First Love's Second Chance

Chapter 4

Jenna

I can't believe I ended up at Deacon’s house last night. I wasn’t out and about; Kip was nagging my ear off about me going back to London, and now is not the right time to tell him I’ve just bought Mrs. Hale’s bakery. So I went out for a drive and ended up at Deacon’s. But I should have read the signs. I ignored the car on the driveway, and the fact he was perfectly awake wearing nothing but his underwear, and the smell of woman all over him. Unfortunately I was close enough to smell him. Even with the sweet floral smell stuck to him, he smelled so good. Just how I remember; clean and masculine, and I remember how that smell mesmerised me every time I saw him.

How is it possible to be so affected by someone I haven’t seen for so long? Someone I thought I was finally over.

But he’s with someone and so am I.

We hurt each other and that damage can't be undone, no matter how much we want it to be. We weren’t meant to be together.

“Jenna?” Kip calls through the bathroom door. I’ve been staring in the mirror and at the box in my hand for the last twenty minutes, thinking he was still asleep.

“I’ll be out in a minute.” I call, and put the box back in the carrier bag it came from and store it in the empty bathroom cabinet. I open the door and he kisses me on the cheek.

“I bought organic coffee. I’ll go make some.”

I go downstairs and boil the kettle. Mum is in the garden reading the newspaper. I wave through the window and hold up her empty cup; She nods and I put a tea bag in it.

Kip comes down in tracksuit bottoms and a vest and I hand him his coffee. We join Mum in the garden; I hand her the tea and sit down with mine.

“I’m going to leave about lunchtime, Jen. Will you have your stuff ready by then?”

“I’ve still got some things to do here. You head back and I’ll see you at the weekend.” I answer, earning a curious look from my mum. But she says nothing, just gets back to her paper and thanks me for the tea.

“Tea? You’re drinking tea?” Kip asks and I nod.

“I’ve got a sudden taste for it.”

He shrugs and picks up the other newspaper from the table.

“Where’s Dad?”

“He went out this morning, fishing with Bradley.”

Kip puts his paper down and turns to my mum.

“I like fishing. I haven’t been for years.”

My mum looks at me before looking at Kip.

“He didn’t want to disturb you, Dear.”

I know my parents haven’t taken to Kip as much as he would like. He’s a nice enough guy, and I enjoy being with him. But we have a very different life back in London together, and he doesn’t seem to fit in here.

We’ve just eaten a lunch of cous cous salad and summer pudding in the garden, and Kip comes down with his overnight bag. He brought his Audi this time, so he says goodbye to my parents and Jonas, and I walk with him to the car.

“So you’ll be back at your flat at the weekend? I can come and stay and we can go to dinner.” he says, closing the boot and meeting me at the pavement.

“If I’ve got everything sorted, I will be.” I lie.

“I don’t understand what there is to sort, Jenna.”

“Just some stuff. I haven’t been back here for so long, and there’s people I haven’t caught up with and things I need to do.”

“Okay.” He looks at me suspiciously and holds his arms out. I step into them and hug him goodbye. I stretch up and kiss him quickly on the lips. He wraps his arms around me and deepens the kiss, and I know he’s annoyed that he missed out on morning sex.