Page 27 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

That brought Belle down to earth with a bit of a bump, but at least it was some kind of respite.

‘In fact,’ said Pete, turning to look at Mick and Angie across the table. ‘You can both stay here when you come back. That would be fine with me.’

‘That’s very kind,’ said Angie, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. ‘I mean, I can’t tell you how relieved we are that the inn is in local hands. And that Belle here will be looked after.’

‘For the time being,’ added Belle. Was she the only one to remember that he was going to sell on the inn?

‘It helps this transitional time anyway,’ said Angie, giving Belle a fierce glance.

Pete cleared his throat. ‘So, with that in mind, and because there’s so much to do around here, I was wondering how you felt if I started the renovations in the next few weeks. Before the sale of the inn goes through officially, I mean. I’ve already been in contact with a local builder. But I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes.’

‘But legally it won’t be yours yet,’ said Belle, turning to Pete with a worried look.

‘That doesn’t matter,’ said Mick, waving away his concern with his hand. ‘I’ve given Pete all the paperwork already regarding the original ideas that we had for doing the place up.’

Belle blew out a sigh. She hadn’t planned on everything changing so quickly and was beginning to panic.

‘And I’ll be keeping you company in the meantime because I’ll be moving in as well,’ said Pete.

‘You?’ Belle gave a start. ‘Why do you need to move in here when you’re staying in the apartment over the shop?’

‘I hate to be a gooseberry when Josh and Amber clearly need some time to themselves,’ he told her with a grin. ‘Besides, as I’m buying this place, it might as well become my temporary home.’

Belle ground her teeth. ‘Well, I don’t know,’ she began.

But her aunt interrupted her. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, does it?’ she said. ‘After all, the place will be Pete’s pretty soon. And your uncle and I will be away for three months anyway so you’d be rattling around the place on your own.’

‘We got a cracking last-minute deal,’ added Uncle Mick. ‘Couldn’t stop ourselves hitting the confirm booking button, could we, Angie?’

Belle had a sudden vision of her aunt and uncle being trapped on a long sea crossing, arguing and snapping at each other. Man the lifeboats indeed, she thought. Her aunt and uncle in an enclosed space with no exits other than emergency ones didn’t bear thinking about.

‘I’m going to have to go clothes shopping for some new things,’ said Aunt Angie. ‘I’ve not got a thing that’s suitable.’

Belle wondered whether the world was ready for her aunt’s super bright fashion.

But none of that was the biggest problem. That was the fact that Pete appeared to be moving into the apartment, which they would then be sharing. And they’d never even discussed the kiss that happened three years ago.

‘Go and get my iPad, would you?’ asked Angie. ‘It’s on the kitchen table, I think. Then I can show you where we’re going.’

Belle nodded dumbly in reply, still trying to take all the new information in.

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Pete, quickly getting up. ‘Just so I can get a feel of the place, if that’s okay.’

‘Well, it’ll be your home soon enough,’ said Mick, with a smile.

Belle stood up and headed through to behind the bar and then up the stairs in the hallway. She showed him into the small kitchenette first. It was just big enough to cook a meal in. There was a small table as well. It was pretty outdated, but it all worked. Next door was the lounge area which also had a fireplace. Nothing like the scale of the ones downstairs, but it made it cosy on the odd day that they used it. But as the family were normally downstairs working, it wasn’t used that much.

‘Reasonable size,’ murmured Pete.

Belle nodded. ‘We all fit in here with no problems,’ she said sharply.

‘So I guess you and I will be just fine,’ he said.

She spun round and found him unexpectedly close, his eyes studying her as he stared down at her.

‘So how upset are you on a scale of one to ten about me buying the place?’ he asked, leaning against the door frame to stop her leaving the lounge. ‘I mean, compared to this morning.’

She shrugged her shoulders. ‘I was just surprised, that was all,’ she said. ‘I mean, I know the place was up for sale, but I thought we had a while longer here.’