AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just come, just show me you can do it. I’ll take you home again in half an hour if that’s what you want.”
“That’s not much of a date,” Billie pointed out.
Jules raised that devilish eyebrow again. “Who said the date would be over if I took you home?”
Billie’s stomach did a flip and other parts of her anatomy made themselves and their approval very much known. She swallowed, her mouth dry. “We’ll see,” she croaked.
“As you like,” Jules said, turning and pushing the door open.
“Billie! You came!” Ava was standing right by the door as they came in and, to her credit, looked overjoyed to see Billie.
“Jules dragged me,” Billie said.
“Good for Jules,” said Ava. “You remember Hope, my wife?” Billie nodded. “And this is Mila, Agatha’s mum, and Max, the village policeman.”
“You make me sound like PC Plod,” grumbled the tall, dark-haired man, holding out his hand to shake.
“I’m going to get some drinks,” said Jules, leaving Billie with the others.
Mila was just telling Hope about Agatha’s new-found musical abilities when someone opened the door and jostled Billie out of the way.
“Oops, sorry,” Amelia said. Then she pulled up short, eyes widening. “If it isn’t Billie Brooke.”
“Back in the pub again,” Cass added, coming in behind her.
Billie’s throat tightened. “Uh…”
“Let me get you a drink,” said Amelia.
Just as she left, Jules returned, handing Billie a half-pint glass that she took automatically even though she’d never liked beer at all. “I’ll be back in a tick,” Jules said. “I just need to run down to the cellar and change the keg, Josh is run off his feet up here.”
She disappeared and someone that Billie didn’t recognize stepped up on the tiny stage and began a rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart that would, in some circles, be defined as a crime against humanity.
“So,” Hope said, turning to Billie. “You never did tell us why you came back to Whitebridge.”
Billie opened her mouth even though she didn’t know what she was going to say, but was prevented from embarrassing herself any further by Amelia appearing with another half-pint of beer and shoving it into her other hand.
“I’ve got to sign up for karaoke,” Amelia said, rushing off.
Billie looked down at her two full hands, then looked over at Hope who still had a questioning look on her face, and then at Jules who was leaning on the bar chatting and laughing with someone. Shit.
She felt like she was about to hyperventilate or pass out or something. “Need to put these down,” she croaked, turning away from Hope so fast that she spilled beer from one of the glasses.
She pushed through the crowd, finding her way to a corner that had a handily placed shelf so she could deposit both glasses on it.
What was she doing here?
“Here, you’re Billie Brooke, aren’t you?” asked an older man, nudging her. “I remember you from when you did that concert in the village hall. You played a good fiddle. What about you get up there and give us a tune when this nonsense is finished?”
“I, um, I don’t play anymore,” she managed to get out.
“You don’t?” He cocked his head and stared at her. “Bit odd that, a fiddle player that doesn’t play the fiddle.”
“It’s a violin,” Billie couldn’t help herself saying.
“Same difference.”
“Not really,” Billie began. “For a start, there’s the issue of steel strings—”
