Page 43 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

‘Grab your coat,’ he found himself saying. ‘Let’s go to the pub and get drunk.’

He had almost expected her to refuse, but, to his grateful surprise, she nodded and said, ‘Yeah. Definitely.’

And so they switched off the lights in the shop, locked up and headed across to the pub, leaving the broken-down tractor still in the middle of the shop floor.

18

Amber shivered as they went from the cold dark air of an October’s night to the warm and somewhat welcoming Black Swan pub.

She hadn’t thought to change her clothes since the tractor had stopped working and felt filthy, probably looked it too, she thought. She checked Josh’s appearance and saw that he had various smudges across his face and clothes. She instantly knew that she probably looked just as bad.

‘What the hell happened to you two?’ asked Belle, behind the bar and goggle-eyed, confirming Amber’s suspicions. ‘I only saw you a few hours ago and you looked, what’s the word, oh yeah, clean!’

‘Don’t ask,’ Josh told her, shaking his head. ‘And for God’s sake don’t mention this to my grandmother. Wine, please. Make it a bottle, would you?’

Belle looked surprised as she continued to take in their smoky and dishevelled appearances. ‘White or red?’

Josh looked at Amber in question.

‘White, please,’ she told him.

‘Go grab those armchairs by the fire and I’ll bring it over,’ he said.

The battered leather armchairs were surprisingly comfortable, thought Amber as she sat down. Or perhaps she was just so tired and shocked that she didn’t care any more.

As Josh walked back from the bar, she noticed that his jeans were covered in oil and various dirty marks. She supposed if he didn’t mind, then she shouldn’t fret over her appearance either. But it was always a battle to fight her inner critic.

‘No beer tonight?’ she said, as he shrugged off his jacket and sat down in the battered chair on the other side of the table.

‘I fancied a glass of wine and if you’ve tasted the house wine they’ve got behind the bar, you’d understand that it’d be safer to go for an unopened bottle,’ he told her, placing the wine and glasses on the small wobbly wooden table between them. ‘Besides, I need a big drink after that little incident.’

Despite the dark lighting and quiet atmosphere of the pub, it was cosy sitting next to the flames as the logs crackled.

As he poured out their drinks, Josh carried on, ‘I’ve also ordered chips and a pizza to share. If they’re undercooked, we can always heat them up here on the fire.’

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I’m starving.’

‘Yeah, it’s thirsty work ruining a shop.’ He handed her a large glass of wine. ‘Cheers,’ he said, raising his own glass at her.

She smiled. ‘Cheers,’ she replied and took a sip of the crisp white wine. ‘Mmm, I needed that.’

‘Me too,’ he said with a grunt as he leant back against the cushions.

‘I don’t think you’ve entirely ruined the shop,’ she told, him although she couldn’t stop herself giggling. ‘Sorry,’ she said, blushing as he looked sharply at her.

‘You’re OK,’ he said, after a beat, his blue eyes softening as he continued to look at her. ‘I’d probably be laughing too if I wasn’t weeping with despair on the inside.’

‘Maybe it isn’t as bad as you think,’ she told him.

‘The bank is threatening to repossess the place unless we start making a profit,’ he told her. ‘We have no customers and the small amount that we do have now can’t even come in because there’s a bloody tractor in the middle of the shop floor.’

‘I never said it was perfect,’ she muttered, giving him a sheepish grin.

She was grateful to see him smile at her joke. ‘Yeah,’ he said, before blowing out a sigh.

‘Is it really that bad with the bank?’ she asked.

He nodded in reply.