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suddenly self-conscious, Dean glanced at Alice. ‘Excuse me for a second.’ She nodded and he stepped away from the table. Thankfully, there was no one else in the pub to see his bare chest as he peeled his saturated shirt over his head. He dropped it by his feet and quickly towelled off.
    When he turned back for the shirt, Alice was watching him, colour in her cheeks again. Cal met Dean’s eye and grinned.
    Dean claimed the seat opposite Alice and handed her one of the laminated menus. Cal told them the specials as Liv returned with the drinks, they both ordered the chicken pot pie and then were finally alone.
    Alice swallowed a mouthful of beer, amusement making her eyes bright. ‘Your friends are . . . friendly.’
    ‘They’re very enthusiastic people.’
    They laughed and she nodded.
    ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he prompted, hooking an ankle over his knee and leaning forward to grab his beer. ‘Do you still have family in these parts?’
    ‘My father. Although we’re not close. My mother passed away.’
    ‘I’m sorry. My parents died when I was eighteen. That’s how I came to be running the garage.’
    ‘Were you close?’
    ‘I thought we were. Turns out I didn’t really know my father. But my mum was pretty special. I see her in you sometimes. The way you look at Ben and what have you.’
    She fidgeted with her cutlery, suddenly introspective.
    ‘So where’s Ben’s dad?’ He drank, waited. When she pursed her lips, he changed his approach.’ I can go first if you like? I married Bree. She was in our class – not sure if you remember her? Anyway, we had two kids, we were deliriously happy, then she died a few years back.’
    He was lost for a moment when Alice looked up at him. The spell only broke when she spoke. ‘I’m sorry about that. For what it’s worth, I think you’re doing really well, considering.’
    ‘Thanks.’
    They lapsed into such a long silence that Dean began to wonder if he’d overstepped a line.
    Then suddenly, ‘Ben’s dad is with his second wife, raising his second child.’ Alice looked up, her expression carefully tethered. ‘He was an unkind man with very little interest in Ben. I put my maiden name on Ben’s birth certificate, and left my husband shortly after. It took him almost a week to notice we’d gone.’
    Dean shook his head. ‘How is that possible?’ Alice had only been back in his life for a short time, but already she was becoming a big part of it. It was hard to fathom that someone could treat her so indifferently. ‘Well, I really like having you and Ben around. And being noticed is a certainty in this town.’
    What he didn’t say was that sometimes it was a struggle to look away from her. There was something about her face that captured him, something about her way that endeared her to him.
    He wasn’t altogether sure what he was going to do about these feelings, wasn’t even sure there was room for them in his overcrowded mind, but it got him thinking about recycled hearts, second chances, and what a pretty picture they made, the two of them sitting close at the smallest table in the pub.
    He knew this wasn’t a date, but when she thanked him for the compliment and brushed her fingertips over the back of his hand, he wished it was.

Chapter Six
    The afternoon following her lunch with Dean, Alice was struggling with her imagination. It had been more active of late, and laughably creative. As she printed an inspection report and set it in a tray for collection, she chastised herself for making something out of nothing.
    Her boss had taken her to lunch. They’d got to know each other over chicken, and, partial nudity aside, it had been completely innocent.
    His friends had hovered, which she thought sweet. Their barely contained excitement suggested Dean rarely took women to lunch, but Alice had to keep reminding herself that his invitation had been platonic. She wasn’t the easiest person to get to know, she knew this, but alone with