Tristan placed his other hand on top of their linked ones. ‘Consider this my official blessing.’
Laughter burst out of Lola. The waiter appeared and laid the bowl of sticky toffee pudding down between them, along with two spoons. Lola picked hers up and gave the ice cream a little prod. It slipped around on the sauce as it melted.
‘It looks very good,’ Tristan said as he let go of her hand. ‘I wonder if it’ll be as good as everything you make.’
Lola leaned across as if to impart a secret. ‘I suspect my enjoyment of this will be heightened by the fact I didn’t have to make it and I don’t have to wash up afterwards.’ With that she swiped up a spoonful of pudding and ice cream and popped it into her mouth, sighing at the heavenly flavours. Tristan’s eyes went from Lola to the pudding and back again as if he didn’t know which one he wanted the most.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Friday, 8th September, 1950
Dear Diary,
It has happened so quickly, almost so quickly that I didn’t see it coming. After lots of early morning picnics and walks on the beach, lots of whispered plans, I have fallen head over heels in love with Charlie. This is what love is like, what I’ve been looking for. He is the sun in my sky, the person who understands me the most. Isn’t it strange to think someone you’ve known a handful of days can understand you more than people who’ve known you half your life? I tell him I want to come to Cornwall, that I love not just him but the sand and the blue skies. He tells me there is no future in Cornwall, which I find hard to believe, that he wants to come to the city, find a way to make his fortune there. That is the only sticking point between us: money, or the lack of it. I’d quite happily stay here, not board the train back home, but Charlie has promised to write every day, so have I. We have to save as much money as we can so we can marry (I can hardly believe it and am going to keep this to myself) and set up a home.
‘Hello, earth to Lola,’ Freya’s voice sounded, breaking through Lola’s thoughts of the previous night with Tristan, comparing and contrasting their budding relationship with the love Ruby and Charlie had found. Marry! Ruby had wanted to marry Charlie. That was going to take some digesting. Lola spared a thought for her grandfather, the solid dependable sort. Had Charlie given Ruby that ring she’d found?
‘Hmmm, you called?’ Lola turned to see Freya standing in the kitchen doorway.
Freya put down the tray of cups she was carrying before opening the dishwasher. ‘Yes, I did, about five times.’
‘Oh, what’s up?’ Lola glanced around as if something untoward had happened.
‘Tristan’s come back.’
‘Has he?’ Lola sprang into action, smoothing her hair and crossing the kitchen.
‘Got you! No, just this from the postman.’ Freya placed a stack of mail on the counter. ‘I knew something was going on.’ A triumphant smile spread across Freya’s face. ‘The pair of you have been wrapped up in each other even more than usual. Come on, spill!’ Freya demanded as the look on Lola’s face gave everything away.
Lola glanced through the kitchen door to check there were no customers waiting. ‘OK, so we went on a date,’ she said, ‘well, maybe more than one date. Maybe we’re actually dating, but we’ve not had any conversations about being exclusive or whatever it is. He’s kissed me, several times, he’s a very nice kisser.’
‘Oh my God!’ Freya squealed and did a little jump for joy. ‘He kissed you! Come on, what happened, where did you go? I need to know everything.’
‘He took me stargazing on the beach. How adorable is that? He made me a cake!’ Lola couldn’t keep the swoon out of her voice as she melted at the memory.
Freya’s mouth hung open. ‘What? He made you a cake. That’s a very brave man.’
‘I know! And it was delicious, really well cooked. Pineapple upside down cake,’ she reminisced, still able to conjure the taste in her mind. ‘Freya, he’s just so lovely, so different from anyone I’ve met before, but that’s kind of scary.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, he’s so easy to be with. I like him as a person, his company, the conversation and I fancy him. I’ve never had the two. I always thought Jared was the big love of my life but now I’m doubting that even more.’ Lola sighed. ‘It was fun being with Jared, he was the life of the party, but for every evening he was fun, he’d have another one where he was moody and I was always treading on eggshells, but I thought that was what love was: wild, unpredictable.’
‘But it’s not, is it?’ Freya made a face as she thought about it. ‘Well, I can hardly talk what with Angelo, but his heart is in the right place. So, Tristan, is he the one?’
Lola’s face flushed. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, all the while hoping that maybe he was. ‘It’s too early to say, or is it? But it’s nice, I’m liking what’s happening .?.?.’ She trailed off and for a moment considered telling Freya about Ruby but it didn’t feel right for anyone else to know until Alf did.
‘So what happens now? Are you official? Are you announcing it to the village? Can we finally rejoice that the pair of you have seen sense and realise you belong together?’
‘Slow down, Freya, so many questions! We want to keep it to ourselves for a bit, so we can figure out dating each other or this change from friends to .?.?.’ She shrugged before turning serious. ‘Freya, he’s so lovely, so kind, so caring, he’s everything I’ve never had and never knew I needed. I like him, really like him, and he really likes me, so we’re taking it slowly, or as slowly as we can.’ She couldn’t help but smile at the thought of seeing Tristan later. ‘I don’t want anything to ruin it and I don’t want people to be sticking their noses into our business. You know what it can be like.’
Freya nodded. ‘Yes, but it bothered Angelo more than it bothered me to be honest. Can I at least tell him? It’s not like he goes around gossiping, is it?’
Lola smiled. ‘No, quite the opposite. Of course you can.’
‘This is amazing,’ Freya said before wondering out loud, ‘Does it mean you’ll end up living at the vicarage?’
‘Freya! I told you we’re taking it slowly!’ Lola pretended to be outraged to cover up the fact she’d been lying in bed the previous night having the exact same thoughts. Whilst mentally decorating the tired old house. That magnolia paint would definitely have to go and those dull chintzy curtains were only fit for the bin. For Tristan to have survived so long in an interior design time warp she was sure he wouldn’t object to her colour schemes and mood boards, putting her own homely, vintage spin on things. Nope, she hadn’t thought about it at all.
