Page 45 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘Now that Alex and I have moved back into our apartment, maybe we can use it just the two of us in the evening when nobody’s around,’ said Hannah, blushing despite her cheeky grin. ‘It could be very romantic.’

‘Only if Tiny doesn’t decide to join you,’ Ella told her, glancing down at the huge dog sprawled in front of the fireplace.

Hannah looked across the coffee table at Beth who was sitting opposite her. ‘You okay? You’re awfully quiet tonight.’

Beth looked at her friend and sighed. ‘I was just thinking,’ she began, before her voice trailed off. She was embarrassed to even entertain her current thoughts without expressing them out loud.

‘Is this about the blog?’ asked Ella. ‘Because I think it’s starting to look amazing. Especially with Dotty’s photographs.’

‘I love that one she took with the moon last night,’ said Lily, nodding.

Beth and Ella had worked hard on the look of the blog that week and Beth had to concede that with the addition of Dotty’s shots of the night sky, it was beginning to look far more professional.

‘And I’m going to mention it on my own blog this weekend so get ready for an influx of visitors,’ carried on Ella. ‘And now that we’ve got the affiliate marketing set up for those telescopes and other stuff I don’t understand, those clicks are going to start to make you serious money each month.’

‘Great,’ said Beth, nodding.

But her heart and head weren’t in her blog that evening, despite it being important to her income going forward.

Finally, Ella rolled her eyes before giving her a nudge with her elbow. ‘Come on. What gives with you tonight? Are you in love with your fake boyfriend already?’ she asked, with a wide grin.

Beth gave a start. ‘Noah? No. I mean, he was perfect for a pretend boyfriend but…’ Her voice trailed off. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what Noah had said to her that morning. ‘Do you think I dumb myself down for people?’

‘What are you talking about?’ asked Lily, looking bewildered. ‘You’re the brightest person I know.’

‘Yeah, you’re a geek,’ added Ella, nodding. ‘I mean, I don’t understand half of the gobbledygook you say when you come up with all that scientific stuff, to be honest. Soif you’re dumbing down then I must be really stupid. By the way, nobody agree with me on that point, okay?’

‘Okay,’ agreed Hannah before looking at Beth. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I mean, do I change when I’m with my boyfriends?’ asked Beth.

Ella inclined her head and stared at her for a minute. ‘Maybe a little,’ she said. ‘You’re not quite your usual chatty self around them.’

‘That’s right,’ said Hannah, nodding thoughtfully. ‘I’ve just realised that you’re not yourself. You go quiet when you’re with them. Although that could have been because nobody could get a word in with Jeremy, from what I saw.’

Beth sighed and leant back against the sofa cushions. ‘So Noah was right,’ she said.

‘He pointed that out to you?’ Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Maybe he’s not so bad after all.’

‘He’s absolutely not that bad if he’s helping to build the lodges for us,’ said Hannah. ‘Not that I think he ever was, according to Grandad.’

‘So what’s going on?’ asked Lily, looking at Beth.

‘It was just something that Noah pointed out,’ Beth told her. ‘He said that I let Jeremy take over what I was saying as well as what I was wearing.’ She sighed. ‘And I guess he was right.’

‘Which is why Jeremy is a louse and we hate him,’ said Ella.

Lily nodded. ‘He was always a bit too full of himself.’

‘He made me feel small,’ said Hannah, looking downcast.

Lily grabbed her hand. ‘Which you’re absolutely not,’ she said, giving her friend’s hand a squeeze. ‘You’re wonderful and the most brilliant baker. Which is why the café is such a success.’

Hannah looked across at Beth. ‘And you’re successful too,’ she said quickly, ever fair.

Beth shook her head. ‘You’re sweet but even I can tell that’s an outrageous lie.’ But as her friends began to protest, she held up her hand to quieten them. ‘That’s okay. I know that I haven’t really got a career in astronomy.’

‘Well, you’ve been a huge help around the café these past couple of days,’ Lily told her. ‘And it’s really busy at the weekends so we always need a hand.’