The Perfect Hero (22 page)

‘Ah! We’re back in civilisation,’ Oli said, answering it. ‘Hello? Yes. I’m heading back to Lyme.’ There was a pause. ‘Nowhere. Just out to lunch. I don’t know where – we didn’t get that far. What?’ he said. ‘I was with Kay. In the car. No, I’m in a taxi now. The car flooded.’ There was another pause and Kay could see a frown on Oli’s face. ‘I don’t know. About an hour? I’ve got to get back to Lyme and get changed. Yes. I said I will, all right?’

‘Everything okay?’ Kay asked after he had put his phone away.

‘That was Teresa,’ he said.

‘She didn’t sound too happy,’ Kay said.

‘You heard her?’ Oli looked anxious.

‘Only her tone of voice,’ Kay said.

Oli looked relieved. ‘It’s a good job I didn’t tell her I didn’t have any trousers on.’

‘Have you got to get to the set?’

‘I’m afraid so. Teresa’s panicking. They’ve moved a lot faster than she thought and she needs me to get out there as soon as I can.’

‘But you’ve not had any lunch.’

‘Neither have you.’

‘But I can get some at home.’

‘I’ll grab something somewhere,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry about me. Hey, mate,’ Oli said, leaning forward in the taxi as they took the road into Lyme Regis. ‘Can you hang around for me? I have to get to Marlcombe Manor.’

‘No problem,’ the taxi driver said, looking at him through the rear-view mirror. ‘You’re that actor, aren’t you? I’ve seen you on the TV.’

Oli gave a little nod.

‘I thought it was you! You can’t fool these old eyes. You were in that – what was it called?’ He took a hand off the wheel and clicked his fingers as if he might summon the title. ‘
Parisian Nights
. Am I right?’

Again, Oli nodded.

‘Bit saucy, that, wasn’t it? I was watching it with my wife and mother-in-law! Now
that
was embarrassing!’

Kay grinned as she remembered the scene the taxi driver was referring to.

‘Still, must all be in a day’s work for you, eh? All that rumpy pumpy! Now, ain’t that something – getting paid for that! I tell you, I’m in the wrong job!’

The taxi dropped them off and promised to wait for Oli and the two of them walked along Marine Parade towards the bed and breakfast.

‘I guess that happens to you a lot,’ Kay said.

‘Now and again,’ he said.

‘So the disguise didn’t work.’

‘I’m afraid not,’ he said. ‘But at least he’ll never recognise you.’

‘Oh, nobody would ever recognise me,’ Kay said.

Oli stopped. ‘Well, they should.’

Kay turned round to face him and he took his sunglasses off.

‘The whole world should recognise you,’ he said.

Kay wasn’t sure what to say and so she said nothing at all and she was so glad that she didn’t when he moved towards her, closing the brief space between them and leaning down to kiss her. It was what she’d dreamed of but she’d never really expected it to happen and, now it was, she felt suspended – as if she really was dreaming and, if she opened her eyes, Oli would evaporate and she’d be staring into space like a fool. But, when he took a step back and she opened her eyes, he was really there, all six foot four of him, and he was looking at her with such intensity that she couldn’t speak.

‘You okay?’ he asked.

She nodded and he laughed.

‘What?’ she said.

‘You! You’re so funny!’

‘Why am I funny?’ she asked, not at all sure he was paying her a compliment.

‘Because your head is full of fluffy clouds.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re a romantic, aren’t you? You believe in princes on white horses and happy-ever-afters.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘It’s written all over that face of yours,’ he said. ‘That gorgeous, dreamy face.’ He grinned and reached out to stroke her cheek. ‘I’ve never met anyone like you,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid the acting business usually knocks out any romantic notions you may have about the world.’

‘But that’s awful!’ Kay said. ‘Especially when you’re playing some of the great heroes.’

Oli shrugged. ‘You mustn’t think we’re all like the heroes we portray. I’m not Captain Wentworth, you know.’

‘I know that,’ Kay said, secretly dismissing his protestation because she knew that the man standing before her was the perfect hero.

‘It’s just a job like any other.’

Kay shook her head. ‘But you need sensitivity and passion to play a part, don’t you?’

‘I guess,’ Oli said.

‘When you played Sydney Carton in
A Tale of Two Cities
, I cried myself to sleep that night.’

Oli laughed. ‘But I’m not Sydney. I wouldn’t have given up my life like him. I’d have left Paris at the first opportunity and put that silly woman, Lucy, out of my mind.’

