‘He is,’ admitted Pippa.
‘But?’
‘She likes Aiden too,’ added Elle.
‘Now thatisa dilemma. Hearts are going to be broken.’
‘Irene!’
‘And don’t think it’s escaped my noticed that you were armed with flowers too.’ Irene tilted her head, waiting for Elle to share who they were from.
‘I’d tell you if I knew but your guess is as good as mine. I have no clue – it’s yet another mystery gift.’
Irene looked surprised. ‘Another one? You mean like the Sam Stone book?’
‘Yes.’
‘You must have an inkling?’
‘I haven’t, honestly, but they’re from someone who knows I work at the library.’
‘So there’s no man in your life at all?’ Irene prompted, not failing to notice the look between Elle and Pippa. ‘Don’t leave me in suspense. There’s something going on here.’
‘It’s Noah Jones,’ Elle finally admitted. ‘But there’s absolutely nothing going on.’
‘TheNoah Jones? TheauthorNoah Jones? Noah Jones who will be visiting the library very shortly?’
Pippa grinned. ‘The one and only.’
‘And how long has this been going on?’
‘I’ve just said there is nothing going on,’ Elle protested.
‘I don’t understand. Have you seen him recently?’
‘The last time I saw him was at the library. We had a moment but nothing has happened since.’
‘He seemed a very nice lad.’
‘And we’re on a mission to get Elle noticed when he returns,’ Pippa said proudly.
‘This bright spark here,’ Elle nodded towards Pippa, ‘decided my profile picture looked very librarianish and that we needed to jazz it up to gain some male attention.’
Irene shook her head, laughing. ‘Librarianish? I’m not sure that’s even a word.’
‘Here, take a look. We took some photos.’ Pippa thrust her phone at Irene.
‘Is that even you? You look like you’ve been holidaying in the Caribbean for a couple of weeks.’
‘That’s exactly what I said. It’s done with an app. It’s meant to make you look fresh and hip.’ Elle rolled her eyes. ‘Thankfully, I came to my senses and didn’t allow this one to post them.’
‘Such a spoilsport,’ Pippa chipped in.
‘And we have no idea who your flowers are from, Elle?’
Elle shook her head. ‘My detective work failed at the first hurdle. Just before we left work I did text Florrie and asked if she could share with me who’d sent them but as I suspected, she wasn’t at liberty to say!’
‘I love a bit of intrigue,’ replied Irene. ‘If someone has gone to the expense of sending such beautiful flowers, I hope they’ll reveal themselves very soon.’
