Midsummer Magic by Julia Williams

things simpler. But the bottom line was they loved each other very much. And that was the most important thing.
    Josie walked back from the pub alone. After their all too brief moment of solidarity following Tatiana Okeby’s outburst, when she and Harry had started to actually relax and enjoy some banter about the wedding instead of rub each other up the wrong way, Ant had come along and spoiled it all. Within minutes Harry had become absorbed in a deep conversation about rugby. As Josie had no interest whatsoever in the subject, this was tedious to say the least. She resented the way Ant seemed to expect to have Harry’s attention by virtue of being his best friend.
But
I’m his fiancée, I get preference
, she wanted to scream, even knowing it was childish. In the end, feeling like a spare part as Ant was extolling the virtues of some rugby prop she’d never heard of, she kissed Harry on the cheek, got up and left, telling him not to be too long.
    ‘I promise I won’t,’ he said, squeezing her hand and mouthing
sorry
at her, which made her feel a little better. Ant could be overwhelming. It wasn’t easy for Harry, she could see that.
    The sun was low in the sky, and a warm breeze played through her long fair curls as she left the pub and walked through the rambling network of streets that made up Tresgothen. The shops were busy, tourists spilling out onto the streets, mingling among locals eating ice creams, and bearing gifts from the Piskie Shop, which prided itself on selling the widest variety of piskies this side of the Tamar. As Josie made her way up the steep winding hill home, past the little grey and white houses nestling in the hillside, she felt a wonderful sense of peace. Josie loved it down here; the colour of the sky, the sound of the sea, the call of the gulls, the briny tang in the air. While she enjoyed her life in London, Cornwall was in her blood, and she missed Tresgothen. The pace of life was slower, calmer, and
it’s 200 miles away from Ant
, she caught herself thinking. She felt uneasy that he was here. Josie remembered that long-ago summer, when she’d invited a crowd from uni to stay. She’d actually been interested in Ant, she recalled, blushing. She remembered the way he’d looked at her, remembered the way he’d been back then: exciting, alluring … dangerous. But as soon as they’d arrived he’d been all over some girl, Kerry, was it? Josie had forgotten now. And then, Harry had been there, quiet, sweet Harry, the only person who’d been prepared to come out to see Shakespeare at the theatre with her. Harry. Her lovely Harry. How glad she was she’d found him again. She couldn’t wait for them to be married.
    Although … Harry didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic as he had done. Josie blamed Ant, who kept making snide remarks about wearing a ball and chain. Di had told her not to be so stupid when she’d voiced her fears earlier in the day, but Josie was worried. Harry just didn’t seem the same since they’d got here. She wasn’t sure if it was just nerves. There was a strange feeling in the air. It was unsettling and Josie couldn’t put her finger on it …
    ‘How was the pub?’ Josie’s mum came to greet her. So warm, so reassuring. Some things never changed, and knowing Mum was always there was one of them.
    ‘Great fun, the boys are staying a bit longer,’ said Josie. ‘We saw Tatiana Okeby –’
    ‘– Who had a fight with Auberon Fanshawe,’ continued Nicola. ‘I know.’
    ‘Who told you?’ said Josie, laughing. She’d forgotten how swiftly news travelled in Tresgothen.
    ‘Well, Mrs Allison was just coming out of the butchers, when she met Jenny Osgood, who’d been walking past the beer garden and heard the whole thing.’
    ‘More like snooping past the beer garden,’ said Josie. Jenny Osgood was a well-known local gossip.
    ‘So what happened, then?’ Mum was all agog. ‘Those two have history, you know.’
    ‘We gathered,’ said Josie. ‘She