Page 74 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

CHAPTERFIFTY

Cars and vans had been leaving all morning as Dwelling packed up for another year. It had been a huge success and all the guests had enjoyed the different workshops and the music. As always there was much talk about how to make it bigger and better for the following year. Meadow was hopeful that it wouldn’t get much bigger because, in her eyes, the attraction of the event was that it was small, intimate, somewhere everyone knew everyone else. If it was bigger, she felt it would lose that.

There were a few honks of horns outside as people shouted goodbye and Meadow moved to the door to wave a few visitors off. She was hoping to see Leah before she left, although Leah had promised to come and say goodbye.

Leah’s car was still there and as Meadow stepped outside she could see her giving someone a hug goodbye. Meadow waited for her to finish and waved at the man who was walking out with Cucumber the iguana on his shoulder.

Leah spotted her and came over, linking her arm with Meadow and casually walking her away from the reception area.

‘Well, I think this year’s festival went well,’ Meadow said.

‘It did, another big success,’ Leah said.

‘It was lovely seeing you again.’

‘You too.’

‘You’re welcome to stay here anytime. It doesn’t just have to be once a year.’

‘Oh, we’ll be back for the wedding,’ Leah said.

‘River’s?’

‘Yours.’

Meadow smiled and rolled her eyes. Leah turned to face her. ‘Just tell him you love him. You will always regret not telling him if you don’t. Life is too short for regrets and something that big and powerful should be celebrated, not buried away.’

Meadow sighed. ‘I will try.’

Leah smiled and hugged her. ‘I’ll see you in a few months. I feel an autumn wedding is on the cards.’

Meadow smiled and hugged her back.

‘Good luck with the baby.’

Leah walked over to Charlie and took his hand, giving Meadow another wave.

Meadow watched her go. It really was time to tell Bear how she felt. She didn’t want to hide it any more.

CHAPTERFIFTY-ONE

Meadow stood nervously in the holding room waiting to be taken off into the kissing corridor.

Imogen had already done her big speech about how things like kissing, cuddles and sex release completely different chemicals in the brain than talking to someone. She’d explained the rules, twenty seconds of kissing, no talking, and then move on when the bell rang. If people enjoyed the kiss they were to push a button on their wristband to say they wished to be matched with the other person and if the other person did the same then they would be matched after. There was a strict no touching rule. Faces and heads were allowed to be touched but nowhere else.

All the men had been taken off to line one wall of a dark corridor and the women were just about to be called in to join them.

Imogen tapped the microphone to get everyone’s attention. ‘Ladies, if I can ask you all to make a line over here at the entrance to the corridor, but can you stand in numerical order.’

Meadow frowned. That was a bit odd. If they were going to kiss all the men, why did it matter what order they were in? Perhaps it was to do with the computer program that would match them. But as she was number one, she joined the front of the queue.

There were murmurs of excitement around the room as women moved to take their place in line. Imogen carried on talking as the last women joined the queue behind Meadow. ‘We’re going to walk you into the dark corridor in a moment, you’ll be next to a wall and I want you to find the right-hand wall where you should find a rope, follow that rope as far as you can. Me and my assistants will make sure you are standing in front of a man. When the bell rings you will have twenty seconds to step forward and kiss that man. No touching, no talking. Tonight is purely about the kiss. When the bell rings again you should stop, find the rope to the man’s right and follow it until you meet another man. If you enjoyed that kiss, don’t forget to press the button on your watch to signify you’d like to be matched with that person. Me and my assistants will be in there making sure you’re all OK. So if you want out just move back against the back wall and wave your hands and one of us will remove you.’

Imogen pulled on her night-vision goggles and Meadow saw her assistants doing the same and, the next thing, she was marching off into the darkened corridor and Meadow and the other women followed her.

They were plunged into darkness almost immediately and Meadow quickly found the wall to her right and slowly followed it along without any idea where she was going. She heard shuffling behind her but couldn’t see any men.

Suddenly a hand reached out to her arm to stop her.

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