Page 66 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

She couldn’t help thinking of Ted and the guitar he used to love playing. He’d been so talented, writing his own songs, but now he was so consumed with work that he never seemed to even think about playing. And Julia, who had loved art at school but had hardly done any since.

‘And you,’ Anthony said. ‘How brave are you? Choosing not to go into teaching even after you’d trained for it.’

Jen nodded, trying to suppress the memories that rose and the feeling that she was drowning that came with them. Not exactly how it had happened, but she didn’t want to shatter his idea of her.

‘And you just choose to be free and travel when you want to and study art or whatever.’

She blinked at him. The travel thing she could just about claim was true, if you counted going on an all-inclusive somewhere hot every December, but she had no idea where he’d got the studying art thing from. Now wasn’t the time to disillusion him.

He leaned closer, his voice taking on a husky tone. ‘You know, when I saw you on the train, I just thought you were this cute, pretty thing that was all bubbly and kind to kids.’ He gave her a lopsided smile that made her head spin. ‘And I wanted to ask for your number or something, but it seemed . . .’ He shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to harass you. And I thought I’d never see you again, and I was so bloody happy when you were in that bar, but I was too shy to go up to you while you were with your friends, so—’

‘You knew I was there?’

That special smile again. ‘Of course. Look at you.’

She found herself beaming. She’d had no idea he’d even seen her at the bar.

‘And then you came up to me – you came up to me – and I couldn’t believe my luck. I mean, I nearly fell off my chair, but even then, I had no idea who I was meeting. I had no idea you were so amazing, I knew you were gorgeous, obviously, but I didn’t realise you’d turn out to be this incredible – that you were you.’

He laughed and shook his head, his cheeks colouring.

‘Sorry, I’m talking nonsense, aren’t I?’

Jen smiled. ‘Sounds pretty good to me.’

She thought of the night in the bar, how utterly cool he’d seemed. She couldn’t imagine that he was the one feeling nervous.

He grimaced a little, looking sheepish. ‘Ugh, I don’t think anyone has ever made me so inarticulate, I can hardly string a sentence together around you. Good job I don’t use words for my job or anything, eh?’

Jen’s heart gave a little jab of joy; she could hardly believe that this beautiful, talented, free-spirited man felt so strongly about her. She was just a mess, wasn’t she? A woman in her thirties who still hadn’t got her life together, who’d never settled to a career or got married or had a family. All the things she’d expected she would have done by now.

And somehow Anthony made her feel like all that was OK. She wasn’t a failure, she’d just chosen a different path.

She leaned over the table, pulling him closer, kissing him passionately. And he responded with as much intensity. They didn’t care that they were in public. They didn’t care what anyone thought. The only thing that mattered was each other.

When at last they broke off, Anthony grinned and raised an eyebrow. Jen glanced around, giggling as she realised the waitresses were watching them, smirking and whispering.

Let them. They were just jealous.

Anthony’s notebook lay open on the floor. It must have fallen out of his pocket when they were kissing.

Jen reached for it, glancing at the page as she went to hand it back to him. She’d expected to see lines of poetry or sketches, but the paper was filled with densely packed writing. And something caught her eye – her name.

‘What’s this?’ she asked, smiling, flattered that he’d written about her.

‘Nothing, it’s just some nonsense that – please don’t . . .’ Anthony paled and made a grab for the book, but she pulled it out of his reach playfully.

‘I want to see what you’ve written about me.’

She was expecting to see some descriptions of her looks, perhaps, or something about how he felt about her. Inspiration for a poem, maybe. It was sweet that he was so embarrassed about it.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Jen responding well to flattery, she read.

She frowned, glancing up at him. He was staring at her, looking distraught.

Tap into insecurities – not to insult, but set yourself up as the only one who understands her, validating in all areas where they’re vulnerable works well. Comment positively on appearance, especially if she’s clearly made an effort.