Page 11 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Dodgy Del, Frank and Stanley had left an hour ago and the only customers left were a small group of local mums who had come in to celebrate something and were sharing gossip and laughter over some drinks. They didn’t order any food so had obviously eaten in The Black Swan before and experienced Aunty Angie’s awful food.

And that was it. No other customers were likely to come in at all that evening.

Her fear over the inn being sold was equal to it being shut down anyway due to lack of profit.

She looked around the lounge, trying to envisage what any newcomer would see. Being built in the sixteenth century, she had always thought that it was full of charm and history. But screwing her eyes up, she looked beyond her rose-tinted glasses and knew that it needed serious money and renovation.

The oak beams certainly gave the large lounge some charm, but the ancient maroon patterned wallpaper was peeling off the walls and the fringed lamps dotted about didn’t help the feeling of darkness, and the oak floor needed a proper polish.

Yet, despite the overall dark and gloomy façade, there was still an attractive nature to the place. Although that was probably due to the fireplaces. The largest was on the outside wall and was enormous, complete with inglenook and large mantelpiece. The smaller one was on the inside wall to her right, next to the additional lounge. That probably made it feel much darker than it could be inside, she thought. However, she also knew that the second lounge, which had been boarded up years ago due to lack of customers, was in equally a bad state as the main one.

It wasn’t any wonder that nobody wanted to come in here, she thought, blowing out a sigh.

So when the front door suddenly opened, Belle looked up in surprise.

To her amazement, it was Pete Kennedy standing in the doorway. And even more surprising, he appeared to be alone and not with his family.

As he walked towards the bar, Belle noticed the group of mums glance over and sit up a little straighter in their seats at the sight a handsome stranger. He flashed them a nod and a wide smile, which caused a wave of giggles to cascade around the group.

The smile grew wider as he came up to stand on the other side of the bar. ‘Hi,’ he said.

Belle smiled back. ‘Welcome home, stranger,’ she said.

Despite her fears about the embarrassment of facing him again after their kiss, she really was pleased to see him. His skin was golden from the warmth of the Far East and his short dark hair had flecks of a lighter colour from the sun. He was as good-looking as ever.

‘Thanks,’ he told her, sliding onto one of the bar stools. ‘It’s good to be back.’

‘Liar,’ she said quickly. She knew that he had always hated the fuss that erupted whenever he came back to see his family.

He laughed. ‘You know me so well.’

‘They’re just pleased to see you,’ she told him.

‘Yeah,’ he said, his smile quickly fading. ‘So what about a drink?’

‘Well, you’re in the right place,’ she replied.

Pete laughed once more, a throaty deep laugh which caused the group of women to glance over once more at him.

His teeth gleamed white against his suntan. Belle felt like a vampire, such was the white of her skin. She had tried sunbathing, but her skin always went from bright white to scarlet in a matter of hours, so she tended to stay in the shade instead.

‘So what would you like to drink?’ she asked.

‘I’ll have a pint of beer, please,’ said Pete. ‘It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed a decent one of those.’

‘Nearly three years,’ said Belle, before immediately regretting her words. She hadn’t even realised that she’d been counting all this time that he’d been away.

He raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Quite right. Three years next month, in fact.’

‘I only noticed because it’s been so much easier to get intelligent conversation since you left,’ she said, turning away to pour his beer and hoping he couldn’t see the blush she felt on her cheeks.

‘I see,’ she heard him murmur, with a chuckle.

‘So how was life in Singapore?’ she asked, keeping an eye on the beer and away from Pete.

‘Wonderful,’ he said. ‘Right up until a month ago when I lost my job.’

‘Such a shame,’ said Belle, placing a pint of beer on the counter in front of him. ‘But business is tough everywhere at the moment.’