Page 105 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

Pete shrugged his shoulders. ‘Oh well,’ he said, with a grin. ‘Luckily she’s the other side of the world at the moment.’

They all smiled before going on to chat about football.

Pete was finding himself enjoying the company of his brother and friends more and more. Even Del, despite his obvious shortcomings. They were good people, he found. Where he’d been concentrating on earning money, there were people like Tom and Josh too who were out there giving everything to their neighbourhood. By providing some extra meals and logs, Pete felt that, at last, he too had stepped up and was helping as well. It was a nice feeling, he found.

In fact, he was enjoying his time at The Black Swan so much that he and Belle had decided to throw a New Year’s Eve party for the village. Nothing fancy, just canapés and drinks, but everyone had agreed to come.

The subject of conversation at the bar had moved on from football to Del’s disastrous love life.

‘If I bring my next date in here for a meal, you’re gonna need to put up some mistletoe,’ said Del. ‘At least that might give me half a chance.’

‘Unless Belle gets the wrong idea,’ said Tom, laughing.

Pete frowned and Josh immediately picked up on his brother’s reaction.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Josh. ‘I don’t think you need to worry about Del as competition for Belle’s affections.’

Pete rolled his eyes. ‘You’re all mad. We just drive each other crazy, you know that.’

‘Why?’ said Josh, laughing. ‘Because she doesn’t agree with you and hang on your every word like all your other girlfriends.’

‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ Pete told him.

He quickly turned away with the excuse of grabbing another box of crisps, hoping his brother didn’t see what felt surprisingly like blushes.

But Josh’s words played on his mind for the rest of the evening and he found himself wondering what it would be like to have Belle as his partner. She was feisty and beautiful. Life certainly wouldn’t be dull.

Especially when she came home a bit tipsy as she did that evening when he had closed up the inn.

‘Did you have a good evening with the girls?’ he asked.

She gave him a slightly lopsided smile and giggle. ‘Too good,’ she told him, placing a hand on his chest to steady herself.

Her hand seared warmth against his skin and he was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss her.

‘I’d better go upstairs whilst I can still walk,’ she told him with a soft smile.

After she had gone, Pete shook his head, at himself mainly. He had backed off ever since the disaster of the restaurant. Emotions had got heated and he had become unsure of everything.

But as time had gone on, and the restaurant had turned into a success, he found himself still holding back to protect Belle. She didn’t need an ex-playboy ruining her reputation and he sure as hell didn’t want to hurt her in any way. He cared about her too much. More than he had ever cared for anyone, he realised.

56

Belle woke up early on the Saturday before Christmas and flung open the curtains with bated breath. Thankfully the day had dawned chilly but bright, the sky a brilliant blue with no clouds.

It was the perfect day for the Christmas fete, she thought. And thank goodness because the success of the fete meant that the inn would be busy and they needed all the help they could get.

She looked across to where the empty trestle tables were all lined up along Riverside Lane. Normally so quiet first thing, there were already people about beginning to set up their stalls.

Last year, the first year the fete had been held, had been a roaring success and looked as if this year would be as well.

Amber was outside on the veranda of the shop, placing some poinsettias up either side of the steps. There were already a couple of miniature Christmas trees on either side of the front door.

The shop would be serving hot chocolate, tea and coffee, but Belle needed to get going on the mulled wine. A chilly day meant that people would need warming up.

She also needed to make sure that the fires stayed lit so that the inn was a warm welcome for visitors. She turned away from the windows to get dressed. It was going to be a busy day.

She found Pete already downstairs, sorting out the till.