Page 72 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

‘Hi,’ Meadow said, softly.

They were so close now, she only needed to stretch forward a few inches and she could kiss him.

‘I love you too,’ he whispered so that Star couldn’t hear him.

Her heart leapt at hearing those words. She swallowed down the excitement that was building in her chest. ‘Carousel or rollercoaster?’

He studied her face and then cupped her cheek, trailing his thumb gently across her lips. He leaned forward slightly as if he was going to kiss her but, before he could, his mobile phone rang loudly and insistently.

He sighed and sat up to grab it.

‘Hello? Oh hi Heather.’

Meadow sat up, looking away from him so he couldn’t see the disappointment on her face. He’d given Heather his number. That thought didn’t fill her with joy.

She pushed back the duvet and climbed out the tent, leaving him to talk to her alone.

‘Shall we go home and get changed and then go and have some breakfast?’ Meadow said.

Star nodded, getting to her feet. ‘Last night was fun but camping makes me tired.’

Meadow nodded. ‘I know what you mean. Come on, you’ll probably feel more awake after a shower.’

Star took her hand and then stopped. ‘Is Bear coming?’

‘He’ll probably see us at breakfast,’ Meadow said and as they walked off through the trees she couldn’t help but feel thoroughly confused.

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

While Star was in the shower, Meadow decided to drop AstralSurfer a message. She had done what he suggested the night before and it had worked out wonderfully. She opened Connected Hearts and clicked on their conversation.

Thought I’d give you an update on last night’s dating event. It was weird to sniff so many people’s t-shirts, some were nice, most were not. And I did what you suggested and asked my friend to sniff me directly to see if he liked my scent. And he did, very much. Then when we were sniffing t-shirts we both made sure to only scan each other’s t-shirt so we matched. It was lovely and I thought maybe this was it, we had finally admitted we wanted each other. We camped out last night with my daughter which is obviously not the right time for huge declarations of love, but this morning, when she got up and left us alone in the tent, I thought he was going to kiss me, but then his phone rang and it was the woman he matched with at the speed dating. I left him in the tent to talk to her and I have no idea where I stand. If he gave her his number then he must be interested in her.

He started replying almost straightaway.Is your friend the kind of man to sleep with or date multiple women at once?

Meadow smiled.Not at all, he is the loveliest man I’ve ever known.

He replied.Well I wouldn’t worry about this other woman. If he matched with her at speed dating, then his details would have been automatically shared by the event. I’ve done these things before and that’s how they work. I would listen to the lady who organised the event and trust that he matched with her because of your date not hers.

Meadow groaned. Of course that was why Heather had Bear’s number. She had also received an automated email with his telephone number after they had matched too. Her heart soared with hope again. He had been going to kiss her right after he had told her he loved her. Maybe they did have some kind of future after all.

Thank you for that. Of course you’re right. I’m so rubbish at all of this and I would have been lost without you. I’m sorry that our conversation seems to have shifted from us dating to you giving me advice on how to date someone else.

I just want you to be happy, Twilight. Do you have another event tonight?

Yes, kiss speed dating followed by dinner in the dark.

So you’ll finally get to kiss him again after all these years. I think you’ll soon be able to tell if he loves you or not from the kiss.

Her heart leapt at the thought.It is in the dark though, we might not be able to tell who we are kissing.

I have no doubt at all that you will know and so will he.

She smiled at that.I’ll keep you posted.

CHAPTERFORTY-NINE

Bear hadn’t come to breakfast so it kind of felt a little awkward when he turned up in the office after. Meadow had no idea what to say to him. They had nearly kissed. But then he’d spent the last hour or so chatting to Heather so, despite what AstralSurfer had told her, she still felt a bit confused.

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