Camilla headed up the path of The Cosy Cottage Café. She was so glad it was Tuesday because she really needed to see her friends, to spend a few hours where she felt comfortable and loved. She wouldn’t be able to tell them about what she’d just seen, but at least she could try to put it from her mind for a while.

They would, of course, want to know about how her meeting with her father had gone the previous afternoon at the pub, but she’d already thought about how to deliver that information so as to avoid worrying Dawn. She always considered how best to avoid worrying her little sister, even though Dawn was a grown woman and perfectly capable of dealing with everyday situations. It was, Camilla sometimes thought, more for her own benefit than for Dawn. If she felt that she was looking out for her sister, then she felt useful. So really, if she analysed that objectively, she was well aware that she was relying on Dawn to make her feel needed. She suspected that Dawn knew this too, but they loved each other dearly, so she didn’t think Dawn minded being needed too.

She paused for a moment to appreciate the café’s exterior. It was such a pretty cottage at any time of year, but with the Christmas tree visible through the window decorated with twinkling lights, the coloured fairy lights draped across the front of the building, the festive wreath hanging on the door and the grey smoke curling up out of the chimney into the dark sky, it was even lovelier than usual. The four front windows glowed invitingly and Camilla felt like she was coming home, something she always felt when she visited The Cosy Cottage Café.

She pushed the door open and went inside, licking her lips as she was greeted by the aromas of freshly baked bread, cinnamon and ginger that were carried on some very welcome warm air.

“Camilla!” Allie greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and a beaming smile.

“Hi, Allie. It’s lovely and warm in here.”

“The log burner is wonderful when the weather’s like this. It’s bitter out, isn’t it?”

Camilla nodded.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if we have some snow.”

“Really?” Camilla shivered. The last thing she wanted was a big freeze; the idea of being trapped at home alone certainly didn’t appeal.

“You never know.” Allie took Camilla’s coat then hung it on the stand near the door. “Now go and take a seat and I’ll get you a drink.”

“Thanks.”

Camilla went to the table nearest the log burner, that they always sat at for their Tuesday evenings after Allie had closed the café for the day, and sat next to Dawn. Honey was browsing the bookshelves on the far wall.

“And how are you feeling today, Dawnie?”

Camilla took in her sister’s appearance and was pleased to see that she looked well.

“Not too bad, thanks. Rick has made me keep my feet up all day and been very patient whenever I’ve needed to moan about the situation.”

“You mean Dad’s return?”

“Who else?”

“It was a bit of a shocker.”

“A bit? I still can’t believe he’s back. And he seemed so… blasé about it.”

“He did a bit.”

“Have you seen him since Sunday?”

“I popped in on my way back from the station.” Camilla glanced away, worried that Dawn would read something in her eyes about exactly what Camilla had seen earlier.

“And how was he?”

“Oh… uh… all right.”

“And Mum?”

“Yes, she was fine too.”

“Why’re you blushing, Camilla?”

“I’m not, am I?” Camilla placed her cool palms against her cheeks and realised they were, in fact, hot. “It must be the fire. It’s so cosy in here after being out in the cold.”

“Did you get any more information about how long Dad’s staying around? I haven’t been over there yet because I thought they needed some time to talk but I sent Mum a text today to see how she was.”

“What did she say?”

“That she was fine. Nothing more. So I guess I shouldn’t worry.”

“No, Dawnie, you definitely shouldn’t worry.”

Camilla gazed around at the festive decorations. Allie had made the interior of the café look like a winter wonderland this year with fake snow padding out the bookshelves, sparkling glitter snowflakes dangling from the wooden ceiling beams, silver tealight holders on the tables with snowflake cut outs and twinkling fairylights around the edges of the counter, the inside of the door and windows and on the tree.

“Here you go.” Allie arrived at the table with a bottle of white wine and a bowl of shiny green olives. “Do you want more lemonade, Dawn?”

“No thanks. I don’t want to drink too much because of the bubbles.”

