Page 20 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

This was a ridiculous idea, she told herself. Asking Ethan, of all people, for a favour.

But Katy’s words ran through her mind. What choice did she have? If she wanted to take on the huge order for her chocolate truffles, then he was the only person she knew with a big enough kitchen where she could make them.

So she gave herself a little shake and concentrated on the inside of the school. She hadn’t seen it in the daylight for many years, only in complete darkness when she had charged inside mistaking him for a burglar a few days before.

In the daytime, the tall windows at the front flooded the two large rooms with sunlight and it had a completely different feel. It felt both familiar as her old school and yet completely different now that it had been updated.

Looking right, she could see a bed and an awful lot of boxes and so turned left instead and found herself in a room with high ceilings and yet more unpacked boxes surrounding a sofa.

‘Is this our old classroom?’ she asked, staring around, trying to remember how it looked with all the desks lined up.

Now empty apart from the sofas, it was a large room, with an equally large fireplace. The walls were a plain white, but it had a warm and airy feel to it. When it was finally dressed with furniture and a roaring fire, it would be truly lovely, she thought.

She looked back at Ethan, who nodded. ‘We spent many happy days messing around and not taking our lessons seriously in here, didn’t we?’ he remarked.

‘Some of us have still retained that attitude,’ she replied in a pointed tone.

‘Some of us still don’t care,’ he told her with a grin. ‘So are you here for a trip down memory lane, because if you are, I just want to reassure you that I haven’t forgotten anything.’

For a second, the air in the room went heavy and Libby found herself gulping before swiftly pulling herself together.

‘Nor have I because I can still remember you pulling on my pigtails all the time,’ she told him. ‘So, are you going to offer me a coffee as I’m a guest in your home?’

‘An uninvited one, but yes, as it happens, the coffee machine is on,’ he replied, walking towards a doorway in the far wall.

Libby walked across the lounge, noting the new leather sofas, as well as a book on steam locomotives. Ethan had always been interested in fixing anything with an engine for as far back as she could remember from their classes. She hadn’t enjoyed any of her lessons, except cooking. But he had always been able to help make her smile with his jokes. She missed being friends, but their shared history was far too complicated for them to become close once more.

She followed Ethan through the doorway and found herself in a large kitchen. It was even bigger than Ryan and Katy had said. The footprint alone was almost the same as the whole of her cottage.

The units were laid out in a U-shape on three sides. On the fourth wall were a couple of doors, one of which was the back door leading out into the small paved area which led to the railway lane through a small gate. The other, presumably to some kind of cupboard. In the middle of the room was a large central unit, covered with boxes.

She walked around, taking it all in. At some point, the original units had been replaced by ones with modern oak doors. In the fireplace, she could see what appeared to be a large vintage oven. The oak flooring was the same as the remainder of the house, as were the high ceilings.

‘Latte?’ asked Ethan, standing next to a modern and extremely expensive-looking coffee machine.

‘Yes, please,’ she replied. All the appliances appeared to be new, apart from the old oven.

‘What’s in there?’ she asked, nodding at the second door.

‘See for yourself,’ he replied, picking up one full coffee mug and replacing it with an empty one.

As he pressed the buttons on the machine, Libby headed over and opened up the door. It led into what must have been the old pantry. It too had been painted white and stacked with plenty of long oak shelves. It was the perfect cool temperature for storing, for example, boxes of ready made chocolate, she immediately thought.

She closed the door and looked around once more at the kitchen, feeling a pit of excitement in her stomach. It needed a good clean and disinfectant, but it was perfect. Absolutely perfect for her needs to upscale her chocolate making temporarily.

Ethan was giving her a knowing look as he handed over a mug of coffee.

‘What?’ she asked.

‘Much as I appreciate the house call, what’s all this about, Libby?’ he said, leaning against the worktop and studying her as he sipped his coffee. ‘After all, you’ve barely said more than ten words to me in as many years.’

‘Okay,’ she said, putting down her coffee and taking a deep breath. ‘I need a favour.’

He looked surprised but pleased. ‘Of course,’ he replied, after a beat. ‘Anything for my dear wife.’

Libby took a sharp intake of breath and quickly looked around. Luckily, there was nobody else about. ‘I thought we’d agreed that we would never mention that ever again,’ she finally said, blushing.

To her frustration, he smiled as he shook his head. ‘Nope. I don’t recall you saying anything about that after you had literally run out of my hotel room the following morning. And we’ve never talked about it since.’