Chapter 26

At lunchtime on Saturday, Josie sat nursing a cup of tea on Amber’s couch. “He said he was busy tonight but he’d call me.” It wasn’t the first time she’d relayed the information. The conversation was being well and truly rehashed and dissected.

“What would he be doing tonight?” Amber mused. “It’s weird that he doesn’t just say.”

Her husband, Paul, lumbered in the front door laden down with shopping bags. He shouted hello as he passed the living room.

“What are you talking about?” he asked when he joined them ten minutes later.

“Sam,” Amber said bluntly.

“I just saw him in Tesco,” Paul said.

“Really?” Amber patted the chair beside her for him to sit down. “What was he doing?”

Paul’s eyes narrowed. “Shopping,” he said slowly.

“What was he buying?”

“Food, of course. It’s Tesco! And I was too busy trying to decipher your writing on the list to worry about what anyone else was buying.”

“You’re useless,” Amber scolded playfully.

“Why do you want to know what Sam was buying?”

“Because he’s got plans tonight and he won’t tell us what he’s doing.”

“How dare he!”

The front door burst open and Tara barrelled in. “There you are,” she said. “Did you see my message?”

Josie had started a group chat with the girls that morning to fill them in about Sam, but she’d not checked her phone since she’d arrived at Amber’s place. Both her and Amber looked blankly at Tara.

“I saw his van in Newton Abbot as I was coming out of work.” Tara dropped her handbag and flopped onto the couch.

“Well I hope you followed him,” Paul said mockingly.

Tara sat up straighter. “He went in the chemist’s, so I went in after he’d left.”

“Ooh. What did he buy?” Paul said, his voice dripping with false intrigue. “Please tell us before I die of suspense.”

Tara swatted at his leg. “This is serious business!”

“What did he buy?” Amber asked.

“Ibuprofen. But Belinda told me she was chatting to him …”

“Of course she was,” Paul said. “It’s Belinda. Going in that place is like being lined up for the Spanish inquisition. He should know better to go in the chemist’s at Newton Abbot.”

Amber shushed him and looked at Tara. “Did Belinda know anything?”

“Nothing,” Tara said dramatically. “Apparently he said he had no plans all weekend.”

“Hmmm,” Amber said. “Why’s he lying?”

“He obviously doesn’t want anyone to know what he’s doing,” Josie said. “Let’s just stop talking about it.”

“He must have a date,” Paul said. “It’s the only explanation.”

“Of course he’s not got a date,” Amber said. “If he had, it would be with Josie.”

“He can do whatever he wants.” Josie stood abruptly. “I’m going home. This is crazy.” She couldn’t stand the suggestion that he was on a date with someone else. She was sure he wouldn’t be, but just the thought made her want to go and curl up in bed and never come out.

“Wait here,” Paul said, moving past Josie to the door. “I’ll do some recon and see what I can find out.” He glared at Amber. “I can’t believe you’ve got me intrigued about this.”

“Oh come on,” Josie said. “Let’s just drop the subject.”

“I won’t be long,” Paul said, taking no notice of her.

Amber made more coffee, and Tara complained about James and her morning at work. Josie was happy at the change of subject.

They all looked to the door when Paul arrived back half an hour later. “He’s definitely got a date.”

“No!” Amber said. “He can’t have.”

Josie definitely wanted to go and hide away somewhere. Had she completely misread things between her and Sam? Surely not.

“I just had a stroll through the village,” Paul said, “to make some casual enquiries. I went in the Bluebell to see if Andy knew anything, and Sam was in there having lunch.” The women leaned in, hanging off Paul’s every word. “So I got a pint and sat with him. Then casually asked about his plans for the weekend.”

“And he said he had a date?” Tara asked.

“No! He said he had nothing on. So I said it’s Saturday night, he should be out doing something fun. I may have made a remark about him not having a ball and chain or something …” He grimaced in Amber’s direction. “But it was only to get him talking.”

“And did you get him talking?” Amber said.

“He said he had a few things to do, but nothing exciting!” Paul looked outraged. “So he’s lying to me now too!”

“So we don’t know he’s got a date?” Tara said.

“He’s going on a date!” Paul said. “Otherwise he’d just say what he was doing. He wouldn’t tell me he’s got a date because he knows I’d tell Amber, Amber would tell Tara and everyone within a ten-mile radius would know within the hour!”

Josie laughed then and they all stared at her. “You know how crazy you all sound? You need to get a life! And me too. If he doesn’t want to see me, he doesn’t have to. And I’m not about to start throwing myself at him and demanding to know what he’s doing all the time. You’re a bunch of gossips!”

The three of them looked up at her like a group of naughty schoolkids. “I only wanted to talk to you about it because I thought you’d put my mind at ease and calm me down,” she continued. “You’ve done the opposite.”

