Chapter 24

24

‘Yes!’ Raising her hands above her head, Laura jumped up and down. She was the first to get to zero! She hadn’t played darts for years and now she’d won the whole game!

‘Woohoo! We need you on the pub’s team.’ Dan laid his arm over her shoulder.

Laura grinned at him. She may have only met this small group an hour ago but already they were treating her as one of the locals.

‘Yes! You’re on fire, girl!’ Catherine held her hands out. ‘And Dan is right. We need you on our side.’

Giving Catherine a double high-five, Laura grinned. Joining the team would be great. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages, years even. ‘I’d gladly join you.’

‘Fantastic.’ Catherine gave a little dance before collecting the darts from the board. ‘Another game?’

‘I’ll grab another round if we’re playing again.’ Dan headed to the bar.

‘Ooh, here comes Jackson’s stalker.’ Terry, who Laura had learned also played in the pub’s darts team, stroked his beard.

‘Jackson has a stalker? Who?’ Laura frowned.

‘Evie Taunton. The same woman who spread the lies about you.’ Terry pointed across the pub.

Turning, Laura watched as Evie sauntered to the bar on her high heels. What did Terry mean by calling her Jackson’s stalker? Jackson had said they’d dated for a while and it was fairly obvious that she still harboured feelings for him despite them both supposedly ending the relationship amicably, but surely calling her a stalker was a little harsh?

‘Well, I don’t think she’ll be getting much of a reception tonight somehow.’ Catherine handed out the darts. ‘Not if the way you and Jackson have been acting together is anything to go by?’ The other woman looked at Laura over her glasses, a slow grin spreading across her face.

Feeling herself blush, Laura drank the dregs from her wine glass. After not touching a drop of alcohol in months, she felt decidedly tipsy.

‘I noticed the same. You and Jackson there seem to have hit it right off.’ Terry nodded towards her.

‘We’ve known each other for years. He’s my brother’s best mate and, believe it or not, I hadn’t realised he’d moved here,’ Laura offered as a way of explanation.

‘Uh-huh, and the rest. My brother’s best mate doesn’t look at me the way Jackson looks at you, and he certainly doesn’t kiss me.’ Catherine raised her eyebrows.

‘I can imagine Dan would give him a bruised lip if he tried.’ Terry chuckled.

‘Who am I supposed to be fighting?’ Arriving back, Dan lowered the tray to the closest table and handed out the drinks.

‘No one. We were just teasing Laura, that’s all.’ Catherine held her glass up. ‘Here’s to our new team buddy and best weapon, Laura.’

‘Oh thanks.’ Glad the interrogation about Jackson had ended, Laura clinked glasses with her new teammates before grabbing a used napkin from the table and drying up the dribble of wine making its way down the stem of her glass. Leaning against the table, she watched as Dan, Terry and Catherine began the game.

‘Ha, beat that start!’ Catherine held her hand up for a high-five from her opponents, Terry and Dan, who sighed and looked away. ‘Ooh, now you two are going to be sore losers this time around.’

‘Who said we’re going to be the ones who lose?’ Dan picked up his dart, kissed the back of his hand and drew his hand back, ready to release his dart.

Laura looked across at the bar. Jackson was still speaking to Evie Taunton. What were they talking about? She watched as Evie glanced her way, catching her eye. That answered that question then. They were talking about her.

‘Hey, Laura. Your turn. Come and show Dan here how it’s done.’ Catherine poked her tongue out at her partner.

‘Umm, I’ll pass on this game, thanks. Just need to pop to the bar.’

‘It’s closed. That’s why I went to get the drinks,’ Dan called across.

‘Nah, I don’t need another drink.’ Laura dismissed him with a wave of her hand. No, she’d drunk enough for one night. What she did need, though, were answers.

As she made her way towards the bar, she smiled as people greeted her, a complete contrast to the last time she’d ventured into the pub. Maybe, now she had the villagers’ approval, she’d finally begin to feel a part of the community.

‘I’m afraid the bar’s closed for the night.’ Darren paused in his cleaning and folded the cloth he was using to wipe the bar down. ‘I can grab you a water though, if you like?’

