Page 56 of The Christmas Fayre on Holly Field

‘Yes, I’ve just finished at the cafe. Thank God it’s Friday, although I won’t be quite so happy next week when the kids are off school. I love having them at home, but it can be a bit wearing.’

‘If you need me to distract them, just give me a shout,’ Owen said.

‘I might take you up on that.’ Harriet grinned at him. They may only be making small talk, but she felt as though something of far greater significance was taking place.

Owen was grinning back. ‘What have you got planned for the weekend?’

‘Making Halloween outfits.’ She held up her bag of charity-shop goodies. ‘All bought from the second-hand shop,’ she announced.

‘That sounds fun,’ he said.

‘Why don’t you join us?’

‘I think I’m a bit old to dress up for Halloween.’

Harriet giggled. The sound was so unlike her usual laugh, it took her aback. Gosh, she was flirting with him, wasn’t she? She’d be batting her eyelashes and twirling a strand of hair around her finger next.

She said, ‘I don’t expect you to dress up, although you can if you want. I’m sure we could find something suitable. I wondered if you wanted to join us tomorrow for some arts-and-crafts fun? I could cook pizza?’ She waggled her eyebrows at him.

‘How can I resist? Pizza does it for me every single time.’ He looked at her earnestly. ‘Would you like me to bring my own?’

‘I thought you might say that,’ she said.

‘Why don’t I make pizza for everyone?’ he suggested.

‘This is getting to be a habit,’ Harriet said. ‘I feel as though you are doing all the cooking.’

‘It’s only fair, considering I’m the one with the pernickety dietary requirements. In fact, what if I bring all the ingredients for the bases and the kids help to make them? And I’ll bring my own vegan cheese, if you sort out Sara and Bobby’s toppings. Deal?’ He held out a hand.

Harriet took it, and a bolt of desire so strong that it stole her breath shot through her at his touch. She inhaled sharply, and quickly let go of his hand.

She wondered if he’d taken offence at her reaction, because he looked quite shocked, but she thought she must have imagined it when he said, ‘That’s settled then. I’m looking forward to it.’

So was Harriet. And she wasn’t able to get him out of her mind for the rest of the day.

His hand still tingling, Owen almost staggered into the zero-waste shop. What the hell had just happened? He occasionally experienced static electricity, but nothing like that. It had given him quite a shock and had sent his pulse racing.

To be honest, he didn’t believe it had been static electricity. He might as well admit that what he had felt had been sheer unbridled, unadulterated desire. He knew he was in denial, because he was worried that if a single touch of her hand could do that to him, what would happen when they did kiss? He had a feeling there would be fireworks, and it made his heart race just thinking about it.

‘Are you all right?’ Rowena was standing at the far end of the shop, rearranging the contents of some shelves.

‘I think so,’ he replied, gathering his scattered wits and trying to focus on the reason he was there. Ah yes, the article, that was it.

He got out his phone. ‘I want to show you something.’ He flicked the screen on and turned it around for Rowena to read.

She took it from him, scanning it quickly, then looked up, her eyes gleaming. ‘Is this what you wrote?’

‘Uh-huh.’ He nodded.

‘It’s brilliant! Thank you so much. When are you going to send it?’

‘If you scroll up to the top of the page, you’ll see that I already have. It was published today.’

‘It’s out therealready? That was quick. I expected it to take weeks.’

‘That’s the beauty of digital publication,’ Owen said. ‘It’s almost instantaneous. If they like something, it’s just a few clicks and it can be on their website in minutes. This site doesn’t have a very big readership,’ he warned, ‘but it’s a foot in the door of getting you noticed.’

‘Everything helps,’ she said. ‘Business is pretty brisk, but I wouldn’t say no to more people coming into the shop. We’re thinking of doing a website and selling online,’ she added.

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