There was no need for her to rub it in and, more to the point, if she was still harping on about us being the perfect match, then why was she waxing lyrical about his date?
‘And having, what looked to me, like a surprisingly good time.’
‘Right,’ I said tightly. ‘Well, good for him.’
‘You’ll never guess who he was with,’ she whispered.
‘Who?’ I huffed.
‘Zak.’
‘Zak?’
‘Shush,’ she admonished. ‘Yes, Zak.’
‘What as in the most annoying half-brother in the world, Zak?’ I asked, just to be absolutely sure.
‘That’s the one.’
‘Well, I never,’ I smiled, feeling better about life again.
‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ Chloe finished in a rush, ‘but something is.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘With Zak,’ she hissed. ‘I know you said you don’t really know what he’s like because you haven’t been here all that long, but in the last few days he’s seemed completely different and the fact that he and Finn were drinking together last night…’
She didn’t get to finish her sentence because Finn was in earshot, but I knew where she was heading. Zak was being true to his word and I was pleased about that. He was fast becoming a completely reformed character.
It was dark by the time Carole was ready to send us off, our bags weighed down with impressive puddings and cakes. Even Neil had something to show for his afternoon’s efforts.
‘I can’t believe it,’ he beamed. ‘I don’t know what Mark makes such a fuss about.’
In view of his delight, none of us pointed out the carnage he had left behind in the kitchen or the fact that his husband is up in the early hours every day baking our daily bread.
Finn and I stayed to help Carole tidy up and then chatted with Luke during the day’s debrief. He was delighted with how the weekend had gone, as well he should be. It had been a huge success, although I wasn’t completely convinced that everyone in attendance today was there to stave off the winter blues.
‘Right,’ I said, as I gathered my apron and keys. ‘I’d better get back. Nell will be wanting her walk.’
‘At this time?’ commented Finn. ‘It’s pitch black out there.’
He had already made Chloe, who was on her bike, well-lit and wearing both helmet and high-vis, promise to text him when she got home, and now he was furrowing his brow at the thought of me heading out on my own too.
‘That’s as maybe,’ I told him, ‘but she still needs her walk.’
‘In that case, I’ll come with you,’ he said, not giving me the chance to turn him down. ‘I’ll go and grab my coat from the studio and meet you on the green. It’ll do me good to stretch my legs.’
It hadn’t got any warmer, but the sky had cleared and I could even pick out the odd star, in spite of the streetlights. There were worse evenings to be out and Nell was delighted to be getting some fresh air. She gave a low growl as Finn approached but stopped when she realised it was him and even wagged her tail when he patted her head. Things were definitely looking up.
‘So,’ said Finn, who had now, like me, let his hair down, and pulled on a woolly beanie hat, ‘where are we headed?’
I didn’t have a definitive route, so we wandered where our feet took us and after about half an hour ended up at a church gate. The windows were beautifully illuminated and we could hear the strains of the organ and far more voices than I would have expected for a chilly Sunday evening service. It was really rather lovely.
‘Oh,’ I said, just remembering the date, ‘it must be the first service of advent. That’s today, isn’t it?’
Finn frowned. ‘I’ve no idea,’ he said, ‘church isn’t really my thing.’
‘Nor mine,’ I smiled, ‘but I do remember the story from school and my friend Eloise used to talk about the Blue Peter advent crown which was made from coat hangers, candles and tinsel.’
‘That sounds like a fire hazard,’ Finn laughed. ‘Do you want to go in?’
‘Not with Nell,’ I said, ‘but we could sit in the porch.’
It was cosy out of the wind and with the muffled sounds of the service reaching us through the heavy wooden door.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been to a church service,’ said Finn as we made ourselves as comfortable as we could on the wooden bench.
‘What never?’
I hadn’t been to all that many myself, but I knew my