Autumn at the Star and Sixpence by Holly Hepburn Page A

to the crackle of the fire and enjoying the peace of the cottage.
    She glanced sideways at the photograph of Eliza Rhys, laughing with Owen and a much younger Luke, and felt her usual stab of sadness that Owen and Luke had lost her so young. Often, she’d
felt guilty when she looked at that picture, as though she was somehow being disrespectful when her thoughts towards Owen were frequently impure. But tonight, she felt a spirit of kinship with
Eliza, almost as though they were friends.
    ‘Luke’s a great boy,’ she told the picture, raising her glass. ‘You’d be proud of him. And Owen – well, I hope you won’t mind me saying that he’s
pretty great too.’
    It was long after eleven when the front door opened and Owen walked back in. Nessie was engrossed in Luke’s book and looked up blinking, half expecting him to be wearing wizarding
robes.
    ‘How was the gig?’ she asked with a smile.
    He stood for a moment, gazing at her with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he seemed to give himself a mental shake.
    ‘Good, thanks,’ he said finally. ‘They’re a great band and of course Kathryn is amazing.’ He crossed the room in a few strides to sit beside her on the sofa,
leaning back into the soft cushions and closing his eyes. ‘It’s nice to sit down, though. I’m not much of a dancer.’
    Nessie thought back to the dance they’d shared in the summer, at JoJo’s wedding on the village green; he’d been pretty good then but she didn’t like to say so.
    ‘Shall I get you some wine?’ she said instead, shifting her weight to stand up.
    Owen’s eyes flicked open. ‘Eh? No, not yet. There’s something I want to say first.’
    Immediately, Nessie’s heart began to thud. ‘Oh?’
    He fixed her with a dark-eyed, serious gaze. ‘I haven’t been very honest with you, Nessie.’
    Now Nessie’s heart plummeted into her feet. ‘In what way?’
    ‘When you told me Patrick wanted you to take him back, I pretended not to care one way or another,’ he said, his voice low. ‘That wasn’t how I felt at all.’
    Nessie held her breath, not trusting herself to speak. Was it her imagination or was Owen leaning closer?
    ‘The truth is, it made me furious – not with you, but with myself, for not being brave enough to say what I wanted to say.’ His eyes were fixed on hers. ‘I can’t
stop thinking about you, Nessie. I think I might even – well, if it’s all right with you, I’d really like to kiss you.’
    She hesitated for as long as it took her heart to beat once, then leaned forwards to close the distance between them. ‘Yes,’ she whispered.
    From the moment their lips met, Nessie was lost. The last time she and Owen had kissed, he’d pulled away, leaving her confused and embarrassed. This time was different – the kiss
went on and on, deepening until it was clear neither of them wanted to stop. Eventually, they broke apart however, and Nessie could see in Owen’s eyes that it had meant as much to him as it
had to her.
    She let out a long shaky breath. ‘So.’
    Owen smiled. ‘So.’
    ‘What happens now?’
    ‘I think I should take you to dinner,’ he said, his gaze solemn. ‘And afterwards, I think I’d like to kiss you again.’
    Nessie felt her lips tingle as she thought of the way his mouth had felt on hers. ‘Perhaps then I could take you to dinner,’ she said, smiling. ‘And I could kiss
you.’
    Owen reached out a hand to cup her face, drawing her near to brush his lips against hers. ‘Now you’re getting the idea.’
    Nessie had seemed different on Friday morning, soft and contented and, above all, happy. Sam had even heard her humming along to the radio as she’d emptied the dishwasher
in the bar. She’d messaged Kathryn, who’d said that Owen seemed in an unusually good mood too but there’d been no time for Sam to interrogate her sister; she’d had to leave
for London to see Nick.
    They took in a new West End play and then went out to eat, heading