Page 18 of A Second Chance in Seabury
‘About me doing more crochet?’ said Hannah.
‘No, daft girl,’ said Lionel with a warm smile. ‘About you being back in Seabury and staying in her house.’
‘Oh.’ Hannah swallowed as a wave of guilt crashed over her. ‘It’s… I’m… I’m only here for a couple of weeks. Then… well, I’m putting the house up for sale.’
‘We’ll see,’ said Lionel. ‘We’ll see.’
CHAPTER 9
Hannah paused at the door of the wool shop and bit her lip. Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden?
‘Quit being ridiculous!’ she muttered, glaring at her flustered reflection in the window.
After all, she was just dress shopping for a random meal with her even more random neighbour and his son. What was the worst-case scenario here? That she wouldn’t be able to find anything suitable to wear and would end up in her tatty jeans. Hardly a disaster!
Actually, no. That wasn’t the worst-case scenario at all, was it? What if she somehow, inadvertently, managed to wreck poor old Jason’s birthday? Didn’t Gareth always say she had a knack for turning any occasion into a car crash?
Yep… that right there was probably the worst-case scenario.
Hannah’s stomach flipped, and for a second she considered calling the whole thing off. She could just pop a note through next door’s letterbox and then hide for the rest of the day. It wouldn’t be too hard to come up with a plausible excuse, would it?!
‘Okay, now you’re just being daft,’ she huffed, straightening her shoulders while pretending to admire the window display. She needed to stop letting Gareth’s poison ruin everything. They weren’t married any more. He was no longer part of her life. There was a good reason for that!
‘Get a grip!’ she huffed, cross with herself.
Even if this meal did end up being a disaster for some bizarre reason, what was the big deal? Give it two weeks, and Aunty Millie’s house would be on the market. She’d never have to set foot in Seabury again… and she’d definitely never see Mr Eaves or Jason again.
Great. Sorted.
Except for the fact that she’d just managed to thoroughly depress herself with her own pep talk. The random wriggle of nerves in her stomach was now being kept company by a great big lump of sadness.
Blimey. She really was just a massive mess of emotions right now, wasn’t she?!
‘Luckily, I know just the cure for that!’ she muttered, eyeballing a gorgeous beanie hat with what looked like a prancing Stanley pattern running around its rib.
Yep – it was definitely time for a spot of retail therapy!
Pulling her bag more securely onto her shoulder, Hannah pushed the door open before she could change her mind again. She didn’t get very far before she had to pause, blinking rapidly. The light in the shop was cosy and golden, and it took her eyes a couple of seconds to adjust.
‘Wow!’
The word tumbled out of her in an unguarded gasp of delight. The entire back wall of the shop was solid wool. Ball after ball stacked all the way up to the ceiling.
‘See… that’s the kind of reaction I love!’
Hannah jumped and glanced around. Sure enough, there was someone curled up in one of the vast armchairs near the window. She was wielding a pair of chunky needles, and the longest rainbow scarf Hannah had ever seen trailed across her lap and down onto the floor.
‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there,’ said Hannah, shooting the woman a sheepish grin. ‘I kind of got hypnotised by the wool wall!’
‘It does tend to have that effect the first time people see it,’ said the woman, popping her needles down before uncurling and getting to her feet. ‘I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Connie.’
‘Hannah,’ she said with a smile.
‘Of course you are,’ said Connie, nodding as if she’d just managed to slot a puzzle piece into place. ‘You’re the expert sheep wrangler!’
‘Blimey,’ laughed Hannah. ‘It’s far too easy to get a reputation in this town. I’m going to have to be more careful what I get up to.’
‘Well, it certainly sounds like you worked your magic with Bernard. David was singing your praises.’
