And The Earth Moved: Romantic Comedy Cozy Mystery (Amber Reed CCIA Mystery Book 1) (20 page)

Chapter Thirty Two

I make my way across to the guest house, wondering what is about to happen. The case is closed. Mystery solved. Charlie will be leaving soon. This past week has been beyond crazy. At times scary and difficult. At others exhilarating and hugely satisfying. I think Charlie and I have made a good team but what happens now?

As I step inside I see Charlie is sprawled on the sofa, eyes closed. I want to trace a finger down his cheek. I want to unbutton his shirt.

I want to do much, much more.

But he’s leaving.

I walk across to the sofa and lean forward, reaching a hand to touch his cheek and he opens his eyes.

“You told Ennis? Is he OK?” he asks and I nod.

“Charlie,” I begin, then stop myself, pulling away my hand.

He reaches for my hand and rests it back against his cheek. “Yes?”

Does he want the same thing I want? Does he want us?

I meet his gaze and see eyes heavy with not just a lack of sleep from the past few days but eyes heavy with emotion and desire.

This is probably another thing I can add to my already extensive ‘most stupid things I’ve ever done and said’ list but I’m going to say it anyway.

“I want us to get involved.” I say, holding his gaze. “Do you? Not just pretending this time but really involved.”

“Yes.” Still lying on the sofa he lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses my fingers.

“Can we?” I say.

He gently pulls me onto the sofa next to him. “We could but you know it would be tricky. With my work, I’m away a lot. How would you feel about that?”

I shrug. “It’s not ideal but people do manage to have relationships in these kind of circumstances. How long between call up for assignments with the CCIA? On average?”

“Difficult to say. Sometimes I work back to back on assignments. Other times there might be a couple of week’s gap.”

“Do you have another assignment to go to now? Any other work you’re committed to in the next few weeks?”

He shakes his head, watching me closely. “Not yet.”

“So you could stay for a while? In theory?”

He nods. “But eventually…”

“What if I don’t care about eventually? I just care about now.”

He sighs. “You might end up changing your mind and I don’t want you resenting me for never being around. I’d hate that,” he replies, sounding annoyingly sensible.

I don’t say anything. Thinking over his words. He’s right. Typical Charlie. What did he say to me that time when I was upset about finding Bert all beaten up? He said you have to stay calm. Stay focussed. Don’t let your emotions get involved even when it’s personal. Right now it looks as though he applies the same philosophy to his relationships as he does to his work with the CCIA.

“You’ve gone quiet on me,” he says, resting a hand on my knee and gently squeezing.

“So you don’t want to get involved with me then?” I say, pushing myself upright, away from him.

He shakes his head. “I didn’t say that.”

Now is
so
not the time to play the enigmatic card. Does he want us to date or not?

“Charlie, for once, please just answer the question with a straight yes or no will you? Do you like me? Do you want us to get involved?”

I hold his gaze. Determined to get an answer out of him.

“Yes.”

Hallelujah. Finally, we’re getting somewhere.

“There’s something I want to ask you about though,” he says. “About you and Ennis. What happened back then? Why did you break up?”

“After university we tried to keep our relationship going but he started getting jobs here and there. Bit parts in TV and adverts with the studios in Manchester and London. I could feel us growing apart but I wanted to stick around just in case there was any chance we might be able to make things work. Pathetic eh? I put my life on hold for him.”

Charlie shakes his head. “It’s not pathetic at all. It shows how much you cared about him. Did he love you too?”

“Yes, he said he did. I think he meant it,” I reply. “I know he’s good at his job and acting, but I don’t
think
he was lying to me,” I add, attempting to make light of things.

“And after the two of you broke up, what happened then? You still didn’t move away?”

“No. I’d settled back into life in Palstone by then. Having my friends and family on the doorstep was great. I started working at the pub and the paper, got some savings behind me. Got my little flat. I didn’t want to move away.”

I close my eyes. Remembering.

“You don’t regret your decision?” Charlie asks, his voice low.

“No. Not really. I may have missed opportunities but I like my life.”

