Nigel
He suspected his microbiome would do perfectly fine without any intervention. But he didn’t have to worry about that now. He could eat his porridge exactly how he liked it. Another positive to being single again.
Except he didn’t want to be single. He wanted Helen, who didn’t nag him about what he ate, thrashed him at tennis, made him laugh and had a greyhound who liked to lick his ear to wake him up every morning.
His phone buzzed with a text notification. He unlocked the screen. Helen! A miracle. But you don’t know what it says yet.
We need to talk
As Nigel stared at the text, another one appeared.
When are you back in Devon?
She was finally communicating again, just when he thought it was all over. What the hell was he going to say? He tapped out a response.
I land in London on Tuesday evening. I was going to stay there for a while.
His finger hovered over the Send button. He reread his reply. Nowhere near enthusiastic enough, you idiot!
Julia walked into the kitchen. ‘Everything ok?’
‘I’ve had a text from Helen.’
‘Ooh!’ Julia pulled up a chair next to him. ‘And?’
‘She wants to know when I’m back in Dashford.’
‘Did she say why?’
‘She wants to talk.’
‘That’s excellent.’ Julia leaned across to get a view of his screen and tutted. ‘You could make that response much more appealing. Assuming you want her back, of course.’
Nancy walked in. ‘Want who back?’
Julia looked up at her. ‘How would you feel if a man you loved responded to you like this?’ She pointed to Nigel’s phone.
Nigel moved the phone out of Julia’s eyeline. ‘Can I have some privacy here?’
Nancy was even more interested now. ‘Are we talking about Helen?’
Nigel sighed. ‘Yes, she’s just texted me.’
‘What did she say?’
‘She wants to talk.’
‘About why she broke up with you?’
‘I assume so.’
‘What are you going to say?’
Julia raised her eyebrows. ‘He’s responding with factual information about his whereabouts next week.’
‘Is that all?’ Nancy sounded exasperated.
Perhaps her matchmaking skills would be useful on this occasion. Nigel reluctantly handed over the phone.
Nancy thought for a second, then started typing.
Nigel was horrified. ‘You’re not sending that, are you?’
‘No, but this is what I would want to hear if I were Helen.’ She handed back the phone.
I've been an idiot. I want to talk too. I’m on the end of the phone when you're ready, whatever time it is.
‘That sounds desperate,’ he said.
‘You are desperate.’
‘Thank you, Mother dearest.’
‘You have been moping around the place since you got here,’ Julia said.
Nigel read the reply again. It was all true. Sod it. He pressed Send and put his head in his hands.
Helen’s response was almost immediate.
I might have been an idiot too x
He couldn’t help noticing the kiss at the end. He smiled.
‘Well?’ Julia asked.
Nancy put her arm around Julia’s shoulders. ‘We should leave Nigel alone. We shouldn’t interfere.’
Had she really just said that? Another miracle. Perhaps it was a sign that it would work out after all.
‘Good luck, Nigel,’ Julia said as Nancy shepherded her out of the kitchen.
Nigel looked at the phone. He wasn’t prevaricating over what to say now. He knew exactly what he wanted to happen.