Lunch had been followed by dinner and another inquisition, this time from her parents. Yes she was fine, yes she was meeting people and no, there was nothing to add since they’d asked the same questions two days ago. In the boot of her car, along with her overnight bag, she now had three Tupperware boxes of shepherd’s pie, three of corned beef hash (her mum was big on mashed potato), a tin of rock-hard cookies and a large Victoria biscuit that clearly hadn’t understood it needed to actually rise before it could be called a sponge cake.
‘Couldn’t drag your mother out of the kitchen yesterday morning,’ her dad had grumbled as he’d helped her load up.
‘The mash concoctions are probably edible, but since when has Mum believed she can bake?’
He’d given Mia a long-suffering smile. ‘Since you decided to up sticks to Manchester. She’s worried you aren’t eating properly.’
At which point her mum had joined them. ‘Of course I’m worried. It’s all black pudding and Eccles cakes up there. Our gumdrop needs some proper food inside her.’
There had been no point arguing that by that yardstick, Somerset was all cider and Cheddar cheese. Or that some of what was in the boot could not be given the label ‘proper food’. Not when her mum was on a roll.
Especially not when her dad had whispered, ‘Be grateful. You should see the batches we had to throw away.’
Mia felt a squeeze on heart as she recalled the look on his face, the doting expression beneath the dry humour. He loved her mum because she was a little loopy, a little odd, not in spite of it.
Would anyone ever feel like that about her?
By the time she arrived back at her flat, she was tired, stiff and missing her family already. You’re lonely. The words circled her head, dragging her mood down further.
Unwilling to give in to the dark cloud, she picked up her hold-all and carried it into her bedroom. As she emptied the contents onto the bed, she noticed a flash of white in Luke’s window.
Had he put up another sign?
Heart beating that little bit faster, she abandoned the bag and dashed into the spare room so she could read it properly.
Cute rating 1–10?
She let out a huff of laughter and picked up a pen and paper.
Nephew or ?
To her surprise, there was immediate movement in the window opposite. Glancing at her watch, she realised it was just after eleven o’clock. He must be back from the bar.
Suddenly her heart began to speed up. Had her reply sounded flirty? She didn’t want to send mixed messages.
Nephew
Phew, okay. That she could deal with. Picking up the pen again, she wrote:
11
She was about to turn away, when she saw the flash of paper again, followed by the outline of Luke as he stuck another message up:
Mateo?
Her stomach began to flutter.
8
She held her breath. He wouldn’t, would he? Because if he did, she wasn’t sure how she could answer him…
Stan?
Laughter burst out of her.
Easy 7.
He wasn’t finished, and as Mia waited for his next sign, the flutter returned. She was enjoying this, she realised. As long as…
Final answer?
Smiling, she messaged back.
Final answer.
Part of her wanted him to ask the obvious, but a bigger part was scared he would. This tenuous friendship they’d begun felt too important to ruin with flirty comments.
See U + or - 7 soon?
Her answering smile was as much relief as it was amusement. Hastily she scrawled:
Yes
Quick as a flash he put up another message:
Sweet dreams
She wrote back:
U 2.
And when she crawled into bed, she realised she didn’t feel lonely anymore.
On Wednesday, Mia decided to have a change from her usual lunch – cheese and/or ham sandwich – and see what Naomi had to offer.
The café was busy and Mia had to wait in a queue to be served. ‘Well hello.’ Naomi gave her a broad grin. ‘Here for another coffee?’
‘I’ve come to see what you have to offer on the take-out lunch front.’ She pointed to the bacon, cranberry and brie panini. ‘That’s exactly what I need.’
Naomi scooped it up and slotted it into the toasting machine before leaning across the counter. ‘How’s the hot guy?’ she whispered. ‘The one leaving you messages?’
Mia could feel a blush scald her cheeks. ‘Ah.’
‘Oh Lordy, this sounds good. Come on, confess all.’
‘There’s nothing to confess.’ Mia glanced over her shoulder, relieved to see nobody was queuing. ‘We’ve been messaging a bit.’
Naomi whooped. ‘Wow, girl. And here’s me thinking you didn’t want to encourage him. What made you change your mind?’
‘I’m not … we’re not…’ Mia sucked in a breath. ‘It’s not like that. The messages are just friendly.’
Naomi turned to slide the panini out of the toaster and into a cardboard container. When she handed it over, her eyes were brimming with mischief. ‘But you still think he’s hot.’
Mia glanced down at the box, then up at Naomi. ‘This panini is hot, doesn’t mean I want to date it.’
As Naomi rang up the cost on the till, she chuckled. ‘But you do want to gobble it up.’
Mia raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘I want to gobble it up because it’s got bacon in it.’ A diversion was needed. ‘Did Stan come in for his custard donut?’
‘He did that.’ Naomi shook her head. ‘I know what you’re doing, but I’m afraid it won’t work. Nothing’s going to happen between me and Stan. He’s far too shy, and despite appearances, I’m too much of a traditionalist to want to do all the running.’ She winked at Mia. ‘But you’ve got a guy sending you messages by window. If that’s not romantic, I don’t know what is. I can’t wait to hear the next instalment.’
Mia walked out laughing, her eyes automatically glancing towards the bar. As if there was some invisible thread between them, Luke, who was rearranging tables outside, chose that moment to look up. A slow, wide smile slid across his face, and her pulse kicked up a gear.
He’s a player, she reminded herself. You don’t need the angst.
Still, his smile was so infectious, she couldn’t help but smile back. Or walk towards him.
‘Hey.’ He straightened, eyes seeming to take an inventory of her face. ‘How’s eleven out of ten?’
‘Jacob’s…’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, I’m a besotted aunt. He’s incredible. All tiny and perfect.’
‘You went to see him?’
‘Of course, what sort of aunt would I be if I deprived him of a cuddle?’
‘A terrible one.’ Luke’s dimples winked on either side of his mouth as he grinned back at her. ‘I hope he realises how lucky he is.’