Okay, that was unexpected. Olivia tried to formulate a response but could only come up with “Right...”

“If you were wondering. And if you weren’t, then I realise this conversation is exceedingly awkward and well, odd.” He let out an uncertain laugh. “I just mean, you might have got the wrong end of the stick... I would understand if you had...when you saw me. And I didn’t want you to think that...well, that I had a child. Or you know, other...things.”

“Okay,” Olivia said after a moment. She still wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to communicate, but she felt the tiniest bit hopeful that it was something good.

“I’m really explaining myself badly,” Simon said with a rueful shake of his head. “All I’m trying to say is...I’m not...well, I’m single.” Even in the darkness Olivia could see how much he was blushing, and now she probably was, as well. Her face was certainly starting to feel fiery, because surely there could only be one reason why he was telling her all this?

“Who were you with on Sunday?” she asked, half-wishing she hadn’t mentioned Sunday, and yet still wanting to know.

“Sunday...” He frowned, and then she saw the exact moment when he remembered what had happened, and who he was with, just as she could tell the memory pained him. It was there in the quick flinch, the shadow that flitted through his eyes. “That was Bella, my sister. After we talked, I looked around for you, but you were gone.”

Olivia nodded, not wanting to explain, and not totally trusting Simon’s seemingly simple explanation. His sister? It made sense; they had a similar look about them, and yet... Olivia had a gut instinct that it was a little more complicated than that. The exchange she’d witnessed had seemed so intense, so emotional.

She decided to take a step back, figuratively if not physically. “Well, thanks for the explanation, but I’d really better be getting back to the shop.”

“Let me walk with you.”

She shrugged, not wanting to argue the point, and not sure how she felt about this enigmatic man. On Sunday she’d felt, rightly or wrongly, as if she—they—had been on the cusp of something, and then it had all fallen flat. He’d been avoiding the shop, or so it had felt like, and yet she could hardly ask him why he hadn’t bought a cupcake in the last three days. The whole thing felt a bit ridiculous.

They walked in silence up the high street; already people were trickling away from the green, heading towards home. Olivia doubted she’d get much more custom that night, and Harriet would be able to buy plenty of cakes. She couldn’t keep from sighing at the thought, and Simon glanced at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just been a long day.” She shrugged, determined not to give in to the doldrums. “I’m ready to put my feet up and binge on a boxed set.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”