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Time seemed to fly as she and Jay chatted until Jay’s phone pinged at him. ‘Si again,’ he said, glancing at the screen. ‘Hiya. Order me one, will you?’ he read from the message. He looked up at Frankie in puzzlement. ‘What does he… Si!’

Then Frankie looked up and saw Si and Cole inches away as they peered in through the window at them. Si gave them a cheeky little wave before they turned and headed toward the entrance.

‘Damn, I knew I shouldn’t have let him put Life360 on our phones. He was worried he’d go for a walk in the countryside and get lost.’

A moment later Jay’s bandmates walked into the bar, ordered drinks then came over to Jay and Frankie’s table. Si plonked himself down on the seat beside Jay.

‘Evening, all!’

‘Hey,’ Cole said, sitting beside Frankie.

‘I fancied some pub grub, I’m Hank Marvin,’ Si said as he picked up a menu from the middle of the table.

‘Apologies for gate-crashing,’ Cole said.

‘It’s fine,’ Jay said, with an apologetic shrug to Frankie. ‘I was just saying how marvellous it is to have you staying with me.’

At that moment, Brian, the assistant manager brought a tray with some drinks over; a pint for Si and an orange juice for Cole.

‘Here you go. Don’t suppose you fancy playing us a tune between Christmas and New Year, Jay? I’m sure I can give you your old spot,’ he said with a wink.

‘You couldn’t afford me now,’ Jay joked back.

‘Aye! Gone are the days I could pay you with a couple of pints and a plate of cheesy chips!’ Brian retorted good-naturedly before heading back to the bar.

‘Don’t be too hasty,’ Si said. ‘You might need this kind of gig if we chuck the band in.’ He took a long swig of his pint.

‘What? You’re not serious!’ Frankie said, shocked.

‘None of us are happy,’ Jay said. ‘We’ve done a lot of talking these past few days.’

Cole nodded in agreement. ‘We’ve been on this constant treadmill for years. Our contract with the record label is due for renewal…’

‘We’re still not sure though,’ Si said, ‘and we can’t decide anything until we get hold of bloody Arlo.’

‘But what will you do if you’re not in the band?’ Frankie asked. If Jay wasn’t in the band, would he come back to Drumkeldy? She barely dared to hope.

Si puffed out his cheeks momentarily, before saying, ‘That’s the question, isn’t it?’

‘Staying together for another twelve years would probably result in some major fracturing in our friendships,’ Cole said.

‘Si would no doubt be serving life for doing you away, Cole,’ Jay said. Si smiled, not denying it.

‘On this last tour, one of our favourite conversations was what we’d be doing if we weren’t in a band,’ Cole said as he straightened his coaster to the edge of the table, looking serious. ‘I want to do my PhD.’

‘Can you believe it, but this guy actually finished his degree when we were touring! Proper genius!’ Si said. ‘And kept us right from the start. When we signed our deal, this one,’ Si pointed at Cole, ‘made sure we spent next to nothing, sleeping in the van as much as possible in those early days.’

Frankie was surprised. ‘I thought signing a record deal meant big money and living the high life.’

All three guys laughed.

Si shook his head. ‘The music industry is stacked in favour of the label, with the talent getting the least amount of money. Our label is one of the better ones, but still… when the act signs, they’re given an eye-watering amount of money, but from this the music act has to pay studio time, a manager, promo stuff.’ He counted the points off on his fingers. ‘The label encourages any newly signed-up band to get great hotels and cars as part of an image, you know? And all the while these luxuries are added to the original amount that was given to the band that eventually has to be paid back. Nothing’s free.’

Frankie had no idea.

‘Cole was the one who made sure we kept our overheads to the barest minimum,’ Jay said.

‘They all accused me of being tight!’ Cole gave Frankie a bemused smile. ‘But when we started making serious money from our royalties we didn’t have massive debts to pay off first.’