Page 47 of Welcome to Pennycress Inn

‘All right, but you know that means I’ll literally only be there a few milliseconds at the most. Probably less than that. What’s smaller than a millisecond? A billisecond?’

‘Ha, I’ve no idea.’ Jackson chuckled. ‘See you soon.’

‘Umm, bye.’ Laura ended the call and then stared at the screen. She really didn’t want to venture back into the pub. She hadn’t stepped foot inside the place since she’d heard Evie and the other group of people talking ill of her. In fact, she hadn’t ventured into the village centre since then at all, apart from that one time she’d run to the grocery store and been completelyignored. She’d been using her car and travelling to buy supplies and food. It was annoying, but it was just the way it had to be for now. Still, a second in the pub to taste a meal Jackson had created wasn’t too much of him to ask her.

Pulling her hood down and rolling her shoulders back, Laura paused outside the pub door. She could do this. She could. It wouldn’t be for long, and she’d told Jackson she’d be escaping the moment someone looked askance at her, so in reality she probably wouldn’t even make it to the bar. She just needed to show her face and then she could get the heck out of there.

She reached for the handle and pushed, the warmth of the pub escaping into the street carrying the aroma of beer laced with food. Yum, it did smell good. She took a step inside and paused, looking around before continuing towards the bar, where she could see Jackson waiting for her.

Something was wrong. She paused again and turned, briefly taking in the scene. The pub was busy, tables were taken and people were standing huddled in groups by the bar. She blinked. That was it, that was what was different. People were talking, continuing their conversations. No one was looking at her, nobody was openly shunning her. So unless all the people were talking about her, then it seemed everyone was just getting on with their evening despite the fact she’d just walked in. What was going on?

She took the few short steps towards the bar and slipped onto the bar stool nearest Jackson, who was deep in conversation with a customer.

‘Evening, what can I get you today? We’ve had a new delivery of some local wines if you’d like to sample some?’ The bartender, who on her previous visit had ignored her, smiled at her.

‘Umm… yes, that would be lovely, thanks.’

‘Coming right up.’ The bartender picked up a glass and began to pour. ‘On the house to welcome you to the village.’

‘Really?’ Laura cleared her throat and tried again, keeping her tone light. She was being welcomed into the village? Why had his attitude towards her changed? And why had everyone else’s? ‘That’s great. Thank you.’

‘No problem. I’m Darren, by the way.’ Walking away, the bartender began taking someone else’s order.

Looking towards her, Jackson caught her eye and sidled across to her, leaning his elbows on the bar between them. ‘Hey, glad you could make it.’

‘Hi. What’s going on?’ She nodded towards the bartender. ‘I was just given a free drink as a welcome to the village.’

Jackson grinned and pointed across the pub towards a table in front of the roaring open fire. ‘It has nothing to do with me.’

Following his gaze, she twisted round on her stool and smiled. Vivienne Fields was sitting at the head of the table, surrounded by people Laura recognised from the awkward village meeting – Miss Cooke the mayoress and Mrs Pierce the owner of the bakery among them. ‘But how? Why?’

‘I guess she set the record straight.’ Jackson shrugged.

‘Really? So you’re not actually testing out a new menu? That was just a ruse to get me to agree to come down here?’

‘Oh no, I am trialling some new dishes and really would love your input, but, yes, I did use that to get you to agree to coming. I knew you’d make up some excuse not to if I didn’t make it obvious that I needed your help.’ Jackson laid his hand on hers.

‘Ha, you’re right, I would have. I didn’t think I’d ever step foot in this place again.’

Tapping her hand, Jackson winked at her before turning away. ‘I’ll catch you later.’

‘Hello, you must be Laura, the new owner of Pennycress Inn, is that right?’

A voice to her right caught her attention and Laura turned to see Jill, the woman who had been asking for volunteers for the craft fair. ‘Hi, yes, that’s me. I’m Laura and you’re Jill, right? I remember you with your toddler from the village meeting.’

Jill broke into a grin. ‘Yes, that was me. I’ve left little Kasey at home today. This evening is adults only.’ She held up a glass of wine before taking a sip and lowering her voice. ‘I’m ever so sorry I treated you the way I did. I so wanted to say hi and welcome you to Meadowfield, but…’ She glanced behind her.

Laura tried to see who she was referring to but was met with a blanket of people. Still, whatever the reason, Jill had at least smiled at her and begun to speak when Laura had said hello to her on the way out of the hall. That was more than anyone else had. ‘Don’t worry. What’s in the past is in the past and I’m sure you had your reasons, as did everyone else.’

‘That’s just the thing…’ She did it again, looked over her shoulder. ‘Anyway, are you still happy to volunteer on the day of the craft fair?’

‘Absolutely. Count me in.’ Laura nodded enthusiastically. She still couldn’t tell who Jill kept looking at, or indeed if she was. She might have just been trying to search someone out in the sea of faces in the pub.

‘Fantastic to hear. We’re so grateful to everyone who helps. It makes it possible to run these events.’ Placing her handbag on the bar, Jill rummaged through it before taking out her notebook and flicking through the pages. ‘I’ll pop your name on the list now.’

‘Thank you. Do you run other events, then?’

‘Oh yes, a few craft fairs dotted throughout the year, obviously a massive one in the summer and another big one at Christmas. We then run events in the village for May Day and a huge carnival in the summer holidays. That’s usually a busy one. The tourists flock to our carnival and the floats are amazing! Mrs Pierce from the bakery goes all out and wins almost every year.’

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