‘So in a way it was a blessing that you got made redundant,’ he said.
She laughed without humour. ‘Yeah, I’ve got no job and no home either because my parents emigrated whilst I was abroad and they’ve gone to a place where I can’t possibly carry on with my career.’
‘I admit, it doesn’t sound great,’ he told her. ‘Look, you’ve got a job whilst you need it here. You know that. It just doesn’t pay very much.’
‘Does it pay at all?’ she asked him in jest.
‘Not really.’
She laughed once more. ‘And there was me thinking that you couldn’t wait to get rid of me.’
He stared at her for a beat. ‘I never said that. Anyway, I liked your window displays,’ he said.
She blushed and looked at her feet. ‘It’s easy when you know how.’
‘Rubbish,’ he said, frowning. ‘I think you’ve either got an artistic talent or, like me, you most definitely haven’t. You need to have more confidence in yourself.’
She picked up her wine glass. ‘That’s easier said than done, believe me.’
When their pizza and chips arrived, they were both delighted that, for once, the food was actually cooked all the way through. Probably because Belle had taken charge of their meal, Amber suspected.
They ate in a comfortable silence, with Josh filling up their glasses once more.
‘I mean it,’ he told her, after they’d finished eating. ‘You can stay here as long as you want. It’d mean a lot to Mum.’ He paused. ‘And I need the help too.’
‘Thank you.’
She was touched. Was he actually reaching out to her?
‘Is that why you keep drawing?’ he suddenly said.
She was confused. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You said the other day that drawing and designing were your safety net. I get that you had a bad time in New York. But why did you need one when you were growing up?’ he asked, before shaking his head. ‘Sorry. None of my business.’
Amber took a large gulp of wine. And then another before answering. ‘Growing up can be hard sometimes. We moved around a lot. That makes it difficult to make friends. And some of the other girls, kids, can be mean.’
The silence stretched out as Josh studied her thoughtfully. ‘I see. That must have been tough.’
‘It didn’t do wonders for my self-confidence,’ she told him.
‘So why were you drawing last night?’ he asked. ‘You know, when I found you in the shop.’
Amber gulped, her cheeks suddenly filled with heat as she remembered standing there in just a towel. She took another large glug of wine but managed to spill most of it down her chin.
‘I thought you were a burglar,’ he told her, smiling. ‘Albeit slightly underdressed.’
‘What would I be stealing?’ she muttered, still blushing.
‘You’ve got a point there,’ he said.
Thankfully his line of questioning was interrupted by the entertainment that Mick had booked for the evening. Amber and Josh gave up all hope of a conversation for the next hour as they struggled to hear themselves think over the ever-increasingly out-of-tune Coldplay fake singer. So they finished off the bottle of wine instead.
During an all too brief pause in the singing, Josh went and bought another bottle.
‘It’s not like we’ve got to rush to get up in the morning,’ he told her, refilling her glass to the brim. ‘The shop is empty.’
‘Apart from the tractor,’ she reminded him, before taking a large glug of wine. Her head was beginning to go fuzzy, but she didn’t care. The alcohol was dulling the pain of the singing.
‘I’d almost forgotten about that! What are we going to do?’ said Josh, running a hand through his hair.
‘I think we should leave it there,’ she told him, laughing.
‘We may have to if I can’t get the damn thing going,’ he replied, also starting to laugh.
She took another sip of wine. ‘If only it were prettier,’ she thought out loud.
‘Excuse me, but that is, was, my dad’s prize tractor,’ he told her, in a fake haughty tone. ‘I’ll have you know that it’s a classic.’
‘A classic pile of rusty junk,’ she replied, feeling brave with a few glasses of wine inside.
‘Hey,’ he said. ‘That tractor meant everything to my dad.’
‘I know,’ she told him. ‘I was only joking. Maybe if it were painted it would look better.’
Josh stared into the flames. ‘My old man loved tinkering with that thing. Every spare moment. “We’re going to get it working”, he would say. Every time. There was always hope that it would be useful to us. But it doesn’t work.’
‘Maybe it doesn’t need to,’ said Amber, staring at the flames as she tried to think of a solution.
‘You’re not seriously suggesting that we keep the tractor where it is,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘You’re going to feel pretty silly in the morning when you sober up.’
‘You just need a bit of vision,’ she told him.
‘All I need are earplugs if that singer starts again,’ he replied.
Josh was looking a bit drunk, she realised as she glanced across at him. He had closed his eyes in exhaustion and she noted what a handsome face it was.
When his eyes suddenly flew open to look directly at her, she quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t caught her staring.
‘We’d better get home,’ he said. ‘Before I fall asleep in this chair and they start singing again.’
‘The chairs are nice and comfy, aren’t they?’ she said.
‘Must be the wine talking,’ he said, smiling. ‘Come on.’
They said goodnight to Belle and made a somewhat uneven path across the pub and out the front door.
Once outside in the colder night air, Amber realised how drunk she really was.
‘Sorry,’ she said, snagging her boot on a loose bit of pavement and bumping into Josh.
‘I think we’d better link arms,’ he told her, putting his arm through hers as they began to walk over the narrow pedestrian bridge. ‘Otherwise I’ll end up in the river again.’
‘It was an accident,’ she said, laughing. ‘Now I’ve got to know you a bit better I would totally push you in on purpose next time.’
‘Ha!’ he said, as they reached the other side. ‘Next time, I’ll make sure you go in first.’
He opened up the shop, which looked softer, lit only by the fairy lights in the window.
Josh walked through first and immediately bumped into the tractor, having forgotten it was there. ‘Ow!’ he said, hopping around and holding his knee.
‘Are you OK?’ Amber asked, rushing up to him.
When he straightened, up, she realised how close he was standing in front of her. She had a sudden impulse to kiss him. It must be the wine, she told herself.
‘Well,’ she said, her voice trailing off in the awkward silence as they stared at each other. The familiarity that they had shared in the pub suddenly seeming a long way away.
‘You go up. I’ll make sure we’re locked up down here,’ he told her, looking into her face.