Placing her wine glass on the bar, Laura laid her forearms next to it, the sticky residue of an evening’s worth of spilt alcohol sticking to the sleeves of her jumper. ‘Nope, I’m happy with my wine.’

Darren nodded before picking up his cloth again. ‘Fair enough.’

Turning her head, she watched Jackson and Evie, deep in conversation. She couldn’t hear what they were saying – their voices were too low for that – but by the way Jackson had his arms crossed and that look on his face, she was pretty sure she didn’t need to worry that they were arranging a date or anything.

Laura picked up her glass and brought it to her lips. What was she actually doing here at the bar? If she wasn’t going to interrupt their conversation, then what did she hope to achieve?

She took another sip as she watched Jackson hold his hand up, palm forward towards Evie, before turning on his heels and disappearing into the kitchen.

Before she could question her actions, she picked up her glass and walked across to where the other woman was sitting. ‘Hello.’

Jerking her head to look at Laura, confusion washed across Evie’s face before realisation dawned and she recognised her. ‘Laura Price.’

Laura pulled herself up onto the bar stool next to her and twisted her wine glass by the stem. Now here, she wasn’t quite sure what to say, how to begin the conversation. She cleared her throat. ‘Why?’

‘Why? Why what? Why am I here? I should think the same reason as you.’ Evie looked pointedly at Laura’s glass. ‘Although perhaps not, as some of us have more class than to drink ourselves under the table.’

There was no point in trying to have a conversation with her. Evie’s defensiveness and cattiness had just proven Laura would get nowhere if she tried to ask her what her motivations were. Heck, she’d probably never find out, but suddenly Laura wasn’t sure it mattered anymore. Vivienne had seemingly set everyone straight, and certainly the atmosphere in the pub tonight had been a million times better than how Laura had been greeted, or more accurately, not greeted, before. Maybe she should just be happy with that.

‘Nice talking to you.’ Evie slipped off her stool.

‘I…’ Laura stopped herself. She’d drunk far too much to say anything particularly coherent, and besides, what would she say? Whatever she said would make her sound like a child at the hands of the school bully pleading for mercy and she wasn’t about to give Evie the satisfaction. No, she’d rather not know. There might not even have been a reason. Hadn’t Vivienne herself said that the estate agent liked to ‘stir the pot’ sometimes? Maybe it was just her thing?

She watched the pub door close behind Evie before turning back to her glass. Picking it up, she looked at the pale liquid inside, suddenly no longer in the mood to drink. Lifting her head, she watched as the door to the kitchen behind the bar opened and Jackson appeared, carrying a bowl of chips.

Pausing, he frowned. ‘Everything okay?’

Laura nodded. ‘Yep.’

‘Where’s Evie got to?’ He looked down at the bowl.

Laura shrugged. Had those chips been for Evie? Had he cooked her them despite the kitchen having closed over an hour ago? ‘She left.’

‘Oh, right.’ Jackson shrugged and placed the bowl on the bar in front of Laura. ‘Here, help yourself.’

They had been for Evie. They must have been, or else why would they suddenly be going spare? Laura picked up a chip, turning it over in her fingers before replacing it in the bowl and slipping off her stool. ‘I’m going to head home actually.’

‘You are?’

‘Yes, it’s been a weird evening and I’m tired.’ She pulled her coat on before walking towards the door.

‘Hey, Laura! Are you off home now?’ Catherine ran up to her, standing between Laura and the door.

‘Sorry, I should have come over and said bye.’ Laura shrugged. ‘Too much wine.’

‘Haha, no worries. You’ll be on our darts team, though, won’t you?’

‘I’d love to be.’ That was one thing she was certain about. She enjoyed playing darts, and Catherine, Dan and Terry had been nothing but nice to her. Besides, apart from tonight, she hadn’t seen them around Meadowfield, so even though they probably wouldn’t have spoken to her before Vivienne’s intervention, they hadn’t actively shunned her.

‘Fab!’ Catherine turned and walked the rest of the way to the door with Laura. ‘We have formal practice on Wednesday evenings, although quite often if we happen to spot each other in the pub or around the village, then we’ll throw together a quick game, too.’

‘Okay, great. Well, I’ll see you Wednesday then.’ Laura pulled open the pub door.

‘See you.’ Waving, Catherine turned and headed back towards the darts board and Dan and Terry.