Page 113 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘You look gorgeous!’ Dodgy Del was saying as Pete went to stand next to Belle behind the bar.

‘Thank you, Del,’ said Pete, smoothly. ‘I’m wearing my best shirt just for you. Right, who’s for another drink?’

But he ended up serving all the orders in somewhat of a daze, hardly able to stop glancing over at Belle in that red dress.

Later in the evening, after being flat out behind the bar, he finally had a spare moment with Belle when they almost bumped into each other in the hallway.

‘What a night!’ she said, smiling up at him.

‘Unbelievable,’ he told her, before running his eyes up and down that red dress again. ‘Much like what you’re wearing.’

‘Do you like it?’ she asked.

‘I’d show you, but my mother’s on the other side of this wall,’ he replied.

Belle laughed. ‘Well, I figured you were brave enough with the guitar so I ought to be the same.’

He reached out to take her hand. ‘I never thanked you,’ he told her softly, staring into her brown eyes. ‘For encouraging me all through these past few months.’

She squeezed his hand. ‘Well, that’s what friends are for,’ she told him, before letting go and walking back into the bar.

Pete should have been relieved. But he wasn’t. He just felt sad and upset. He didn’t want to be just friends any more. If the past week and months had shown him, friends wasn’t enough for how he felt about Belle. How many women had he kissed over the years, but none had affected him like Belle. This was different. Deeper. Stronger. This was love.

He held his breath. He loved her? Since when? But he knew deep down that it had been forever.

60

Halfway through the evening, Belle heard a commotion by the door. She looked across the crowd, where, to her amazement, she saw her aunt and uncle.

She quickly left the bar and weaved her way through the mass of people to get to the front.

‘There she is!’ cried Aunty Angie, sweeping her into a massive hug before stepping back to stare at her niece in wonder. ‘What are you wearing? You look wonderful, darling! Doesn’t she, Mick?’

‘She sure does,’ said Uncle Mick, pulling her into yet another huge bear hug.

‘What are you both doing here?’ asked Belle when they finally released her.

‘We got off at Malta,’ said Uncle Mick.

‘We missed you too much,’ said Aunty Angie.

‘And I needed to have my feet on the old terra firma again,’ said Uncle Mick.

‘Christmas wasn’t the same away from Cranbridge,’ said Aunty Angie.

Belle stepped back so that they could see both the renovated bar and the new restaurant.

‘This place looks incredible,’ said Uncle Mick, nodding his approval.

‘And so does our niece,’ said Aunty Angie, giving Belle another once over. ‘Is that your grandmother’s dress?’

Belle nodded. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you all about it over a drink.’

For the next hour, Mick and Angie were surrounded by their friends, all desperate to hear the news of their epic voyage.

‘What will you both do now that you’re no longer landlord and landlady?’ asked Dodgy Del.

‘Divorce mediators?’ murmured Tom innocently, gaining him a nudge from Lucy’s elbow.