He blows out a long breath. ‘I wish I’d been here and not on the other side of the bloody world.’
I squeeze his fingers back. ‘Remember what we said about “what ifs”?’
He gives a shudder. ‘It still wrecks me every time I think about it.’ He lifts his hand away and tilts the plant pot towards me. ‘Almost done. Let’s hope this is an easy one.’
I open the last folded square and my heart goes into free fall. ‘Do you believe in love at first sight?’ My voice goes high. ‘Where have they got these questions from?’
Lando hesitates, then he gives me a strange look. ‘Definitely “yes” to that. How about you?’
I look at him like he’s from another planet. ‘I know more about bingo than love.’
His eyes narrow. ‘You must have been in love? Or had a crush?’
I wrinkle my nose and lie my socks off. ‘Not that I ever noticed.’
His voice is soft. ‘Have you considered you might have been in love, but also in denial?’ His eyes dance with amusement.
There’s such a storm of flutters in my chest, I’m finding it hard to breathe. ‘What the actual eff, Lando! When it comes to talking bollocks, you totally take the biscuit!’
I call to the terrace below, ‘The date is over, guys, come and show the first contestant down the steps before I push him.’
Lando laughs. ‘Did I touch a nerve there, Maevey Waves?’
I’m so annoyed I’m snorting. ‘None to touch, Lando.’
Then I see Nemmie and Zara spring from the top of the steps where they’ve been sitting, and I realise they’ve probably heard every word we’ve said.
Lando grins at them. ‘Those scones were amazing. I hope it’s okay I ate my body weight in them?’
Nemmie laughs. ‘We wouldn’t have let you down the steps for any less.’
I pull the girls into a hug. ‘I loved the feathers and the fizz, but who decided to interrogate us?’
Nemmie’s smile widens. ‘We all helped with the questions. Your replies were great, but you never really answered the Smartie one, Lando.’
Zara giggles. ‘We’ll ask that again next time.’
I hold up my hand. ‘Honestly, once is more than enough.’ If my heart ever gallops that fast again, I may not survive. As it is I’m feeling weak and dizzy, and it’s not down to too many scones.
Nemmie jumps up and down. ‘Nooooo! From how much you talked, you can’t let him go. He got high scores in all areas!’
I let out a moan. ‘Please tell me you weren’t giving out points?’
Nemmie waves some papers at me. ‘We were very scientific. Every time he said something good, we put a tick. And when you both laughed.’
Zara joins in. ‘Mum said to give ticks for being kind as well as funny. He got a lot of those.’
Dale comes storming up the steps. ‘It’s sad he won’t be coming to live next door after all.’
Nemmie turns on him. ‘How do you know that?’
His chest swells. ‘I came past just now and saw a “sold” sign propped in the front window.’
I’m putting this into context. ‘It could have gone up earlier. No one’s been past since Friday.’ I turn to Lando. ‘Bad luck if you or Sav wanted the cottage, but whoever has bought it has saved you a lot of time and money.’
And they’ve saved me a lot of heartache.
They’ve also unknowingly proved my age-old belief that if you face up to your problems and refuse to let them scare the bejesus out of you, they’ll very likely go away on their own.
