Willow Cottage – Part Two: Christmas Cheer. Bella Osborne

and the village green towards the pub. Engrossed in the kerfuffle with Carly, she had lost track of time. She knew Leo was safe with Denis, but she still felt awful for being so distracted.

      Beth escorted a moaning Leo out of the pub. On the green the same gang of people were taking down the stalls as the last few revellers milled about. Shirley was sitting on a bench conducting an imaginary orchestra while two couples waltzed around in circles. Beth couldn’t be sure if it was the usual level of bonkers for Dumbleford or if Shirley’s 1960s cake had something to do with it.

      Beth spotted Jack. As soon as she approached him he held up his hand as if to stop her. Leo got distracted by a butterfly and started to follow it from buttercup to buttercup nearby.

      ‘I’m done with the accusations, Beth. Your friend is at my house. The door is unlocked so you can get her whenever you want. I’ll be a couple of hours and I’d like to think she’d be gone by the time I get back.’

      ‘The door’s unlocked?’

      ‘Yes, Dumbleford is a quiet little village. Not London. Get used to it!’

      Beth was taken aback by how vehement Jack was but now, having calmed down a bit, she wasn’t sure herself why she’d made such a thing about him and Carly. She guessed it was because she was being protective of her friend. Yes, that must be why she reacted like that.

      ‘Right, thanks. Will do. Sorry if I was a bit …’

      Jack paused mid-walk, waiting for her to finish her sentence.

      She shrugged. ‘Sorry,’ she repeated and walked away, collecting Leo as she went.

      Three fully leaded takeaway coffees later, Carly and a sick bag were on their way back to the train station. Leo was zoned out playing a game on Beth’s phone, so Carly and Beth were able to have a hushed conversation in the front of the hire car.

      ‘I can’t believe you were going to kiss Jack,’ said Beth.

      ‘I wasn’t!’ protested Carly, although she was scowling as she spoke. ‘Well, it was only going to be a little kiss on the cheek not a full-on snog fest!’

      ‘You were not heading for his cheek!’

      ‘That was probably the wine doing the steering,’ said Carly glumly rearranging her sick bag.

      ‘Why were you going to kiss him at all? You don’t know him, he’s a stranger and you have Fergus.’

      ‘He said something lovely … but I can’t remember what,’ said Carly pulling the same face she pulled when she accidentally switched on University Challenge and tried to join in. She sighed. ‘I’m sorry I was drunk.’

      ‘And what did you talk about anyway?’

      ‘I’m so sorry, but I can’t remember,’ said Carly, hugging the sick bag as Beth went a little too fast over another village speed bump.

      ‘Nothing at all?’

      ‘Nope.’ Carly shook her head. ‘Ouch. Wishing I hadn’t done that,’ she said, putting a hand to her forehead.

      ‘Me too,’ muttered Beth.

      ‘Are you and he … you know?’ asked Carly.

      ‘No! Seriously, do you think I would get involved with someone else so quickly after Nick? Or even get involved with anyone at all after Nick?’ Beth’s voice was rising.

      ‘I don’t know.’ Carly’s expression was pained. ‘No. Of course not. Again, very sorry.’

      ‘Good,’ said Beth, relaxing her tight grip on the steering wheel.

      They bumped along the hedgerow-lined lane in silence for a while before Carly spoke. ‘You can’t pledge not to have any more relationships because of Nick.’

      ‘I can,’ said Beth with a snort.

      ‘You shouldn’t,’ said Carly, as Beth opened her mouth to contest. ‘I don’t want to argue. I’m your friend and I’m just saying, you never know. And while I’m at it from what I can remember Jack was really nice to me, so don’t judge him the same as Nick. If he wants to help you, give him a chance.’

      ‘I’m thinking he might not want to do that after today,’ said Beth and she started to grind her teeth.

      Beth was pleased to be waving Carly off on the train back to London but she was a little sad too. Carly was her best friend and despite the chaos she had managed to cause it had still been good to spend some time with her. Sometimes, all you needed was a friend you could be yourself with. They had both been cheered up by the revelation that there were direct trains from Moreton-in-Marsh to Paddington so they could be together in approximately an hour and forty minutes, assuming there were no delays.

      Now that Beth had taken back her phone, Leo was chatty in the car on the way back to Dumbleford. He was reliving all the fun he’d had with Denis at the fete.

      ‘Am I definitely going to go to Denis’s school?’ he asked. It was hard to tell his true feelings on the subject from his neutral tone.

      ‘I think so,’ said Beth. ‘I’ll need to speak to the head teacher once the new term starts.’

      He needed to go to a school and the village one was the logical answer. She no longer had the income to fund a private education and she couldn’t imagine home-schooling. There was a pause before he answered and Beth held her breath whilst glancing at him in her rear-view mirror. This could go either way, she thought.

      ‘Okay,’ he said eventually, breaking out into a smile, and Beth started to breathe properly again.

      By Monday, Carly was once more feeling like a human being as opposed to a small furry-tongued creature that had been trampled by marauding Vikings. Her weekend had been an utter disaster and it was all her own doing. She knew it wasn’t Fergus’s fault that she had built up the image of the treehouse, although he could have warned her that there wouldn’t be any flushing toilets. Equally he wouldn’t have been aware of the large amount of sheep poo, though the fact that the treehouse was on a working sheep farm might have been a clue. However, the lack of a proposal was definitely down to Fergus. She didn’t know what to do about that.

      Going to Dumbleford had not salvaged the weekend as she’d hoped. Beth had abandoned her in a pub when she was feeling glum, so that bit was Beth’s fault. She probably should not have finished the second bottle of wine but it was a long while since she’d been that drunk and she was pretty sure that she hadn’t offended anyone, so no real harm done.

      She shrugged off any residual guilt, sipped her black chai tea and perused the paperwork in front of her with interest. She’d been asked to sign at pantomimes before but usually refused as, despite having some experience, there was a lot of preparation required for only a handful of signed performances. But this one was different. This one was at a new theatre in Gloucester and Carly was now familiar with its proximity to Beth and the fact that it was an easy train journey from London. It would mean being away from Fergus for a few nights but perhaps that would do them good? There had only been the briefest of text messages exchanged between them and Carly was apprehensive about his return.

      Hopefully, by the time the panto season arrived Beth would have made the cottage liveable and she could stay there and spend some quality time with her friend. She was missing Beth, and an opportunity to stay with her was something to look forward to as long as she could convince Fergus that it was a good idea. Oh yes I can, she thought and chuckled out loud as she folded up the proposition. She’d speak to Fergus about it tonight when he got back from the treehouse. She sighed to herself. She really hoped things were fixable between them.

       Chapter Twelve

      The following week was a blur of activity for Beth, with workmen to liaise with and sorting out