Page 45 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

‘Is that why you keep drawing?’ he suddenly said.

She was confused. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You said the other day that drawing and designing were your safety net. I get that you had a bad time in New York. But why did you need one when you were growing up?’ he asked, before shaking his head. ‘Sorry. None of my business.’

Amber took a large gulp of wine. And then another before answering. ‘Growing up can be hard sometimes. We moved around a lot. That makes it difficult to make friends. And some of the other girls, kids, can be mean.’

The silence stretched out as Josh studied her thoughtfully. ‘I see. That must have been tough.’

‘It didn’t do wonders for my self-confidence,’ she told him.

‘So why were you drawing last night?’ he asked. ‘You know, when I found you in the shop.’

Amber gulped, her cheeks suddenly filled with heat as she remembered standing there in just a towel. She took another large glug of wine but managed to spill most of it down her chin.

‘I thought you were a burglar,’ he told her, smiling. ‘Albeit slightly underdressed.’

‘What would I be stealing?’ she muttered, still blushing.

‘You’ve got a point there,’ he said.

Thankfully his line of questioning was interrupted by the entertainment that Mick had booked for the evening. Amber and Josh gave up all hope of a conversation for the next hour as they struggled to hear themselves think over the ever-increasingly out-of-tune Coldplay fake singer. So they finished off the bottle of wine instead.

During an all too brief pause in the singing, Josh went and bought another bottle.

‘It’s not like we’ve got to rush to get up in the morning,’ he told her, refilling her glass to the brim. ‘The shop is empty.’

‘Apart from the tractor,’ she reminded him, before taking a large glug of wine. Her head was beginning to go fuzzy, but she didn’t care. The alcohol was dulling the pain of the singing.

‘I’d almost forgotten about that! What are we going to do?’ said Josh, running a hand through his hair.

‘I think we should leave it there,’ she told him, laughing.

‘We may have to if I can’t get the damn thing going,’ he replied, also starting to laugh.

She took another sip of wine. ‘If only it were prettier,’ she thought out loud.

‘Excuse me, but that is, was, my dad’s prize tractor,’ he told her, in a fake haughty tone. ‘I’ll have you know that it’s a classic.’

‘A classic pile of rusty junk,’ she replied, feeling brave with a few glasses of wine inside.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘That tractor meant everything to my dad.’

‘I know,’ she told him. ‘I was only joking. Maybe if it were painted it would look better.’

Josh stared into the flames. ‘My old man loved tinkering with that thing. Every spare moment. “We’re going to get it working”, he would say. Every time. There was always hope that it would be useful to us. But it doesn’t work.’

‘Maybe it doesn’t need to,’ said Amber, staring at the flames as she tried to think of a solution.

‘You’re not seriously suggesting that we keep the tractor where it is,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘You’re going to feel pretty silly in the morning when you sober up.’

‘You just need a bit of vision,’ she told him.

‘All I need are earplugs if that singer starts again,’ he replied.

Josh was looking a bit drunk, she realised as she glanced across at him. He had closed his eyes in exhaustion and she noted what a handsome face it was.

When his eyes suddenly flew open to look directly at her, she quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t caught her staring.