The Mills & Boon Christmas Wishes Collection. Maisey Yates

It’ll be fun. Besides, you can wow them with stories about your fast life in New York, and all the celebs you rubbed shoulders with. They’ll eat up every word.”

      “Yeah.” God, I hoped New York didn’t come into it. Imagine if they’d read stories about me? It didn’t bear thinking about.

      “Timothy’s divorced, you know?”

      “Oh look, we’re here,” I said, as Micah pulled into a car bay in front of Shakin’ Shack, the local bar.

      He didn’t move to get out, just gave me one of those beseeching looks of his.

      “And what’s that face for?” I asked.

      “I know there’s a reason you came home – and it wasn’t just to buy the lodge. I can tell by the way you purse your mouth when I mention New York. But I want you to know, you’re not taking a step back coming home. Or taking a leap back if you choose to date someone from your past.”

      “Firstly, there was something, yes, but it’s not the time or place to go into it. And secondly, I don’t think it’s a step back. I haven’t acted like that, have I?”

      He shrugged. Had I? Acted like some big-city upstart?

      “I don’t think I have, Micah. And Timothy could be married, divorced, gay or straight and it wouldn’t bother me one iota because I am not interested.”

      Micah put his palms up in surrender. “I was simply stating a fact. And that’s a little hypocritical of you, since you were all set to play Cupid with me and Isla, were you not?”

      He had me there. Still. “So?” I said, petulantly.

      “So?”

      “So what?” I said.

      “So be that way. It’s your life.”

      “Fine.”

      “Fine,” he said, crossing his arms.

      The ridiculousness of the conversation hit me, and I burst out laughing. “Oh God, we’ve regressed back to high school.”

      Micah unfolded his arms and groaned. “You were even more stubborn then. This argument would have continued for a few hours at least.”

      “What are we even arguing about anyway?”

      “I don’t know. Maybe we’re both scared of plunging into new lives… in your twenties, nothing really matters, but in your thirties, you suddenly feel the need to weigh up every choice. You ever feel that way?”

      I sighed. “All the time. I thought I had life pretty well sorted out, but it turns out I didn’t. Makes me wonder if I know myself at all sometimes.”

      “You know what we need?”

      “What?”

      “Beer.”

      “And lots of it.”

      We ambled inside. The dimly lit bar was almost empty, and a part of me hoped they’d cancelled and I could go home and do midnight yoga, and forget about it all… but then Timothy stood and waved us over to a corner booth.

      “Hey,” Timothy said, giving me a chaste kiss. “Micah. Like the new do.” He pointed to Micah’s closely shaved hair. Poor Micah hadn’t had much choice after the fire had torched his locks.

      Micah ran a hand over the stubble. “Yeah, you know me, always leading the way in the grooming department. Bet I wander into town next week and see clones everywhere.” Everyone laughed and I hovered in Micah’s shadow, unsure of which persona to be. The girl they used to know, or the one I was now… whoever that was.

      Around the booth were a few old friends from our high-school days. And Timothy was sans children. Pasting on a confident smile, I sat beside Micah, who shuffled them along to make room.

      Sherri – a girl I had done music and drama with a million years ago – gave me a hug, reaching over Micah’s head to do it. At school she’d been the drama geek, and had gone on to make a few commercials, before deciding to concentrate on writing instead. I’d always liked her and I could tell she was that same quirky girl.

      “Clio, you look great! New York agreed with you.” She gave me an appraising once-over, and tutted. “I can’t see your shoes but I bet they’re fabulous.” I’d swapped the jeans for a dress and a blazer and some kitten heels, lest I fall on my face again.

      I laughed. “They’re baby heels. I seem to find every groove in the wood, or hole in the ground here. And it only seems to happen when I can fall into the arms of a stranger and totally embarrass myself.”

      “I don’t believe it for a second,” Sherri said. “When I heard you’d bought the old lodge, I was sure it was some kind of myth. I honestly thought that place would stay locked up for ever. What made you decide to buy it?”

      Running from a PR nightmare. “Oh, you know, I’ve always dreamed of being my own boss, doing parties for people my way. When it came up for sale after all these years, it seemed like a sign.”

      “Fate?”

      “Kismet?” Timothy interjected.

      I laughed. “Yes and yes.”

      Bennie waved across the table. He was another friend from high school, one of those guys who’d lived and breathed sports and hung out with me and Micah a lot back then. “Hey, Bennie. The years have been good to you as well.”

      He blushed. But really, he looked the same – they all did, except with some extra laugh lines, and fuller, more adult faces.

      “I can’t believe we’re all together again, as if no time has passed at all. What have you been up to?” he said.

      Everyone spoke at once and stopped and laughed. A silence filled the booth so Micah filled in the gaps. “Football jock Bennie went to college on a football scholarship, but busted up his knee, which put an end to his football career. Sad for Bennie, but great for us, because he came back to Evergreen and opened up a gym, which we frequent to pump iron and talk about what could have been. Sherri got married to said football jock, and they had twins, and then thought that was too easy so followed up with another little girl. This is their first night out since the baby was born.”

      “You got married?” My jaw fell open. Never in a million years would I have paired those two up, but I could see now how suited they were. They mirrored each other’s hand gestures, and laughed at the same time. I’m sure at school they wouldn’t have looked at each other twice; funny what growing up does to people.

      “We did.” Sherri giggled. “Once he stopped parading around like a beefcake I could see the appeal…”

      Bennie pretended to be offended. “Beefcake? What am I now? Strawberry shortcake?”

      Sherri puckered her lips and replied. “With a cherry on top.”

      Bennie grinned and took his wallet from a pocket, flipping open a compartment. “These are our girls. There’s the twins, Izzy and Dell, and the baby, Eva. As you can see they’ve got their mother’s good looks.”

      Sherri beamed.

      “They’re gorgeous,” I said, feeling a slight twinge in my lower gut. What on earth was that? A reminder from my biological clock? I ignored it, and studied the photo. They were sweet things with their mom’s jet-black hair, and big dark eyes.

      “I’m sorry about your football dreams, Bennie. But to think you’re parents now, wow, I bet you feel complete.” Where had that come from? Perhaps I was saying what they wanted to hear. But you could read it on them as surely as if it was tattooed how happy family life made them.

      Bennie shrugged. “Football seems a lifetime ago. We’re happy here. We are complete. Well… except for a little boy. Sherri isn’t keen on trying again, but who knows, after a few glasses of wine maybe I