Beth gave a shaky laugh. ‘That obvious?’
‘Only to the observant,’ he said.
Something in her expression softened. The tension in her shoulders eased a fraction.
‘Come on,’ he said gently. ‘Let’s sit down.’
She hesitated, then nodded. He guided her to the corner table furthest from the door and fetched drinks – white wine for her, whisky for him.
‘Thanks,’ she murmured, fingers curling round the glass.
‘You don’t have to talk about it,’ he said, ‘but… If you want to, I’m listening.’
Beth stared into the wine. ‘He says he wants to talk. That he can’t stop thinking about me.’
Kieran’s jaw tightened. ‘Right.’
‘He turned up outside the pub tonight. I thought I was imagining it.’ She gave a helpless little shrug. ‘I don’t know what I’m meant to do.’
‘You don’t owe him anything,’ Kieran said quietly.
‘Maybe not. But it’s hard to unlove someone when you once did.’
He understood that far too well.
They sat in silence for a while, the low murmur of the pub wrapping around them. Rain streaked the windows, and a gust of wind rattled the door.
Beth took a sip of wine, her hand still trembling slightly. ‘Sorry. You probably didn’t come here to play counsellor.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘I’ve had worse evenings.’
‘Really?’
‘Well, there was that time Prom brought in a dead mouse and dropped it on my keyboard mid-Zoom chat.’
She laughed – properly this time – and some of the colour returned to her face. ‘Thanks,’ she said softly.
Kieran met her eyes and managed a small smile. ‘Anytime.’
He wanted to ask Beth about the pinball machine, but that didn’t seem appropriate right now. And whatever happened with Luke … that was Beth’s decision. Even if the thought of them getting back together hurt.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
‘Come on, it’ll be fun!’
Beth pulled a ‘your idea of fun is different to mine’ face. Diana retaliated with a passable impression of someone with severe constipation.
‘I shouldn’t take time off,’ Beth said, even though Ed and Angela had already given the thumbs up.
‘Hon, all work and no play makes Beth a very dull girl. And we need to talk about Luke. Which admittedly doesn’t come under the fun umbrella, but needs must.’
Beth glanced at the week’s chalked-up specials. They’d scaled back from her early, ambitious menus. Ken – steady, sensible Ken – had nudged them that way during a group chat a couple of nights back.
‘Maybe save the fancy stuff for Easter, Halloween and Christmas,’ he’d suggested, while Mags blinked and asked if someone might take her to the toilet. Beth’s heart had ached for all of them.
‘But a spooky escape room! I mean, what’s that all about?’
‘OK, hear me out,’ Diana said. ‘It’s notjustan escape room – it’s anexperience. It’s calledShadows of Auld Reekie andit’s set under Edinburgh, in old vaults that are supposedly haunted by Burke and Hare. You know, the body-snatching guys? Charming, really. There’s fog, flickering lanterns, and apparently a ghostly piper who leads you into the tunnels if you listen closely enough. Total goosebumps.’
