Page 2 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

She imagined herself in a simple dress, a flower crown on her head, walking through the trees to where Bear was waiting for her.

She shook her head with a smile, she’d played that ridiculous fantasy in her head far too many times.

‘Right, I better go,’ Heath said. ‘I’ll see you later for dinner. If you need any further help with your dating profile, I’m sure Bear would give you a hand.’

Meadow waved him off and then sat back in her chair. The reception area of Wishing Wood was a bit quiet today. They had enjoyed the success of the opening ceremony of twenty new luxury treehouses a few weeks before and with the twelve older ones they were pretty much fully booked for the rest of the year. But being in the middle of a glorious heatwave, and located right on the coast, all the guests were out enjoying days at the beach or sunny walks through the nearby countryside rather than hanging around here in the woods so she was set for another quiet day.

Tomorrow would be another story. The tents, yurts, gazebos and food stalls were arriving for their annual Dwelling festival which would kick off the day after. Dwelling had started off as a very small thing several years before, with just a few large tents where people could come for the day to learn back-to-nature skills, like making flower crowns or garlands, wood whittling, willow weaving, clay pots and den building, but it had grown every year to include more activities. Small bands would play music and it had now become a three-day festival. People would come from all over the world to learn new skills or just hang out with strangers who quickly became fast friends. It was a chilled-out, peaceful vibe. People would listen to music and there was lots of painting, printing and crafts for the children to do too, not to mention the excellent food that was always available. Many of the guests and workshop leaders had booked to stay in the treehouses but some guests would just camp in their own tents or sleep in the yurts. As tomorrow would be really busy, Meadow was making the most of the quiet spell today.

She wouldn’t even have Indigo, the receptionist and events manager, to talk to for the first few hours as she and River were going for their second baby scan. Poor Indigo was already huge and she still had over three months to go. But then with the sheer size of the Brookfield men, there was never going to be any doubt that Indigo’s baby would be big too. River, Heath and Bear were all around six foot seven, broad, muscular, with dark curly hair, but while they all looked similar, there was only one brother Meadow was attracted to.

Just then Greta, one of their ground and maintenance crew, walked in carrying a large vase of flowers. Greta had spent a long time planting a multitude of different flowers throughout the woods and fields, ensuring there was a kaleidoscope of colour almost all year round.

‘Morning Greta,’ Meadow said, as she walked in to put the vase behind Meadow and the desk.

‘Good morning, it’s another beautiful day,’ Greta said.

Meadow smiled, Greta had a fabulous Dutch accent and she always sounded so happy.

Greta turned round after positioning the vase of flowers in the perfect spot to catch the sun through the skylight and must have spotted what was on Meadow’s computer.

‘Oooh, you’re signing up to Connected Hearts. My little sister is on there. She hasn’t found her prince yet but she has had a lot of fun kissing all the frogs, if you know what I mean.’

Meadow smiled. She had wondered if online dating was all about sex rather than deep relationships, but that’s why she had chosen Connected Hearts which seemed to be more of an advocate of finding that real connection rather than just casual sex. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it just wasn’t for her.

‘I’m kind of looking for something more than… kissing frogs,’ Meadow said, tactfully.

‘Ah, you want the fairytale. I’m not sure it exists.’

‘Greta, you’ve been happily married for years. Surely you’ve found your fairytale.’

‘I hated my husband when I first met him. He didn’t sweep me off my feet, he knocked me off my feet, with his stupid great big dog. Then he was rude to me and I was very rude back to him and that started a love/hate relationship for the next three years. He was my neighbour and I enjoyed insulting him and being antagonistic, winding him up every time I saw him, and he gave as good as he got. Then one day, after another ridiculous argument, we ended up having hate sex and it was wonderful. We kind of never looked back. We still wind each other up, but I do love him. It definitely wasn’t the fairytale.’

Meadow sighed. Was it too optimistic to think she might find someone she could fall head over heels in love with? Or did that kind of thing only happen in the romance novels she loved so much?

‘Bear is on Connected Hearts too,’ Greta said, gesturing to his empty chair.

‘Yes, I think he is, though he hasn’t dated for a while.’

Greta nodded. ‘My sister was matched with him. But when she messaged him he told her he was coming off online dating for a while, said he wanted to take a break. Maybe he might go back on there now you’re on there.’

‘I’m not sure if that will be any incentive.’

‘But if he does and you two get matched, would you go out with him?’

‘I, erm… hadn’t really thought about it,’ Meadow lied.

‘Well, if it’s the fairytale you want, then you probably should think about it.’ Greta gave her a wave as she walked out the office.

Meadow bit her lip as she watched her go. She wondered how many people knew about her inappropriate feelings for her best friend. She thought she’d been discreet but clearly Greta had seen something.

Right on cue, Bear walked into the office. He had the loveliest smile and gentle eyes and despite seeing him every day it didn’t stop that little flutter in her heart when he was around her. What had started as a silly crush on a boy in her teens had developed into something much more powerful over the years and the boy was now very much a man.

‘Morning,’ Bear said as he sat next to her at his computer.

‘Hey, how was the swim?’

‘Wonderful, you should come and join me one day, it’s my favourite way to start the day.’

---