Page 63 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

‘Doesn’t mean that you’ll get any here though,’ said Josh, walking in.

‘Nonsense,’ said Frank. ‘They’ll be lining up the street, I’m sure. Especially when I tell my workers next door about it.’

Frank’s prediction of how popular the coffee machine would be turned out to be almost true as the staff from the newspaper offices began to head over for a coffee.

‘Fill her up,’ said Tom, the editor, holding out a large mug. ‘I need something to offset that disgusting house wine at the Mucky Duck last night.’

‘Mucky Duck?’ asked Amber, trying to work out what he meant.

‘Let’s face it, The Black Swan is far too elegant a name for that place,’ said Tom.

‘You drank the house wine at the pub?’ asked Josh, his eyes raised.

Tom grimaced. ‘Never again. Thanks,’ he added as Amber handed over the coffee. ‘How drunk was I that I don’t recall a large red tractor in the middle of this place yesterday?’ he carried on, before taking a welcome sip of his drink.

‘It was covered up until last night,’ said Amber. ‘What do you think?’

‘It’s, er, different,’ he said, with a smile.

Josh gave Amber a look but said nothing.

Molly rushed into the shop next. ‘Oooh! I heard there was coffee in here!’ she said before stopping dead. ‘Nice tractor! What a lovely colour!’

‘Go on then,’ said Tom, with a dramatic sigh. ‘This drink’s on me.’

‘Thanks, boss,’ said Molly, smiling, holding out her mug.

Amber filled it up and handed it back to Molly.

‘Where are the doughnuts?’ asked Tom, looking around. ‘Buns? Anything bread-based? I need carbs to mop up my headache.’

Amber shook her head. ‘Sorry. No bakery-type things apart from bread. We’ve got some boxes of biscuits on special offer though.’ She pointed to where they had made a display on one of the shelves.

Tom headed over and picked up a box. ‘That’ll do,’ he said.

‘Mmm, Jammie Dodgers,’ said Molly, looking at the list of biscuits on the box.

‘Oi! Get your own,’ snapped Tom, before putting down some coins on the counter. But Amber saw him give Molly a friendly nudge with his elbow before he headed out of the shop.

On his way out, Tom passed Belle on the veranda. ‘Is the coffee machine working?’ she asked, coming inside and closing the door. ‘I thought I’d better check that it hadn’t blown up or anything.’

‘It’s brilliant,’ Amber told her.

‘Great,’ said Belle, before looking at Molly. ‘My aunt and uncle run the pub and want to throw everyone from the newspaper a party on Friday night to welcome you all to the village.’

‘Really?’ Molly looked thrilled. ‘How lovely.’

‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much,’ Belle told her with a grimace. ‘And you might want to eat before you get there.’

They watched as Josh staggered into the shop carrying another pile of pumpkins that he had bought and placed them next to the till.

‘We can make it a Halloween party!’ said Molly, clapping her hands excitedly.

Belle raised her eyebrows. ‘To be honest, it would certainly match the whole mood of the pub, so what the hell.’

‘We’ll have to think about what to wear. I’ve got some great outfits,’ said Molly, looking at Amber. ‘What about you?’

Amber shook her head. ‘I’m not sure I’ve got anything suitable,’ she muttered, blushing. Parties always made her feel a bit on edge as to the sheer amount of people in them, let alone dressing up in a strange outfit.