Page 47 of Mistletoe and Mulled Wine at the Christmas Campervan

The words irked. One thing Liam had never been was sweet. Sensible, hard-working, steady, professional, dedicated – well, to Arnott & Co., perhaps not so much to her, judging by the messed-up end of it all. And suddenly, making conversation seemed like hard work. The turmoil of it all was brewing inside her once more.

‘So, the cocktail bar guy … You two an item, or what?’ he continued, with a slight twist to his lips.

‘Yeah, we are, actually.’

Liam began to shake his head slowly, like a disappointed parent. ‘You know, you really don’t need to be hanging about with someone like that, Luce. Trailing around in a campervan like a nomad.’

‘What?’ Lucy turned sharply to face him, beginning to realise that inviting him round might have been a mistake after all. What had she been thinking? Imagining he needed to get stuff off his chest, perhaps offer an explanation for his hurtful behaviour, seemed like a pipe dream just now. For all his talk, the leopard that was Liam didn’t seem to have changed his spots at all. ‘Liam, you have no right to be telling me who I can or cannot “hang about” with. What a bloody cheek. You well and truly lost that right when you pissed off with your office fling,’ Lucy said, getting all fired up now.

‘That was a mistake … I’ve explained that, Luce. A misjudgement.’

‘So that makes it alright, then?’ Her tone was terse.

‘Of course not. But I’ve already made my apologies. Can’t you see fair to let it drop? It’s time to move on, Luce. If there’s any chance of a new beginning for the two of us, then …’

He was annoying her now. ‘Can’t you see, Liam, there is no “the two of us” anymore, that ship has long sailed!’ It was clear they were both on very different pages. She needed to get him out of her cottage right now and out of her life. She gulped down her coffee, ready to make a move, and stood up. ‘I think you just need to leave, Liam …’

‘So, how’s the horsebox?’ he chipped in, staying on his seat.

‘How do you mean?’ Lucy turned to him, feeling on edge.

There was a menacing glint in his eyes, just a flicker.

She felt herself grow cold. Alert.

‘Old thing like that, well the tyres can go flat easily and all sorts …’ he continued coolly.

Bloody hell, her heart began to pummel, it must have been him … the flat tyres, the nails… maybe even the Jeep’s window? It all began to stack up.

There was a beat or two of silence, as they stared at each other. Lucy’s heart going ten to the dozen.

‘Was … was it you …? Who let the tyres down on my horsebox?’ She continued to stare him down, cold prickling down her spine.

‘’Course not. You’re getting paranoid.’ His smile was wonky. He took a sip of coffee, hiding his eyes. But a second later, he couldn’t resist adding, ‘Got your attention then, did it?’

‘Christ, it was you … And what about the Jeep? The smashed window? Was that your doing too?’ She was incredulous, yet somehow it all began to fit. ‘Liam, how is any of that going to get us anywhere? How could you be so bloody vindictive!’

‘Okay, okay … let me explain … so after seeing you and Jack at the wedding like that, yeah, I was a bit jealous. It hurt, Luce, seeing you with another guy. Look, I’m sorry about the tyres. I’ll pay you whatever it cost to replace them. All water under the bridge, hey?’

Did he think she’d be happy with that? Throw a bit of money at her to put it right?

‘And ah … the window … well, that shouldn’t have happened. I just wanted the chance to speak with you. I was trying to catch your attention … there was no answer at the door and well, I was throwing small stones at your bedroom window pane, just in case. One went a bit off track.’

He’d come to find her? He knew which was her bedroom window? This was getting weirder by the minute.

‘What?’

A low growl emanated from Daisy’s kitchen bedspace. The little dog having picked up on Lucy’s stressed tone.

‘You know what, Liam, boy am I glad I’ve finally found you out. Oh yes, I’ve really got to see what a little toad you really are. The office affair, well that’s just the tip of the iceberg, isn’t it? Thank God we never had the chance to get married. What a bloody disaster that would have been.’

‘You’re making a mistake here, Luce. Campervan boy, he’ll never come to anything. Listen to me, I know you … What we had was good. We had a lovely home. Nice cars.’

‘No, Liam. You never really knew me. It was all a sham. You were just looking out for yourself. Just like you are now. And Jack, that’s his name, not campervan boy. Jack is bloody lovely, and worth a million of you … And if you don’t get out of here in the next five seconds … you’ll have the police on your case. Oh yes, damage to property, harassment … And, if you dare to come back here, to my village again … well, I’ll catch you by the bloody scrote and hang you up by it.’

Suddenly a frenzy of barking rang out and Daisy started a furious nipping of Liam’s trouser legs.

‘Jesus,’ Liam cursed, flailing about. ‘Get that mutt off of me!’