Page 62 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

By then, Beth had stepped back to let everyone just enjoy the show, only talking into the microphone once in a while when anyonehad any questions.

Finally, she brought the evening to a close, inviting everyone to warm up with a drink inside the hotel.

By then, the majority of the crowd were getting a bit cold and were only too happy to head indoors to the snug bar. Quite a few people headed over to thank Beth and tell her how much they had enjoyed themselves, as well as asking a few more technical questions.

Finally everyone had had their fill of the starry skies, and Beth could relax.

‘That was amazing,’ said Noah, who had waited behind to walk back with her.

‘Wasn’t it?’ she said, glancing up as another meteor whizzed across the inky black sky. ‘I know most people think of them as shooting or falling stars, whereas I know that it’s not a star at all. It’s just tiny pieces of space dust burning up in the earth’s atmosphere.’

‘Is that all?’ he asked. ‘How dull.’

She glanced at him and was pleased to see him smiling at his own joke.

‘Well, I did it,’ she told him.

‘You were great,’ he said. ‘Especially dealing with a crowd that size.’

‘Thanks for being my muse once more,’ she told him. ‘It really helped in the beginning when I was so nervous.’

‘I think you’ve outgrown me,’ he replied, as they began to walk up to the path.

‘Never,’ she said. ‘I’ll always need you, I think.’

They exchanged a long look and for a moment she regretted her choice of words until she remembered that it was just Noah.

‘Don’t worry,’ she added. ‘I’m not falling in love with you.’

He smiled at the familiar joke between them.

But despite the success of the evening, Beth’s own smile inreturn felt a little forced. She wasn’t going to fall in love with him, she reminded herself. Noah wasn’t interested in love in the same way that she was.

So why did she keep thinking of those fake kisses in front of Jeremy all those weeks ago and hoping that they might get another opportunity to kiss for real?

33

When the new generator arrived at the end of the month, Noah couldn’t stop himself from smiling at Ben’s delighted reaction.

‘Isn’t it great?’ asked Ben, his face lit up with excitement. ‘It’s like Christmas come early.’

‘Well, Christmas is only a month away,’ replied Noah, looking at the huge metal box placed on a sheltered wall outside of the hotel.

They watched as the two workmen who had arrived with it began to unwrap it ready for installation.

‘It means no more power cuts,’ said Ben. ‘Even when the whole area’s out, we’ll still have electricity. It’s going to stop any food going to waste. We can stay warm and dry but most importantly it means our guests won’t need to leave and we can carry on business as usual.’

Noah could see just how much it meant to his cousin. It had obviously been a huge strain on Ben and the family and now that he understood how precarious the hotel business was, he could see the relief in his cousin’s face.

‘Between this and the lodges, the future’s looking much brighter,’ said Ben. ‘What are your plans for today?’

‘I’m hoping to finish the roof tiles on the last lodge so that will be all four pretty much weatherproofed at last,’ replied Noah.

Ben nodded. ‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘Especially as there’s talk of more high winds early next week. I’ll be over as soon as this is installed.’

‘Okay,’ said Noah. ‘And your grandad is threatening to come over and supervise me at some point with the front door hanging.’

Ben grimaced. ‘Good luck with that. He’ll be desperate to help you.’