She reached out and touched the soft silk, brought it back round her neck. ‘I love these hummingbirds,’ she said, twisting the fabric between her fingers, ‘their wings, a symbol of—’
‘Eternity,’ he replied, catching her eye.
‘Exactly,’ she said, looking to see where Taffie had got to.
*
An hour later, they were back at Maris Cottage. Greg was running some warm water into a basin in the kitchen sink and pulling up one of the chairs.
‘Right, sit here.’
He placed a soft hand towel around her neck as she sat down on the chair. She had told him where to find her shampoo and conditioner upstairs, and he had assembled it neatly next to the sink.
‘Make sure you don’t use the Fairy Liquid on me!’ She laughed, feeling very vulnerable in a strappy T-shirt.
He smiled. Well, at least that was something.
Maddie leant her head back as Greg stood next to her, his leg pressed against her shoulder, to reach in the sink behind her. He used a plastic cup to pour warm water over her head, then gently drew the palm of his hand over her head. Next, he dribbled shampoo over her hair and she closed her eyes, sliding into the sensation of the shampoo being rubbed into her scalp, his soothing, large hands, massaging her head, caressing the back of her neck, the warm water rinsing away the shampoo, his hands chasing the water down her hair, squeezing the water out, rinsing, then repeating the whole process.
He was humming softly to himself and she smiled. He was incredibly gentle with her, making sure that he never burnt her with scalding water, and carefully dabbing away some soapsuds from her forehead with a towel. He reached across at one point to turn off the tap, and she had had the most erotic sensation of his chest right above her mouth. She knew what lay beneath: lopsided nipples, a tiny trail of hair from his belly button down to…
She looked up at him and held his gaze. ‘This brings back memories.’
He glanced at her then looked away and carried on rinsing, one cupful after another, getting into a rhythm: water, then he’d run his fingers through her hair, then squeeze it out, water, squeeze, repeat. He started to rub the back of her neck with his thumb, just like he used to do all those years ago. She could feel herself melting under his touch and was almost asleep, drifting off to the magical feel of his warm hands, the sweet smell of her jasmine shampoo filtering into the air, when she heard a bang on the door.
Greg stopped what he was doing, put a towel over her head and patted it. ‘Hold on,’ he said and went to the door.
And then she heard it: the shouting.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’
It was Ed. Excitement and nerves clashed together in her chest. She got up quickly, felt the towel fall to the floor as she darted to the front door. He wasn’t due back for a week!
‘Ed!’ She grinned as he walked past Greg and gave her an enormous hug.
‘What’s he doing here? I thought Lauren was helping you?’ Ed nodded towards Greg.
‘She had to go to the States. Her mother was ill. I didn’t tell you,’ Maddie said, wiping dripping water from her forehead, ‘because I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t want you to feel you had to come back or anything.’ She put an arm across her chest, aware that her top was flimsy and slightly damp. She felt angry with Ed for shouting at Greg, who was putting on his coat silently behind her, yet she felt excited to see Ed at the same time. She shook her head.
‘Ed, look—’
But he barged past her and went straight up to Greg.
‘What on earth are you doing in my mother’s house? You should get out. Haven’t you done enough damage?’
She watched as Greg visibly flinched, a small twitch in his left eye, that same twitch he’d always had when he was stressed. Suddenly she realised what Ed had said: he’d used the same words as her mother all those years ago. Haven’t you done enough damage?
Greg stopped putting on his coat and looked up at Ed. ‘Look, I know we don’t see eye to eye—’
‘You’re too fucking right we don’t—’
‘Ed!’ shouted Maddie.
‘Listen, Ed.’ Greg’s head jerked up. ‘I’ve been here because I’ve been looking after your mum – she asked me to.’