A Brief Encounter: A Love…Maybe Valentine eShort. Julia Williams

      The travel reports on the radio were not reassuring. There were miles long tailbacks all the way to Great Denham, the village Claire lived in. Jack-knifed lorries and abandoned cars littered the roads. No one had expected the snowstorm to be so severe, Daniel certainly hadn’t. His car wasn’t up to this, and reluctantly, when he saw flashing lights ahead and was flagged down by a copper to say that the road was blocked by two cars that had gone headlong into one another, he had to admit defeat.

      ‘You’re not going to make it down here for a couple of hours, at least,’ advised the policeman, ‘but there’s a pub back there, you could stop there for a bit and see how it goes.’

      Daniel had spotted the pub as he’d crawled past it and vaguely thought of stopping at the time. There was clearly no point continuing, so reluctantly he did a three-point turn, which slid into six points, before setting off back the way he’d come. Disappointment settled in the pit of his stomach. If only he’d set off earlier that afternoon, and not got distracted by last minute phone calls as intended. If only he’d suggested to Claire she come up to London for the night. But a romantic proposal by the fire of her country cottage had seemed like a brilliant idea at the time …