Chapter 42

Josie woke with the birds and smiled as she got up and dressed. In the kitchen she stretched her neck and felt utterly refreshed. “I haven’t slept so well in ages.”

“Still no luck finding your own place?” Annette said. Josie had told her on the phone that she was trying to find alternative living arrangements. Somewhere she had a bed would be good.

“It’s hard. Everywhere is so expensive, and I really want to stay in the same area so I’m close to work.”

Annette looked puzzled. “I thought you said it was an hour on the train to work.”

“No, it’s —” She stopped short, realising Annette was thinking of the TV studios. Josie had been referring to Brenda’s Kitchen. “It’s a bit less than an hour,” she said quickly, “which isn’t far by London standards.”

They ate breakfast together and then Josie stood automatically. “I’ll see to the dogs.”

“Don’t be daft.” Annette clicked her tongue. “You’re here for a visit. You don’t need to work. You should put your feet up.”

“I’m happy to walk the dogs,” she insisted. “I’d like to. It doesn’t feel like work.”

Annette shook her head in amusement, and Josie pushed her feet into her shoes and set off to the barn with Macy and Charlie running happily around her. She did a quick walkthrough, checking how may dogs there were and if she knew any of them. At the fourth kennel she stopped and stared. There was a grey two-seater couch that she’d never seen before. Surely Heather hadn’t taken over her furniture hunt? She smiled to herself, suddenly sure that it was Sam’s work. She’d ask him when she saw him. It made her anxious thinking about seeing him again. Her emotions were all over the place. She loved the thought of seeing him and hated it all at the same time.

Pushing Sam from her thoughts, she spent a pleasant morning walking the dogs. The fresh air and peaceful surroundings made a refreshing change to city life. It was almost lunchtime when she arrived back at the house. Amber and Tara were waiting for her on the patio.

“I thought we were meeting in the pub for lunch,” she said as she hugged them tightly.

“We just couldn’t wait to see you!” Tara said. “And Annette’s offered to make us lunch now.”

Josie turned her attention to little Kieron, who was patting the dogs with slightly too much force. “Look at the size of you!” Josie said, tickling him. “He’s grown so much.”

“Calm down,” Tara said. “You’ve not been gone that long. You sound like some elderly aunt! Come and tell us all about the celebrity life.”

“There’s not much to tell,” Josie said. “It’s long hours and a lot of time waiting around doing nothing.”

“It’s going well, though, isn’t it?” Amber asked.

“Yeah. It’s all fine.”

Tara frowned. “No red carpet events yet?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” Josie promised. “What have I missed around here then? Fill me in on the gossip.”

She was hoping the conversation would come around to Sam. Someone would surely mention how miserable he is without her. They didn’t, though; he wasn’t mentioned at all. The girls talked about some of the locals, and Tara talked about work and the latest saga with her boss, James. Apparently he’d been flaunting his new girlfriend and Tara was sure it was an attempt to make her jealous. She claimed it didn’t work, but Josie wasn’t so sure that was the truth. There was a glint of vulnerability in Tara’s eyes that vanished as quickly as it appeared. It didn’t escape Josie’s notice.

Annette whipped up sandwiches and salad for them and they ate lunch together on the patio.

“Where did the new couch in the barn come from?” Josie asked eventually.

Annette chuckled. “Sam found it at one of his car boot sales. He said it was a bargain and he couldn’t resist.”

Josie’s thoughts drifted to the day she’d done the car boot sale with him. It had been so much fun. That was also the day Jack had turned up with the letter from StarSearch that had set her on a course away from Sam. She automatically glanced around. He’d said he’d see her before she left, and she kept expecting him to casually wander over and join their little get together.

“Are you driving back tonight?” Amber asked.

“Yeah.” With a sinking feeling she checked the time. “I should probably get going before too long. It’s a nightmare drive. I’ve got to be up early tomorrow too.”

“What time do you have to be on set?” Tara asked eagerly.

“I need to be in make-up at six. Filming won’t start until a bit later.” Hours later, in fact, and Josie was sick of all the waiting time. Thankfully, it looked like she’d only have one day of filming for the week and could be at the café for the rest.

Tara was suitably impressed by talk of the TV studio. It made Josie feel like the biggest fraud ever but she indulged her nonetheless, giving her snippets of info, dropping all the right jargon and buzzwords that she knew Tara would enjoy.

The afternoon flew by, and suddenly Amber was talking about getting Kieron home for dinner. Tara left at the same time, after a round of hugs and goodbyes.

Josie stayed on the patio after they left, staring out over the fields. She should really be on the road already.

“I can feed the dogs before I leave.” She stood purposefully as a couple of dogs howled in the barn.

“Leave it,” Annette said. “I’ll do them.”

“It’s fine.” She didn’t stop to argue but set off to the barn. She’d leave as soon as she’d fed the dogs. Auto-pilot seemed to kick in, and the dogs were fed in no time. For a moment she imagined Sam wandering in to see her, like he’d done so many times before. After convincing herself she was over him in the last weeks, being back at Oakbrook and seeing him again had set her back. She still missed him so much. Again, she looked for him as she made her way back to the house and was disappointed that there was no sign of him.

“I better hit the road,” she told Annette when she arrived back in the kitchen. She declined the offer of staying for dinner, but Annette insisted on making more sandwiches for the journey.

She set off back to London with a heavy heart and spent the long drive contemplating what a mess she’d made of things.