Bella Osborne - Escape to Willow Cottage - The brilliant, laugh-out-loud romcom you need to read in autumn 2018

Carly wasn’t sure what to say. She would always be steadfastly loyal to Beth but was there even the smallest possibility that Beth had misread the situation?

‘I don’t know what you should do, Nick. But I guess if you really love her you try to put things right.’

‘That’s exactly what I intend to do. Whatever it takes. But first I need to know where she is.’

By the time Beth was safely at the bottom of the ladder Jack had finally stopped laughing. Beth was breathing heavily through her nostrils and was aware that she sounded a little like a cranky horse.

‘What is so funny?’ Her stern face seemed to set Jack off again.

He took a deep breath to quell the laughter. ‘Come on, I’ll buy you one of Rhonda’s famous bacon butties.’

Beth didn’t like being laughed at. At school she had never quite fitted in and had frequently been the butt of jokes she never quite understood and, right now, she felt exactly the same – self-conscious and awkward. Having made a concerted effort after Leo was born to carve out a successful career for herself, she was filled with dread at the thought of shrinking back into the uncomfortable and unsure person she had once been. It appeared all the old doubts had never actually gone away; they were just dormant awaiting a situation like this to reawaken them and bring them flooding back at full force.

‘Thanks, but I don’t think so,’ said Beth as she looked around for something to busy herself with. Jack had stopped laughing and was watching her closely and Beth found she was grinding her teeth so she stopped.

‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘You’ve not.’ Beth took hold of the ladder and, finding the catch that released the upper sections, she pushed it into place with her thumbs. The ladder slid down at speed.

‘Noooo!’ Jack lunged at the ladder and managed to grab the first rung, only just stopping the rest of it from sliding into Beth’s face.

She looked startled and stumbled backwards.

‘Bloody hell, Beth, what did you do that for?’ He was still clutching the rung of the ladder and he looked cross.

‘Well, not for fun! It was an accident!’ She felt foolish enough without him pointing it out.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, as he finished the job and laid the ladder on the grass. Beth nodded. She daren’t speak because for some ridiculous reason she felt like crying and if she opened her mouth she feared it may be a great blubbing sob that escaped rather than something coherent. ‘Come on, I need a bacon butty. Okay?’

Beth nodded.

‘I’ll take Doris home, and you and Leo can meet me at the tearoom.’ His voice was still gruff. She knew he was still cross with her but his eyes seemed to convey concern.

The tearoom was teeming with the Dumbleford lunchtime rush but Rhonda quickly cleared them a table by the window and Beth was soon staring at the biggest pile of bacon slapped between two halves of a white roll that she had ever seen. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten white bread; living in London there were always lots of options and Nick had had wheat intolerance so they’d mainly eaten rye. Beth and Jack reached for the ketchup at the same time and when their fingers touched they both recoiled in a flood of apologies. Beth didn’t like how her body had reacted to the contact.

Jack quickly turned his attention to his butty. ‘Dive in,’ he said, his bouncing eyebrows giving away his enthusiasm.

Leo didn’t need telling twice. He grabbed his and stuffed as much as he could into his mouth, making his mother wince at his lack of table manners.

Beth gave her plate a sideways look. ‘There’s like half a pig in there.’

‘I know, it’s fabulous!’ Jack took a huge bite out of his.

Beth wanted to ask for a knife and fork but even then she wasn’t sure how exactly to tackle the teetering tower, the smell of which was making her senses tingle. Sod it, she thought as she picked it up, opened her mouth as wide as it would go and bit into it. Leo grinned at her.

Beth closed her eyes as she chewed. It was crispy bacon heaven. Without speaking Beth and Leo communicated their mutual enjoyment with a series of exaggerated facial expressions and eye rolls. Beth popped the last morsel into her mouth and almost felt sad – she didn’t want the bacon butty to end.

‘I told you they were the best.’ Jack’s expression conveyed that he was pleased with himself.

‘Amazing,’ said Leo. ‘I’m bored now. Can I play outside?’ He looked to Beth for her approval.

‘Well, okay,’ she said reluctantly, ‘but stay on this side of the village green where I can see you.’ Leo didn’t respond – he was already running for the door and artfully dodging Maureen and a laden tray.

‘I’m sorry about laughing earlier,’ said Jack.

‘It’s okay. I’m not used to this sort of renovation so it’s …’

‘I don’t think you’re used to renovation at all,’ stated Jack over the top of Beth’s explanation. She was about to protest but he continued. ‘Pointing is the cement-like filler between tiles or bricks and over time it crumbles and therefore lets in moisture.’

‘Right,’ said Beth, feeling embarrassment flush in her cheeks.

‘And when I said I liked the Flemish bond I meant the wall, it’s a style of brickwork.’

‘Right, not James Bond then?’

‘Nope.’

Beth looked at Jack and into his pale grey-blue eyes. He looked sympathetic rather than mocking but she felt stupid all the same. She sighed. ‘Look, I might not have been entirely truthful, but the thing is …’

A wheelie trolley suddenly appeared at the side of their table interrupting Beth’s flow.

‘Hello, Jack. Hello again, crazy lady,’ said the old woman, with a chuckle.

‘Shirley, this is Beth. Beth this is Shirley, one of Dumbleford’s oldest residents.’

‘Aye, cheeky!’ said Shirley, giving him a pretend clip round the head.

‘I mean you’ve lived here the longest.’

‘Oh, okay, I’ll give you that.’ She eyed their mugs of tea and winked at them dramatically. Shirley bent over and rummaged in her trolley before producing a hip flask. ‘Just the thing to liven up tea,’ she said unscrewing the top.

‘We’re okay, thanks, Shirley,’ said Jack, and Beth looked relieved at not having to refuse whatever was in the flask. The woman was a mobile off-licence although it could be poison for all Beth knew – she was clearly potty. Shirley looked disappointed but returned the flask to the trolley and patted the lid affectionately. She then shuffled next to Beth. ‘Budge up,’ she said, as she lowered herself onto Beth’s chair. Beth only had a moment’s notice to move over to Leo’s vacated seat. Beth recoiled and tried very hard not to breathe in through her nose but when she did she wasn’t expecting the gust of lily of the valley thrust up her nasal passages. She was surprised; not pleasantly surprised as she loathed the smell, but it was better than she had been expecting from the bag lady.

‘So you’ve heard about Wilf’s place?’ Shirley said to Jack.

‘Yes, I’m giving Beth here a hand,’ said Jack, trying to pull Beth into the conversation.

‘Huh, she’ll need more than that! More like a miracle!’ Shirley started to giggle.

‘I think the property is sound, Shirley. Did the survey throw up much?’ asked Jack, turning to Beth.

Beth blinked hard and failed to hide her annoyance, which was mainly with herself at the rash bidding decision that had landed her here, but also at being interrogated.

‘I didn’t actually have a survey done but there was one I received when I got the keys and …’ Beth tailed off as Shirley had slowly swivelled round and was staring at her from an altogether far too close proximity.