Do Not Disturb – Part 3. Cressida McLaughlin
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– whatever that is. You don’t seem particularly happy about it. What’s happened?’
‘I bet you were so pleased that the plan was working, that Will looked like he was happy here.’ She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but wasn’t entirely sure she’d managed it.
Molly sat back, taking a pink wafer biscuit from the plate between them. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Your plan,’ Robin said, ‘to get Will to stay in Campion Bay, and not sell number four to Tim. The cupcakes from Ashley, the night you organised at the taverna – all your scheming to get everyone to show him how welcome he was.’
Molly was shaking her head. ‘I didn’t get anyone to do any of those things.’
Robin frowned. ‘But your campaign, the one you cooked up on Will’s first day – the charm offensive. All that kindness people were showing him. You were behind it.’
‘I bloody wasn’t,’ Molly said, sitting up straight. ‘That campaign stuff wasn’t serious. Of course I want Will to stay, but all I did was tell Ashley and Roxy, Stefano and Nicolas, that Tabitha’s nephew was here for a while, and that he seemed like a great guy, a chip off the old Tabitha block.’ Molly looked at her in disbelief. ‘You thought I’d organised all those things? That I got Ashley to take him cakes and asked Nicolas to invite you for a discount night at the taverna?’
‘You didn’t?’ Robin’s voice was dry, her words a whisper.
‘No way! I was being flippant, that’s all. Besides, even before I’d thought of it, you were charming the socks off him. As I said in my text, you’re a publicity campaign all by yourself. Robin, what’s wrong? Please, tell me.’
Robin rubbed her eyes. ‘So what Ashley did, and Nicolas, they were being genuinely friendly, welcoming Will to Campion Bay?’
‘Yes, Robin.’
‘But you called it a campaign! You said we needed to get him to stay.’
Molly leaned her elbows on the island and put her hand over Robin’s. Her blue eyes were soft. ‘How long have you known me? You seriously thought I’d be capable of orchestrating some kind of military-precision scheme to convince Will that he belonged in Campion Bay? Obviously we’d all much rather have a friendly, sexy neighbour like him than see the house and its blue plaque ripped apart for the sake of Tim Lewis’s profit margins, but that’s up to Will, isn’t it? He has to make his own decisions. The odd show of generosity isn’t going to sway him one way or the other. But falling in love with a beautiful, intelligent woman who runs her own luxury business – now that could be a game changer.’
As Molly explained, the sickening realisation dawned on Robin. She’d mistaken Molly’s enthusiasm and excitement at Will appearing, her suggestions of ways to make him a permanent neighbour, as something more calculating. It had all seemed to fit: the way the other residents of Goldcrest Road had been treating Will. That’s what came of having lived in London for over a decade: she’d got out of the Campion Bay community mindset. She’d taken Molly’s suggestion of a campaign and the displays of kindness, put two and two together, and come up with five.
‘You thought I’d planned it all?’ Molly asked.
Robin nodded and swallowed. ‘And when Will commented on it, I thought you’d put your plan into action. To put him off the scent, I told him that people who live by the seaside are friendlier than people in London and that was how we treated all our new neighbours. But that was actually the truth.’
‘Too right it was. We were the same with you when you came back here. But maybe you didn’t see it because of Neve. You were grieving, oblivious, a lot of the time.’
‘I remember your kindness,’ Robin said softly. ‘I’ll never forget that. But … Oh, God, Molly. I’ve got it so wrong.’
‘What do you mean? Will you please tell me why you’ve turned up on my doorstep looking like a ghost, instead of someone who’s spent the last twenty-four hours snogging the most gorgeous guy in the vicinity?’
Robin looked up at her friend, and tried to keep her dismay at bay. ‘Will saw your text.’
Molly’s eyes widened.
‘In fact, he read it out to me. All that stuff about me being a one-woman publicity campaign, that I’d saved the day and got the guy; Goldcrest Road thanks you for keeping number four out of Tim’s evil clutches.’ She’d read it so many times that she knew it off by heart, and now she watched Molly’s curious expression transform into one of horror, which confirmed that the situation was as bad as she thought it was.
‘Robin, what the hell? None of that— I was joking, you know that, right? I mean, great if Will doesn’t sell to Tim but … I was being silly. I was just so happy that you and he— I could tell that you liked him, and that the feeling was mutual, the first time I met him. That’s what I was hoping would happen. I mentioned the house and Tim as a joke, because we’d talked about it when Will arrived, because it would be the last thing on your mind. But he read it out? Shit, Robin. What happened?’
Robin sighed, her insides shrivelling. ‘That kiss at the golf course, it felt so right, Molly. It was amazing and overwhelming. We came back to the guesthouse, and I …’ She blushed as she remembered the anticipation, the recklessness of taking him to bed. ‘I was tidying up my room, and your text came through. I asked him to read it, thinking it was probably from one of the guests, and he … he did.’
Molly closed her eyes. ‘And you didn’t explain that I was only being cheeky?’
‘But I thought your campaign was real, Molly! I thought that you were genuinely thanking me for getting Will to stay, and so I – I told him all the generosity, from Ashley, Stefano and Nicolas, was so that he’d fall for Campion Bay and Tim wouldn’t be able to buy the house. I didn’t want to lie to him any more.’
‘So he thinks we’ve been playing him since day one?’
‘He thinks that’s what I was doing, too. Offering to help him clear out Tabitha’s house, being so … so …’
‘Obliging? Warm towards him?’
Robin pulled at her hair. ‘When Tim turned up that night, sniffing around Will like a hyena, I encouraged him to keep going with the sort-out, saying that he owed it to Tabitha to go through all her things properly. I meant it, but I was also angry with Tim for being so blatant and I wanted to put Will off him. But now he’s going to think that all I cared about was the house.’
‘No, Robin. That makes no sense. It’s unfortunate – it’s bloody crap – that he thinks we were only being kind to him to protect the seafront, but that’s my fault for not being clearer with you.’
‘I should have known,’ Robin said. ‘Or at least asked you if you were really behind it.’
‘I shouldn’t have assumed you’d get that I was joking. But Will has to realise that you care about him, that you weren’t being the hostess with the mostest for the sake of some bricks and mortar. You kissed, for God’s sake, and – I assume – were planning on taking it further until my ill-timed text messed it up.’
Robin nodded and picked up a wafer biscuit. ‘I like him a lot, Molly. I can’t remember the last time I felt like this about someone. I can’t remember feeling so hopeful, so exhilarated since – since Neve died.’ She inhaled, trying to calm her nerves. It was harder than she’d thought, admitting to her friend how important Will was to her. She’d known him for two weeks; was she just hanging on to him because he had seemed to like her as much as she liked him? She didn’t think that was it; her feelings for Will went deeper, settling into the fabric of her. She was even more aware of them now that he was out of reach, now that she might have ruined their relationship irreversibly.
Molly squeezed her hand, her expression solemn. ‘Then we have to make it right. What happened after