Authors: Rowan Coleman
River Deep (49 page)
‘If you want it to be, it’s that simple,’ Sarah told her.
Maggie clenched her fists and bit her lip. Sarah was right: there wasn’t any reason why she couldn’t just tell him how much she cared about him, how she thought she probably loved him. After all, where had beating around the bush got her so far? Precisely nowhere. It was only when she’d made her mind up to do something that anything had happened, and it had been the most wonderful week because of that. And, she thought, she probably
was
in love with him, and she couldn’t just let him go without telling him, without him knowing. She had to say something, she just had to. Maggie jumped out of her chair and ran her hands through her hair.
‘You’re right,’ she told Sarah, still chewing her lip.
‘Finally!’ Sarah exclaimed, rolling her eyes heavenwards.
‘You’re right. I need to go and talk to him and tell him how I feel, and if he doesn’t feel the same then …’
‘JUST GO!’ Sarah shouted, and, grabbing her bag, Maggie ran to the door, mostly because of her sudden need to see Pete, and only slightly because she was actually a bit scared. Just before she shut the door, she turned back to her friend. ‘Thank you, Sarah!’ she said, shutting the door just before the purple roller Sarah threw at her hit her head.
Maggie started running. She didn’t actually know where she was running to or why, but she knew that when Pete did come back it would be via the station, so she headed there. By the time she got there it wouldn’t be long before he got in, and somehow, she had to keep running. Unfortunately, she had hardly got to the high street when she was out of breath and gasping for air. She sank down on to the first bench she found, next to an old lady.
‘Miss the bus, dear?’ the lady enquired politely.
‘No, but I almost missed the boat,’ Maggie told her as she gulped down air. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the bench and began running again.
And then suddenly Pete was there. He caught her at full pelt and held her close.
‘Oh baby, I was coming to find you! Why are you running? Are you OK? You’ve not been mugged, have you?’ He looked around the street with a thunderous expression.
Maggie gasped for breath and shook her head.
‘No, I was running!’ she almost laughed. ‘Running to find you before you go! Like a maniac! But I had to, I have to tell you something really important. And I couldn’t wait any longer.’
Pete took in her flushed cheeks and dishevelled hair and hugged her hard.
‘Yeah?’ he said. ‘And me, I wasn’t running but I was looking for you. I was sat in this stupid briefing we’ve been over a hundred times already with my boss, and I thought, hang on a minute, I’m not having this, I should be with Maggie. I’m going tomorrow, and I don’t know when I’m going to see her next, and I need to see her! So I got up and told him it was an emergency and came back. I went to The Fleur and your mum said you’d gone out to see Sarah, and I couldn’t wait. So I came to find you.’
Pete took a couple of steps back, his hand still gripping her shoulders, making them an island that the stream of busy shoppers had to flow around.
‘And on the way here, I decided something. Maggie, this last week has been the best week of my life so far. I don’t want it to be the last week I spend with you.’ Pete took a deep breath. ‘It’s you, Maggie, you are the one. I love you. And I’m not leaving you behind. I decided on the way back from work. I’m not going.’
Maggie was still reeling from hearing him say that he loved her.
‘Did you say that you love me?’ she repeated.
‘Yes,’ Pete said seriously. ‘Totally and utterly, and if I’m coming on too strong too soon, then I’m sorry, but I just feel like we’ve already let too much time go by …’
‘No! No, you’re not, Pete, I love you too! I … Oh God.’ She took a step closer to him and held the lapels of his coat. ‘Pete, I’d love it if you weren’t getting on the plane tomorrow, but you have to go to LA. It’s your dream and I wouldn’t – I couldn’t – stop that happening. It means too much to you. You
have
to go, you have to go for us both.’
Pete shook his head.
‘I can’t, I just can’t. I love you so much, Maggie, and I’m scared that if I get on the plane you’ll forget that, you’ll forget how much I care about you and how much I need you. I’m scared that when I’m not here you won’t feel the same about me. Look at what happened when Stella left me – I fell in love with you. I don’t want to leave you, Maggie. I don’t want some other bloke nicking you off me.’
Maggie shook her head and smiled.
‘There isn’t another bloke in the world who could “nick” me off you, you idiot!’
Pete looked at her.
‘Not even Christian?’ he asked her.
