Page 105 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

‘You idiot,’ said Gemma when Jo phoned her next day. ‘I can’t believe you told him you wanted to be friends.’

‘I didn’t say just friends.’

‘No, but that’s what he’ll assume. Just friends. And nothing more. You should have told him how you felt.’

‘But Kate says…’

‘Kate. Kate. Kate. I am sick of hearing about what Kate says.’

‘Hang on,’ Jo said, putting her hand over the phone for a minute. She could hear footsteps outside. And David’s voice getting closer. And then getting further away again. ‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘My boss was going past but he’s gone now.’

‘Are you in the stationery cupboard again?’

‘I might be. The thing is, Gemma, Kate knows a lot about dating.’

‘You should take my advice for a change. I’ve known you longer.’

‘But you’ve never even been on a date.’

‘I did once. Dan took me to Burger King.’

‘Doesn’t count,’ Jo said. ‘You were only fifteen.’

‘Anyway, what’s the point of dating?’

‘Hang on…’

She could hear Leona walking past now, talking to someone.

‘Okay, go on,’ she said as the voice receded into the distance.

‘What do you mean, what’s the point?’

‘I mean, what’s the point? Why do you go on dates?’

‘Because I want to meet the right person and get into a relationship.’

‘What you need,’ said Gemma, ‘is someone who’s done that successfully themselves. If you knew someone like that, someone who was married to the love of her life, wouldn’t that be the kind of person whose advice you should seek?’

‘I guess so.’

‘I am that person, Jo. I’m the person who is happily married. In other words, I’m the one who understands relationships, not Kate. Isn’t time you listened to me?’

‘I suppose.’

‘Lesson number one. Men are human beings. They feel lonely sometimes. They get scared. If you read those books of Kate’s, you’d think they were a different species…’

‘…or even from another planet.’

‘Exactly. And they’re not, Jo. I mean some of them – the Tarquins of this world – might behave in a way that you or I would never dream of behaving. But you don’t want a guy like that. You want a Razz. Ask him for a drink after the next Scrabble club and tell him how you feel.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Jo said, ‘but right now, I’ve got to go. There’s only so much time I can conceivably pretend to be looking for Post-it notes.’

When she got back to her desk, David was standing in the open-plan office talking loudly on his mobile. ‘Caroline, there’s no need to worry. Everything’s absolutely fine here…’

He paused as Caroline spoke. Jo couldn’t hear what she was saying.

‘She’s taken to it like a duck to water,’ he said. ‘Haven’t you, Leona?’