‘No!’ Kay said. ‘I don’t believe that.’

They walked towards the bed and breakfast, the sound of the sea in their ears.

‘I’m a no-good, selfish actor,’ he said. ‘I’d be wary of getting involved with me if I were you.’

Kay’s heart skipped a beat. So he wanted to get involved with her? Was that what he was saying? ‘Are you challenging me?’ she dared to ask.

He smiled and held her gaze. ‘Perhaps I am.’

Kay was just about to reply when she looked ahead to Wentworth House. ‘Who are they?’ she asked, seeing two figures sheltering in the doorway of the bed and breakfast. One was a young woman with short cropped hair. She was wearing a white cap and skinny jeans and looked as if she’d be more at home in Kensington High Street than Lyme Regis. Standing next to her, holding her hand was a girl no more than five years old. She had bright rosy cheeks and the longest blondest ponytail Kay had ever seen.

‘Annabel?’ Oli shouted.

‘Oli!’ The little girl dropped the woman’s hand and came running towards Oli. Kay watched as he caught her up in his arms and spun her around. Who on earth was she? Kay wondered.

Oh my goodness!
she suddenly thought.
It’s his daughter
. She had the same butter-coloured hair, that much was evident.
He has a secret love child! If I marry him, I’ll be a stepmother!

‘Come on, Bel, I want to introduce you to a very good friend of mine,’ Oli said, bringing the girl safely back down to earth.

A very good friend.
Kay didn’t like the sound of that but what else could he say in the circumstances?
This is your new mother and you are going to love her as much as I do?

‘Kay, this is Annabel,’ Oli said. ‘Annabel, this is Kay.’

The little girl’s face flushed the colour of pink roses and she gave a hesitant smile. ‘Hello,’ she said.

‘Hello,’ Kay said, and she couldn’t help thinking that she was the prettiest little girl she’d ever seen. But why hadn’t she heard of her existence before? How had Oli kept her hidden for so long?

‘Annabel’s Teresa’s daughter,’ Oli said.

‘What?’ Kay said, looking startled.

‘Teresa’s daughter,’ Oli repeated.

‘But I thought—’

‘What?’

‘I thought she was yours!’ Kay said in a whisper.

Oli grinned. ‘She’s an angel, isn’t she?’

Kay nodded in relief but she was surprised too because the girl bore so little resemblance to the harsh mother Kay had got to know over the last few days.

‘Where’s Mummy?’ Annabel asked.

‘She’s busy filming,’ Oli said.

‘She’s always busy filming,’ Annabel said. ‘I’m sorry to turn up unannounced,’ a voice said and Kay suddenly became aware of the woman standing in the doorway.

‘That’s okay,’ Oli said. ‘Always good to see you both. Oh, let me introduce you – Kay, this is Clare, Annabel’s nanny. Kay runs the bed and breakfast.’

‘I hope it’s all right me turning up like this,’ Clare said. ‘Teresa said it would be okay.’

‘It’s no problem,’ Kay said, liking Clare immediately. She had a lovely round face and smiling eyes.

‘Here, come on in and let’s get some lunch. I’m starving!’ Kay said.

‘Me too!’ Annabel said with a giggle.

‘You’ve just had lunch!’ Clare said.

‘But I want to have lunch with Oli,’ the little girl said.

‘I’m afraid I’ve got to get over to the film set.’

Annabel suddenly gasped. ‘You’ve got no trousers on!’

Clare’s eyes darted down to Oli’s legs and her mouth dropped open.

‘You’re right,’ Oli said, ‘and I really should do something about that.’

They all entered the hallway and Oli disappeared up the stairs in a half-naked streak.

Kay stood looking a little awkward. ‘I’m afraid we’re all booked up here,’ she said.

Clare nodded. ‘That’s okay,’ she said. ‘Teresa got us a room somewhere up Cobb Road.’

‘Oh, good.’

‘We’ve booked in but I wanted to call here on the off chance of her being around.’

‘I don’t think she’ll be back until the evening,’ Kay said. ‘Do you have a car? Maybe you could drive out to the set.’

‘Can we, Clare?’ Annabel said excitedly.

‘We’ll have to see,’ Clare said. ‘Now, why don’t you go and sit over there?’

Annabel did as she was told, entering the sitting room and walking straight over to the window. ‘We can’t see the sea from our flat, can we?’

‘No,’ Clare said. ‘But we’ve got a very fine view of Primrose Hill.’

