Lost and Found on Foxglove Street (The Foxglove Street #9)

Chapter 22

22

The rest of the day passed in a lovely blur that went by far too quickly for Grace’s liking.

Once they returned to the little village from where they’d set off on their walk, they reunited with Miriam at her friend’s gift shop, where the two women were happily chatting over tea and biscuits in the office at the back. After saying goodbye to her friend and joining them outside, Miriam had smiled knowingly when she’d seen Ryan’s hand slip into Grace’s, and had given her a warm wink which had left Grace both blushing and grinning.

After depositing Miriam’s haul of purchases from her friend’s shop into the car, they decided it was lunchtime. They chose one of the pretty pubs in the village and settled down to a meal of soup and toasted sandwiches, while Stanley was treated to a special dog pub lunch sold in pouches at the bar for canine guests.

Eating and talking with Ryan and his grandmother was so easy, and Grace felt like she’d known them all her life, rather than for only a few short days.

Once lunch was over, they enjoyed a leisurely stroll around a trail route that looped around the northern edge of the village, and which was a far easier proposition for Miriam than the walk that Grace and Ryan had completed that morning. Miriam clearly enjoyed watching Stanley scurrying here and there, and barking at interesting things along the path, and generally keeping them all amused with his antics, and she seemed as charmed by the pooch as Grace and Ryan were.

With their walking done for the day, Ryan suggested a drive around the countryside so his grandmother could enjoy more of the views and the scenery. Half an hour later, this led to another inevitable pit stop when they passed a lovely café in a tiny hamlet and which lured them in with a pink pastel sign outside which boasted about their famous home baking.

Over coffee and cake, Grace chatted with Miriam, and laughed as Ryan tossed dog treats to Stanley who sat begging beside their café table, and decided that this was probably the best day she’d had in a very long time.

It was early evening when they returned to Hamblehurst. Ryan parked outside his house and they all got out of the car. When Ryan invited her inside, Grace accepted instantly.

She wasn’t ready to go home yet, and she wasn’t ready for her day with Ryan to be over.

Miriam put the kettle on while Stanley scampered around the dining area before plonking himself on the floor in the space where his new bed had lain last night.

“I should’ve brought Stanley’s bed along,” Grace said.

“Or maybe we ought to buy another bed, so he has one here, too,” Ryan said, and gave her a smile. “If he’s going to be a regular guest for the next few days, and I hope he is, then we ought to make sure he’s comfortable.”

Grace returned his smile, her stomach performing excited flips at the idea of spending more time with Ryan. Throughout the day, she’d kept thinking about what he’d said about using her time off work to do something that wasn’t about work. Yesterday, that idea would have struck her as madness. Now, it was the idea of working during her time off that sounded mad. The turnaround left her head spinning at the sudden mental shift.

And spinning, too, because of Ryan, who was the reason why that turnaround had happened in the first place.

Miriam must have spied the way Grace was looking at her grandson, because she clapped her hands together and gave a warm chuckle.

“I’m so pleased that you two have decided to give each other a whirl,” she said, beaming at them both. “And it’s just wonderful to see young love blooming!”

“Grandma, please,” Ryan winced. “You’re embarrassing us.”

“Nonsense,” she said, and waved her hand as if batting his comment away. “Now, I’ll leave you in charge of brewing the tea, Grace. I must go and pop my slippers on before my feet give me any more grief. You’ll find my Earl Grey tea bags in that box on the counter. Make sure mine is nice and strong, dear.”

Miriam left the kitchen, humming to herself. Over by the sofa in the dining area, Stanley was already snoring on the floor, the absence of his cosy bed no impediment to sleep after his busy day out. While Grace poured hot water into the teapot and added one of Miriam’s special Earl Grey tea bags into a separate mug, Ryan fetched milk from the fridge and set up a tray.

She felt his gaze on her as she stirred the pot and Miriam’s mug. When she looked up, the expression on his face was a mixture of warmth spiced with something more darkly alluring.

“I like seeing you here, in my house, in my kitchen,” Ryan said, moving closer and pulling her into his arms.

“It’s a really nice house and a really nice kitchen,” she laughed.

Her laughter turned into a soft sigh as Ryan dipped his head and kissed her, thoroughly and with a passion he’d only hinted at when they’d shared that first sweet kiss while huddled together on the bench overlooking the views across the verdant grasslands. When the kiss ended and he rested his forehead against hers and pulled her closer into his embrace, Grace felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

“You’ll stay for dinner tonight, won’t you?” he asked.

“I’d love to.”

“I thought we could order pizza. Give Grandma the night off from cooking duties.”

Grace laughed, then sobered a little as she thought of Miriam. “She seemed a little tired when we got home just now. I think keeping her out of the kitchen is a good idea.”

“She knows how to pace herself. She doesn’t like it, but she knows she has to do it.” Ryan stepped away and lifted the tea things onto the tray. “Let’s get this tea through to her. It’s been almost three hours since her last cup of Earl Grey, and we’re in dangerous code red territory at this point.”

