Page 32 of Never Gonna Happen

‘No problem,’ said Emily, plodding back upstairs to retrieve her suitcase. Somehow she’d managed two Christmases dating a man she couldn’t tell her parents about, and now she’d brought a man home who was only pretending to be her boyfriend. Nice work, Wilkinson, you’ve really got your shit together.

‘Jamie,’ said David over dinner of chicken Kievs, chips and peas, thankfully cooked properly by Carol rather than cremated by Martin. ‘Is there any chance that you can play chess?’

Jamie nodded. ‘I can, actually. My dad . . . used to work for a software company that had an online chess game. So I played a lot as a kid.’

Emily smiled to herself. She was pretty sure Mr Hunter had owned the company that created one of the early versions of online chess.

‘FINALLY,’ said David, holding his beer aloft in celebration. ‘After a lifetime of these philistines, there’s a chess player in the family.’

‘Steady on,’ said Emily, not wanting to make Jamie run for the hills.

‘Do we still have a chess set, Dad?’ David asked.

Martin nodded. ‘In the cupboard under the stairs, next to the KerPlunk.’

‘This chicken is lovely, Carol,’ said Jamie, polishing off the last bit of his Kiev.

‘It’s from Iceland,’ she said.

‘What, the country?’ asked Jamie, his brow furrowed in confusion.

‘No, the shop,’ laughed Carol. ‘He’s funny, this one.’

After dinner Carol and Martin headed into the lounge to watch a Disney film with their grandsons, while Jamie stayed in the dining room to play chess and drink beer with David. Emily and Jo went into the kitchen to open a bottle of prosecco and wash up.

‘He’s an absolute catch, Em,’ said Jo. ‘Proper dishy.’

Emily had always liked Jo; she’d met David at university and now worked as a primary school teacher in Newcastle. David had been a bit wild in his youth, but Jo had convinced him to settle down and have a family. They clearly adored each other and their boys and seemed to have a happy life up north. Emily had been up to visit them a few times and loved the city; she just wished she could go more often.

‘Yeah, he’s great,’ she said vaguely, ‘but it’s early days.’

‘What does he do again?’

‘He works on the estate where I work. Looks after the horses.’

‘What do you know about horses?’ asked Jo with a grin.

‘Not much, but I’m learning. Jamie’s teaching me to ride.’

‘I bet he is,’ snorted Jo, and they both fell about laughing until David came in to ask them to be quiet because he was attempting the Scandinavian Defence.

Emily sat cross-legged on the sofa in her pyjamas, hugging her pillow. It was nearly midnight and the house was finally silent, David having gone off to bed once he’d finally claimed a chess win. Jamie was lying on his side on the airbed, propping his head up on one elbow. He was wearing a fitted white T-shirt and it took all that remained of Emily’s self-control not to crawl over and lick him.

‘Sorry if my family are a bit much,’ she whispered.

‘I think they’re amazing,’ said Jamie. ‘I’ve never really spent time with a family like this, where everyone actually likes each other.’

‘We don’t have much, but there’s plenty of love to go round,’ said Emily. ‘Sorry, that sounds really cheesy.’

‘It’s true though, they’re brilliant. I’m really glad I’m here.’

Emily smiled, her heart full. ‘I’m glad too. And as an added bonus, you get to meet Kelly tomorrow.’

‘I can’t wait,’ he said, punching his pillow and settling down on his back.

‘I have a question for you,’ said Emily.

‘Go on,’ he said, sounding nervous.