Page 19 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

‘Oh.’ She was a little taken aback by this observation, and somewhat flattered. ‘Well, thanks, yes. I – you know, I was going to go into teaching, but it just didn’t . . .’

‘Didn’t work out?’

‘Exactly, yes.’

He nodded. ‘Life doesn’t always go to plan. Not necessarily a bad thing.’

She smiled. Somehow he was turning her greatest disaster into a positive life choice; it was a point of view she’d never considered before. She was scatter-brained Jen, the one who could never quite get it together, the one who got left behind while everyone else forged ahead with successful careers, marriages and families.

He sipped his drink, gazing at her with interest. ‘I think you’re an unusual person, Jen.’

‘Unusual?’ She wasn’t sure whether to be offended or flattered.

He nodded. ‘Most people make the safe choice, I think. Take the job. Marry the bloke.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘I mean, I take it you’re not . . . ?’

She shook her head. ‘Free as a bird.’

A small smile shivered over his lips as she said this. ‘It takes someone special to choose another path. To follow their heart, you know?’

Jen took a sip of her drink, realising that she’d had more than she thought, and her head was buzzing a little. Maybe it wasn’t just the gin. She looked into Anthony’s steady blue eyes as he watched her, taking her in, and she felt something completely new. She felt that he saw something in her that no one else did. She felt she was being taken seriously, that her lifestyle had been a choice rather than an accident, and that her choice was being respected.

‘Well, you must have done the same, made those decisions too,’ she said, her voice feeling a little thick. Must be the gin. ‘Right? You’re a writer. You’ve chosen that over a boring nine-to-five, haven’t you?’

He turned so that his body fully faced her, draining his whisky and looking at her intently. ‘Not everyone understands, do they?’

She shook her head. No one in her life understood. Her parents were disappointed, her friends confused. Julia was disdainful, or at least, that’s what Jen assumed; she tried to avoid putting herself in the position to hear Julia’s opinion of her life.

Perhaps coming to Babblebrook had been a gift, after all. Who would’ve thought that this would be where she’d meet the one person who might truly understand her? She wondered, as she stared at Anthony’s impossibly beautiful face and those eyes that seemed to take everything in, whether perhaps this wasn’t exactly where she was meant to be, after all.

He placed his empty glass on the bar and looked up at her through the hair that fell over his eyes. ‘So, Jen,’ he said. ‘Can I get your number?’

Chapter Nine

She floated out of the bar, warm with drink and excitement.

She hadn’t been looking forward to her birthday, she never did. Another year chalked off, another hideous December to get through, with everyone frantically trying to prove they had some picture-perfect life. She could do without the whole thing, frankly.

But then things had taken a turn for the better.

When the barmaid called last orders, Anthony had packed up his notebook, drained his whisky and leaned in to say goodbye. Jen’s heart thudded as she imagined him kissing her, but he just spoke softly, his lips brushing her cheek.

‘I’ll message you. OK?’

Finding herself struck dumb, she simply nodded. He smiled, a huge and slightly dorky grin that she found endearing.

‘OK,’ he said. ‘See you later, birthday girl.’

He glanced back once as he walked away, soon swallowed by the crowds. Dreamily, Jen drifted over to where her friends were waiting. Lou was slumped on a bar stool, resting her head on her crossed arms, and Rich was stifling a yawn. They both looked like they’d been longing for their beds for the past hour.

Ted grinned as she approached. ‘Well. Happy birthday to you, eh?’

She couldn’t help smiling back. But seeing Rich rub his eyes and Lou struggling to keep hers open, she felt an uncomfortable stab of guilt.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I made you all come here and—’

‘And then talked to someone else all night, yes,’ Rich said. ‘But it’s your birthday, so I suppose we’ll have to forgive you.’

Jen bit her lip. He smiled, but didn’t sound particularly forgiving, and if she was honest it hadn’t occurred to her that she’d abandoned her friends on the weekend they were spending together. She’d been too caught up in the excitement of meeting her train guy to think of them. She’d only been apologising for keeping them out late when they were clearly tired.