‘Sooner. Just got a few things to sort – I’ll give you a call.’

I watched him go through the turnstile and disappear down into the station. As I walked back to the shop, I felt unsettled. Michael O’Connor. Would he have changed? What did he want? Anything? Nothing? And why was he going to stay with his sister-in-law when he could have stayed with me? I should have asked him. It had been so good to see him but I didn’t dare let go to imagining that we were any more than two old friends meeting up. He’d hurt me once before and, by the attraction that I’d felt, could probably hurt me again. Forget about him, I told myself. Last thing I needed was a long-distance lover in Thailand. If he got in touch, fine, I could ask him why he’d come to see me, why I was, as he had said, top of his list. But in the meantime, best not to get my hopes up. Until then, I’d put him out of my mind.

‘So?’ asked Heather, the minute I walked back into the shop.

I sighed. ‘So … I don’t know. He said he’d be back at some point, but if he’s at all like the Michael from the old days, that’s not a promise to be relied on.’

‘You’re both older. Maybe he’s realized what he missed with you.’

‘I’m not even going there.’

‘Stuart came in. Did you forget you said you’d go for a walk with him?’

‘I did. What did you say to him?’

‘That an old friend of yours had turned up and you’d probably gone to the Coffee Cup.’

‘I think I’m in his bad books now. Do you think I should text him?’

‘Of course, definitely, say you’re sorry. Jon popped in too, after Stuart had gone. He had a look around, didn’t buy anything. I got the feeling he was hoping to bump into you.’

‘Doubt it. He was probably looking to stock up on gifts for his girlfriends.’

‘Funny,’ said Heather. ‘It’s like that programme Blind Date, where you have to choose from three contestants.’

‘Not really. Stuart’s never been on my radar in that way,’ I lied. Even though Heather was one of my closest friends, I’d never confided in her or Marcie about the attraction I felt for Stuart. Nothing was ever going to come of it and I didn’t want either of them getting on my case about him. There was no point. ‘Jon is a womanizer so not for me, and Michael lives on the other side of the planet in Thailand.’

‘You’re too picky.’

I laughed.

‘And Michael’s not in Thailand now is he?’ Heather pointed out.