“Sorry,” they muttered. Kieron cried out, waking from his nap upstairs, and Paul jumped up to get him.

“I’m going home,” Josie said calmly. “And I’m not going to worry about Sam. What will be, will be.”

“Great attitude,” Tara said as Josie made for the door.

“You’re right,” Amber said. “We should get a life!”

“I’ll talk to you later,” Josie called over her shoulder.

Her determination not to worry about Sam lasted about three minutes. She was walking home through the village when she remembered he’d been in the pub for lunch. It was too hard to resist a quick glance in the windows. There was no sign of him. His van was nowhere to be seen either. She ambled slowly home, hoping she might bump into him. When she got back to Oakbrook, Annette was in the kitchen, baking biscuits.

“Have you got plans this evening?” she asked as Josie kicked her shoes off.

“Nope.”

“I thought you might be out with Sam …”

“No,” Josie said. “He’s got plans.”

“Oh, really? What’s he doing?”

Josie smiled. “No one knows!” She sighed and pushed her feet back into her shoes. “I’m going to check on the dogs.” Rattling around the house wasn’t going to do her any good, and she didn’t want to get into speculation with Annette about what Sam was doing.

Eventually she gave up on trying not to think about him. She was out walking the dogs and stopped by the stream in the valley, sitting on a rock and staring into space. It was so frustrating: she’d spent three weeks missing him and counting the hours until he got back, and now she didn’t even know when she’d see him next.

When her bum went numb against the rock, she called to the dogs and had a minor panic when only Macy and Charlie came to her. She’d got another lovely Labrador with her who was placid and obedient, or so Josie thought. She breathed a sigh of relief when the dog wandered out from behind a bush. Slowly, they set off for home.

She was settled on the couch watching TV that evening when Tara arrived, shouting hello as she let herself in.

“Well this is a sorry sight for a Saturday night,” she said to Josie. “You and I need to have a proper night out sometime.” She bent to greet Annette with a kiss on the cheek, then plonked herself on the couch beside Josie. “I just drove past Sam’s house,” she said. “His van’s there and the lights are on.”

“Right,” Josie said flatly. “Well done on the detective work. Why exactly are you stalking Sam, though?”

“I’m not! I just don’t like him being so secretive.”

“He might have a friend over,” Annette chimed in.

“Why would he be secretive about that?” Tara asked. “I think he’s on a date.”

“No!” Annette said. “He loves Josie. Why would he be on a date?”

“We don’t know,” Tara said, sinking back into the couch.

Josie let out an exasperated sigh. “Why don’t you just go and knock on his door and find out what he’s doing?”

“I can’t do that,” Tara said. “He’s always telling us the village would be a better place if everyone minded their own business.”

“Maybe he has a point,” Josie said.

“Don’t be daft!” Tara grinned cheekily as she stood up. “I’ve got to get to my mum’s. We’re having a takeaway. I’ll leave you to it.”

She was gone as quickly as she’d arrived, and Annette went back to her book. Josie tried very hard not to wonder what Sam was doing. It was five minutes later when Annette mumbled about not being able to hear the TV and reached for the remote.

“Since when are you interested in the TV?” Josie asked as Annette began banging the remote on the arm of the chair. “I thought you were reading your book.”

Annette ignored her and frowned at the remote. “This thing’s playing up again.”

“Let me have a look,” Josie said, reaching out for it.

“It used to do this a lot,” Annette said, turning it over in her hand. “I need to take the back off and give things a wiggle around.”

“Okay,” Josie said, dipping her eyebrows. “Give it to me and I’ll have a look.”

“I know what to do,” Annette said forcefully. “I need a little screwdriver, that’s the only thing. We used to borrow a really tiny one from Sam. I don’t have one small enough.”

Josie’s shoulders slouched and she raised her eyebrows at Annette. “Give me the remote!” she said firmly.

“Could you just nip round and ask Sam if we can borrow the screwdriver?”

“No!” Josie snapped. “I can’t. Now pass me the remote!”

“Fine!” Annette said. She kept a firm hold of the remote and shuffled in her chair as though she might get up. “I’ll just go myself if you can’t do me one little favour. It would only take you five minutes to walk down and ask him for the screwdriver but if you can’t manage that—”

“Oh, sit down!” Josie said. “I’ll go. But what if he really is on a date?”

“Of course he’s not on a date! Just go and ask for the screwdriver. Tell him it’s for the TV remote. He knows the one.”

Josie grumbled but reluctantly moved to the door. Walking quickly down the road, she was torn. If she was really honest, she was secretly pleased to have an excuse to go round to Sam’s place. But at the same time she had the distinct feeling she was about to completely embarrass herself.