“Shall I get you something else then?”

“No, this is fine for now, thanks.”

“Right I’ll go and get the pizzas.”

“I’ll give you a hand.” Camilla got up and followed Allie into the café kitchen.

The kitchen was a small space but it was warmly lit with ceiling spotlights, making it extremely inviting, and the smells in there made Camilla’s mouth water. On the island in the middle of the kitchen were three large homemade pizzas.

“There’s a choice between three cheese, ham, chorizo and mushroom, and spinach, ricotta and mint.”

Camilla eyed the pizzas with their golden crusts and various toppings from the melted cheese to the succulent mushrooms and the bright green herbs freshly sprinkled over the top.

“I can’t wait to try them all!”

“Chris made some of his fabulous aioli too, so we’ll definitely keep the vampires away tonight. Or should I say the handsome vets?” Allie winked and Camilla shook her head.

“There’s no need. Nothing’s happened.”

“No? I’m not sure I believe that, Camilla. Come on, help me take these through then you can fill us in with all the wonderful details.”

Camilla picked up a pizza and a small dish of the creamy garlic dip that Chris had made, then followed Allie though to the café. She knew she wouldn’t get away with giving them no details at all, but she’d prefer to speak to them about Tom than to have to spend the evening evading discussing her parents and their rekindled romance. Which no one other than her knew about. And which she had to keep to herself. For now at least.

Ten minutes later, the wine had been poured and Camilla was feeling far more relaxed. Honey had regaled them with a tale about the yoga class she’d delivered the previous Sunday that one of the teachers from the local primary school had attended, leaving all the women there open mouthed with surprise.

“There we were, in the freezing cold village hall, me at the front trying to guide my ladies into the downward dog when Dane Ackerman strode in. I thought he was lost. Not that I’m stereotyping or anything but the only man who’s come to my classes up until now is Fred Bennett, and he tends to spend the hour on a chair just doing some upper body stretches. But at eighty-seven, I’m afraid to push him because he hasn’t done yoga before. To be honest, I think Fred just likes the company.” She flicked her long multi-coloured hair over her shoulders and smiled.

“So what did you do when Dane walked in?” Camilla asked, glad that the conversation had so far steered clear of her and Tom.

“Smiled and asked him if he needed a mat.”

“He’s quite cute isn’t he?” Dawn nodded. “I know him because he teaches year 6. He has quite a following amongst the single mums.”

“I’m not surprised.” A blush spread over Honey’s cheeks. “He’s gorgeous. For a primary school teacher anyway.”

“Did he have his own mat?” Camilla was keen to find out.

“No. So I told the rest of my class to carry on with our regular routine then I went over to him, gave him a spare mat and asked what he wanted out of yoga.”

“And?” Allie leaned forwards.

“He said that because he’s sustained so many rugby injures over the years, he’s really stiff and gets a lot of aches and pains, and his GP said that yoga might help with flexibility.”

“Ooh! So are you going to help him?”

“Of course. I told him that he could take part in Sunday’s session but that he might struggle as they’re all quite experienced now. However, I could give him some personal tuition.”

“You didn’t?” Dawn giggled.

“I did.”

“When do you start?”

“After Christmas. He’s going to come along to group when he can but I said I’ll design him a personalised routine to help him loosen up.”

“Do you fancy him?” Camilla sipped her wine.

“Nah… he’s over six-foot tall, built like a wall of muscle and has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Add to that the broken nose and the scar on his lip that I just want to lick and I have no attraction to him what-so-ever.”

Camilla and Dawn rolled their eyes at each other and Allie groaned. “He sounds horrendous. How come I haven’t seen him then?”

“He only started after October half-term when one of the older teachers went off long-term sick. They don’t think he’ll be back so Mr Ackerman could be round here permanently.” Dawn shifted in her seat. “I have a foot under my rib today and it’s so uncomfortable.”

“I remember that. Jordan was forever kicking my ribs and I swear I was black and blue by the time I gave birth.”

