Page 33 of For My Finale

B lossom put a cup of coffee in front of Arty. He had a tape measure slung around his neck and was busy working on sketching ideas for the shelves he was planning on building for the bookshop. Blossom peered over his shoulder and grinned.

“I still can’t believe that you’re doing this,” Arty said, drawing in a line.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” said Blossom.

“No, it’s not. It’s a great idea and people are going to love it. It’s just…” He hesitated. “Well, with all that’s gone on.”

“With Lilah leaving, you mean,” said Blossom, her heart pulsing at Lilah’s name. She leaned on the counter. “It’s not easy.”

“And yet here you are.”

Blossom bit her lip. The truth was that every morning waking up without Lilah was the hardest thing she had to do.

But she had a life to live, she couldn’t spend it mourning something that couldn’t be.

“Well, it’s all happening, whether you believe it or not,” she said, with an attempt at a cheery smile.

“I’ve already set up meetings with a couple of book reps for next week. ”

Arty let out a low whistle. “You’re really making this work, huh?”

“Thanks to the crowdfunding.” She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “People have been very generous.”

“People believe in you,” Arty said. “You should believe in you, too.”

She was about to respond when Daisy burst into the cafe, her eyes wide with concern and her normally ruddy face pale.

“What is it?” Blossom said, standing up, immediately on alert. “Billy didn’t chase you again, did he?”

“It’s Gloria,” Daisy said. “I’ve just dropped in and she’s still insisting that she’ll go on tonight, but I don’t know, Bloss. It’s not looking good. Her ankle’s the size of a coconut.”

Blossom breathed out very, very slowly. Okay. There were priorities here. “I’ll ring her.”

She pulled out her phone and dialed Gloria’s number, pacing slightly as it rang. “Gloria,” she said, the second the call connected. “If you’re not fit to perform tonight, we’ll cancel.”

“Absolutely not,” Gloria barked down the line. “The show must and will go on!”

Blossom bit her lip. “At least let Daisy come and check on you. She can take you down to the surgery.”

“No!”

“Gloria.” Blossom straightened her back and pretended to be Ives in front of her unruly class, putting on her best teacher voice.

“The only way you’re getting on stage tonight is if Daisy comes over and takes you to see the doctor.

He’ll strap you up properly so you can at least hobble to your marks. Clear?”

Gloria huffed. “Fine. But I’ll be there tonight, even if Daisy has to carry me.”

“I’ll let her know,” Blossom said wryly, hanging up the phone. “Daze, can you drop her around at the surgery? She needs that ankle checked on. I want her safe on her feet if she’s insisting on getting on stage.”

“On it,” Daisy said. But before she could leave, the cafe door slammed open and Mabel came rushing in, wearing a hat shaped like a badger.

Arty blinked. “Mabel, what in the world—”

“I have news,” Mabel declared, breathless .

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “That’s my job.”

“Your job just at the minute is looking after Gloria,” Blossom reminded her.

Mabel smirked. “And I’m the one with the news.”

“Well?” said Arty, putting his pencil down. “Spit it out.”

Mabel took a dramatic pause, during which she adjusted her ridiculous hat. Then, with a gleam in her eye, she said, “I’ve just seen Lilah Paxton moving a suitcase back into the cottage.”

Blossom’s breath caught. Her fingers tightened involuntarily around the edge of the counter. Her whole body felt cold and then hot and then cold again. “What?”

“Just now,” Mabel said, nodding eagerly. “It was definitely her. That red hair is unmistakable. Couldn’t have been anyone else.”

“Well, I’ll be,” Daisy said, jaw dropping.

Blossom’s heart started hammering in her chest in a very worrying kind of way.

She wanted to run out of the cafe, pound along the path, go straight to Lilah’s cottage and…

And what? What was she expecting? That Lilah had suddenly changed her mind and decided she couldn’t live without her?

That Lilah had suddenly decided that nothing else mattered but Bankton.

She swallowed hard and forced herself to take a steadying breath. “That’s nice,” was all she said.

She was going to be realistic here. She’d done enough dreaming for one lifetime. Whatever it was that Lilah was doing here, it could have nothing to do with her. And if it did, well, Lilah knew where to find her.

???

Lilah stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring out of the window at the empty garden beyond.

She was back in Bankton. She’d made it all the way here.

