Page 116 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘And did you?’ she asked, needing to know. ‘Did you fall in love with me all over again?’

He nodded, looking deeply into her eyes. ‘As soon as I came home for Dad’s funeral there you were again. And we kissed, but I was in such a wretched state that I didn’t want to cause you any more hurt.’ He held her hand over his heart. ‘You’re a part of me, you see? I only bought the inn because of you. This is where I belong. My home is here. Most importantly, so are you.’

And then he kissed her and she knew that everything was going to be all right. That Pete was with her forever.

‘I love you,’ he murmured.

‘I love you too,’ she told him. ‘It’s always been you. From the very first time I saw you too, I think I started to fall in love with you. There’s never been anyone else for me.’

He stroked her cheek with his hand. ‘I’m never going to sell the inn,’ he told her. ‘I’m here to stay. If you can put up with me forever, that is.’

She smiled and turned her head to kiss his fingers. ‘You’re my new dream. You and the inn.’ She leaned forward.

‘It feels like home again here,’ he said. ‘You’ve made me realise what a home really is.’

‘By the way, it’sourinn,’ she told him, pulling his head closer to hers. ‘Ourhome.’

‘Yes, it is,’ he said, closing the gap between them until they were kissing again.

Hearing the countdown to midnight begin, they took each other’s hand and rushed back indoors to celebrate with their family and friends.

A huge cheer went up inside the inn as the last bell for midnight rang and the new year began.

Everyone was hugging and cheering, but Belle could only think of Pete’s hand still in hers. She was safe, she was home and she was loved.

When the noise died down a bit, Josh asked everyone to raise their glasses. ‘I’d like to thank our hosts for a wonderful evening,’ he said. ‘And I now declare this inn The Mucky Duck no longer. Here’s to The Black Swan and to Pete and Belle.’

‘To Pete and Belle!’ chorused everyone.

Pete shot her a wink before putting his arm around Belle and drawing her close for a kiss in front of their family and friends. She barely registered the clapping and whooping from their audience. All she could think was that dreams really could come true if you wished for them hard enough.

61

The bright February sunshine was reflected on the surface of the slow-moving river as Pete stood outside the entrance to the inn and looked across to the other side, whilst he sipped his morning coffee.

Already, the crocus bulbs were pushing up alongside the river and spring was hopefully just around the corner.

He could see Josh and Amber hanging out some heart-shaped bunting across the front of The Cranbridge Stores in time for Valentine’s Day that weekend.

Josh looked up from his stepladder and Pete could almost feel his brother rolling his eyes at all the hearts that were decorating the shop.

He grinned to himself, glad that he was growing closer to Josh with each passing day. It felt good to be friends with his brother again.

He was also enjoying talking to all the villagers and not being stuck behind a desk on the phone every day. The fresh air from the village seemed to revitalise him and watching the passing of the seasons gave a rhythm to his life that he hadn’t realised he had missed so much.

‘Good morning,’ said his mum, as she walked towards him, arm in arm with Grandma Tilly. ‘Beautiful day.’

‘It is,’ he told them before giving them both a kiss.

‘Aww, look how pretty the shop looks,’ said Grandma Tilly, gazing across the river.

‘Not just the shop these days,’ said his mum, sounding proud.

The three of them turned to look up at the outside of the inn. With its snowy white paint and colourful hanging baskets and flower boxes, it looked cosy and welcoming.

‘Angie’s done a smashing job with those flowers,’ said his mum.

Pete had to agree. Since Mick and Angie had returned from their cruise, they had seemed like a completely different couple as they had settled into a small cottage on the outskirts of the village. Angie had decided that her future lay in a career in gardening and so had begun by decorating the outside of the inn. Mick was enjoying his long-earned retirement but he was happy to help out behind the bar a couple of nights a week to catch up on the gossip. It also meant that Pete could enjoy some time alone with Belle.