Page 42 of Secret Paths

Hunter, who is sitting on Alexandra’s other side with Peter beside him, lifts his pint. “It was a very dramatic sneeze.”

Alexandra turns towards him. “Tell Mandy Mark is nice.”

Hunter pauses with the glass halfway to his mouth. “Mark is nice.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Compelling.”

“He turns up on time, makes excellent food and has not yet shouted at anyone in the kitchen,” Hunter adds.

“There,” Alexandra says, as if he has delivered a character reference worthy of parliament.

“That sounds less like romance and more like probation feedback.”

Hunter shrugs. “From what I understand, they are not completely unrelated.”

Peter looks at me then.

Not the amused look he usually gives me when Alexandra starts meddling. Not the bright, teasing one that makes it too easy to forget we are in public.

This one is quieter.

Odd.

As if he is waiting to see what I will say, and already bracing himself for it.

“I am not interested in dating,” I say.

Alexandra waves a hand. “That is because your options have been terrible.”

“My options?”

“The village blokes.” She pulls a face. “Half of them are married, the other half think buying you a drink means explaining their divorce in detail, and the rest still live with their mothers.”

“That is an extremely generous use of rest.”

“I mean it. There have been no prospects.”

Peter’s fingers tighten around his glass.

I notice because I should not be noticing him at all.

“There is nothing wrong with being selective,” I say.

“That is not the same as retiring from the entire process.”

“I have not retired.”

“No?”

“I'm forty-three. I know what I want from life, and I am simply not accepting new applicants.”

Alexandra laughs, but Peter does not.

He looks at me again, and there it is. That same odd expression. Not hurt, exactly. Not annoyed, either.

More as though I have said something he expected and disliked anyway.

Peter sets his pint down. “Right. Before Lexi starts printing application forms for Mandy’s love life, let me offer a fresh disaster.”