good looking, too.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Molly said. Although she couldn’t summon up as much enthusiasm as she would have liked. ‘At least Chance won’t have to worry about her being alone in the coming months. Assuming this leads to more than just a couple of cups of coffee.’
‘It already has. She’s invited him to her place for lunch. And this evening, they’re taking the dogs for a long walk. He loves dogs, so that helps.’
‘Wow. I’m really happy for her.’
‘Yes. You sound it. Try to be a little more pleased when she does call you to tell you.’
‘I will. I’m sorry. Just one of those days, I’m afraid.’
This was just fabulous news.
Sarah and Terry were engaged. Chance and … Jolene were about to be, with or without a ring. Now even Vicky had a boyfriend.
Molly was happy for them all. Although maybe not for Jolene. But she couldn’t help feeling a little like a loser, without a boyfriend of her own. Perhaps she should phone Mikkel Meloy at The Seahorse Inn and ask if they could drown their sorrows together, after all.
The sad part was, she didn’t even fancy alcohol at the moment. And even the thought of chocolate made her feel nauseous. Clearly, you can have too much of a good thing.
She paced around the kitchen as she helped Sarah unpack the shopping, until Sarah tutted and rolled her eyes.
‘You’ve just put the teabags in the fridge, Molly.’
‘Oh. Have I? Sorry.’
She opened the door and took them back out, this time putting them in the right cupboard. Which is where she found the butter. And the frozen peas. She glanced at Sarah and smiled sheepishly.
‘Why don’t you make us both a cup of coffee?’ Sarah suggested.
‘Are you sure you trust me to do that? You could end up with a mug of watery baked beans the way things are going.’
Sarah gave her a great big hug and led her to one of the kitchen chairs.
‘Sit down. I’ll make the coffee. I made some cakes earlier. Would you like one?’
‘As long as it’s not chocolate. And hasn’t got chocolate on it, or in it, or anywhere in sight.’
‘There’s a lemon drizzle cake, four giant coffee eclairs and some more mince pies.’
‘Perfect. And what are you having?’
‘Yay! You’ve got your sense of humour back.’
Molly raised her brows. ‘No I haven’t. I wasn’t joking. I could eat them all right now.’ But she smiled and winked at Sarah.
Vicky phoned her just before lunch and gave her the lowdown on Bruce.
‘He works for one of the big parcel delivery companies. I can’t remember which one. I’ll ask him later. He’s been making a lot of the deliveries to the cottage and we exchanged a few words each time. Then the other day, we got chatting, and he said he used to know someone who had once lived there. I wondered if it was the same people I had known, but it wasn’t. But we got into a conversation about the cottage, about Chance, and about lots of other things. Before we knew it, half an hour had flown by. Yesterday, as I was there on my own, I asked if he fancied a coffee. He said he could take a short break and we had lovely chat about the dogs. He had my mobile number because, now that I’m taking the deliveries on behalf of Chance, I get the delivery alerts, so he sent me what he said was a somewhat cheeky text, bearing in mind he was working, and asked if I’d meet him for coffee this morning. As a date. I know this sounds ridiculous, sweetheart, but I really like him already. And the best part is, he is teetotal. I told him about my previous problem and he wasn’t in the least bit worried.’
‘Does…?’
‘Chance know?’ Vicky finished the sentence Molly couldn’t manage. ‘No.’ She laughed down the phone. ‘I haven’t told him yet.’
‘Have you heard from him?’
‘Yes. Actually I have. Last night. But I’ll tell you all about that another time. I’ve got to run. Bruce will be here soon and he’s only got an hour for lunch.’
‘Vicky!’
‘Yes, sweetheart?’
‘I’m really pleased for you. Truly I am. I … I hope I get to meet him. Bruce I mean.’
‘Thank you, Molly. That means a lot to me. And you’ll definitely meet him soon. I know it may not feel like it right now, but I’m pretty certain things will start looking up for you too. Possibly sooner than you think. But I