Page 19 of It's Now or Never

‘Blonde hair, tall, skinny?’

‘Yes, that’s her.’

‘She’s a friend of mine actually. I’m glad to hear she was only doing her job properly.’

Oh God, why didn’t that surprise me? Now I’d only gone and insulted his friend too.

‘Look,’ he said, laughing it away. ‘Just take a chance, Jen. It’s only dinner. Call it a one-off. If you hate it, and me, I promise you’ll never have to see me again.’

When he put it like that I honestly couldn’t see any reason to refuse.

‘Okay,’ I said, downing the rest of my cappuccino as though it were vodka, ‘that would be lovely.’

‘Really?’ Alex’s face lit up as though he hadn’t actually believed I would consent. ‘How about next Friday then?’

‘Perfect!’ I could be that girl who dated in a carefree and casual manner without losing my heart to the extremely good-looking man opposite me. I would just need to practice.

9

‘Oh my god! What is that revolting smell?’

It was the first time I’d seen Angie in months, since the wedding in fact. She waltzed through my front door radiating good health; her hair was kissed with highlights from the sun and her skin was peppered with freckles, but there was something else about her too, an indefinable magical quality that made her look different somehow, changed in some way from the single girl I used to know.

She stopped in her tracks on her way down my hallway and took a deep inhalation. Her mouth curled in disgust, before she gagged and covered her mouth with her hand.

‘Really, Jen, what is that stench? Has someone died?’

‘It’s my chilli jam bubbling away on the stove. I’m not sure what’s happened actually. This is my third batch. The first lot I had to chuck out because it was too runny, the second lot was so thick you could stand a spoon up in it and this lot is smelling really vinegary. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going wrong.’

‘Eugh, listen to you, Goldilocks.’ Angie shuddered with distaste. ‘So, what’s with the domestic goddess stuff then?’

‘Oh, it’s for my new Insta account. I’ve only got a hundred or so followers at the moment, but I’m hoping to grow it over the next few months. I’ve been trying to put up a couple of posts a week. Seasonal gardening tips, simple craft projects, country kitchen recipes, that kind of thing. Molly from work gave me a jar of homemade chilli jam last Christmas and it tasted absolutely divine. I thought it would make a really popular post. How to grow your own chillies at home, making the jam and then decorating the jars for presents.’

‘Blimey, you’ll need to be careful not to kill off all your followers with that stuff. It smells like paint stripper.’

‘You won’t be mocking me when my jars of chilli jam are selling like hot cakes from garden centres across the country. I’ll be the Paul Newman of Casterton.’

‘Who the hell is Paul Newman?’

Honestly, Angie seriously worried me at times.

‘The movie star?’ I explained. ‘Very handsome. Although sadly dead now. My mum was a huge fan. Anyway, he developed a range of salad dressings. They’re sold in all the supermarkets. You must have seen them? Anyway, that will be me soon, although I think I probably need to tweak my recipe first.’

‘Hmmm.’ Angie raised her eyebrows doubtfully, before her shoulders heaved dramatically and she made a fist of her hand at her mouth.

‘It’s not that bad,’ I said, laughing. ‘Come in to the living room and I’ll close the kitchen door. Fancy a glass of this?’ I asked, taking the bottle of Prosecco she was offering. I kissed her on both cheeks, happy to have her back again.

‘Maybe later. I could murder a cup of tea first, though.’

‘So how was the honeymoon?’ I asked, when I returned with our drinks. ‘You’ve not really told me and I need a blow-by-blowaccount. You look amazing, by the way. Bronzed, radiant and just unbelievably happy. Married life obviously agrees with you.’

‘Oh, it’s fading already,’ said Angie, holding her arms up for examination. ‘We had such a brilliant time though, but honestly, even paradise can wear a bit thin after three weeks. All that sun, sea, sand and sex, it was exhausting!’

‘Huh, chance would be a fine thing,’ I said, pulling a disgruntled face.

‘I’ve brought you this,’ she said, handing me a pretty little gift-wrapped box. I quickly tore off the paper, opened it up and pulled out a green jewel encrusted bracelet.

‘That’s so lovely, thanks, Angie. You didn’t need to do that, but I’m really happy that you did! It’s so beautiful.’ I giggled, fastening the bracelet around my wrist.

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