And now here she was, standing in a tiny cottage, surrounded by a hundred memories of the last time she was here, and suddenly feeling very, very unsure of herself .

Her suitcase still stood by the door, unopened as of yet. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to unpack it. Maybe she was afraid that if she did, she’d be tempting fate, acting as though she had a right to be here, when maybe, just maybe, she didn’t.

Something had occurred to her when she walked into the kitchen. Something that she hadn’t considered when leaving Leyland’s office, when traveling all the way from London. Something that she didn’t want to think about, but sort of had to.

What if Blossom didn’t want her back?

What if Lilah had made this grand decision, walking away from her career again, leaving Margot in a furious storm of protest, turning her back on everything she’d ever known, only to find that actually, she had nowhere left to go?

A heavy snort pulled her from her thoughts. She turned just as Billy stuck his massive head toward the glass, his wet nose fogging it up.

Lilah let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “Well, hello to you too,” she murmured, pushing open the window and reaching under the sink for the bag of carrots that she knew would be there. She pulled one out and held it toward him. Billy accepted it with a pleased grunt.

“You’ve got it easy, you know,” she told him, watching as he chewed. “No big life decisions. No heartbreak. No worrying whether the love of your life is about to reject you.”

Billy huffed and Lilah sighed. Now that she thought about it, if Billy was anything like the sheep she’d seen at George’s farm, then he was awash with girlfriends. That was probably why he came over, to escape the attentions of hundreds of cows.

“You’re not really much help,” she told him.

Billy, not particularly interested in her existential crisis, wandered off toward Blossom’s dark window. Lilah closed her own window and turned around, pressing her hands to the kitchen counter.

She couldn’t just hide out here. She had made her choice. She’d come all this way. She had to be brave .

“Lilah Paxton is no coward,” she said out loud.

The words made her feel a tiny bit better. She took a breath. She knew what she’d come for, and there was only one way to get answers.

She grabbed her jacket, pulled it on, and strode out of her front door into the crisp late afternoon air. The walk to the village felt longer than it ever had before. Every step was a battle between excitement and fear. But she didn’t let herself hesitate. She was here for a reason.

By the time she reached the cafe, her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating, she’d never had stagefright, but she imagined this was what it felt like.

But she didn’t give herself time to think.

She pushed the door open, the bell jingling, and marched straight inside, fully prepared to open her chest and lay her heart on the counter for Blossom to see.

Except…

Blossom wasn’t there.

Mabel, however, was standing behind the counter and grinning at her like some sort of bizarrely dressed puppet. Her hat seemed to be in the shape of a badger.

Lilah blinked. “Mabel?”

“Hello, Lilah. I was just telling people that you were back. And that I don’t know how to work the coffee machine. Or the coffee pot. You can have some tap water, if you like?”

“Um, no, no, thank you,” Lilah said, feeling rather confused. “Er, I don’t suppose you know where Blossom is, do you?”

“Of course I do,” Mabel beamed.

Lilah waited for a moment, but there was no more information forthcoming. “And she’s… where exactly?”

“At the village hall,” said Mabel, adjusting the brim of her ridiculous hat.

“The village hall?” frowned Lilah.

Mabel gave her a strange look. “Well, yes, obviously. It’s opening night.”

Lilah’s heart thudded painfully. Of course. The play. It was tonight .

“It’s only three in the afternoon,” she said. “Why is she over there so early?”

Mabel shrugged. “A catastrophe.”

There was another expectant pause that went unfilled. “What kind of catastrophe?” Lilah asked finally.

Mabel had already turned her attention to a tower of glasses. “Do you want some water or not?” she asked.

“Not,” Lilah said. “And what kind of catastrophe?”

Mabel waved a hand. “I’m sure Blossom will explain. If you’re that desperate to see her, you might as well go and find her yourself.”

Lilah didn’t need to be told twice.

She turned on her heel and sprinted out of the cafe, her heart pounding as she ran through the village streets. Whatever had happened, whatever the catastrophe was, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that she needed to see Blossom.

By the time she reached the village hall, she was out of breath and cursing all the bread that she’d eaten.

That stupid gym rat had been right, she should be working out every day.

The doors were propped open, voices echoing from inside.

Lilah caught her breath, steeled her nerves, and then walked in.