‘What was that about?’ asked Josh.
‘Possible food poisoning,’ Amber told him. ‘He’s got some kind of meat he wants to use up for a BBQ.’
Josh grimaced. ‘Well, that sounds like a horror story that we don’t want to be a part of.’
Amber thought how nice it was to be a ‘we’. Even though he was just talking generally, it gave her a warm feeling to be part of something.
‘Talking of BBQs, did you see the photo of our mums?’ asked Josh.
Amber smiled and nodded. Her mum had sent them a photo of both her and Cathy grinning madly and looking thrilled to be together at last.
‘They looked so happy,’ she said.
‘Not sure how long it’ll be until Mum decides to head back,’ said Josh, looking at Amber. ‘Is that OK with you?’
‘It’s fine,’ she told him, to his obvious relief.
Better than fine, she told herself in secret. She wasn’t quite ready to leave Cranbridge yet.
Later on, once the shop was finally closed, she dashed upstairs to try on the black dress that Molly had leant her. Amber had only packed her casual clothes; her smarter dresses were still en route to New Zealand. So she had had to borrow from Molly, who was going to the party dressed as a Hogwarts student as apparently her little brother had plenty of Gryffindor scarves and so on. She had also leant Amber her spare witch’s hat. The trouble was that Molly was a lot shorter than Amber and consequently her dress barely reached the middle of her thighs. It was also very clingy.
Amber peered at her reflection in the tiny dressing table mirror, swinging around left and right. ‘No visible panty line at least,’ she murmured.
And some black tights covered the acreage of bare skin that the dress was revealing.
‘Oh well,’ she said to her own reflection, popping the witch’s hat on top of her long hair, which she was wearing loose. ‘At least it’s dark outside. It’ll just have to do.’
For a second she hesitated. What if people laughed at her? What if they were mean and laughed behind her back? The old feeling of being an outsider came rushing back.
She tried to take some deep breaths, reminding herself that Belle and Molly weren’t like that. But she was still feeling sick with nerves as she walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs.
Josh was waiting in the shop for Amber so that they could walk over to the pub together.
Hearing her come down the stairs in what sounded like heels as opposed to her normal trainers, he began to switch off the lights inside the shop.
He flipped over the sign from Open to Closed and spun around just as he heard Amber come into the shop.
He had been about to say something, but the words and all coherent thoughts flew from his mind instantly.
With the light of the storeroom behind her, Amber was silhouetted in the dark. He found himself staring and couldn’t stop. He had a flashback to when she was standing in the middle of the shop in just a towel. Now she was fully dressed, he was even more mesmerised by her long legs. Her body was also looking far curvier than he remembered, with the dress clinging tightly to every inch.
She walked into the shop, every step in her high heels emphasising her outfit.
‘So, do I look scary enough?’ she asked, fiddling with her witch’s hat nervously. Her smile faltered as she looked at his expression.
‘Of course!’ he told her, quickly. ‘You look great.’
‘I don’t know,’ she said, her voice filled with uncertainty. ‘Maybe I should get changed.’
‘You look fine,’ he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. ‘Let’s go.’
He felt in a daze as they headed outside and hoped the cool night air might bring him to his senses. But as they walked across the bridge, she wobbled in her high heels and he found himself wrapping an arm around her waist so that she didn’t fall in the river.
‘As long as I don’t take you with me as well,’ she said, giggling a nervous laugh.
He tried to join in with her soft laughter, but it caught in his throat. All he could think about was the feel of her warm skin through the cotton dress and the curve of her waist as he held her.
Finally after what felt like hours, he let go of her to open the door of the pub.
A series of wolf whistles rang out, at which point Amber bit her lip. Didn’t she realise that just made her look even sexier? thought Josh.
‘You look amazing,’ said Molly, coming up to them and smiling. She was wearing a long Hogwarts cloak and had drawn a lightning bolt on her forehead with eyeliner.
‘It’s a bit short,’ murmured Amber, tugging at the hem of the dress.
‘Who cares? You’ve got the legs for it,’ said Molly, putting on a pair of fake glasses. ‘Anyway, have some of Mike’s special punch and that’ll calm your nerves.’
‘Special punch?’ asked Josh, sensing that everyone’s eyes were on them. Or, more specifically, Amber.
‘I don’t know what’s in it,’ Molly told them, making a face. ‘It’s pretty disgusting, but after a couple of glasses you lose all feeling in your tongue so you don’t care!’
She giggled and dragged Amber away to a nearby table, where Belle was pouring out drinks from the punch bowl. Belle was also dressed in a black dress and witch’s hat, but for some reason, it didn’t have quite the same effect on him as Amber’s outfit did.
Josh watched them for a second before heading to the bar.
‘Pint,’ he croaked.
‘Wise choice,’ said Tom, who was sitting by the pillar. ‘That punch could strip paint off the walls. Although the wallpaper in here appears to be doing that all by itself.’
Josh nodded and immediately took a sip of the beer that Mike had just handed over. He turned around to lean his back against the bar and looked over at Amber. He wasn’t the only one, he realised. Nearly every red-blooded male in the room was looking at her, Molly and Belle.
Josh glanced over to Tom, who was also looking to where the women stood, nodding thoughtfully to himself.
‘Well, you know what they say, it’s always the quiet ones,’ said Tom, before draining half of his drink in one go.
‘What do you mean?’ asked Josh.
‘Sweet, quiet Amber turning up looking like a supermodel in that dress and living it up.’
Josh grunted. She certainly looked amazing and he couldn’t understand why it rattled him so much.
‘Chances are she won’t stay single for long in that outfit,’ carried on Tom. ‘Perhaps I should have asked her out after all.’
Josh was horrified. ‘No!’ he found himself blurting out.
Tom looked at him, amazed.
Josh sighed and cleared his throat. ‘Please don’t,’ he found himself pleading. ‘Just don’t.’
He didn’t know why it felt so necessary that Tom didn’t date Amber, but he just couldn’t bear the thought.
Tom raised his eyebrows at him in question before understanding crossed his face. ‘Ah. I get it.’ He nodded. ‘Hey, no worries. Anyway, I’m much too cynical and miserable for anyone as sweet as your lovely Amber to be interested in. There’s far too much anger and hate in my heart for my ex-wife to fit in someone as nice as Amber.’ He took another drink. ‘Thankfully the call isn’t mine to make as she’s far more interested in you instead.’