Camilla shivered. “I don’t know how you can stand it. I’d go mad if I had another person in my belly.”

“You might not, you know.” Dawn ran her hands over her rounded stomach. “Even with swollen ankles, veins in places you didn’t know you had them and the over all discomfort, it’s still a very special time.”

“I’ll take your word for it. I’m just glad I have niece and a nephew and another on the way to dote on.” Camilla picked up the wine bottle and poured more into Allie’s glass then Honey’s, then her own.

“Anyway, Camilla, weren’t you going to tell us about the gorgeous vet?” Allie raised her eyebrows.

“Was I?”

“Yes, what’s been going on with you?” Honey asked. “You never did tell us about the Halloween Party and evaded the questions so many times that I thought perhaps you hadn’t even gone but you didn’t want to admit it.”

Camilla shook her head. She’d have to tell them something now or this could go on for years.

“Well I told Allie about it the other day when I bumped into her. I’ve avoided telling you all because it was so embarrassing but basically…”

Five minutes into her story and her sister and friends were laughing so much she thought Dawn might actually pop. Honey had fallen off her chair once and Allie was giggling even though she’d heard the story already.

“Have you seen him since?” Honey asked.

“Yesterday. I bumped into him in the morning and he asked me to meet for a drink. He said he was embarrassed about what had happened.”

“I told you he would be.” Allie nodded. “My cats are always embarrassing me. Look at what happened with poor deceased Wallace when Luna got hold of him.”

Dawn shuddered. “Poor Wallace.”

Camilla squeezed her shoulder, knowing that her sister still missed her first little guinea pig, in spite of the fact that Wallace’s replacement was absolutely adorable, as were her babies.

“Anyway, we had a drink then I went back to his cottage and had dinner.”

“Ooh! I wish you’d told me about this yesterday, Camilla. It would’ve take my mind off worrying about Mum and Dad and I could’ve been wondering what you were doing with Tom Stone instead.”

“Dawn, I know you and it would’ve given you something else to worry about. Besides, there was nothing to tell. We had dinner, he walked me home, that was it.”

“What no kisses?” Dawn pouted.

“Nope.”

“Camilla, are you blushing?” Allie pointed at her cheeks.

“Well one kiss… a peck that I initiated after he walked me home. But that’s it. We’re friends and he’s very nice and sweet and I fancy him and… oh shit, I really do. I fancy him like mad.” She stared at the other women and they stared back. “What am I going to do? This isn’t supposed to happen to me!”

“Camilla this is a good thing. This is life.” Allie reached across the table and took her hand. “Remember how you encouraged me when Chris was back in town? You told me to go for it. You said it was high time I enjoyed life and let myself be happy. The same applies to you.”

“No. No, it’s different. I mean… he’s just so nice. But I’m not.”

She hung her head as thoughts swirled through her mind.

“What do you mean you’re not nice? Of course you are.” Dawn took Camilla’s other hand. “You’re the loveliest big sister in the world and you have such a warm heart.”

“But I’ve never let a man get close. In fact, I’ve pushed them away and even hurt them. What if I hurt Tom? He lives round here and it could be awful… disastrous. I can’t allow myself to get close to him.”

“Of course you can. And you won’t hurt him.” Dawn squeezed her hand.

Camilla thought of her parents and how her father had run away and how much he had hurt her mother, Dawn and her. But he’d come back and he had reasons for what he’d done, reasons that kind of made sense, even if they didn’t completely excuse his behaviour.

“I might. And I don’t want to.”

“Camilla, it’s okay to be afraid. Love is about taking chances and not all relationships work out but you owe it to yourself to give this a chance if you really like him.” Allie released her hand then raised her wine glass. “To taking chances on love because let’s be honest ladies, it’s bloody well worth it!”

They all clinked their glasses then drank.

“It’s very early days yet anyway and I don’t actually know what Tom wants or if he likes me that much. I’ll take it a day at a time.”

“That’s all you can do.” Allie nodded. “That’s all any of us can do.”