Page 59 of The Village of Lost and Found

‘Hello,’ she said, switching off the engine and getting out of the car.

The dog followed her out of the driver’s door but didn’t bound up to Henry as Lucy had expected.

‘Hi,’ he said, looking down at the dog, which was once more sitting on her feet. ‘I see that he’s living up to his reputation as a well-known escape artist.’

‘I’m afraid so,’ she told him. ‘He was by Cranbridge Stores again. I’m sure you missed him this morning.’

Henry shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’d love to say I did, but he’s not mine, you see. I inherited him from my uncle when everything on the farm was passed to me.’

‘Maybe he’s grieving,’ she said, glancing down at the dog. ‘Did your uncle used to shop at Cranbridge Stores? The dog keeps turning up underneath their veranda.’

‘I honestly don’t know,’ said Henry. ‘I didn’t have much to do with my uncle before he passed away. But he left everything in his will to me, so I’m just trying to muddle through before I can work out what to do with the place.’

‘I see,’ said Lucy.

He looked at her and suddenly broke into a smile that lit up his handsome face. ‘Well, I’m sorry that you had to bring the dog back out here.’

‘That’s OK,’ said Lucy. ‘I’ve had worse starts to the week recently.’

‘So I understand.’

Lucy raised her eyebrows in question at his words.

Henry continued to smile at her. ‘I didn’t realise how famous you were when we first met.’

Lucy immediately blushed bright red. Once more, her embarrassing past had caught up with her. ‘It was all a mistake, you know. I didn’t know he was still married.’

He nodded thoughtfully. ‘So if I were to ask you out for a drink, would you think that I was only with you for your celebrity status?’ he asked.

She looked at him, trying to make out if he was joking or if she had misheard him. But no, he was looking at her and smiling, causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle. He really was quite handsome.

‘Thankfully I’m only a very minor celebrity and hopefully not for too much longer,’ she told him. ‘So yes, I’d like to take you up on that drink.’

‘Good,’ he said. ‘What are you up to this week? Say, Wednesday evening?’

‘Nothing that I can think of,’ she told him.

‘OK,’ said Henry, looking pleased. ‘You want to meet at The Black Swan pub at 7 o’clock?’

She nodded. ‘Sounds great.’

They exchanged mobile numbers and suddenly the day seemed even better.

‘I’ll see you on Wednesday,’ he told her.

She smiled. ‘See you then,’ she replied.

Lucy found she was rather enjoying the view of Henry walking away, such was the cut of his shorts and his lithe body.

She bent down to give the dog another quick stroke of his fur before getting in her car. She continued to smile all the way back to the village, suddenly feeling that everything was on the up again.

32

Lucy rushed into the newspaper office almost an hour later than usual on Monday morning having had to pay an unexpected visit to Henry’s farm.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said to Tom who was next to Molly’s reception desk. ‘I had to return Henry’s dog.’

‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘Molly told me where you were.’