‘What? No!’
‘What do you mean? You just said he’s your dream guy.’
‘I can’t talk to him,’ Bel said.
‘But you manifested him, remember?’
‘Yes, but … I didn’t really think past that bit. I’m not sure what to do with him now that he’s here.’
‘Well, for starters, you could go talk to him,’ Emma said.
‘I can’t. I tried, and I made a complete fool of myself.’ She reluctantly gave a summary of the earlier encounter and felt the mortification return.
‘Oh, dear,’ Emma sympathised. ‘Okay, well that was …unfortunate,’ she said, seeming to select her words carefully.‘But you can’t give up. I mean, how often does a guy like that, orany guy, to be completely honest, turn up in Wessex? It may never happen again in our lifetime. Like Halley’s Comet or something.’
That was a fair point, but it didn’t change the fact that she was a walking disaster and he was … perfect.
‘Come to think of it, whatisa guy like that doing in town?’
‘He’s here for the wedding. He’s Tristan’s best man.’
Emma’s eyes lit up and a smile replaced her frown. ‘That’sperfect.He’ll be here all week. That’s plenty of time.’
‘For what?’
‘For Operation Soulmate.’
‘Operation what?’
‘Look, you can believe in your manifesting thing, but I’m suggesting something a little more practical. You’ve got a guy stuck out here for a wedding—he’s literally a captive audience. All you need to do is catch his attention.’
‘Captive’ sounds a little desperate, but then again, who am I to get nitpicky over details?
‘You’re going to win that man over by the night of the wedding,’ Emma said firmly.
‘I am?’ Bel felt a tiny spark of hope reigniting at her friend’s confident words.
‘You are. You manifested him,’ Emma said, turning back to face Bel and clasping her upper arms decisively. ‘You can do this.’
‘Ican.’
‘Youwilldo this,’ Emma continued.
‘I will!’ Bel repeated, feeling like a State of Origin player about to head out after half-time.
‘Thatta girl.’ Emma grinned. ‘Now, go wipe off that streak of grease, or whatever the hell it is that you’ve had on your face since I got here, and let’s make a plan!’
‘What!’ Bel ran out the back and stared in horror at the smudge across her cheek. What hope did she seriously have with a guy like that? No wonder he’d fled.
She took off her glasses and scooped a handful of water from beneath the tap, letting the cool water soothe her flushed cheeks. When she looked back in the small mirror above the sink, she blinked at the blurry woman staring back. If she wanted a man like that, she was going to need to make some pretty big changes.
