Page 87 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

A letter? Who from?

A woman who came to Scrabble club looking for you.

That was strange. Jo couldn’t think who it might be.

Did she say who she was?

Jo was puzzled. She waited for him to text her back but her phone went silent. Perhaps a patient had arrived at Razz’s door.

Still baffled over who the mystery woman was and what the letter could be about, Jo opened her Filofax to the work section and ran her finger down her to-do list. She needed to double-check next week’s filming arrangements, book hotel rooms in Winchester for a big shoot happening next month and figure out travel arrangements for the presenter too, but that wouldn’t take too long.

She was looking at Booking.com and working out which was the nearest hotel to the location when her phone pinged again. Razz’s patient must have left, prescription in hand, on route to the pharmacy.

No idea.

She was curious. Who could it be from? It was about time she saw Razz again. Even if he did have a girlfriend – well, they could still be friends, couldn’t they? She started to tap out a reply.

Wondering when you might be free…

‘You’re not busy then?’

She looked up to see Leona standing behind her.

Jo quickly put her phone back on the desk.

‘No, I’m on top of everything,’ she said and then added, ‘As usual.’

‘Great,’ said Leona. ‘Because I’ve got to spend some time this week shadowing Caroline, so I obviously can’t do my own workload at the same time.’

‘Obviously.’

‘And David hasn’t had time to recruit someone to step into my shoes yet, so I was thinking, since you’re obviously at a loose end, you can do it. I’ve printed off a to-do list. I know you like your lists.’

Leona held out two sheets of A4.

Jo took them, glancing down the bullet-pointed list.

‘All this?’ she said. ‘Seriously?’

‘Is it too much for you?’

Jo looked up from the list.

That smirk again.

There was something about the way that Leona smirked that had always riled Jo.

‘Of course not,’ she said in the brightest tone she could muster. ‘Piece of cake. I’ll have it done in no time.’

*

Despite the additional workload, Jo was the first to leave the office that evening, on the dot of six, her head held high, consoling herself that she might treat herself to a ready meal from Sainsbury’s finest range before she rang Gemma. She would text Razz back too, as soon as she got on the train. Ask him if he was free for a drink sometime on the pretext of handing over her letter. It had been a bad day, but it was going to be a better evening. She felt sure of it.

Sure of it, until the moment she stepped out onto the street and heard a familiar voice.

‘Hi, Jo. I’ve been waiting for you.’

She noticed his shoes first. Loakes. Polished nubuck leather with a leather sole.