Free A Merry Mistletoe Wedding by Judy Astley Page B

hand. It was definitely good to see this lovely dog again. So many times they’d walked the few hundred yards to the pub with him on his lead, pulling them in through the bar-room door as if he knew the drill exactly. He’d liked the pub; Benji was the sort of dog that drew complete strangers to come up and talk and he loved attention. Rich had always been a bit short with those who did this but Thea had enjoyed it. What was there
not
to like about anyone who approached to express admiration for such a gorgeous dog?
    â€˜Well … OK, maybe just for half an hour,’ she agreed, giving in to what she had to admit was overwhelming curiosity about why Rich had turned up. ‘Hang on there for a minute and I’ll get my bag and keys.’
    He may have lived here once, shared her bed and her home, she thought as she locked the back door after her a few minutes later, but she really didn’t want him inside the house now, somehow sullying the air that Sean would be breathing at the weekend. No – he was out of her life, and he could stay out of her house.
    â€˜So who is he?’ Rich asked once they were settled in the riverside garden of the Old Swan with glasses of wine.
    â€˜Who is who?’ Thea asked.
    â€˜The person you were telling you loved down the phone.’
    â€˜How do you know it’s a “he”?’ she teased.
    â€˜Ah – well, if you’ve joined the other team that would go with the short hair, I suppose.’
    â€˜Working the old stereotype then, Rich. You’ll have noticed I’m wearing sensible shoes too.’
    â€˜But not dungarees.’ He was looking her up and down, appraising her dress, her body. It felt a bit uncomfortable.
    â€˜Anyway, it’s nobody you’d know,’ she told him. This evasive tone was a mistake and she felt like a sulky schoolgirl. But she didn’t want to tell him about her new life with Sean. Rich was firmly on the outside of everything she did now.
    Rich chuckled. ‘OK, as you like. Good to see you’ve moved on though.’
    â€˜Are you surprised? Did you think I’d pine for the rest of my life?’
    He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I suppose not. I just know … and I’m sorry … but I realized at the time that getting married, living with someone as a couple on a for-ever-and-ever basis, children and all that … just wasn’t for me.’
    She relented a little, as he actually looked quite regretful about it. ‘Well, I’m glad you decided before we got married rather than after. Simply packing and walking out like you did was at least pretty uncomplicated. How is your sister, by the way?’
    â€˜Oh, you know Elizabeth …’
    â€˜I don’t really, though, do I? She never wanted to be close enough for us to get to know each other. I don’t think we ever had a conversation in which she didn’t tell me I wasn’t good enough for you.’
    He frowned. ‘Well, your family are pretty much a closed shop too, I seem to remember.’
    Thea thought about the spring just past: of Sean teaching Elmo how to fish in the sea down in Cornwall; of him coming up to London and helping Mike shore up the tumbledown back wall of his painting shed; and of him and her mother laughing crazily together over a whole evening of old
Yes Minister
repeats they’d found when flipping through TV channels. Not
so
closed shop. Not at all.
    â€˜So what are you doing down in London?’ she asked. She took a large glug of wine, eager to get home. It was getting chilly now and she was starting to feel hungry.
    â€˜Er … just a bit of work stuff. Meetings and so on.’
    â€˜And you took the dog with you?’ She watched Benji paddling in the river’s shallows, eyeing the ducks, which kept safely out of reach.
    â€˜Oh, there’s always a willing girl on reception who’ll mind him for the duration.’
    I’ll bet there