Chapter 7

On Monday morning Josie called Michaela at StarSearch. She didn’t have any auditions to put Josie forward for, and there was a weariness to her voice, as though she thought Josie was wasting her time. Usually she was much more positive. Unless Josie had imagined that. 

Next, she wandered down to the Italian restaurant, but the waitressing job had already gone. Then she continued the job search by skimming through the old familiar employment websites. All the while, Annette’s business card sat beside the laptop, taunting her.

Eventually, she got out her phone and tapped the numbers in. As she suspected, Annette agreed to her spending the week at the farm and having two days off. She was slightly hesitant about those two days being at the weekends since that was often the busiest time but said she could definitely be flexible and she was sure they could work something out to suit them both.

Josie was fairly sure she’d agree to anything to get her there. When she ended the call, she stared into space for a while, trying to digest the conversation. She was fairly sure she’d agreed to start work the following week. It seemed like a pretty drastic career change, even for her.

Lizzie was at the airport when Josie called her to tell her the news.

“You’re really going to work for Annette?” she said. “I’m very surprised. But it’s great news. I bet you’ll love it. Max looks happy.”

“Very happy,” she heard him shout down the phone.

“I start next week,” Josie said. “I’m a bit nervous, though. I’m worried I’ll be no good at it and it’ll end up being awkward for everyone.”

“Just give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be great. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”

Josie had a sinking feeling then. She’d not stopped to think too much about it not working out. Things could definitely end up very awkward. “I might be regretting it already,” she said. “What if I don’t like living in the countryside? You know I like the bright lights.”

“You might find you like the gorgeous sunsets, and the starry skies and the—”

“Yeah, I get it. You’ve been converted. I’m just not sure it’s my thing.”

“I thought you’d already agreed to the job. Why does it sound like you want me to persuade you?”

“I’m having cold feet already.”

Lizzie sighed. “We have to get on the plane soon. Hang on… Max wants to talk to you…”

“Hey!” Max said.

“I’m stressing out,” Josie said. “Promise you won’t hate me if it doesn’t work out?”

“I won’t. Honestly, I don’t expect it will work out long term. But Annette is determined to employ someone and you’ll at least buy me some time to find someone suitable for the job. I don’t want her rushing into it and employing just anyone.”

“I think that’s exactly what’s happened!”

“You know what I mean.” There was a tannoy announcement in the background.

“Oh, no,” she said drily. “Seems like you have to fly off to the Caribbean now. How awful for you!”

He laughed and passed the phone back to Lizzie. “Just try not to lose your new job before we get back.”

“You’re hilarious,” Josie said. “Have a great time. See you in a couple of weeks.”

She sat back in the chair. Now that she’d accepted the job with Annette she was keen to get started. A week was a long time to kill when you didn’t have any money.

In the end it went fairly quickly. Jack took her out to dinner one night and the cinema another. He even lent her money so she could get the train into London and visit her best friend, Emily. She was keen to fill her in on the latest developments in her life, and it was fun to have a wander round London too. You couldn’t beat a stroll around Greenwich Market, and it didn’t matter at all that she had no money to spend; she just enjoyed the bustle.

“Won’t you miss the city?” Emily asked as they sat on a bench eating sandwiches. She didn’t have much time but was eager to meet Josie for lunch. “I can’t imagine you living in the countryside.”

“I’ll give it a go,” she said. “It might be fun.”

“I suppose it might.” Emily didn’t sound at all convinced.

“You’re not making me feel better.” Josie rolled her eyes. “Tell me about the book…” Emily was a writer and had published her first book with a small press six months previously. It had been very exciting to start with, but the excitement seemed to be wearing off as she struggled to juggle a waitressing job and writing the next one.

“I’m officially a starving artist,” Emily said with a humourless laugh. “And this next book is killing me. I can’t seem to get it right.”

“You said that about the last one and it came out brilliantly. I can have a look if you want. I reckon I’ll have lots of time for reading in the back of beyond.”

“I sent it to Lizzie actually. She’s going to have a look over it while she’s away.”

“I see. Ask the pro!” Lizzie was an editor, and it had been helping Emily with her book that had inspired Lizzie to become a freelance fiction editor. She’d previously been a magazine editor. Now she worked from home, picking and choosing which projects to work on.

“How was the wedding?” Emily asked. “I can’t believe I couldn’t make it.”

“It was amazing.” Josie’s smile was automatic and far too wide.

“I thought Jack had split up with you and you were upset about going alone?”

“It turned out to be fun going on my own.”

Emily looked suspicious. “What happened?”

“Nothing. The best man was pretty cute, that’s all.”

“You’re terrible,” Emily said, laughing. “You don’t waste any time.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Josie insisted, trying not to let her thoughts drift back to that moment on the beach. “He’s actually a really sweet guy.” She grinned, remembering him telling her off for calling him sweet. “He’s Max’s best friend. And it was only a bit of flirting. He lives next door to the kennels so I guess I’ll be seeing him again.”

“This sounds like it’s about to get complicated. Didn’t you say you worked things out with Jack again?”

“Yeah. It’s not complicated. Jack and I made up. The thing with Sam was just a momentary weakness. You know how it is at weddings… So much champagne and romance. It was nothing.”

“I might have to come and visit then… if there’s a hot guy going spare.”

“You should!” Josie said. “Definitely. There’s a pub in the village. We can go wild!”