Page 40 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

‘Your looks haven’t put me off but this whole negative attitude has,’ Meadow said.

‘Well I certainly wouldn’t pick you either,’ Harris snapped.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, here is the bell to start your first date. You have three minutes starting from now,’ Imogen called, ringing the bell.

Meadow and Harris stared at each other. Harris opened up his book and started reading it, clearly having no interest in even chatting to Meadow. God, this was embarrassing. She glanced around and everyone was chatting enthusiastically with their dates.

Meadow cleared her throat. ‘Sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot, can we start again?’

Harris turned sideways in his seat, facing away from her, and raised the book so he wouldn’t even have to look at her.

Meadow glanced at the couple at the next table and they were both staring at Harris in shock. She looked around the room, some people were politely chatting, others seemed to be getting on like a house on fire, but no one else was sitting in silence, impatiently waiting for the three minutes to be up. She looked over at Bear and he was laughing at something his date was saying. It would be kind of ironic if Bear found someone at a speed-dating event, something he was so against, and Meadow didn’t, even though she’d been the one pushing its merits.

The three minutes with Harris were the longest three minutes of her life and they both let out a huge sigh of relief when the bell rang to indicate time was up. Harris was quick to scramble out of his seat and stood impatiently at the next table while the couple said their goodbyes.

The man got out of his seat and moved on but as Harris was about to sit down the woman stopped him.

‘I have no interest in talking to you at all after seeing the way you treated her,’ the woman said, indicating Meadow.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Harris snapped and to Meadow’s surprise he turned and stormed out.

‘Bloody hell,’ the woman said, watching him go.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Meadow said. ‘I didn’t mean to ruin your date as well.’

‘Christ no, you did me a favour. I definitely don’t need to waste my time on cockwombles like that.’

Meadow laughed. ‘I’m Meadow.’

‘I’m Heather.’

‘But now you have no one to talk to,’ Meadow said.

Heather held up her book. ‘But I have this. Infinitely better.’

A man slipped into the seat opposite Meadow, looking almost fearful. ‘I’m not sure what you did to make the last man walk out of the whole event after spending three minutes with you. Am I safe to sit down?’

‘Yes, you’re fine,’ Meadow said, with a sigh. ‘We had a little disagreement about…’ she decided not to tell him she had been talking to Harris about instant attraction, in case he felt the same way Harris did, ‘about the merits of speed dating. I don’t think Harris was a fan.’

The man nodded but she could see he was on edge. This mini date was clearly not going to go well either. ‘I’m Meadow.’

‘Dan.’

The bell rang to indicate the start of their date and Meadow leaned forward to try to engage with him. ‘What book did you bring with you?’

Dan held up a book on trains.

‘Oh, trains. That’s interesting,’ she tried to sound enthusiastic.

‘I love trains. I have a model railway in my loft.’

Meadow wondered if this was the same man she had matched with on Connected Hearts a few days before. She hadn’t reached out to him then but maybe fate was giving her a second chance.

Bear had said it was good for men to have a hobby. And she didn’t have to share everything with the person she’d end up with. Most of them probably wouldn’t understand her passion for making dresses either. She would be open-minded about this.

‘What is it about trains that you like?’ Meadow asked.

His eyes lit up. ‘I’ve always loved them, even when I was a small boy. I used to live next to the train tracks and we’d get freight trains rattle through all hours of the day. Big, powerful beasts. They have this air of adventure and mystery about them. Once they left me, they’d wind round a corner and disappear into the trees ending up god knows where, carrying their mysterious loads. It’s terribly exciting. I believe the steam locomotives are the single greatest invention we have ever seen and it’s my mission to travel around the world on every remaining steam train. But I loved the power of the diesel trains too and now the speed of the electric trains is something wondrous to behold.’

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