Page 17 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

He grinned again and shrugged. ‘I don’t remember that.’

They smiled at each other, reliving a shared past. ‘We had some fun,’ she said.

He nodded, staring down into his beer. ‘Do you remember all those nights? You and me, sitting up talking. Putting the world to rights.’

Jen caught his eye. She did remember those nights. She didn’t want to remember all of them.

They were silent for a moment.

‘I know it was – not the easiest time. For you,’ he said, so softly she could barely hear. ‘But I’m glad I could be there for you.’

Jen swallowed. She nodded. Remembering now more than just the drunken escapades, more than the earnest heart-to-hearts, more than the pranks they played. She remembered Ted, listening as she poured her heart out, holding her as she cried, making her laugh when she felt the world was ending. She remembered the best friend she’d ever had.

‘You know,’ he said. He was looking at her as he used to, with warmth and compassion and steadiness. ‘I’m glad I could be the one to help you through. But sometimes, I wonder what would’ve happened if—’

But Jen never got to find out what Ted was wondering. She’d stopped listening. Because over his shoulder she’d caught sight of someone, nursing a whisky at the far end of the bar as he wrote in a notebook, his dark hair falling into his eyes.

Train Guy.

Chapter Eight

Jen grabbed Ted’s arm, and he stopped speaking mid-sentence.

‘What?’ He turned to see where she was staring.

‘Don’t look!’ she shrieked, squeezing his forearm. She made such a noise that it reached Lou and Rich even over the din of the music, causing them both to frown and stare at her.

‘What?’ Lou mouthed.

Jen jerked her head towards the shadowy corner where the very definition of handsomeness sat. ‘Train Guy,’ she bellowed, only to find that there was a lull in the music and her words were clearly audible to the surrounding crowds.

Flushing, she glanced over. The kerfuffle had roused him from whatever literary masterpiece he was working on, and he was gazing around, looking vaguely in her direction, frowning.

Luckily his eye didn’t fall on her.

Jen tried to swig from her empty glass, and found herself disappointed.

‘Oh my God.’ Ted was laughing so hard that his shoulders were heaving. ‘You have not got any better at this stuff.’

‘I have, it’s just—you lot are cramping my style.’

‘Want me to go over there and talk you up? You know, like in the old days.’ He grinned. ‘I could tell him you’re an ex of mine who broke my heart and to never let you get away.’

She shrugged. ‘Well, I mean that’s basically true, so . . .’

He slapped her thigh playfully. ‘Or I could tell him you’re a famous actress, or some kind of influencer, maybe . . .’

She laughed. ‘Don’t try to act like you know what that means, old man! No, you know what? I might try just going over there and talking to him. See what happens.’

He dropped his mouth open in mock surprise. ‘Look at you, all grown up. Probably for the best, anyway, I’m a bit rusty at all this. I’d end up telling him you’re some kind of influenza on the Tik-Tok.’

She laughed, a little too much. She was nervous, and she would dearly have liked another cocktail to take a swig of.

Still. It was now or never. Maybe the universe was trying to tell her something by throwing her into Train Guy’s path again.

She took a deep breath and eased herself off the stool, catching Lou’s eye as she made her way over to the corner of the bar. Lou was nodding vigorously, looking a little flushed and, as her gaze fell back to the vision drinking whisky in the corner, fiddling with her wedding ring as though to remind herself of what it signified.

‘Far From the Madding Crowd,’ Jen said as she approached.