Page 85 of The Village of Lost and Found

Molly walked away from Gary back to their table. Lucy, Belle and Amber followed her and saw her looking down at the Prosecco in the rapidly melting ice inside the bucket.

‘Hit me,’ said Molly.

Belle immediately reached forward to pour her out a full glass of Prosecco and handed it to Molly. She downed it almost immediately before holding out her empty glass once more.

‘Again,’ said Molly in a firm voice.

Belle refilled the glass, all the time staring wide-eyed at Molly, who once more downed the drink quickly.

‘Watch out,’ murmured Amber, glancing behind them.

Lucy turned to find Gary marching up to them.

‘Truth is that I’m too good for you,’ he said, as if trying to retain some kind of dignity.

‘Oh, push off,’ said Belle, filling up all their glasses. ‘You’re putting me off my crisps.’

‘You can’t do this, you know,’ said Gary. ‘You can’t humiliate me like this.’

‘You’re absolutely right,’ said Tom, suddenly appearing next to the table. ‘I think you’re perfectly able to humiliate yourself on a daily basis without these ladies’ help.’

Lucy smiled as he used his humour to try to deflate the situation and Molly giggled.

Which unfortunately seemed to tip Gary over the edge.

‘You can’t do this!’ he shouted, making them all jump.

‘OK, sunshine,’ said Tom, scowling. ‘That’s enough.’

‘Get off me,’ said Gary.

But Tom had hold of his arm fast. ‘You’re leaving now.’

‘You can’t make me!’ shouted Gary, turning to look at Molly. ‘Truth is, she’s not worth the hassle. Bridget was better in bed anyway. I slept with her, did she tell you? She knows some tricks, I can tell you.’

Molly was beginning to shake at him shouting in her face.

Lucy looked at Tom with her eyes blazing. ‘Get rid of him,’ she hissed.

He nodded and looked across at Josh, who had joined the group. They began to drag Gary away across the grass, but he was too strong for them and was able to snatch away his arms.

‘You can’t touch me!’ he said, gesticulating wildly now with his free arms. ‘I’m invincible!’

However, he waved his arms just a little too much and lost his balance. He fell backwards towards the rotten fence, crashing through it. They all watched as he fell down in slow motion onto the grassy bank and then kept rolling all the way, finally ending up in the river.

Everyone looked down at Gary floundering around in the knee-deep water before turning away and ignoring him.

‘That’s cooled his temper off,’ said Belle with a grin. ‘Although he’s going to have to pay for breaking that fence.’

The women all turned to look at Molly who was sitting in a kind of a daze at the table.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Amber as they all sat down.

Molly nodded. ‘I think so.’ She was quiet for a moment before adding, ‘I really didn’t want to get married.’

‘We know,’ said Belle, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand.

‘And I was sick of being told what to do.’ She gave a little giggle as she looked at Lucy who was sitting next to her. ‘This is all your fault.’