Laughing at his joke, Grace followed him through to the main living room at the other side of the house, where Miriam was already seated on the sofa with her slippers on and rummaging through the bags of purchases she’d made at her friend’s gift shop that morning. Roused by their relocation to the other room, Stanley followed on Grace’s heels and found a new spot to flop down on the carpet in front of the fireplace.

“Good, that tea is nice and strong, Grace,” Miriam commented after taking a sip. “Well done. Let’s enjoy our tea with these biscuits I picked up at Jill’s shop this morning. They’re lemon and ginger flavour. I couldn’t resist.”

Miriam passed the tin of luxury biscuits around, insisting that both Grace and Ryan try some. When Stanley sat to attention at the sight of food on the go, Miriam rooted around in the shopping bag again and this time produced a fancy packet of dog chews, another gift she’d selected from her friend’s shop. Stanley accepted his treat gently after giving Miriam a paw in thanks and scuttled back to his spot on the carpet beside the fireplace to tuck in.

“I bought gifts for the both of you, too,” Miriam said, pulling more items from the shopping bag. “This is for you, Grace.”

Grace’s eyes widened at the pretty primrose yellow gift box that Miriam passed to her across the coffee table.

“You didn’t have to give me a gift, Miriam,” Grace said.

“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. Well, go on and open it.”

Grace untied the white ribbon wrapped around the small box and lifted the lid. Moving aside the tissue paper inside, she saw a pair of silver earrings nestled inside, in a simple design of elegant hoops and with a cascade of three shooting stars dangling from each one.

“These are incredibly pretty, Miriam,” Grace said, already removing the studs she was wearing on her earlobes and putting the starry hoops in their place. “Thank you so much.”

“You are very welcome,” Miriam grinned. “And those suit you beautifully, just as I thought they would.”

Grace rose from the sofa and walked to the large mirror that hung above the fireplace in order to admire her new earrings. The silverwork sparkled and the cascade of shooting stars seemed to dance as she turned her head. Moving around the coffee table to where Miriam sat on the sofa, Grace leaned close and gave the woman a gentle hug.

“Thank you, Miriam. I’m so touched that you did this.”

“It was my pleasure, dear.”

When Grace turned to go back to where she’d been sitting, she caught Ryan’s smile and saw he was clearly pleased by her reaction to his grandmother’s generosity. He gave her knee a soft squeeze as she sat down beside him.

“And I got something for you, too, Ryan,” Miriam said, lifting another item from the shopping bag at her feet and handing it to him. “I thought this might come in useful when you’re working.”

Ryan accepted the paper gift bag from his grandmother and looked inside, then removed a thick notebook with a dark blue leather cover embellished with bronze-coloured musical notes across the surface. He flicked through the notebook, and Grace saw the premium quality of the blank paper pages inside. A dark blue ribbon page marker finished the notebook perfectly.

“I love it, Grandma, thank you,” he said, still examining the notebook and running his fingers across the pages inside.

“I thought you might enjoy scribbling your song lyrics and whatnot in it,” Miriam said.

“You thought right,” Ryan said, and gave his grandmother a broad smile. “It’s perfect. But you didn’t need to go and spend your money on us.”

“Oh, rubbish. What else should I spend it on? I saw nice things I thought you would both like, and so I bought them. I got as much pleasure from seeing you open those small presents as you did.” Miriam smiled and gestured to the tea mugs on the tray. “Now, drink your tea before it gets cold, and then we can discuss our dinner plans. I thought I heard you muttering something about pizza when you were through in the kitchen?”

“You have the ears of a bat, Grandma,” Ryan laughed.

“Indeed,” Miriam cackled, and pushed the tin of lemon and ginger biscuits across the coffee table. “Here, have another cookie while we decided on our pizza toppings. I supposed it was only a matter of time before you reverted to your unhealthy food tendencies, Ryan.”

“The pizza parlour on the high street is a good one, Grandma. They only use the best ingredients. I think you’ll be impressed.”

“Well, I hope so. I must admit I am partial to a nice margherita, if the quality of the pizza-making is good. What about you, Grace?”

“I quite like pepperoni,” she replied.

“Ah,” Miriam said with a knowing grin. “That’s Ryan’s favourite, too. What a happy coincidence.”

Grace felt colour creeping into her cheeks thanks to Miriam’s gleeful remark. Before she could think of a response, her phone rang. When she looked at the screen, she recognised the number for the dog warden service.

Her smile vanished. She’d known it was only a matter of time before the warden chased her up about the Stanley situation.

“It’s the dog warden calling,” Grace said, picking up the phone. “I’d better answer this.”

While Ryan and Miriam gave her looks of encouragement, and Stanley let out a chunter, Grace tapped the phone screen and drew in a breath, braced for the ticking-off she assumed was coming her way.