Page 63 of The Village of Lost and Found

‘You just continue to surprise me, that’s all,’ he told her, before heading back into his office.

Lucy stood at the doorway for a moment longer. She was surprising herself at the moment, she realised. And in a good way, for once.

But the biggest surprise of all was the fact that she and Tom were beginning to feel like a team. And how much she liked feeling that way.

34

So much had happened since Tom’s last visit to The Black Swan pub on Saturday and it was only Monday evening.

His brain felt fried, almost as if he had drunk more of Dodgy Del’s gin. He had spent most of the day writing up reports, thinking up slogans and posts for Molly to use on social media, as well as trying to write this week’s editorial, which hadn’t entirely been successful.

And yet, there was hope. For the first time in a very long time, he felt as if perhaps he had turned some kind of corner and that he wasn’t alone. There was no guarantee that the newspaper would survive, of course. But he still felt a little brighter as he walked across to the bar.

Josh was already holding his pint and looked up as Tom came to stand next to him.

‘Evening,’ said Mike, the landlord. ‘The usual?’

Mike had already grabbed the pint glass and was about to start pulling on the beer pump when Tom found that he was shaking his head.

‘I think I’ll just have a Diet Coke tonight,’ he said.

Mike looked up at him, startled. ‘With a Bacardi in it?’ he asked.

‘No, thanks,’ said Tom, smiling. ‘Just ice and a slice please.’

His talk with Lucy had not only made him think twice about the newspaper. It was time to start taking care of himself as well.

Mike was still frowning at him. ‘You feeling OK?’ he asked.

‘Not really,’ Tom told him. ‘But I think I will be if I lay off the hard stuff for a little while.’

‘Well, that’s gonna halve my profits,’ said Mike with a shrug. ‘But it’s a free country.’

Tom braced himself as he turned to look at Josh. But his friend was picking up his own pint and saying, ‘Shall we go outside? It’s a nice evening.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Tom.

If anything, he was grateful to get away from the still questioning eyes of Mike.

Outside in the pub garden, the evening was still and warm. The sun was only just beginning to sink down in the sky and air was alive with insects and birds.

Tom and Josh sat down at one of the rickety picnic tables, facing each other.

‘Thanks for the suggestion about coming outside,’ said Tom. ‘I’m not sure I could cope with Mike glaring at me all evening.’

‘No worries,’ said Josh.

‘I mean, I understand that I’m going to be solely responsible for the total collapse in his profits by going teetotal this week,’ said Tom. He kept his tone light, but in his heart he realised just how much of a habit his drinking had become.

Josh raised an eyebrow at him in question.

‘I thought I’d give this healthy living lark a go,’ Tom added, trying to sound nonchalant.

‘OK. Well, good for you,’ said Josh with a shrug.

And Tom immediately relaxed, safe not to be judged by his friend.

He hesitated before speaking. ‘My old man had a drink problem,’ said Tom. ‘Don’t want to end up like him.’