Page 53 of Falling in Love at Pennycress Inn

‘Yes, but you’ve had that broken before, not too long ago, and see what happened? You found Charlie.’

‘Yes, but I don’t want Charlie to break it this time.’ Nicola stirred her tea, watching bubbles form in the liquid before they burst and dispersed. ‘And I feel differently about Charlie. I knew the relationship with Nathan was limping along way before he cheated on me, but with Charlie, I don’t know, I’ve not felt this way before.’

‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.’

Nicola nodded. ‘I hope so.’

‘It will. And talking of the toerag, have you heard from him again since your encounter with him outside the bakery?’

‘Nope. Nothing, thankfully.’ She supposed she had that to be grateful for.

‘Hmm, we need to sort you out a car in that case. Can’t have you cycling around on your old bike much longer. The weather will be turning soon enough.’

‘I’m okay for now. Thanks, Mum.’ Nicola knew her mum would try her very best to try to get her car replaced if she so much as hinted she was missing it, but that was the last thing she wanted. Nope, she’d get one herself in good time.

‘Tell me, how are the carnival preparations coming along?’

Nicola began telling her mum about Claudette and the disaster in the barn, and little by little, the fear she felt about Charlie leaving began to disperse. Her mum was right. If their relationship was meant to be, then they’d come through the other side and a long-distance relationship would be fine. They’d cope. As long as they could keep spending time together, even if it wasn’t as much as either of them wanted, then they could make it work.

28

‘This is nice. However much I enjoy spending time around the campfire at the farm, it’s good to be able to sit beneath a different section of sky.’ Charlie clicked glasses with Nicola before leaning back in his garden chair.

‘Not to mention my house comes with its own free hot water bottle for your lap.’ She pointed her glass of wine towards Trixie, who had been sitting curled up on his lap ever since he’d taken a seat.

‘Haha, yes. I can’t forget Trixie.’ He fussed over her, getting a purr for his efforts.

Nicola smiled. They hadn’t mentioned another word about the farm being up for sale, or what might or might not happen when he eventually moved back to London, and for that she was grateful. It meant she could push all thoughts of his departure to the back of her mind and just enjoy spending time with him. ‘Did Jill mention anything about the float?’

‘I managed to catch her and explain that Claudette had got into the barn before she saw the damage, so I think she was pleasantly surprised that we’d been able to fix as much of it as we had.’

‘That’s good then. Let’s hope Claudette doesn’t find her way back in and tear something else off it.’

‘Hopefully not. I’ve fixed the lock on the door and have told Jill to keep it locked. At least that way, their float shouldn’t get eaten before the day of the carnival.’ Charlie chuckled. ‘Who’d have thought that one lone sheep could cause as much destruction as she has?’

‘Haha, no.’ She took another sip of her wine before laughing. ‘It’s a good job it was Jill’s barn she broke into and not Miss Cooke’s. Can you imagine?’

‘That’s very true. I suspect Jill is a little more forgiving than Meadowfield’s mayoress.’

‘Absolutely. Especially when it comes to animals or children.’ Nicola smiled as she thought back to when they were younger and Jill had gone through a stage of sneaking the neighbourhood’s lost and damaged animals, pets or wildlife, into her parents’ shed to care for them. When her dad had finally found Jill’s makeshift animal rescue, she’d had two pigeons who couldn’t fly, a frog with three legs and four beetles she’d rescued from the girls’ toilet block at school. ‘Talking of Miss Cooke, are you coming to the village meeting next week?’

‘The village meeting?’ Charlie raised his eyebrows.

‘Yes, it’s when Miss Cooke usually gets the local police officer to talk about Claudette’s whereabouts, remember I mentioned them?’

‘Oh, I remember. I just rather assumed you were joking. I didn’t realise they were an actual organised event.’ She looked at him as an incredulous expression crossed his face.

‘Hey, it’s not that unheard of. A lot of small towns or villages still hold community meetings. It’s just to address any concerns or tell everyone about upcoming events in Meadowfield.’

He nodded.

Picking up one of Trixie’s catnip mouse toys from the middle of the table, she threw it at him and laughed. ‘Oi! they’re not that bad! I used to really enjoy them when I was growing up here. Me and Mum would go together and giggle at whatever weird and wonderful ideas the local residents had for fundraising or complaints of so-and-so’s gnome going missing. That sort of thing.’

‘They sound intriguing,’ he teased.

‘Are you going to come, then?’ She smiled. It would be a good way for Charlie to experience proper village life, and besides, it would just be nice to have him there with her.

‘Still no, I’m afraid.’

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