Page 14 of Promises & Petals in Nettleford-on-the-Wold
‘Exactly. This will be your chance to learn something new, or to follow an interest you’ve always had but never had the time for.’ Hannah breathed a sigh of relief, glad she hadn’t offended her friend.
‘Anyway, how about you? How’s it going with the gorgeous Josh round yours so much?’
Hannah frowned. She’d much rather have carried on talking about Lucy’s dating life than for this topic to have been brought up. ‘It’s fine. Josh and his workmate are spending the whole day round here to make a start on the repairs today, then they’ll just be working at the cottage in the evenings or when they have a spare hour or so.’
‘And? You’ve not answered my question. How’s it going? What’s it like to be spending the whole day with the man of your dreams?’
‘He’s not...’ Now it was Hannah’s turn to roll her eyes. There wasn’t much point denying it, Lucy wouldn’t believe her. And she didn’t think she’d believe herself either. Ever since Josh and made her omelette for dinner last night, he hadn’t been very far from her thoughts.
‘You’re not going to tell me, are you? In that case, tell me about his workmate? What’s he like? Is he good-looking? Our age?’
Tilting her head, Hannah watched as Alfie darted out of the long grasses and wildflowers, before disappearing again. ‘Yes, he’s about our age, I’d say. Perhaps a little younger, but I’m rubbish with ages so... I don’t know.’
‘Ooh, so I’m guessing you’re not eyeballing him then? Being younger, I mean? You’ve always gone for the more mature man, haven’t you?’
‘I wouldn’t say that...’
‘I would. How much older than us is Josh, two, three years?’
‘Three.’
Laughter erupted down the phone line.
Blowing a strand of hair from her nose, Hannah joined in. ‘You’re terrible, you know that? I’m not even thinking about Josh Morgan. I stopped fancying him years ago, and after thatcringeworthy conversation I had with him whilst drunk before I left, I’d have been more than happy never clapping eyes upon him again. You know that?’
‘I kind of feel you protest a tad too much, Hannah.’ Lucy managed between bouts of laughter.
‘I might just put the phone down on you now, you know.’ Halting in her tracks, Hannah spun slowly on the spot, checking the horizon as though she were worried Josh might suddenly appear and tell her he’d heard the whole conversation.
‘Haha, you might as well, I’m coming into the station now, anyway.’ Lucy paused before adding, ‘You know I’m only teasing you, don’t you?’
‘I know. See you tomorrow.’ Ending the call, Hannah slipped her mobile into her pocket. Talking of Josh Morgan, she probably should head back and offer him and Freddie a coffee. She’d tried to keep out of way as much as physically possible, after all they had a job to do and wouldn’t want her getting in the way, but she was worried her lack of presence and coffee making would soon look as though she was being rude.
She’d head back, offer coffee and then force herself to walk into the village centre and make a trip to the grocery shop. She knew she couldn’t put off risking running into the locals for much longer, and answering a billion and one questions about why she’d upped and left for so long would be quite the relief compared with getting into a conversation with Josh.
Chapter Eleven
‘That’s it, Alfie, not much further now.’ Just as she was about to cross the road towards the close, she felt the lead go taut. Looking back, she smiled as Alfie dropped to the floor, curling up on the pavement as though it were as comfy as the sofa in the caravan. He did this, and it could have been when they’d been walking for ten minutes or three miles. It didn’t matter.
Leaning down, she scooped him into her arms, letting his red lead dangle over her arm. ‘Too tired to walk the extra few metres to the cottage, are you?’
Alfie snuggled his nose into the crook of her elbow.
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then.’ Smiling, she leaned down and kissed his soft head before crossing the road.
‘Hannah? Hannah Langdon? Is that you?’
Pausing, Hannah closed her eyes. She recognised that voice. It was Mrs Bertridge who used to work at the Post Office, the biggest gossip in the village. Fixing a smile on her face, she turned around. Yep, sure enough there was Mrs Bertridge, complete with her signature checked trolley and clear plastic headscarf despite the weather being as far from rainy as it could be. ‘Mrs Bertridge, hi.’
‘Hannah, oh, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?’ Hurrying towards her, Mrs Bertridge looked her up and down. ‘You’re looking well, dear.’
‘Thanks. You too.’ Hannah fussed over Alfie as he let out a small growl. ‘How are you?’
‘Oh, you don’t really want to be asking me that. My leg is playing up and I...’ Shaking her head, Mrs Bertridge nodded at her pointedly. ‘I should be asking you that, dear. You’ve been away for so long. It’s nice to see you’ve got the travelling out of your system and you’re back where you belong.’
‘Well, actually I...’ She let her voice trail off as Mrs Bertridge continued.
‘Your grandad will be proud of you, caring for his cottage. It was his pride and joy, you see. He was always tinkering with it, fixing this, improving that. He’d be happy to see you settling back in.’
