Chapter 23

Sam promised he’d see Josie the next day before he left, and she was pleasantly surprised to find him in the barn the next morning when she went out to the dogs. He was sitting on Brendan’s sister’s couch, playing around with the two beagles.

“These guys are cute,” he said, as Josie leaned on the stable door. Then he walked over and kissed her like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I’d have come up to the house, but I was hoping to get some time alone with you.”

She opened the door and bent to stroke the dogs. “I’m afraid I have to work this morning.”

“You call this work?” He bent to ruffle the fur of the excited dog. “This is too much fun to be work.”

“I suppose I can’t complain,” she agreed. “When do you have to leave?”

“Not until this afternoon. I thought we could walk the dogs and then have a quick lunch at my place?”

She agreed happily, glad to have some time with him before he left. They spent a wonderful couple of hours wandering the countryside. Sam was so easy to be around and conversation flowed seamlessly.

At lunchtime they sat out on Sam’s patio eating sandwiches. Josie had taken the dogs back home and told Annette her lunch plans. It was a nice little garden at the back of Sam’s house, and they enjoyed the peaceful surroundings as the sun came and went between fluffy white clouds. They sat opposite each other, bare legs touching beneath the table.

“How did you get into the building work?” Josie asked, polishing off her sandwich. “Have you always done it?”

“Yep. My mum sent me to a woodwork class one summer when I was a kid and I got really into it. I started making furniture when I was a teenager and did carpentry at college. When I figured out it was hard to make a living from making furniture, I got a job with a construction company.” He pushed his plate away and leaned back in his chair. “It’s not glamorous but I like it.”

“What kind of furniture did you make?”

“All sorts of stuff.” He glanced around. “I made this table. And the chairs. Pretty much anything around here made from wood I made myself.”

“Really?” She examined the patio furniture in a new light. “That’s amazing.”

“I still do some custom orders for furniture in my spare time. Mainly for people who know me. And I do the odd bits just for fun. My garage has been turned into a workshop over the years.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know that about you. Annette is always singing your praises, but she never mentioned that.”

“Half the furniture in her house is my stuff,” he said casually.

Josie beamed excitedly. “Can I see your workshop?”

He nodded and stood up. “It’s not very exciting, though. It’s a bit of a mess.”

The smell hit her as soon as he opened the garage door: all woody and fresh. Wood shavings crunched underfoot as she walked around the furniture in various stages of assembly and repair.

Sam leaned on the doorframe, watching intently as she explored his space.

“This is beautiful.” She gazed at an antique-looking dresser.

“It’s mahogany,” he said, moving beside her. “I’m just restoring it. Some of the wood’s damaged here …” He ran a hand along the scratches in the front. “I’m thinking about taking out these panels and putting glass in to make a display case … Then there are some chips in the wood on this corner …” He kept talking, mesmerising Josie with his passion for the project.

He’d just moved around the side of the dresser, pointing out some other imperfection, when he stopped abruptly. “Sorry. I’m going on. It’s boring.”

“It’s not,” she said, trying her best to look serious.

“Why are you laughing, then?” His mouth twitched to a smile.

“I’m not laughing.” She was, though; she couldn’t help it. “Sorry.” She took his hand. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I just remembered something Tara and Amber told me.”

“What?”

“They were telling me about you going on a date with whatshername … the woman from the pharmacy …”

His eyebrows shot up. “Belinda?”

“Yes. Apparently she said you were so shy you barely spoke …” She grinned. “It seems quite hard to believe now …”

“Have you met Belinda?” He raised his hand to make a talking motion with his thumb and fingers. “I couldn’t get a word in!”

“You don’t seem to have a problem with your conversational skills.”

He looked serious. “Get me talking about furniture and it’s hard to shut me up. I realise it’s pretty boring.”

“It’s not.” She walked around some more, taking it all in. “It’s fascinating, actually. That you have something you love so much. I always wanted that. I never really found anything.”

“Seems like you do a great job at the kennels.”

“I don’t know about that but I enjoy it. It’s not my life’s dream, though.”

“What is then?”

“I don’t know. That’s always been my problem – I’m constantly looking for something but maybe there just isn’t anything. For a while I was sure I wanted to get into acting. I was working on a TV show for a while but it never took off. It was so much fun.”

“I can imagine you as an actress,” he said, smiling.

“It’s a hard business to get into. I gave it a try, anyway.” She laughed. “You wouldn’t believe how many auditions I went to!”

“It sounds frustrating.”

She bit her lip, remembering how many times she’d got her hopes up after an audition only to be rejected. “I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”

Sam frowned. “Annette thinks you’re doing an amazing job for her. She says you have a head for business and a knack with people.”

Josie registered the fact that there was no mention of how she handled the dogs. “It’s definitely one of the more enjoyable jobs I’ve had.” She paused, looking at a vaguely familiar table. “Is this the one you got from Brendan?”

He nodded beside her. “I sanded it down and gave it a good polish and a coat of varnish.”

“It looks great. Will you sell it?”

“Yeah. I take stuff to car boot sales now and then. I don’t make a lot of money from it – it’s more of a self-sustaining hobby. At some point this place gets rammed with stuff and I just need to make space.”

“I think it’s a nice hobby.” They drifted back outside just as the sun reappeared from behind a cloud.

“I can’t believe the girls told you about Belinda.” Sam’s arms snaked around her waist, drawing her close. “What else have they been saying about me?”

“Not much … they said you lived in Bristol for a while with your girlfriend, but it didn’t work out.”

“I’m not sure I like you hanging around with those two. They’re telling all my secrets.”

“What happened? With the girlfriend in Bristol?”

He shrugged. “We wanted different things.”

“It must have been pretty serious, though, if you were living together?”

“Not serious enough to last,” he said.

Clearly he didn’t want to talk about it, which made Josie curious. “How long were you together?”

“Why are we talking about my ex?”

“Because I’m nosey,” she said. “Also because that’s what people do on dates. Talk about their lives to get to know each other better.”

“Who said this was a date?” He gave her a cheeky grin.

“Feels like a date to me,” she said, her arms lightly hooking around his neck.

“You must have very low standards. The bread for the sandwiches wasn’t even fresh.”

“I did notice that.”

“As soon as I get back we’ll have a proper date.”

“Great. Then I can quiz you about your ex-girlfriends!”

“I’m sure we can find more interesting topics of conversation.”

“We’ll see. Do you think on a proper date you can try not to look at your watch so often? It’s off-putting.”

“Sorry.” He automatically glanced at his wrist again.

“You need to go?”

“I do, unfortunately.” His arms tightened around her as he leaned down to kiss her. Josie savoured the kisses. It was hard to pull away from him. When she finally left, it was with an ache in her chest she was sure would remain until she saw him again.