a look at the photos,’ she said instead.

  Patrick handed his camera over and Ellie switched it on, scrolling through the pictures of the fracas they had described. She found herself fixated on Ben, the figure at the centre of it all, analysing every detail and wondering whether he had lost as much weight as it appeared he had, what each tiny frown or shadow of stubble could mean for his wellbeing. It was ridiculous, but she couldn’t stop it. After a few silent moments, she handed the camera back.

  ‘They’re great. I take it we’re going for another spread on this.’

  ‘Too bloody right we are,’ Ange said. ‘This is gold.’

  ‘You talked to him about the film crew?’ Ellie asked, suddenly remembering the reason Ange had gone out to him in the first place.

  ‘Eventually, when everything had calmed down. I think his ladies were more excited than he was.’ Ange laughed. ‘I could hear them all on their phones making hair appointments as soon as I said the word television.’

  ‘I can imagine.’ Ellie put her empty cup down. ‘I suppose I’d better ring Kasumi then, tell her we’re good to go.’

  ‘Ellie…’ Ange said as Ellie reached for her phone.

  ‘Yeah?’

  Ange smiled slowly. ‘He did ask about you, in case you were wondering.’

  Kasumi had been beside herself with excitement at Ben’s agreement to be featured and before the day had even drawn to a close had phoned Ellie with the news that a film crew had been booked. Ordinarily, Ellie would have been excited too. A story she had broken was going to find its way onto national TV and that was always good for the old CV. It seemed that Millrise was becoming a small town with a big reputation these days too, and that fact alone gave her a warm feeling if nothing else did.

  But as the end of the week crept towards them, bringing Friday and the possibility that Ben’s new fame could change everything, Ellie was increasingly prey to the doubts that had been plaguing her. The full-page detailed report of the stand-off between Ben and the authorities, with Patrick’s emotive photos and Ange’s eloquent words, was really impressive. They had been inundated with messages of support from the people of Millrise. But instead of making her proud of her newspaper and her colleagues, it filled her with a vague sense of misgiving.

  After a day in which Ellie had deliberately thrown herself into as many tasks as she could manage as diversionary tactics, she found herself at home, restless and unable to unwind. She had started watching a DVD but couldn’t concentrate despite its lack of demand. She had tried to work on a column Vernon had asked her for on the state of the town’s roads, but got no further than three sentences before staring into space and quite forgetting what it was she had wanted to say on the state of the town’s roads.

  In a fit of self-directed pique, Ellie turned the computer off and went to wallow in a bath. At least that wouldn’t require any actual concentration and might make her sleepy. After a good early night, she might feel more herself again.

  The bath hadn’t helped at all; it had only given Ellie a quieter space in which to reflect on the real thing that she now could not deny was the root of her unease. She stood at the window in her towelling gown, watching as the rain drew silver threads against the dark pane. Unwillingly, her mind wandered to Ben for the umpteenth time that hour. She pictured him, shivering on his cold street corner, soaked through, waiting… And why hadn’t Gemma been to see him yet? What was she wait
ing for? And why, why, why couldn’t she stop thinking about the way his lips might taste, if only they were to meet hers, the way his skin would smell, the feel of his breath on her neck…

  She shook herself and went to the kitchen. Chocolate – that was what she needed to lift the stupid mood that had overtaken her. OK, no chocolate, she thought as a search of the cupboards revealed a distinct absence. Sweets? There must be a forgotten pack of jelly beans somewhere.

  A minute later Ellie had abandoned her quest for sugar-fuelled solace and was sitting at the table staring into space absently tapping her phone with her thumbnail. Her gaze was drawn to the kitchen window. The rain seemed worse than it had when she last looked. It would be freezing out there.

  Finally, with an impatient sigh, she got dressed, packed some things in a bag, snatched her car keys from the mantelshelf and headed out.

  Ellie hurried along underneath a huge golfing umbrella that had been gathering dust in her car boot. Her dad had picked it up as a free gift from some men’s magazine and had given it to Ellie telling her it would be useful one day. She had taken it with a polite smile with no intention of ever swapping it for the gorgeous Cath Kidston one Kasumi had given her the previous Christmas. Now, however, she silently thanked her dad as she approached Ben with a shelter that would easily fit two.

  He was huddled in his raincoat, a tarpaulin draped over his head (after some discussion with Patrick about how much attention a tent would draw to his already disgruntled male neighbours he had decided this was the best way to fend off the weather), and even his usually indomitable spirit seemed thoroughly washed out in the torrential downpour now attacking him. She wasn’t surprised to find that he was without his now almost constant female attendants – no one in their right mind would be out on a night like this, dreamy local hero or not. Which made Ellie wonder what state her mind was in for being out with him now. At Ellie’s approach, he looked up, wiping water from his eyes.