“One more question,” Charlie says. “It’s definitely over between you and Ennis these days is it? I mean, you’ve stayed in touch with each other as friends all these years and I thought he looked annoyed when he found you at the guest house that first morning…”

“It’s definitely over,” I interrupt. “Ennis is just a friend. He’s with Siobhan and I’ve moved on. Maybe not in terms of location, but in terms of heart and emotions.” I smile at Charlie, still lying back on the cushions. “Why? Were you jealous?”

He doesn’t answer but he does take my hand again, bringing it to his lips and tenderly plants a trail of feather soft kisses across my palm before pulling me down next to him on the sofa again.

Chapter Thirty Three

I wake up alone.

I can hear kitchen-type noises and get out of bed. One of Charlie’s T-shirts has been laid out on a chair and I presume it’s for me to put on as a nightshirt if I want it. I pull it on and walk through into the main living area. Charlie is making coffee.

Proper coffee. With filters and one of those fancy machines.

“Hey, you’re awake,” he smiles. “Thought I’d let you stay in bed. Catch up on some sleep.”

OK that was sweet, but it would have been wonderful to wake with Charlie next to me to cuddle up to.

“Want something to eat? I can do some eggs or pancakes, though they won’t be a patch on the ones you made the other day. Cereal? Toast?”

I’m about to answer when his phone buzzes into life. That bloody phone. He checks caller ID.

“Sorry I need to take this.”

I nod and wander across to the fridge in search of orange juice.

“OK,” I hear him say. “When?”

I turn around having found a carton of juice and he’s looking directly at me. He doesn’t look happy.

“Tonight?” he says in an exasperated tone to whoever is on the other end of the phone.

He flashes me an apologetic look then heads for the back door, letting himself outside to finish his phone conversation in private.

I dump the juice on the kitchen worktop as my mind starts to whir. Tonight what? A date? A job? I forget about breakfast and the juice, my appetite gone, and head for the bedroom to take a shower.

I have a feeling I’m in the way. Not a good start to our ‘new’ relationship. Do we even have a relationship? I’m starting to wonder…

By the time I’m showered and wrapped in a towel and walk back into the bedroom Charlie is sitting on the edge of the bed. He’s swapping his phone from one hand to the other, head down. Hearing me he looks up but doesn’t say anything.

I look at him but don’t say anything either. I’m torn between making him say it’s over between us before it really began and wanting to act all blasé and non-committal and get out of here as quickly as possible before the threatened tears escape.

“I’ll get dressed and get going,” I say.

He shakes his head and reaches for my hand.

Then the word is out before I can stop my mouth running away with itself. “Tonight?” I say. “What about tonight?”

He tugs at my hand, pulling me towards the bed next to him. “Amber, come and sit down for a minute will you?”

I sit. Very aware I’m only wearing a towel - albeit a posh Egyptian cotton one which is thick and luxurious yet soft as silk. I wish I was dressed so I could make a quick escape once he’s told me whatever he needs to. Memories of last night flash through my mind making my cheeks grow hot. Well, if that’s it, we’re over, then at least our one night together was good.

No, scrap that. It was exceptional. The earth definitely moved - and this time it had nothing to do with earth tremors or quarry explosions.

“I have to leave,” he says, snapping me out of my reverie.

“Oh?” I squeak.
Casual voice. Casual voice I recite to myself silently
. “Something personal or…” It isn’t working. My voice is still squeaky.

“Work,” he answers immediately. “It’s work. I’m sorry,” he adds. “I thought we’d get more time together but something has happened and I’m needed right away on another assignment.”

I clear my throat and try for non-squeaky voice again. “Where?”

“Los Angeles. They want me on the flight out this evening.”

“Oh, right. So, LA eh? Which celebrity are you solving a crime for this time?”

“I can’t say,” he replies in a quiet voice, staring again at his phone and his hands.

“If we were involved, would you be able to say then?”

The light comes back into his eyes briefly and a smile creeps across his lips. “
If
we were involved?  What on earth do you do with a guy before you say you’re involved with him?” he teases. “I think, after last night, we can safely say we’re involved.”

