the alley behind Luke, streaking into the gate before he closed it on all of them.
I caught up with the woman. ‘You can both come inside now,’ she said, her tone imperious so there was little hope of us refusing.
We ambled through the lady’s garden. Stones sunk into the grass made a path to her back door.
‘Come inside, inside. I always have a whiskey after four o’clock. You’re in time.’
She disappeared into her kitchen and Luke raised an eyebrow at me. ‘Is this how we die?’ he whispered.
‘Ssh!’ I swallowed a giggle. He shrugged and followed her inside, ducking his head as he did so.
Her galley kitchen was long and narrow and the old lady was placing tumblers on a tray.
‘In there,’ she said, indicating the dining room through an arch.
I nodded, feeling the whole day had taken on quite a surreal turn. The low-ceilinged room, one wall covered with a large dresser, every other wall covered in ornamental plates of horsey scenes, smelt of cigarette smoke. I pulled out a wooden chair, its cushioned seat faded pink, the pattern long since worn away. Luke winked at me as he sat down opposite. I could tell he was enjoying the strange twist, beaming at the woman as she appeared in the doorway clutching her tray, refusing his help as he hopped back up to his feet.
‘Pff,’ she said, placing it down, the brown liquid sloshing. ‘Whiskey.’ She pushed the glass across to me.
My hand hovered for a second, aware I was driving back but keen not to appear rude I picked up the tumbler. ‘Thanks,’ I said taking the tiniest sip, wincing as the liquid burnt my throat.
Luke accepted his glass. ‘You’re my kind of woman.’
She shot him a look. Clearly rescuing her chickens was one thing but this over-familiarity quite another.
She sat at the head of the table and methodically sipped at her glass. Then, when she finished, after furnishing us with a few choice details (silky hens, her name was Peggy, the ginger chicken was so old she should be dead, neighbours hate the noise, they haven’t attracted rats in years, those rumours are false) we were evicted as swiftly as we had been invited inside.
She waved us off at the back door and we made our way down the stone path, careful to close the gate. The three chickens gave us baleful glances as we passed. Then, turning the corner back down the alley, we collapsed in giggles on the side wall.
‘Very weird,’ Luke said, rubbing his eyes. ‘Pub?’
I nodded, ‘Definitely.’
Returning to the pub we found the same table as before, freshly wiped down as we placed our drinks on it. We watched the birds overhead, Luke beside me, one hand on my thigh, the blue sky streaked with aeroplane trails. Someone was barbecuing somewhere nearby, determined to make the most of the summer, the charcoal smell wafting our way.
‘I could stay here for ever,’ I said.
‘That’s good’ – I could feel his mouth move into a grin in my hair – ‘because I booked us a room.’
I leaned back, staring at him incredulously. ‘Seriously?’
‘Come and look.’ He stood up and gestured with his hand and we walked back across the pub garden and into the car park. Luke opened the boot. ‘Ta da!’ He revealed a suitcase inside. ‘I even remembered to pack your washbag with the scary unicorn on it.’
‘Luke Winters, how did you know I’d agree to spend the night with you?’
‘You look the easy type,’ he said, shrugging his shoulders and making me snort unattractively. ‘So now you can join me in a bottle of wine and some dinner.’
‘Definitely.’ I grinned. ‘Although it seems a shame to go inside,’ I said, the temperature just starting to drop as I wrapped my arms around myself.
‘I thought of that too,’ Luke said, pulling out two blankets he had stored in the boot.
‘What else have you got in there?’ I asked with a laugh, on tiptoes.
Luke closed the boot, turned to me, deadpanned: ‘Just the body of my first girlfriend. Sooooooo, wine!’
‘I feel someone might have had enough to drink already,’ I giggled, tucking my arm into his and returning to the table we had sat at earlier, enjoying being wrapped in a thick blanket as the sun set and the tea lights and lanterns were lit all around us.
We stayed out for hours eating and drinking, Luke scooting behind me when the temperature dipped, wrapping us both in the blanket so we could stay outside