back.’ I was aware I was grinning like a loon but I couldn’t stop myself. ‘Do you want to come in for a cup of tea or…?’
I gestured absently towards the kitchen, unsure what I could offer him apart from some breakfast and my most sincere apologies for doing karaoke.
He shook his head and dug his hands deep into his jeans pockets.
‘Can’t stop I’m afraid, got to get the pub open for lunchtime trading. Thanks for the offer though. Listen, I’ve been thinking about what you said about joining the, what was it called, the Broken Hearts Book Club? I’m still not sure on the whole being-a-member thing, but renting out the back room of the pub to them for meetings sounds good.’
‘Really? That’s great!’ I raised my eyebrows, ‘You do know that one day, you might actually have to admit that I’ve had a good idea?’
‘I’ll hold out on that one for as long as I can.’ He grinned and my stomach did a somersault. ‘Tell the members they’re welcome to use the back room any time eh? I heard someone say you were the leader now. Your nana left you the club or something?’
I opened my mouth to contradict him, but changed my mind. Hearing someone else say I was the leader of the club sounded pretty good to me and I didn’t want to ruin it.
‘That’s right! It’s all taking a bit of getting used to, especially since I’d never even been to a book club before coming here. I don’t know what’s happening at the moment, but the club’s mine to lead if I want it.’
‘So you might be sticking around then?’ His tone was hopeful, which I hadn’t expected given our earlier encounters.
‘Maybe.’ I folded my arms and tried not to smile.
‘Good. I’ve got some making up to do with you after my less-than-welcoming attitude before.’
I nodded and smoothed my hair down. Pointless really because I still looked like I’d been caught in a tornado. ‘Maybe you do.’
We exchanged goodbyes and I watched him walk to the end of the street until he disappeared round the corner. I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what, but there was something different about him today, like he’d had a wake-up call about how spiky he’d been towards me earlier. It made me melt a little inside that he’d had a change of heart.
Just then, Elle came striding confidently towards me, carrying bags full of pastries and doughnuts. As usual, she looked flawless. Elle Nicholls even did hungover well.
‘Was that the gorgeous barman from the other night I just saw walking away from here?’ she asked with a cheeky grin.
I nodded. ‘Yeah, he came to return George’s leather jacket. Good job too, else he’d have had kittens when he noticed it was missing!’
Without knowing it, I’d returned my gaze to the corner of the street, as if I expected Jake to double back, sweep me into his arms and… I stopped that train of thought before it went much further. It was wrong on so many levels.
‘Waiting for someone?’ Elle asked with a wink.
I shook my head and made some kind of weird spluttering noise. ‘Don’t be silly! Now let’s get inside and get some bacon rolls to go with those doughnuts.’
When we went into the living room, George was staring at his phone with disappointed look on his face. Mum called for someone to come and help with the breakfast, so Elle went to join her in the kitchen.
‘You OK?’ I asked, plonking myself down next to him and nudging him.
He nodded and let out a huge sigh. ‘Yeah, just found out I didn’t get the part in The Lion King I auditioned for. Oh well, onwards and upwards eh?’
I linked my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t get it. It’s their loss, you’re an amazing dancer. Anyway Mister, I want a word with you! You seemed to be getting pretty close to a certain Miss Nicholls last night. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember you two having a snog outside the house at gone midnight.’
‘Oh you saw that?’ he said flushing bright red.
‘Couldn’t bloody fail to!’ I nudged him in the ribs. ‘So what are your intentions, young man?’
He shook his head and shrugged. ‘Elle’s beautiful and fun and nice, but I shouldn’t have kissed her. I mean, I’m heading back to London soon–’ he trailed off.
‘What’s up?’ I said, swatting his arm playfully.
‘Listen, I was wondering if you’d made any decisions on staying here for a bit? Cos if you were, I was thinking of hanging around as well. Just for a couple of months. I don’t have any shows coming up and I’ll get a job pulling pints or something. That’s what I do when it’s quiet anyway; so I can see about getting some shifts at The Purple Partridge. I’ll pay rent or split the bills; the lease is up on the flat next month and I’ve got enough money. Do you think that’ll be OK?’
‘Well, to tell you the truth, since I went to that book club meeting I’ve been thinking I might stick around for a while. It’d be great to have you here too; my mum and dad will be made up that you’re staying. They loved you when they met you last Christmas.’
‘Breakfast’s ready!’ Elle came through from the kitchen and leaned on the door frame.
George smiled, ‘Let’s go and get these amazing bacon rolls then shall we? Here’s hoping they cure this hangover!’ I couldn’t help noticing that his face visibly brightened when his eyes met Elle’s.
He skulked off in search of food before any awkward questions could be asked.
‘What was that all about?’ Elle hooked her thumb over her shoulder.
‘Oh nothing, he’s thinking of sticking round here for a bit longer than he’d planned, that’s all.’ I paused for a second. ‘And so am I, as it goes.’
The last part caught her attention and she snapped her head round to look at me.
‘Really? I thought after everything that happened here, you’d be dying to get back to London.’ She realised she’d used the word “dying” and muttered ‘sorry’.
‘Me too,’ I admitted, ‘but then I went to a Broken Hearts Book Club meeting. Well, I kind of dropped in on one actually and it was amazing Elle; all those people using books to get past the hard times in their lives. In her will, Nana Lily said she wanted me to be leader of the club for three months minimum and I’m thinking of giving it a go. If I don’t like it, I can pass the baton on to someone else, but if I do then great.’
Elle still didn’t look convinced and fixed me with a shady look. ‘What about this amazing job in events you’ve got back in London? Why would you want to leave that to come up here and run a book club?’
I craned my neck to check that my parents weren’t within earshot then lowered my voice to a low hiss. ‘About that… I might’ve exaggerated a tiny little bit.’
‘How much?’
‘OK a lot; I got the sack from that
