Julia Williams 3 Book Bundle. Julia Williams

said Kezzie. ‘Sadly, I don’t have any, but there is still some beer at mine if anyone can face it. I am, of course, exempting myself from this.’

      Kezzie’s hangover and sense of paranoia had worsened as the day went on. She knew Troy and Lauren weren’t an item, and Lauren had been very clear that she wasn’t planning for them to be, but she felt she’d unwittingly strayed into Lauren’s territory, and she didn’t like it. Neither did she enjoy being secretive. She’d toyed with the idea of what to do all day, before coming to the conclusion that she should go round with a bottle of wine and fess up to Lauren. That way, they could (she hoped) have a good laugh about it, and get it out of the way, before gossip reached Lauren about what had happened. She liked Lauren, and the last thing she wanted was for there to be secrets between them.

      Thus resolved, Kezzie tried to put her worries about Lauren and Troy aside, and enjoy the rest of the weekend with her friends. She was helped in this aim by a nice surprise on her return home. Not only had Troy gone (Kezzie had been worried he might have hung around), but Flo and June had put the time to good use and cleaned up.

      ‘Oh, thanks you two,’ said Kezzie. ‘You really didn’t need to.’

      ‘Nonsense,’ said Flo. ‘We haven’t had such a laugh in ages, have we, June? It was the least we could do.’

      Everyone hung around till the late afternoon, before reluctantly packing up their things and clambering into Gavin’s minibus, which had always been used for gardening jobs.

      ‘You will come again soon, won’t you?’ said Kezzie wistfully. ‘I’ve missed you guys.’

      ‘Come back to London,’ urged Flick. ‘You can’t go burying yourself in the countryside forever.’

      ‘Maybe,’ said Kezzie, noncommittally. Part of her would love her old life back, but she had to admit she was putting roots down here. Living in Heartsease was doing her soul good. Leaving, if she ever did – Jo having emailed to say that she was having such a great time she was likely to be away for more than a year – would be a wrench.

      Sloughing off the end of weekend melancholy feeling that overtook her once everyone had gone, Kezzie grabbed a bottle of wine. She felt she was just about well enough now to tackle the hair of the dog, and went round to Lauren’s to confess all.

      The sun was setting as she went up the path, and she saw instantly through the window that Lauren wasn’t alone. She was with a man. Oh. Troy was round. That was embarrassing. Kezzie hesitated. Maybe Troy had had the same idea. It probably wasn’t the best time to call.

      Kezzie could see Lauren turn to face Troy, laughing. And then to Kezzie’s astonishment, he pulled her towards him and kissed her on the lips.

      Oh my God. The sneaky sod. Straight from trying to seduce her, right into Lauren’s arms. He really was the worst kind of shit. No wonder Lauren had been so down on him. But what had made her change her mind? Now what to do?

      Paralysed by indecision, Kezzie eventually chose retreat as the best option. She’d come back tomorrow and try and find a way of telling Lauren then, when Troy wasn’t around. She took a final look up the path, to see Lauren drawing the curtains, still laughing. She looked so happy. How on earth was Kezzie going to be able to tell her the truth now?

      Chapter Twenty-Four

      The next morning, Kezzie woke up feeling even worse than she had on Sunday. She’d barely slept all night, fretting about what she was going to do. Lauren wouldn’t be at all impressed to discover that her newly restored lover had come on so strongly to her friend on Saturday. Thinking about it, she wasn’t even sure that Lauren would believe her. Would she if it were the other way round? It would sound like sour grapes, even though it wasn’t. She sighed heavily. She couldn’t deal with it now. Best she got to work. She had ivy and rosemary bushes to plant.

      Kezzie made her way up to Joel’s, past Lauren’s house. The curtains were still firmly drawn, leading Kezzie to draw her own conclusions. She couldn’t possibly tell Lauren what had really happened on Saturday. Luckily everyone else who knew about it had gone home, and she was assuming Troy wouldn’t be so stupid as to come clean. Kezzie hated herself for keeping silent – it went against the grain – but she knew it was the only thing she could do right now.