His hands grip my shoulders. “Hen, you’re going to have to pull on your big boy trousers and go. Sorry, bud. Besides, it’s for charity.”
Ten minutes ago, I was looking forward to a night out. Now I have to spend the next month at the beck and call of the village busybodies.
I’ll say this—if anyone of them even tries to set me up on a date, I’m resigning.
CHAPTER 10
Story
“Sorry, sorry! Have you been waiting long?”
The answer is debatable.
If compared to say standing in line at Sydney Airport customs while desperate to get out of the airport as quickly as possible—one time it took three hours—then no, I haven’t.
But if you agree to meet someone ten minutes before the start of an event and you actually arrive closer to an hour earlier—so early the lights in the hall haven’t been switched on yet—then yes, I have.
However, no one except me needs to know that.
I’ll take it to the grave that I got here almost an hour before I needed to because I didn’t want to arrive after Hendricks. And knowing Hendricks as I do—or used to—he will be right on time. If I’m already seated with a group, he may not notice me right away. Hide in plain sight, perhaps. I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
“No, not long at all.”
“Oh good,” Celeste says, shaking her mittens off and rubbing her hands together. She begins to unravelthe giant scarf. I thought I didn’t like the cold, but she’s more wool-covered mummy than woman. “It’s freezing. C’mon, let’s get inside and have a coffee before everyone else gets here. Why are you so dressed up? Have you had your hair done?”
I wonder if she’s trying to defrost her jaw with all the questions, but she’s staring at me clearly waiting for an answer. I peer down at my jeans and trainers, the camel-colored knit jumper that somehow makes my eyes seem even lighter brown, and my hair super shiny. I don’t know how, it just does.
“Am I?” I reply, as nonchalantly as possible.
I haven’t had my hair done the way she means, but I did rush home, slap on a hair mask, a face mask, and lie in the bath for an hour while I tried to quash my anxiety. Because obviously, the idea of being in a room with Hendricks Burlington for however long this meeting is going to be had me close to losing my mind.
If I’m going to spend the evening in his company, I’m determined to look good while doing so. However, looking like I’ve dressed up totally defeats the point. I should have worn a different jumper, and I now regret going with the lipstickandthe cat’s eye. One or the other, Story. One or the other.
“You look like you’ve spent the day at the spa. And I know you didn’t because I saw you four hours ago.” She laughs and heads into the village hall. “Oh, we’re the first ones. They must have left the lights on.”
The lights are on because I switched them on. No one else had arrived, and I came back out into the cold to wait for Celeste in the spot we agreed to meet. Maybe I should tone down the makeup.
“I had to check on the cows, so I changed.”
She stops on her march over to . . . I’m not sure exactly, because there’s nothing here. It’s not been set up. There are no chairs, no coffee, nothing.
“Cows? What cows?”
“Um . . .”Shit. This is what happens when you don’t pay attention to the lies piling up. Not that I’ve lied per se, I just haven’t yet told Celeste that I’m a local.A Valentiner.Not that she asked where I lived. She just assumed I was only here because of the job. And I never corrected her. “My parents’ cows. On their farm, on the other side of the village.”
“Your parents live here? In Valentine Nook?”
I nod and offer a sheepish smile. “Yup.”
“How long for?”
“My whole life, and longer. It was my grandad’s farm. But my mum is from Gloucestershire.”
“You never said?—”
“Didn’t I?”
“No.” The curtness of her response tells me we both know that I didn’t tell her.
