Page 67 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

She watched him now as he came over to chat to Joe, with Paddington the dog lounging at their feet. He was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and was smiling and relaxed.

She thought back to him brushing her lip with his thumb earlier that afternoon and found herself blushing, hoping she could put it down to the fact that she was standing near to the open fire.

Ryan then moved across the room before returning with a glass of wine. ‘Here,’ he said. ‘It looks like you need it.’

‘Do I?’ she asked, laughing as she took the glass from him. ‘Not that I would say no, anyway.’

‘It’s a party and you need to relax,’ he replied. ‘But you’ve got that look on your face that tells me that you’re in serious work mode instead!’

‘I’m just keeping everything crossed that the coffee shop is a success,’ she told him.

His face fell a little. ‘Me too,’ he said. ‘But I guess we’ll only find that out on Monday when we open up properly to the paying public.’

She nodded. ‘I guess so.’

‘Hopefully the aroma of Maggie’s cakes wafting through the lanes of Cranfield will be enough to lure in many customers,’ he told her.

They looked over to where Maggie had created an amazing birthday cake for Bob in the shape of a steam train.

‘This is incredible,’ Bob was saying, as he peered down to take a closer look. ‘You’ve even got the right wheels.’

‘Well, I needed to google it to make sure that it was authentic,’ Maggie told him, laughing.

‘You could have always come along to the workshop,’ replied Bob before he frowned. ‘Though I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a big, dirty steam engine.’

Maggie shook her head. ‘Actually, my grandad worked on the trains,’ she said. ‘I’ve always loved them.’

‘Have you?’ Bob looked amazed. ‘Well, how about tomorrow morning? If you’re not too busy, that is.’

‘Sounds good,’ said Maggie, with a faint blush.

As Bob and Maggie were joined by more friends and the conversation moved on, Ryan turned to look at Katy with raised eyebrows.

‘Did I just imagine that or…?’ he asked, dragging a hand through his hair. ‘I mean, I thought he was heartbroken over Mum?’

‘He is,’ she replied. ‘But, to be honest, and without upsetting you, I think maybe it was the idea of the marriage being over that upsets him, rather than missing your mum.’

Ryan nodded.

‘I think your dad and Maggie are just friends,’ she whispered. ‘Although they do seem well suited.’

‘Well, friends is always a good start in any relationship,’ he told her.

She found herself unable to look away from his dark eyes as they stared into hers, her stomach tumbling over and over.

The sound of laughter nearby broke their eye contact and the moment was lost as Ethan wandered over to make a joke about something.

But as Katy laughed along with Ryan, she found that she didn’t want to be just friends with Ryan any more. She wanted much much more and the thought both excited and terrified her.

36

Ryan slept in a little later than usual on Sunday morning, having come to bed late after the surprise birthday party for his dad.

It had been a really good evening, he thought as he lay there. His dad had enjoyed the company and showing off all the work that he and Katy had done on clearing the station and displaying all the old objects.

With a satisfied sigh, and knowing that there wasn’t that much to do downstairs except tidy up after the party, he decided to turn over and go back to sleep for a while longer.

But his peaceful slumber was suddenly interrupted by an enormous hair-raising shriek which had him leaping out of bed and throwing open the bedroom door. He nearly smacked right into Ethan, who seemed to be in the same panicked frame of mind.