Page 49 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

‘You’re Julia’s sister, aren’t you?’ Pat asked. ‘How lovely to have you in Babblebrook! I bet Amy and George are cock-a-hoop.’ She beamed, and leaned in conspiratorially. ‘I’m rubbish at drawing, I just come to keep Matt company, he’s really good.’ She looked as though she might actually burst with pride. ‘Matt, show her your drawings, show her the one you did the other week, of the horse.’

‘Oh—’ Matt blushed. ‘I’m sure she doesn’t want to see my old doodles.’

‘Of course she does. Don’t you, Jen?’

Jen nodded. She really did.

Reluctantly, Matt opened the sketchbook that was on the table in front of him, and flipped the pages until he came to a pencil drawing of a horse’s head. It was beautiful, the shading and angles expertly done, and he had somehow conveyed the softness of the creature’s nature in his depiction of its eyes.

‘Wow.’ Jen was genuinely impressed. ‘You’re a proper talent.’

She fiddled with the sheet of paper that lay in front of her, which had somehow already become smudged and crumpled. There was no way she was ever going to be able to produce anything that beautiful, no matter how talented a teacher Sarah was.

‘Don’t worry,’ Pat said sympathetically. ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re no good. You can just sit with me. I’ll share my secret stash with you.’ She opened the bulging pocket of her cardigan to reveal a handful of Celebrations. ‘Help yourself. Plenty more where they came from.’ She winked and patted her other pocket.

Jen giggled, helping herself to a mini Mars bar. She’d already found her art class buddy, it seemed.

Ted, who’d been standing chatting to Matt, came to sit down next to her.

‘I’m not sure about this arrangement,’ he said, pointing from Jen to Pat, who were both surreptitiously chewing. ‘You’re up to mischief already! I think you should be separated. What do you reckon, Matt?’

Matt laughed, shrugging. ‘No comment from me. I’m not going to risk my snack supply getting cut off.’

‘Good choice,’ Pat said, handing him a chocolate.

Ted grinned and shook his head. ‘You’re all as bad as each other. Seriously, behave for Sarah, though.’

Jen and Pat exchanged a glance and fell into giggles, speaking at the same time.

‘You’re not at school now!’

‘Yes, Mr Piper!’ Pat gave a mock salute.

‘Don’t worry, Ted,’ Matt said. ‘Sarah’s brilliant, she’s been handling Pat’s antics—’

Pat’s head whipped around towards him. ‘Hey! Only Bounties for you from now on.’

‘She’s been handling this mischief for weeks without a ruffled feather, she’ll be fine.’ He smiled warmly at Ted, who grinned back, then leaned over Jen to kiss Pat on her plump, rosy cheek.

‘Don’t think you can get round me that easily,’ she grumbled.

Jen smiled as she watched them. This couple obviously knew Ted well, and he was entirely relaxed and himself in their company. Their cheerful affection was helping to calm Jen’s nerves; she’d never tried drawing and was fairly confident that she about to embarrass herself in front of her best friend, his girlfriend and half the village. She was more than happy to be drawn into Pat’s ‘antics’; they were putting her at ease. And, as she watched the obvious affection between her and Matt, she began to wonder if the films were right after all; lasting love was out there.

‘Right.’ Sarah appeared at the front of the room, her blonde curls tied in an olive-green scarf that matched the Doc Martens she wore. ‘Hi everyone. And a special welcome to our newcomers this week.’ Her gaze snagged on Ted as she scanned the room, and her warm smile broadened. He beamed back. If Jen had detected tension when Ted spoke about Sarah before, there didn’t appear to be any now. ‘So! Shading is what we’re working on today.’

Jen tried to concentrate. She really did want to learn about art so that she could speak Anthony’s language. And maybe even impress him a bit.

But it quickly became clear that, as she suspected, art was not her thing. Her attempts to create anything lifelike just came out as squiggles that, frankly, Amy could have done a better job of drawing. And, when it came to shading, she ended up misjudging and practically blotting out the work she’d managed to do. Not unlike George’s additions to Amy’s pictures.

The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that Ted was obviously no more talented than she was, and as they compared their disastrous attempts they began to giggle. Jen had already helped to empty Pat’s pocket of treats, and had handed a few to Ted, unwrapping a mini Twix and shoving it into his mouth when he was trying to concentrate on drawing, causing him to yelp in surprise and then cough loudly and uncontrollably while Jen laughed and thumped him on the back.

Sarah glanced up from where she was bending down to help a gentleman sitting near the front, frowning slightly. Embarrassed, Jen swallowed her laughter and bent her head, trying to concentrate on her work. She didn’t want to ruin Sarah’s class. But it was clear that she was never going to be good at this, and boredom was starting to creep in. She stared out of the window as the snow fell outside, sparkling in the glow of the fairy lights that adorned the outside of the village hall.

Looking down, she found Ted defacing her artwork, such as it was, by adding a cartoonish set of antlers and a glowing nose to the cat she was trying to draw. Snorting, she was unable to control her laughter, and Ted’s answering smirk showed he was dangerously close to collapsing into hysteria too.

‘Hey!’ she whispered. ‘Don’t deface my genius work of art.’

‘Genius? It’s a cat-astrophe!’