12 Days At Silver Bells House by Jennie Jones

details.
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ Jamie said as he pulled out and performed a U-turn on Main Street, heading his monster truck southwards. ‘I did the shopping this morning.’
    â€˜Didn’t get pretzels by any chance, did you?’
    Jamie pulled the ute up by the petrol station as Mrs Tam came out, waving at them and holding…a pair of mauve-coloured rubber thong-between-the-toe sandals.
    â€˜Here you go, Kate,’ she said, handing them through the window Jamie had wound down.
    â€˜How thoughtful, Mrs Tam. Thank you,’ Kate said, stretching her arm over Jamie’s 48-inch T-shirted chest. Smooth. Firm. Lime-scented muscles. Kate pulled her arm away and sat back in her own seat.
    â€˜You’re welcome, dear. Now you two have a lovely evening. And don’t forget the decorating at the weekend. Might as well make it something special this year. We’ve waited long enough for the decorations to go up.’ She wagged a finger at Jamie. ‘Behave. Remember, Swallow’s Fall appreciates courteousness and civility.’
    Jamie pulled away once Mrs Tam went back to the petrol station. ‘Was she talking about my driving?’ he asked in a perplexed tone.
    â€˜No. She was talking about you and me.’
    â€˜How come?’
    â€˜We’re boyfriend and girlfriend.’
    â€˜Are we now?’ he said after a slight pause.
    Kate grinned. ‘You didn’t get the town committee email?’
    Jamie shot her a look. ‘Something else Sammy forgot to send.’
    Kate’s laugh bubbled out. ‘Didn’t she just?’ She settled into her seat. ‘Oh well. Can’t go accusing her of matchmaking when we don’t know for sure if she was.’ Although Kate would be interrogating Sammy about the possibility. ‘Anyway, the townspeople are just gossiping and Sammy’s wrong about the match. So everything should be put right soon.’
    Kate didn’t get a response. She glanced his way. His feature were impassive, the slight frown probably concentration on driving. Or perhaps he hadn’t heard her.

Chapter 6
    Jamie watched the road ahead, driving mostly by reflex, his thoughts processing the girlfriend-boyfriend scenario.
    Swallow’s Fall townspeople were liberal enough for his liking. Isn’t that why he’d decided to settle down here? Settle down. More thought needed on that concept too. Shooting stars had a lot to answer for. Like — why now? Why settle for a town with a quiet ambience? Why settle at all? And yeah. What about that girlfriend-boyfriend thing?
    â€˜It’s cute, yes?’ Kate said, obviously referring to her remark about matchmaking which Jamie hadn’t felt needed a response. ‘An old-fashioned terminology for people our age though, don’t you think?’
    She was prising an answer from him. Maybe looking for an idea about what he thought. ‘Well, that’s the country for you,’ he said, by means of no answer at all.
    Swallow’s Fall townspeople tended towards the ultra-conservative when they looked at boyfriends and girlfriends. No matter their ages. Like, no pashing in public. Nothing French, anyway. Hopefully they’d seen Kate’s arrival for what it was — an accident, albeit they’d already tied the two of them together in some sort of romantic knot.
    His girlfriend bent over in her seat, catching Jamie’s eye with her movement.
    â€˜Are those my socks?’ he asked as she pulled her pretty Wellington boots off her feet with a huge sigh.
    â€˜Yes, hope you don’t mind but I borrowed them. I don’t have any socks.’ She arched her feet, stretching her toes the way ballet dancers did and for some Goddamn unknown reason, Jamie thought of sex. Her feet were pale skinned and elegant. Why she bothered with the heels, he didn’t know. Yes he did. What man wouldn’t look at a beautiful girlfriend wearing four-inches of look-at-me