Page 39 of The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop

‘Sounds interesting. I’m a bit of a chocolate fan.’

Oh, yes. It gets better all the time.

‘Must admit it’s more of a Yorkie bar or a Toffee Crisp with our breaktime bait for me, though,’ he admitted.

‘Hah – you heretic.’

‘I’m sure I could be persuaded to try something more refined.’ He grinned, with a cheeky sparkle in his eye.

Was there an intentional double entendre there? Emma wasn’t quite sure.

They followed the shoreline along the bay, avoiding some small pools of salt water near the rocks left by the outgoing tide. The sands were soft underfoot, the walking easy.

‘And what do you do for a living, then?’ Emma asked. ‘I don’t think I ever found out last time?’ In fact, she hadn’t found out much at all.

‘I’m a builder, have a small business of my own. I employ four men, year round, and contract in help on the bigger jobs. We do house renovations, extensions, occasionally a new-build. That kind of work.’

‘So, have you always been in the building trade?’

‘Well, my parents wanted me to be an accountant, that was my original path. I’d always been good at maths at school, and it seemed a sensible job. But I hated all the paperwork, the equations, pushing figures around on a page, stuck in an office. I couldn’t see that being my life. It was never meant for me. So, I flunked out of uni after the first year, much to my parents’ disappointment. I didn’t want to be pushing a pen. I wanted to push a wheelbarrow, hold a drill, a saw. I was always tinkering with stuff at home, trying out DIY projects. Wonky shelves in my bedroom, that kind of stuff.’

Emma laughed, imagining him wielding hammers and saws as a teenager.

‘Anyway, I got myself an apprenticeship with a building firm. Started off lackeying – all the shit jobs to start, basically, then learnt how to lay bricks, plaster, plumb. I worked hard, learnt on the way, until I got made a supervisor, leading the team on site when the owner wasn’t around. Then Fred, the guy who owned the company, got ill, had to retire early. I got a loan and bought the business as a going concern. Never looked back. So, that’s me.’

‘Interesting. So you found your own way.’ She liked that – that he knew himself, what he wanted, and had worked hard to achieve it.

‘So, where’s the company based?’ She realised she was hoping it wasn’t miles away, maybe down south, and this wasn’t some kind of an annual trip.

‘Hexham way.’

‘Ah, okay.’ That was about an hour’s drive away.

‘I live in a village just outside the town. It’s small, friendly, suits me fine. We tend to do a lot of work in that area, as well as in Newcastle and Gateshead, so it’s an ideal location.’

‘Oh, I love Hexham.’ She’d been there on several day trips. Had also been there with Luke for a weekend break. She remembered them walking down by the river, the stunning old abbey, the narrow streets, tea and cake at a gorgeous tea rooms, holding Luke’s hand … She chewed the inside of her mouth. This was harder than she’d thought it would be – going for a walk with someone else. She looked out to sea for a second or two, concentrating on the flat, dark-grey line of the horizon. The swoop of a gull caught her eye nearer the shore, bringing her back to the here and now.

‘Yeah, it’s a nice town.’ Max broke the silence.

‘Yes … So,’ She was edging nearer the question that was burning in her mind, ‘how’s your year been so far?’ Where the hell have you been these past nine months? was what she really wanted to ask. But she hardly knew this guy. He didn’t have to explain himself.

‘Fine, pretty busy. We had a new-build project for two properties near the Close House golf club, Heddon way. Right fancy-pants stuff, six bedrooms each. That was fun, though the project manager was never off our backs. Kept me out of mischief.’

So maybe it was just work had kept him occupied. Maybe he just hadn’t thought of her much ’til now.

He stopped walking, looked at her seriously. ‘I’m sorry … that I couldn’t come back sooner.’

Emma stopped too. Felt a little surge somewhere near her heart. Didn’t know what to say.

‘Things happened,’ he continued, ‘that I didn’t expect …’

‘Are you with someone?’ Emma blurted out. She had to know. The way she was starting to feel just seeing him again, tied up in emotional knots already, it had to stop right here if he was in a relationship. She’d been through enough hurt and pain to know better than to go near a man who was already taken. Besides her own self-preservation, she wouldn’t want to hurt someone else, some poor woman she’d never met. It was never worth it – life was complicated enough without hurting other people. If so, she’d thank him politely for walking with her, head off home with Alfie, and never see him again.

They stood facing each other, two figures on the expanse of beach. Two lives on the edge of something pivotal.

‘No, no. There’s no one else – not any more.’

The words were telling. So, there had been someone. ‘Oh …’ So the kiss, that special moment she’d built up in her mind, had he been seeing someone all along?