“So this is it?” I say, staring at my feet which are red and blotchy from the piping hot power shower.

“What? No.” He seems offended at my words.

Did he really just say no, that it’s not over between us? “No?” I clarify.

“Definitely not. I’m not giving up on you that easily.” He looks at me, properly, deep into my eyes. “Unless you don’t want us to...”

“I want,” I reply. “I want us very much. But with your work you’re always in different places which will make a relationship tricky.”

“But not impossible,” he finishes. “Look, this is probably a long shot but I’m going to ask anyway.”

I swivel round on the bed to face him, careful to keep one hand clasped to my towel as I do so. Now would definitely
not
be a good time to flash him thanks to a slipped bath towel.

“Ask what?” I say.

He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a rush. “I have a proposal.”

Proposal? My own breath catches in my throat. No, he can’t mean… Can he?

“What kind of proposal?” I manage to mutter.

Part of me really hopes it’s not
that
kind of proposal. Not only because we’ve only just got together and technically it’s too soon. I’m also thinking I don’t want to look back on my first marriage proposal and picture myself sitting on the edge of a bed in a towel with messy hair and blotchy feet.

I remember a conversation between us up on the cliffs during our picnic. Charlie saying maybe my knight in shining armour had arrived. Did he mean himself? Is he my brave knight? In some ways, undoubtedly yes. In others, I’m not so sure.

“I’ve enjoyed working with you these past few days,” he says. “I think you’ve got real potential with this investigation stuff. You question things. You’re great with people and getting them to open up to you, confide in you and trust you. You’re brave and stubborn and smart.”

I nod. Unsure what to say and still wondering what he’s about to propose.

“The CCIA,” he continues, “are always after support operatives. People who do exactly what you’ve been doing with this case but they’re on the payroll. I think you could be brilliant at the job. In fact, I know you would be. You’ve known Ennis for years and are used to being around famous people. You don’t come over all star-struck which is another big plus in this line of work. If you wanted to go for it and you do get accepted by the agency then you’ll be sent on an intensive training programme.”

“You’re proposing I apply to work for the CCIA as a support officer?” I say, my throat feeling constricted. That’s his proposal? That we make our working relationship official?

He nods, taking my hands in his. Well, one of them. The other is still holding tight to my towel.

“Would I be trained to drive like you and use a gun?” I ask.

His face breaks into a smile. That smile. I love
that
smile. Maybe it’s too soon to be in love with the man sitting beside me but I know I love that smile.

“No, not yet anyway,” he says, stroking a thumb across the palm of my hand. “If you want to do that training later, convert from support officer to investigative officer, then yeah, you’ll get to do the other stuff.”

“I confess a tiny part of me has wondered if something like this might be an option these past few days,” I say. “I’m surprised but I’ve loved every minute – well, maybe not the jumping off a quarry ledge bit – of being a part of this investigation with you. I finally got to put being nosy to good use. But, even if I applied and got accepted, do I want to leave Palstone and my life here? It’s a lot to think about.”

My life is here. My friends. My family. My work. My little flat. My alter ego Madam Zamber.

Charlie squeezes my hand and continues, as though he can read my thoughts. “I know you love this place and you might not fancy the idea of working for the CCIA and having to be away from home all the time.”

“If I did and I was accepted,” I say. “Would I be assigned to work with you?”

“I’d make sure you were.”

He encloses my hand in his and squeezes in an encouraging way. “I know you can do this. It’s just if you want to do it or not. If you want to work with me. Work with the CCIA. It would mean everything in your life would change.”

Do I want that? I don’t know what I want right at this moment. Except for the man sitting next to me. I’m certain I want him in my life.

Charlie leans forward and peers at me as though he’s trying to read my mind again. “So, what do you think? Do you want to do this?”

Just a few days ago I was sitting at my desk at the Palstone Courier making up horoscopes and wanting something exciting to happen for myself and all of the other Gemini’s out there. Was it really only a few days ago? So much has happened since then it seems like a lifetime ago. I stare into his deep blue eyes. “Right now, I don’t know.”

The end…..

or is it just the beginning?