Page 28 of Promises & Petals in Nettleford-on-the-Wold
Hannah coughed as coffee went down the wrong way.
‘Are you okay, love?’ Meg frowned.
‘Don’t choke on us now, Hannah.’ Crawling across the rug, Lucy slapped her on the back.
Clearing her throat, Hannah held her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry, I swallowed my coffee down the wrong way.’
‘That damn coffee. It’s dangerous.’ Lucy raised an eyebrow before settling back down.
‘Anyway, as I was saying, I know even thinking about falling in love again feels such a long way off, but look at your brother and follow his example.’ Pat picked up his coffee mug.
‘I don’t even want to think about that now.’ Sophie sighed. ‘I just need to get through these next few days. Both me and Richard think it’s best to wait until after Florrie’s party on Saturday before we tell her. We’ll say Richard is staying away with work or something until then.’
‘That’s a good idea, love.’ Meg nodded.
Standing up, Hannah placed her mug on the coffee table. ‘I’d better head back now. Ring me if you need anything, Soph. Any time of the day or night.’
‘Thanks, Hannah. I will.’ pushing herself off the sofa, Sophie drew Hannah in for a quick hug before sitting back down again.
‘Okay, take care. I’ll let myself out.’ Keeping her head down, Hannah walked towards the door, Alfie trotting beds her. She felt bad leaving now, but she needed to get out of there, and shecouldn’t risk the topic of Josh and his supposed new love interest cropping up again. Shed almost given herself away as it was. Sophie didn’t need to be dealing with that on top of everything else she was going through.
Chapter Nineteen
Closing the front door behind her, she hurried down the garden path and out onto the street.
‘Hey, hold up.’
Turning, she watched as Lucy jogged towards her. Great. She’d been rumbled.
‘Have you got something to tell me, Hannah?’ catching her up, Lucy linked her arm through Hannah’s as she glared at her.
‘Umm... I don’t...’
‘Don’t give me that, Hannah. It’s written all over your face.’ Lucy grinned. ‘And you almost choked on your dirty little secret too.’
Crossing her arms, Hannah looked down at Alfie, who was walking between them. ‘It’s not a dirty little secret.’
Gasping with delight, Lucy gripped hold of Hannah’s elbows and, drawing them to a halt, spun her around to face her. ‘So, you and Josh? You are a thing! I can’t believe you’ve not said anything!’
Hannah’s face dropped as she gained behind them towards Sophie’s cottage. ‘I can’t, can I? Not with everything that’s going on. And did you hear what they were saying about friendship and relationships not coming between friends?’
‘Yes, but...’
‘I’ll end it. I’m going straight home, and I’ll tell him we need to end things.’ Hannah heard her voice wobble. She knew what she needed to do. She couldn’t get with Josh. It would only come between her and Sophie, and she needed her right now. She couldn’t...
‘Don’t you dare!’ Lucy’s expression turned serious.
‘I have to. I don’t have a choice.’
‘You do. You’ve always had feelings for Josh. You can’t ruin things now you’ve actually got together.’ Lucy shook her head.
‘You were sitting in Sophie’s living room with me; you heard exactly what I heard.’ She swiped at her cheek as a tear fell. Why was she even crying? She and Josh had what? Kissed a couple of times, that was it. It wasn’t as though they’d been dating for years or anything.
‘Hannah, listen to me. You deserve to be happy. Anyone can see that you and Josh make a great couple. And after all these years, you deserve some happiness of your own. Sophie will understand. Heck, she’ll likely be thrilled that Josh is even dating again. She trusts you; she loves you, and she knows you have Josh’s best interests at heart, and he has yours.’
‘No, I can’t.’ Hannah shook her head as they began walking again. ‘What if we break up? What then? It will destroy Sophie.’
‘Sophie’s just out of a really unhappy relationship, and she’s still standing. Nothing will destroy her. She’s strong.’ Lucy glanced across at her. ‘Besides, who said you and Josh won’t last the distance?’
