Page 46 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

‘How’s all the dating going?’ Indigo said, noticing he was on the Connected Hearts website.

Bear thought about how to answer that question. His date, if you could call it that, with Josh’s sister had obviously been a disaster. The women he had met at the speed-dating event the night before had been nice, but certainly no one he could ever imagine forever with. Maybe that wasn’t fair as he’d only chatted with them for three minutes, but still he wasn’t excited about any of them. But on the other hand, what was happening with Meadow, the possibilities of something developing between them, he was very excited about that.

‘Meadow said you two matched last night,’ Indigo prompted.

‘We did. I’m not sure if that was because the computer program picked up on our friendship or something more,’ Bear said.

‘Is it something more for you?’ Indigo fished.

Bear grinned. He certainly wasn’t going to discuss that with Indigo.

‘Listen, you were really supportive when I turned up here pregnant at the start of my relationship with River, so let me return the favour. I see you two together and I don’t care how close you are, or how long you’ve known each other, the chemistry between you both is so much more than friendship. You know that. You tell her how you feel for her and I promise she will say it right back.’

Bear looked back at his conversation with Twilight. He knew he needed to talk to Meadow and take his own advice to Twilight, because being with Meadow was definitely worth the risk.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Meadow was walking around Dwelling, admiring the different stalls and little workshops there. Star was running on ahead, wanting to see everything at once and then reporting back what she’d found.

There was a man teaching children how to make clay finger pots and coil pots, while another workshop was demonstrating how to make flower garlands and crowns, something Star was desperate to have a go at, plus there was also a lady teaching people how to play the harp. It was all very mellow and happy. There were a number of different stalls displaying things like wellies in a multitude of patterns and designs, beautiful handmade jewellery, and crocheted and embroidered bags, which Meadow loved. Felix, one of their garden and maintenance staff, was selling t-shirts, caps and mugs with the Wishing Wood logo on. It was something he had approached her about a few months back and, as merchandise was not something they had done yet, she was happy for him to trial it. They looked good. Alex, their chef, had a stall with a range of delicious savoury bites and Lucien, one of their housekeeping crew, was helping her. Meadow was pretty sure something was going on between them, the number of times she’d seen them together lately. Greta, another of the garden and maintenance team, was selling wooden pan pipes and wind chimes with her husband. There was a definite community feel about the place.

Leah was selling some clothes she had made and she had agreed to showcase some of Meadow’s clothes too. The last few weeks, Meadow had been busily stitching, cutting, embroidering a range of different clothes, mostly children’s outfits but also a couple of dresses too. She hadn’t been over to Leah’s stand yet because the thought of her designs being on display made her nervous and excited all at once. When she sold items on Etsy people either bought ready-made items or put in a custom order but she never got to meet the customers face to face. Watching people look at the clothes she had made, discussing whether to buy them or not or dismissing them as not something they wanted was scary and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

Just then Amelia fell in at her side. ‘This is great, isn’t it? The festival gets better and better every year.’

‘It really does,’ Meadow said, watching as Amelia waved at an elderly gentleman with a ridiculously curly moustache. He was wearing a rather fabulous gold waistcoat with green leaves embroidered up the sides. ‘See anything you like here?’ she asked innocently.

‘I bought these wonderful wellies,’ Amelia said, pulling them out from the bag she was carrying. They were painted in metallic tones of blue, green and turquoise and on each side was a wonderful narwhal.

‘They are brilliant. Star would love them herself. I’ll have to see if they do them in her size. But I meant have you met any men?’ Meadow gestured to the man Amelia had waved at who was unable to tear his eyes off Amelia.

‘Edwin is wonderful,’ Amelia said, blushing as he winked at her. ‘I took your advice by the way.’

‘What advice?’

‘I set myself up on a dating website last night.’

‘You did?’ Meadow felt a little disappointed. That had been the thing she had held over Amelia in order to call a truce between them. ‘I thought you didn’t want to do that, you seemed dead against it yesterday.’

‘No, not against it, I just wanted it to be on my terms. I didn’t want you and Indigo answering questions for me on my dating profile, putting up photos that I hadn’t approved and handing out my number to any Tom, Dick or Harry. So I did it myself and, I have to say, I have sixty-eight matches already, which is rather exciting.’

‘That’s great.’ Meadow tried to find the excitement for her but all she could see was now the door was open for Amelia to continue interfering in her love life again.

‘I’m still honouring the truce, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ Amelia said as they walked past the stalls.

‘You are?’ Meadow watched as Star stood hypnotised by a harpist and the beautiful music that was drifting around them.

‘It made me quite stressed thinking of you and Indigo interfering in my love life, setting me up with a man I had no interest in. And I realise that I’m guilty of causing you the same stress. I’m not saying I’m not going to keep asking you for updates, I’m desperate to see my grandson happy with you and for you to be happily married to the right Brookfield brother, but I’m not going to do or say anything to interfere any more. Love is a powerful thing, a magnet that pulls people together. I have no doubt that you and Bear will find your way to each other eventually, without interference from this meddling old bat.’

Meadow stared at her in surprise, she had no words at all. She hadn’t been expecting that. Eventually she found her voice. ‘You’re not an old bat.’

Amelia smiled. ‘But I am meddling?’

Meadow tipped her head. ‘Sometimes.’

‘So, this is not me interfering, I’m not going to pass any comment or words of advice, but do you have any updates for me?’

Meadow smiled and decided to throw her a morsel. ‘We both attended a speed-dating event last night. We had to wear these wristbands that monitored our hearts and breathing to find out if we were a match on that physical level, and me and Bear did match.’

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