Kay went through to the kitchen and made two cups of tea. ‘Are you sure I can’t get you anything to eat? I’m going to make myself some pasta so it’s no trouble.’

‘No, really, we’ve just eaten.’

There was a sudden thudding on the stairs and Oli appeared in the kitchen doorway. ‘All dressed,’ he said.

‘Are you sure you haven’t got time for something to eat?’ Kay asked, rather sorry to have lost the half-naked Oli from her life. Perhaps – once they were married – they’d walk around their plush London apartment together, half-naked all day.

‘I really haven’t time,’ Oli said. ‘I’ll see you later, all right? Maybe we’ll have time for that meal together then?’

Kay smiled, hoping he was right and already planning the outfit she’d wear. She’d have to make time to go shopping and surprise him with something beautiful that actually belonged to her this time.

‘Oh!’ Kay said, suddenly realising she still was wearing the soggy hairpiece and had a bag of wet clothes to sort out before Beth saw them. ‘I must get this dress dry.’

‘Can I help with anything?’ Clare said. ‘I could start lunch for you.’

‘Oh, thank you!’ Kay said. ‘That’s so kind. I’m absolutely starving.’

Kay left the kitchen and went up to her bedroom, placing the wet hairpiece and dress above her bath to drip dry. She felt terrible about the dress. It would be the first and last time a film star would lend her her clothes, that was for sure.

After hanging up the soggy items, Kay slipped out of Nana Craig’s stripy dress and cardigan and placed them on a Lloyd Loom chair next to her bed. She would wash the dress and return it with a big bunch of flowers to thank her. Slipping on a cotton shirt and a pair of jeans, Kay’s tummy rumbled, reminding her that she’d left Clare downstairs in the kitchen.

As soon as she was on the landing, Kay heard Clare’s voice. She was calling for Annabel – over and over again.

‘Is everything okay?’ Kay asked as she reached the hallway.

Clare didn’t answer.

‘Annabel!’ she called, moving from room to room.

‘What’s the matter?’ Kay asked as they almost crashed into each other outside the dining room.

‘Annabel’s missing! Is she upstairs?’

Kay shook her head.

‘I don’t understand. She was here a minute ago. Where could she have gone?’

‘She wouldn’t have gone up on to the Cobb, would she?’ Kay asked.

‘What?’

‘She wouldn’t have gone up on the Cobb?’

‘She shouldn’t have left the house,’ Clare said, her pretty round face white with anxiety.

‘But I think she must have done,’ Kay said.

They looked at each other and, a second later, they were both out of the door.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

‘Tell her,’ Adam said to himself as he took a bend in the road a little quicker than usual. ‘I have to tell her.’

It was the only way. He knew it. His nan knew it. Soon everybody in Dorset would know it except Kay. But
how
would he tell her? She was under some crazy illusion that he was in love with Gemma and he was pretty sure that Kay had fallen under the spell of Oli Wade Owen. So where did that leave things? It was like some Shakespearean comedy where each member of the cast is in love with the wrong person.

Turning into a narrow lane, he startled a pheasant and splashed through a long puddle that hadn’t drained away yet. Some of the roads in the valley were still impassable but Adam had taken the long way round to avoid the worst of the flooding.

‘Kay,’ he said as the car reached dry land again, ‘I know I’m not cut from the same cloth as Oli Wade Owen. I’ll never be a leading man. I’ll never play the great roles that you love. All I can do is write them.’

Adam shook his head. That was too negative. He was doing nothing but showing his own shortcomings and that would never do.

‘Kay!’ he began again. ‘I’m in love with you.’

Well, that was certainly to the point but would he be able to pull it off ? For a moment, he thought of her sweet rosy face and her bright eyes that were always darting about and shining with curiosity. He’d never met anyone like her. She was so fresh and funny and . . .

‘What am I going to say to her?’ he said, sighing as he reached Lyme Regis. And, more importantly, what would she say to him? He dreaded to think. But he had to say something or he would burst.

Kay was running up and down Marine Parade and dodging the tourists in her panic. ‘Annabel!’ she called into the wind. ‘ANNABEL!’ Her heart was racing in time with the pounding of her feet but there was no sign of the little girl anywhere.

The arcades! Maybe she was in there. The bright lights and beeping machines might have lured her in. Kay ran towards them, hoping that she’d spot the girl with the long blonde ponytail but, when she went in, there were only a couple of teenage boys at the slot machines.

Clare seemed to have had the same idea because they met outside.