Page 11 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘Found?’ asked Frankie, raising her eyebrows.

‘More like fell on top of him,’ confessed Beth, to everyone’s shocked laughter. ‘I know! Poor man!’

‘You must have given him such a fright,’ said Lily, laughing and shaking her head.

Beth thought back and remembered that Noah hadn’t seemed frightened at all. If anything, he had seemed extremely calm and in control. She found herself thinking that he must be very good in an emergency.

‘And then you slept on the sofa?’ asked Hannah.

Beth nodded. ‘It was only fair. He had the bed first. And I didn’t want to disturb anyone. And that was it.’

‘That’s it?’ Dotty leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh. ‘So much for girly gossip.’

Beth shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m afraid so. No drama. Justme tripping over my own feet and a mix-up with the rooms. Anyway, I’ve had enough of men for the time being.’

Hannah reached out to squeeze her shoulders. ‘Lily told me. I’m so sorry about Jeremy.’

‘I’m not,’ said Beth. ‘I’m so over men at this point. I’d rather live on the moon than go through another break-up.’

‘Men,’ muttered Frankie. ‘Can’t live with ’em. End of story. Right, I’d better get on reception in case any of our guests are leaving early this morning.’

After she had left, Lily turned to look at Beth. ‘So what happened exactly with Jeremy?’ she asked. ‘You were a bit vague when you messaged me last night.’

Beth sighed heavily. ‘Well, we were having a lovely weekend. Or so I thought. We’d decided to have a Saturday night in for once. Anyway, I wanted a shower and to get into something more comfortable if we were going to snuggle on the sofa but I couldn’t get his complicated modern shower thing to work so I just got changed into my pyjamas instead. Because I didn’t take very long, when I came out of the bedroom, he was on the phone in his study talking to somebody and telling them how much he loved her.’

‘Perhaps it was his mother,’ said Dotty.

Beth shook her head. ‘Not based on the kind of things I overheard him saying to her,’ she said, with a grimace. ‘What a louse.’

‘A big louse,’ said Lily, nodding her head in agreement.

Beth sighed. There had been differences between her and Jeremy. Quite large differences, in actual fact. But she had hoped that this time she had found her happy ever after. But once more, her choice of men had been poor. When would she ever learn?

Beth thought back to something that Hannah had said earlier. ‘Hey, what was all that about Noah being the biggest bad boy ofthem all?’ she asked.

She thought back to him standing in the doorway a short while ago and she had to admit that he did look a little rough around the edges. Dark hair, dark eyes and an almost permanent five o’clock shadow. He’d certainly filled out those jeans and sweatshirt pretty well though, she thought.

‘I mean, he’s a bit brooding, good-looking and all that,’ she conceded. ‘But is he really that bad?’

‘Yes,’ said Hannah nodding.

But almost immediately there came an added ‘No!’ from Faye and Dotty in unison.

They exchanged a knowing look across the table.

‘What are you talking about?’ asked Hannah, looking bewildered. ‘Wasn’t he always in trouble? Not going to school? Loads of girlfriends?’

Faye sighed softly as she sat down at the table. ‘What you’ve got to remember is that not everybody was as lucky as you growing up.’

Beth took a silent intake of breath. It was true, she thought. Hannah had grown up in a warm, loving family whereas she had known nothing of that.

Lily immediately turned to look at her and reached out to hug her. ‘We know,’ she said, squeezing Beth’s shoulders.

‘But Noah had a family,’ said Hannah, still looking confused. ‘Not like poor Beth.’

‘Having a family doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a happy one,’ Dotty told her.

‘In what way?’ Beth couldn’t help but ask. As far as she was concerned, just having a family would be the best thing ever.