Then a nervous hand went up and Dean said, “So…will your wife be popping in?”
Cam laughed. “More than likely, yes. And I should say on her behalf, she’s not acting anymore. She’s just trying to live her life like the rest of us.”
“But she’s still Michelle Hamilton!” Dean gushed.
“She’s Michelle Thomas now.” Cam’s grin turned fond. “And I get it—people are excited about her. Trust me, that’s half the reason I married her.”
A few people chuckled, and the tension in the room eased.
“But we’re coming home to escape that circus,” Cam added. “To settle here and bring our kids up around people who understand us and want us here.”
There was a knock on the glass door.
Matty got up and moved quickly, already reaching for the handle. She pulled it open, ready to head them off. “We’re not open yet—”
She stopped.
Her eyes flicked to Cam, then back tothe woman outside. “Uh…”
Cam looked up, and her smile widened. “Speak of the devil.” She glanced at Matty, amusement in her eyes, as if to say, ‘Good luck with this.’“Go on.”
Matty stepped back and opened the door properly.
Michelle Hamilton swept in, all expensive perfume and easy elegance, and Dean looked like he might actually faint.
“Might as well get it over with.” Cam chuckled, as the room erupted into excitement.
“Oh, okay, this is—” Michelle grinned. “I just wanted to stop by and say hi.”
Matty shut the door, and through the glass she caught sight of someone outside lifting a camera, the lens already pointed their way.
Cam carried on, voice steady over the noise, “So, yeah… I know things might get a bit lively with us around, but we’d really appreciate the chance to make Bath Street and Woodington our home again.”
***
As soon as the doors opened, the place was already different—phones out, people craning their necks, strangers ordering drinks they didn’t even want, just to have an excuse to linger. Word had got around fast that a Hollywood film star had been in Art.
From then on, Matty barely had time to think about anything but what to pour next.
By the time she made it home it was almost three in the morning, and she was buzzing, brain in overdrive.
“Alright?” Sarah asked. She was sat at the kitchen table, bleary-eyed, ciggie in hand, an empty bottle in front of her.
“Yeah, just a bit…” Matty fluttered her hands, as if she could physically shake the night off. “It was all go tonight. You only just got in?”
“Not that long ago,” Sarah said. “Thought I’d make a cuppa and some toast before I attempted sleep, then Brandon came back with someone, and they’vebeen going at it for an hour. So I gave up on the idea of sleep and had another beer instead.” She tapped the empty bottle. “How was your night?”
“Busy. The owner’s moving back and she’s going to be working there from time to time, and her wife came in.”
“Oh, right—fit, is she?”
“She’s Michelle Hamilton.”
Sarah sat upright. “Fuck off—the film star?”
“Yep. We had paps outside. Dean almost fainted when she showed up.”
“So, you met her?”
