‘Say something along the lines of “I really like you, Julie, you’re a lovely girl” and all that sort of stuff, but then tell her you prefer blokes,’ Sarah said with a wicked grin.

‘Sarah! I couldn’t say something like that. Apart from anything else, it’s against the law. Is that the best you can come up with?’

He liked it when Sarah laughed at his mock horror. It was nice to see her mucking about again.

‘I don’t know then, just tell her the truth. Women ain’t stupid, you know, we can normally see through a bloke’s lies … and before you say anything, I did say normally. Obviously, there are the few exceptions, Roger being a good example, but if you’re honest with her, she’ll appreciate it more.’

‘What, tell her I don’t love her?’ George asked.

‘Maybe not quite as bluntly as that. Start by saying you can’t help who you fall in love with, and you can’t force it to happen. Tell her how wonderful she is, and how much you hoped you would have fallen for her, but it just didn’t happen. Yes, she may be upset at first, but she’ll get over it, and she won’t be left with a bitter taste in her mouth ’cos you haven’t deceived her.’

‘All right, I’ll take your advice,’ George said, but knew that he couldn’t be totally honest with Julie. He could hardly tell her that he was in love with someone else, someone who would never see him as more than a friend.

George switched the television off, and Sarah warmed some milk. He could imagine it was the same at Albert’s house, and once again he wished Sarah was his wife.

Chapter 52

The weekend passed quickly and on Monday Sarah went to see the agent to sign the agreement for the new shop. It took surprisingly little time, and now she was holding the keys in her hand. It was official, she was the proud new owner of the old shoe shop on the main road, and she couldn’t wait to get started with the renovations, but the first thing she wanted to do was arrange the shop signage. Once that was done, she planned on introducing George to his new business.

That evening, George went to see Julie, and Sarah was sitting up, waiting for him to come home. She heard his van pull up outside, and her heart skipped a beat. She thought it was strange that she felt so pleased to see him arrive home early, and even more happy that he’d given his girlfriend the heave-ho. She had no right to feel jealous of George being with Julie, but she had been, and was now glad she had him back to herself again.

‘How did it go?’ she asked as soon as George came through the door.