Page 42

She carried on her inane chatter for the remainder of the ride, her eyes on Dylan, watching him as he gave in and screwed his eyes shut.

When they finally neared the ground again, after what had to be the longest Ferris wheel ride in history, Lucy said quietly, “Almost done. You can open your eyes.”

Dylan turned towards her and opened his eyes, staring into hers until the ride stopped. It was only when the man in charge came over and lifted up the bar across them that she realised she’d been holding her breath.

Dylan quickly exited the seat, his haste making it swing back and forth so Lucy had to steady herself.

He took a few steps away from the ride, not turning around, but waiting for her. He was clearly unhappy. She caught up with him.

“Let’s get back to the coffee shop,” Lucy said. “It’s nearly time to close.”

“Sure,” Dylan replied, not turning to face her.

They walked quickly back up the road. The evening was getting colder and sitting still on the ride had already made Lucy chilly. She would be grateful to get back into the warmth of her coffee shop but her mind was fixed on what she could do to bring Dylan back to his normal self. She should have realised he wasn’t comfortable going on that stupid ride.

Dylan walked ahead of her and entered the shop, not holding the door open for her to go in first, like he usually did, she realised. How had she not realised that he’d always done that for as long as she’d known him?

The coffee shop was quieter now that most people were heading home.

“Everything OK?” Lucy checked with Jo and Ellen.

“Absolutely fine,” Jo said, cheerfully.

“What a fantastic evening!” added Ellen.

“It really was,” said Lucy, forcing a smile upon her face, and trying not to fuss over Dylan. Was he mad with her? “It’s almost time to close. Let’s make a start cleaning up.”

“I’ve got a couple of things I need to do,” said Dylan. “Are you ladies all right without me?”

“Sure,” said Lucy, checking his face, but it was blank and he was already moving towards the door.

“Is Dylan all right?” Jo asked, as he left.

“Yeah,” said Lucy, “it’s just been a long day.”

With the three of them pulling together, the shop was quickly cleaned up, and they were all very glad not to be working the following day.

“Don’t put away the last sandwich toaster,” Lucy said. “I’ll sort it out.”

Jo and Ellen left and Lucy locked up the front door. Her feet ached and she was so tired after such a long day, but she had to check on Dylan. She debated messaging him, but he could just ignore that and he seemed like he was in the mood to.

She went to the fridge and retrieved a couple of untoasted turkey sandwiches Dylan had made up and popped them in the sandwich toaster. When they were done, she wrapped them up in greaseproof paper.

She grabbed her coat and unlocked the door again, slipping out to where Mary, Ellen and Carrie were just closing up the book store.

“Oh, hi!” said Carrie. “What an evening, eh?”

“Fantastic,” agreed Lucy. “I just remembered I needed to speak with Dylan about something.”

“Oh,” said Mary. “He seemed very quiet. It’s not like him not to stop to have a chat.”

“He’s probably overdosed on making turkey toasties,” Lucy joked.

Mary reopened the shop door for her. “Just bang on the door going up to the flat and he’ll hear,” she said. “He’s got a key to this door to let you back out again . . . whenever you leave . . .”

A look passed between the three women, which Lucy ignored.

“Thanks, I’ll see you all soon,” she said, going into the shop.