Beth’s heart thudded. Mags edged closer to the machine, eyes bright with curiosity. Jinnie, Jo and Sam hovered at the edge of the crowd, watchful.
The jukebox switched track mid-song, Phil Collins’s‘In the Air Tonight’thundering through the room. The air crackled.
Oh, God, he’s showing off,Beth thought.
‘Can I play?’ Mags asked, turning to her with childlike wonder.
‘Of course you can.’ Beth dug into her pocket, fingers brushing cool metal – a handful of Gigi’s gold tokens. She passed them to Mags, who turned them over reverently.
‘They’re so beautiful. What do I do?’
Beth swallowed, aware of the silence pressing around them. She slotted a token into the machine and guided Mags’s hands to the flipper buttons. ‘Ready?’
‘I think so.’
Lights flared, chimes cascaded, the music swelled – and the crowd gasped as Mags took off, her reflexes sharp and sure, eyes alive with focus. The ball danced; the score soared.
‘You go, girl!’ Ken shouted, pride and disbelief mingling in his grin.
Three hundred thousand. Four. The machine sang; the crowd clapped in rhythm. And then, finally, the last ball slipped away.
Mags stood, breathing hard, face shining. ‘That was the best moment of my life!’
Beth stepped back. Across the room, Jinnie caught her eye, an unspoken understanding passing between them. Cranley wasn’t normal. It had magic stitched into its seams.
‘Hey,’ Ken said, taking his wife’s hand, eyes glassy. ‘I thought our wedding day was the best!’
She laughed, leaning against him, still glowing. Ken’s quick glance towards Beth said everything.You’re a star.
Beth blinked hard, turning back to the bar as chatter resumed and the world righted itself.
I’m here to serve,murmured Gigi’s voice, oddly gentle, oddly proud.
‘Does this bloody jukebox play The Beatles?’ Jo called.
She dropped a few coins into the slot, and‘All You Need Is Love’filled the air.
Ken and Mags swayed into a slow dance, the pub crowd smiling, glasses raised.
Beth leaned against the bar, the warmth of it all soaking into her bones. For once, she didn’t overthink or analyse. She simply watched, smiled, and let herself believe – if only for tonight – that maybe Gigi was right.
Maybe love really was all you needed.
Chapter Forty-Two
In just a few days, Kieran had gathered more feedback on his app than he’d dreamed possible. Notes, ideas, wild suggestions, all bouncing round his brain like, well, a pinball machine.
He frowned.Why did I think of a pinball machine?
Why do you think?That voice again.
‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ he muttered, rubbing his temples. He’d even Googledvoices in the headand instantly regretted it. Schizophrenia, bipolar, PTSD, extreme stress – basically, a buffet of doom.
‘I’m fine. A bit stressed, Prom, but that’s all.’
Prom, stretched across the rug like an emperor in repose, flipped onto his back. Kieran rubbed his belly – more therapy for the cat than him.
Still, beneath the banter, a small ache lingered. He hadn’t spoken to Beth since the ClosetAura event. Maybe he’d imagined the spark, the easy laughter, the current between them. Maybe she’d changed her mind.
