Page 76 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

For a second, she couldn’t breathe. She was certain that he was going to kiss her and she was most certainly going to kiss him right back. Her mouth parted in expectation, but as he leaned forward to close the gap, his mobile suddenly rang out.

It was only Joe to tell Ryan that Bob and Eddie were safely home and the state of the roads outside, but the romantic moment was lost.

As Katy began to clear up, she thought back once more to how popular Ryan’s pizzas had been and how he had cooked for people tonight as easily as he did each night for her.

There was obviously a reason why he was against the restaurant idea, but whatever pain he was hiding, she was absolutely certain that it would work.

Katy allowed herself a secret smile. And if Ryan needed a little bit of a push in the right direction, then so be it.

40

Katy woke up on Sunday morning and couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so well.

Despite the coffee shop remaining resolutely quiet all week, that had thankfully been overshadowed by a lovely community gathering when the storm had hit the previous evening.

It seemed to have passed by as she was rewarded with a ray of sunshine beaming through a gap in the bedroom curtains. It looked as if it was going to be another cold but bright day.

She stretched lazily in bed, not even bothering to check her phone. She gave a start at the abrupt change in her usual routine. Was she that relaxed? She was, she decided, with a smile to herself.

She was just contemplating her to-do list for the day when there was a loud knocking at the bedroom door which made her jump.

‘Katy Smith!’ roared Ryan from the other side of the door. ‘Get out here! Now!’

Katy gasped and shrank down in her bed. She knew instantly what had made him so angry.

Whilst Ryan had been tidying up in the kitchen the previous evening, she had hurriedly grabbed some blank paper from the ticket office and written up some posters advertising a brand-new pizza restaurant! She was certain it was a fantastic business opportunity and so had placed them in the windows of the coffee shop.

It wasn’t her fault that she had decided on Ryan’s behalf that they should open it without actually telling him first, was it?

‘Open up or I’m coming in there to get you!’ he shouted.

‘You wouldn’t dare!’ she called back, shuffling down further under the covers. He would hopefully have calmed down by the time she got up.

But, to her astonishment, Ryan opened up the door and marched over to stand next to the bed. ‘Get dressed,’ he said, glaring as he stared down at her. ‘You’re coming downstairs with me now!’

‘I will not!’ she told him. ‘You can’t boss me around like that.’

He didn’t budge. ‘Come with me willingly,’ he told her in a calm but steely tone. ‘Or so help me, I’ll carry you there myself!’

Katy laughed before throwing the duvet over her head. ‘Go on then!’ she called out. ‘I dare you!’

For a brief moment, she thought she had the last laugh. But then she heard him say, ‘If you insist.’

Suddenly he threw off the duvet cover, revealing the pink pyjamas that she had brought with her from her apartment.

But there was no time for her to blush as Ryan stepped forward and swiftly picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift.

‘Wait! I was joking! Let me down!’ she shouted, as he carried her out of the bedroom and through the lounge.

Ryan didn’t say anything, just continued to march through the apartment carrying her over his shoulder.

This was terrible, thought Katy. For a start, her upside head was thumping with all the additional blood rushing into it. Also, Ryan’s hand was on her pyjama-clad bottom as he swept through the apartment and then headed down the stairs.

‘Put me down!’ she shouted, wriggling her legs and feet in protest and managing to kick him in the chest in the process, which gave her a tiny moment of satisfaction.

‘Stop doing that or we’ll both break our bloody necks,’ he snapped.

Once they were on the ground level, he threw open the front door and carried her outside. She realised to her horror that he was carrying her around the station and onto the platform. In broad daylight!