Page 11 of The Christmas Star

Hattie rolled her eyes. ‘Yes and no.’

I narrowed mine. ‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning I’m still none the wiser about Julia and he certainly knows nothing about what happened with Alex.’

Considering nothing had actually taken place between Hattie and our gorgeous barman, my heart went out to her. As far as I was concerned, wanting to cross a line with Alex wasn’t the same as doing it. Instead of self-flagellating, Hattie should’ve been congratulating herself. She’d shown more restraint than I would have done.

‘But he did suggest we spend Christmas with his parents.’

‘And how do you feel about that?’ I asked. ‘Considering last year.’ From what Hattie had said, Gideon’s family weren’t exactly welcoming; especially his mother who’d been an absolute nightmare.

She wrinkled her nose. ‘I don’t want to go, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Don’t tell me.’

Hattie had always been too considerate for her own good.

‘But you agreed anyway?’

Her shoulders slumped. ‘It was the least I could do after you know what.’

I followed Hattie’s gaze as she glanced over at the bar area to see Alex looking back. Both appeared as embarrassed as each other and while he quickly picked up a pencil and began sketching, she lunged for her drink.

I knew Hattie had to figure out her love life in her own time, but their mutual attraction was painfully obvious and as much as I hated to interfere, I couldn’t help myself. ‘You’d have to be blind not to see how much that man likes you.’ I leaned towards Hattie and lowered my voice. ‘I mean really likes you. In fact, if you ask me–’

‘I’m not asking you anything.’

‘I know. But if you were–’

The pub door flew open interrupting me mid-sentence, and as I looked over, an excitable Joyce raced in.

CHAPTER 8

‘At least one of us is happy,’ I said.

Joyce wore a beaming smile as she charged towards us and although pleased to see it, I couldn’t deny her delight came as a surprise. It was also contagious and Hattie and I both found ourselves grinning, eager to hear what had brought Joyce such glee.

When Richard retired Joyce had anticipated that after years of nine-to-five he’d need time to adapt. That there would be a settling in period when it came to his new routine. What Joyce hadn’t expected was the impact this change would have on her, because instead of enjoying his newfound freedom, Richard developed the human version of lost puppy syndrome. He’d seemed lost, confused and in need of guidance. Until he found the joy of cooking. But that brought with it a whole new set of problems and in the six months we’d known each other, Joyce had had two main topics of conversation – divorce and murder.

‘Sorry I’m late. But I had some news to break to Richard.’

‘Good news, I see,’ Hattie said.

‘Do tell,’ I said. ‘I need cheering up.’

Unable to contain herself, Joyce put her coat to one side and took a seat. ‘Remember me saying if Richard continued insisting he’s Gordon Ramsey, I’d have to act? Well, he finally pushed me over the edge.’

Having experienced Richard’s cooking, the word understandable sprang to my mind.

‘And that’s a good thing because…?’ Hattie asked, confused.

I chuckled, dreading to think. ‘What did he do?’

‘Only the worst thing imaginable.’ Joyce let out a laugh. ‘He informed me he’d be making Christmas dinner. Leaving me no choice but to do the only thing I could…’ Her gaze went from Hattie to me. Eyebrows raised, she clearly wanted us to guess what that was.

‘Pack your bags?’ Hattie asked.

‘See a divorce lawyer?’ I asked.