Page 16 of Ask Another Day

‘And me,’ Natalie called from her feet, ponies in hand.

‘And of course, I have Natalie’s help,’ Holly duly corrected herself.

‘I’m not sure if you heard what happened in Bristol?’ Lucy said, and Holly noticed she was digging her thumb into her hand again.

Holly shook her head instead of voicing an answer, as she slid the wine glass across the bar.

‘The investment firm I was working for was pretty toxic. I couldn’t face working there any longer so I handed my notice in. They put me on gardening leave.’

At Holly’s furrowed brow, Lucy explained, ‘They think I might sell on client data or maybe poach clients for myself. I can’t work for a competitor for six months.’

That sounded pretty good to Holly. ‘So you’re on paid leave for six months? Sweet.’

But the look on Lucy’s face told her this was anything but a positive result for her.

‘I’ve only been back a matter of weeks, and not working is driving me crazy. And you know things aren’t great with me and Tony right now. Say no if it wouldn’t be helpful, but can I do some shifts here?’

Holly went to answer but Lucy cut in, ‘No need to pay me. Getting out of the cafe and giving me and Tony some, much needed, space would be payment enough!’

It took Holly a few seconds to process what she was hearing, but once she’d got her head around it, her resulting smile was wide, creating deep dimples in her cheeks.

‘I’d be stupid to say no to that, Lucy. Are you sure though?’

‘One hundred percent sure.’

‘When do you want to start?’

‘Tomorrow?’ The hope in Lucy’s eyes was unmistakable.

Holly grabbed another wine glass and poured herself the rest of the pinot from the open bottle. Holding up the filled glass she held it up towards Lucy, ‘Cheers to the toxic investment firm for bringing you to me.’

As their glasses clinked, Holly noticed Lucy’s shoulders relax and the smile that graced her face was one of utter relief.

Chapter 5

A Resounding Yes

The evening was in full swing at the pub when Owen arrived. Holly smiled at him warmly as he came up to the bar.

‘Did you bring it?’

‘Bring it?’ he asked, looking confused until Holly gestured flicking a wand like she was one of the Sanderson sisters from her favourite Halloween film.

‘Oh, yeah… to show Natasha some magic.’ Holly noted he didn’t sound as excited as she thought he’d be at the prospect.

‘Natalie,’ Seb’s deep voice corrected him from somewhere behind Holly. She hadn’t realised he’d come out to the bar.

‘Seb! Long time no see. How are you, man?’ Owen bypassed Holly to move closer to Seb.

‘I’m good, thanks. But you’ve got to get her name right. You call her Natasha and you’ll have one angry little girl on your hands.’

‘Right, yeah, sure. I didn’t realise you’d moved back? How long have you been living in the Bay?’

Seb eyed Holly carefully as he answered, ‘A few years.’

‘What made you come back, last I heard you were working at some fancy hotel in Liverpool.’

‘I came back for the funeral and realised how much I missed the place. How much I missed being able to see Danny whenever I wanted,’ Seb offered simply.