Page 16 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

Libby felt a little sheepish. The day had dragged at home, without work or being able to make any chocolate, and so she had decided to arrive for gin night a little bit earlier than usual.

Libby sniffed the air. ‘Something smells delicious,’ she said.

‘It’s my garlic bread,’ said Ryan, leading her into the large lounge. ‘Don’t worry. There’s enough for poker night with the boys, as well as you ladies.’

‘Glad to hear it,’ said Libby, licking her lips. She knew how good Ryan’s cooking was.

She had known the Connolly brothers all of her life. Ryan was like a big brother, always looking out for her. Her relationship with Ethan was always destined to be more complicated. Perhaps because they were too alike, she thought.

Ryan’s smile slipped as he placed another log onto the fire. ‘How are you doing, Libs?’ he asked, as he straightened back up. ‘I heard about your job.’

‘I’m fine,’ she said automatically.

He stared at her in response until her shoulders sagged. ‘Okay. I’m not fine,’ she confessed. ‘But I will be. It was just a bit of a shock, that’s all.’

The shock was still reverberating around her daily life, she realised and she’d only been unemployed for two days. She hadn’t slept well, tossing and turning, fretting about where the money was going to come from to support her and her dad. Then she had ended up finally falling asleep at five o’clock in the morning and oversleeping. This upset her dad with his routine as she was having her breakfast when he was usually in the kitchen alone with his radio and the daily crossword in his newspaper.

It hadn’t been the best of starts to Libby’s new life being full-time back at home. Her dad hadn’t said anything further about her losing the job but she was sure that he must have been disappointed in her.

‘Will you go for another flight attendant job?’ asked Ryan.

‘If any come up,’ she replied.

But the thought didn’t bring her joy. Over the years, she had slowly begun to shut herself away from the parties and socialising that most of the crew enjoyed when they reached their destination. In fact, she had actually become what the rest of the staff called a ‘slam clicker’ on layovers, which meant that she would shut the hotel door when she arrived and didn’t see any fellow crew members until they were ready to fly again.

In a way, it was the best part of the whole trip. This was her selfish time, where she could curl up and research bean to bar recipes and dream up new chocolate flavours. Sometimes, if they had landed in the right place, she would spend her free time looking around the local food scene to get ideas for different flavours, such as sweet nutmeg whilst wandering through the souks of Marrakech or dark rum when she was staying in Jamaica.

The thought of going back to work on an airplane depressed her however necessary it may be for her bank balance. But what choice did she have?

Katy suddenly appeared from their bedroom, wrapped only in a large bath towel.

‘Tell me I’m amazing!’ she announced with a huge smile on her face as she waved her mobile at them both.

‘Do I have to?’ asked Libby, rolling her eyes.

‘I will if she won’t,’ said Ryan, leaning forward to kiss his girlfriend’s lips.

‘Mmm,’ said Katy, giving Ryan a wink. ‘But you already knew that, didn’t you?’

Ryan leant back with a grin. ‘So what have you thought up this time and how much work is going to be added to my already hectic schedule?’ he murmured.

‘Actually, this time it’s all about Libby,’ said Katy, turning to face her.

Libby gave a start. ‘Me?’ she said. ‘What about me?’

Katy nodded. ‘Well, I got to thinking about your delicious chocolate truffles,’ she began.

‘Right,’ said Libby slowly, wondering where this was going. ‘Is this about putting more chocolate in the coffee shop?’

‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea, but this was more about making a living from your chocolate,’ carried on Katy. ‘So I think the best idea is that you upscale your business.’

‘Upscale?’ Libby blinked rapidly. ‘I don’t think you’ve got the space here, have you?’

‘Unless you want to work outside,’ said Ryan, glancing at the tiny corner kitchen. ‘But you know that we’ll support you no matter what.’

‘Of course,’ said Katy, nodding. ‘But the amount of chocolates you need to produce probably wouldn’t even fit in the old ticket office, to be honest.’

‘What are you talking about?’ asked Libby, completely nonplussed.