‘God no! Especially not Christian!’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘And anyway, you’re not leaving me. You’re going to LA, not Jupiter! It’s only eight hours on a plane. And I thought that … well, if you didn’t mind I could come over for Christmas and New Year. I mean, it’s a busy time at The Fleur, but we’re fully booked already and Jim can more than handle it.’ Maggie put her palm on Pete’s face. ‘Christmas is just a few weeks away. And maybe you could come back for a weekend at some point, and in between visits there’s the phone and email.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Hey, I know, we could get web-cams!’ she giggled. ‘Just imagine how interesting
that
could get!’
Pete began to smile at last.
‘I wanted to ask you to come with me. I’ve thought about it since the moment I told you I was going. But I knew that I couldn’t do that, that it would be the wrong thing to do. Knowing how much The Fleur means to you and how hard you’re working to make it successful, I knew I couldn’t ask you to leave it, or your family.’ Pete dropped his chin. ‘And I didn’t think you would anyway, so I thought, well, I could just stay …’
Maggie rested her forehead on his chest for a moment.
‘If it was just me, I’d go like a shot with you, I’d go and hang around you and be your FX groupie, if there is such a thing. But it’s not just me, it’s Sheila, and Mum and Dad – and The Fleur is special, Pete. It’s something that I’ve helped to build, and in a way I feel like it’s a part of us, part of what made you and I possible. I can’t just abandon that, and even though I want to be with you, you’re right, I don’t want to leave it, and if you’re honest, you don’t want to let go of that chance in LA. Not really. You know, all those years of searching, of looking for a place where I really felt at home, where I’m really part of a family, and finally I’ve found it, right where it’s always been. And it’s because of you – you helped me see it, and …’ Maggie shook her head. ‘I don’t know how to explain it.’
Pete smiled down at her. ‘You don’t have to. I know exactly what you mean. You’ve spent your whole life running, and now you want to stop, now you want to stay.’
Maggie nodded. ‘And you’ve spent too long waiting,’ she said. ‘Waiting for these chances, waiting to move your life on. And I want to help you do that, not prevent it. You have to go, it’s your time.’
Pete nodded slowly.
‘You’re right, Maggie. I really do want to go, nearly as much as I want you, but not at the expense of losing you,’ he said.
‘It’s OK to have both, you know,’ Maggie told him. ‘This isn’t the end of us, Pete! I thought it was for a while, but then I realised I’d just got into the habit of doom and gloom!’ Maggie smiled up at Pete. ‘This is just the beginning for us. This is … Chapter One, page one of The Story of Us. We’ve got pages and pages to fill yet. And part of that is making sure each of us does the best they can to be happy.’
Maggie wound her arms around Pete’s neck and kissed him until the giggles of some passing schoolgirls and the honking horn of a passing lorry made them remember where they were. They were laughing as they parted.
‘What do you say,’ Pete said softly. ‘That we go back to mine and make a start on Chapter Two? I’ve got some really good ideas about how I want that part to go … Listen, did you ever buy that red dress you were wearing in that shop the other day?’
He picked up Maggie’s hand and kissed it. And as they walked through the winter sunshine, the spire of the abbey reached into the bright blue sky, and all around them hundreds of different lives were spinning out across the city, across the world, connecting and crossing, each starting their own page.
And on this page, Maggie knew, her life with Pete was just beginning, and knowing that was wonderful.
Writing this book has been one of the most pleasurable and joyful experiences of my life so far. This has been in no small part due to the continued support and dedication of my always inspirational editor Kate Elton, for which I am ever grateful – thank you so much, Kate.
Thank you to the excellent editorial department at Arrow, especially Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and Juliet Van Oss. Also thanks to the entire sales, marketing and publicity teams at Random House for all their hard work and commitment. It really means a lot to me because I know exactly how hard you all work.
Good friends continue to provide unfailing encouragement and support so thank you especially to Clare Winter, Jenny Mathews, Rosie Wooley, Natalie Jerome, Cathy Carter, Sarah Boswell, Amanda Hamilton and Lynne and Rosie Smith.
Since I have known her my wonderful agent Lizzy Kremer has always been on hand with advice, support and excellent ideas. Lizzy what would I do without you?
Finally, thank you to my family. To Erol, whose love and faith in me keeps me going and to Lily for just being my perfect non-stop-all-singing-all-dancing light of my life!
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781473527362
Published by Arrow Books in 2004
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Copyright © Rowan Coleman 2004
Rowan Coleman has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
First published in the United Kingdom in 2004 by Century
Arrow Books
The Random House Group Limited
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, SW1V 2SA
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780091956899