‘I would love that.’ Dixie put down her phone and kissed him. ‘I could sort out a logo too.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘My parents are back in the country in a few weeks. It would be so good to be able to tell them that we have an up-and-running, bona fide business.’
‘Then that’s our aim. Plus I spoke to Mike the truffle man. He’s the go-to guy in the area, and he’s going to help us avoid any pitfalls because he set his truffle business up from scratch.’
‘That’s so nice,’ said Dixie, snuggling against Ned. ‘I’m going to miss this when I move in with Nora.’
‘But it’s only temporary,’ he said. ‘And once Elsie is fixed, we can use her for travelling around to find potential buyers for our produce. She’ll be the truffle van.’
‘Oh, I love that for her,’ said Dixie. She bit her lip as a worry niggled her. ‘Once we have customers, we’ll need to make sure we can meet demand.’
‘That’s where Mike can help. His truffle hound is expecting puppies, so—’
Dixie gasped. ‘We’re getting a puppy?’ This was quite a serious commitment.
‘Yeah, I think we’re ready. We’ll be an unstoppable team.’
Dixie kissed him hard on the mouth. ‘You’re brilliant and you think of everything.’
‘I try,’ said Ned.
Dixie’s shoulders sagged. ‘But if the puppy lives with you…’
‘I figured that perhaps we could all live together. Only if you want to, of course.’
‘I do!’ said Dixie. With that there was a bang on the campervan roof and a scamper of paws. ‘I think Arnold will be glad to get her woodland back too.’
*
Nora had taken a few strides away from the cinema when she heard someone shout.
‘Nora!’
She spun around to see Jay standing outside the cinema, waving his arms like he was trying to direct aircraft. It made her smile. She waved and jogged back to the railings. Jay was speaking to one of the security guards who came forward and moved a barrier aside so that Nora could go through.
‘It’s so good to see you,’ said Jay giving her a hug. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
Now that was a question. ‘Well, I saw what you posted on Instagram.’
He was looking blank. ‘The publicist does that. What was it?’
‘It was you and Tasha being interviewed, and it was something a woman behind you said that made me—’
‘Well, hello. Who’s this?’ said Tasha, sauntering out of the large doors and surveying the area. The few people still waiting started shouting her name. The other woman from the Instagram post was hovering behind Tasha. Nora figured she must be the publicist.
‘This is Nora,’ said Jay, and the pride in his tone gave Nora a warm feeling. ‘Nora, this is Tasha.’
‘Hi. Nice to meet you,’ said Nora.
‘I don’t do selfies,’ said Tasha.
Jay giggled. ‘She’s not after a selfie. Nora’s a good friend of mine.’
‘Oh.’ Tasha pulled her chin as she surveyed Nora but seemed to relax after giving her the once-over. ‘Fine.’ Nora was mildly offended that Tasha obviously feltshe was no threat whatsoever. ‘Schmoopy, we need to go. There are no paps here. Anastasia says there will be plenty of photo ops at the party, so let’s get there quickly. I heard Dizzee Rascal is coming.’ She grabbed Jay’s hand and went to pull him away.
This was it. Something clutched at Nora’s gut. This was the moment she needed to tell Jay how she felt. It was now or never. ‘It was her!’ she blurted.
‘What?’ Jay was smiling at her.
‘She’s your stalker,’ said Nora, because for some reason her brain thought this was a better thing to lead with than ‘I love you’.
