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some speculation, Coralie pulled a face and crunched on her Love Heart. Alys had once done some fishing on the subject of lost loves. If only it was that simple. On balance it was better to let everyone assume that she was broken-hearted than having to explain about the broken lives. ‘I wish,’ she said at last. ‘I just about keep up with my family. My previous job took me all over the country. I used to help other companies run their businesses more efficiently. I was never in one place long enough to meet anyone and now I’m too busy.’
    Kitty narrowed her eyes at her; they both knew it was all a bit glib and rehearsed. ‘“Will you?”’ she mused, reading out the motto on the next Love Heart.
    Looks as if she already had, thought Coralie, watching the way her hand fluttered lightly over her stomach.
    Adam sidled in, rubbing his hands. ‘Getting excited about the twmpath then, girls?’
    Wearing a perma-tan and a red twill Superdry lumberjack shirt over scruffy jeans, his bleached-blond hair casually tousled, he clearly fancied himself as a right little Jack-the-Lad. She glanced at Kitty to see if she was sneering and was taken aback by her wistful expression.
    ‘What is a twmpath , anyway?’ she asked, still looking at Kitty and wondering what was going on.
    ‘It’s Welsh for hump,’ said Adam evilly. ‘As in hillock,’ he added as Coralie blinked at him in alarm. ‘It’s a reference to where the musicians sat when they were playing for dancers on the village green. Now it’s just the term for a Welsh barn dance.’
    ‘It’s just the kind of thing that gives Wales a bad name,’ said Kitty, visibly pulling herself together and glaring at Adam to make it plain that included him, too.
    ‘So you won’t be going then?’ Adam asked, coolly.
    Coralie watched as Kitty held his gaze then straightened her top before turning away. ‘Only in so far as that I’m helping Mam,’ she said, her bangles tinkling as she picked up her broom again.
    ‘You mean you’re getting paid by your parents to do bugger all as usual?’ he taunted.
    Kitty swiped at the floor and when she looked up again her face was flushed with annoyance. ‘Well, I certainly won’t be going for the dancing, especially not with you clumping on everyone’s toes in your gardening boots.’
    ‘You know, I liked you better before you went away,’ Adam said softly, going up behind her, ‘when we could still have a laugh and a joke.’
    ‘You can’t be a clown all your life,’ Kitty muttered. ‘Some of us have moved on.’
    Coralie heard Adam swear under his breath and felt a bit sorry for him. His assessment didn’t seem too wide of the mark. Kitty had moved to Cardiff in September, a few months after Coralie arrived in Penmorfa. Her experience in the city had apparently made her feel that in terms of sophistication, she had left Adam behind. Getting herself pregnant there had probably made her a bit prickly, too.
    ‘Now Coralie,’ Adam went on, turning his back on Kitty, ‘isn’t the kind of girl to look down her nose at us like that. She’s got some manners.’
    ‘Oh no, you leave me out of this,’ said Coralie, backing towards the door. ‘Three in this row would make it crowded.’
    ‘Who’s rowing?’ said Adam. ‘You’re not too proud to be seen with me, are you, Coralie? You’ll dance with me, won’t you?’
    Coralie waited for Kitty to rescue her; she’d happily agreed to donate a basketful of her products for the raffle, but was less enthusiastic about putting herself on show, too.
    ‘You should go.’ Kitty shrugged, pushing her long dark hair away from her face and lifting her chin. ‘You won’t have to worry about getting stuck with Adam all evening. Everyone gets to dance with everyone else. Plenty of variety, just what Adam likes. It’s another of those quaint Welsh customs everyone has to try once.’
    ‘A bit like me.’ Adam grinned.
    ‘You’ll be single forever at this rate,’ Kitty told her,