I went to bed knowing I needed a decent night’s sleep ahead of the Christmas fair, but it took me hours to nod off. I had worked hard in school and enjoyed the evening taking in the many and varied Wynbridge illuminations, but my time in the pub with Beamish had been tough, not that he knew it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the thought of getting in touch with my parents which kept the sandman at bay, but what he’d told me about his.

Listening to what he had to say about their relationship, how his father had accused his mother of silly things and been jealous of other men, had reminded me a little too much of the argument with Jonathan which had sent me running, albeit briefly, to Dolly.

Other than the most recent show of clinginess, there hadn’t been a hint of anything untoward since it had all been sorted, and I was certain there wouldn’t be in the future either, but I was feeling edgy nonetheless. I had made a point of not mentioning Beamish during any of the conversations I’d had with Jonathan since I arrived in town and that suddenly didn’t strike me as the rational behaviour of someone in a happy relationship.

As my alarm began to sound, I swung my legs out of bed, reminding myself that my decision to keep my friendship with Beamish to myself was my decision. It wasn’t fair to assume that had I told Jonathan about it he would have reacted in any way other than appropriately. This was my problem, not a problem resulting from anything Jonathan had done recently and I needed to find a way to fix it.

‘Morning, Dolly,’ I yawned as I came down the stairs and found my friend sitting at the table looking through the Wish List. ‘What do you fancy for breakfast? I’ll make it this morning.’

‘Something fortifying,’ she said, pushing the list to one side. ‘We’re going to need it, and you might want to refresh the tea.’

I lifted the cosy and felt the pot. It was stone cold.

‘How long ago did you make this?’ I asked, taking it to the sink to swill it out. ‘Couldn’t you sleep? I didn’t wake you when I came in last night, did I?’

‘No,’ said Dolly, getting up a little stiffly from her chair, ‘you didn’t wake me. I was just up early, that’s all.’

She joined me at the worktop and we ended up making breakfast together even though I had offered to do it.

‘Did you have a nice time in the pub?’ she asked. ‘Was it busy?’

‘I did,’ I told her, deciding not to go into too much detail, ‘and yes, it was.’

‘It’s a popular place,’ she said. ‘I sometimes pop in for coffee on a Saturday myself if the Cherry Tree hasn’t got a table.’