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mother was a tea connoisseur, and obviously his tea-making skills weren’t up to scratch. She never let him make her a cup. He pulled out the china teacup with matching saucer he kept especially for her and set it on the table next to his mug. ‘How was the bingo fundraiser?’
    Beth rolled her eyes. ‘Quite boring actually. I do wish the CWA would come up with some new ideas. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about that. I came to see if you were alright.’
    â€˜Of course I’m alright. Why wouldn’t I be?’
    Beth put down the teapot and looked him squarely in the eye. ‘I heard your Jo was back in town.’
    â€˜She’s not “my” Jo, Mum,’ Ryan replied with more venom than he’d intended.
    â€˜No, I guess not. She’s engaged to that movie star Zachary What’s-his-name, isn’t she?’
    Ryan shrugged. ‘So I believe.’
    â€˜So you haven’t spoken to her then?’
    â€˜I saw her at the football and we had a quick chat.’ Clearly his mother already knew this information, otherwise she wouldn’t be here drinking tea with him at nine o’clock on a Saturday night.
    â€˜Oh? How was that for you?’
    â€˜Fine. Look, Mum, you don’t have to worry. Jo and I had a teenage fling, that’s all. Until I saw her today I hadn’t thought about her in years,’ he lied.
    Beth looked unconvinced. ‘It was a bit more serious than that, Ryan.’
    â€˜Okay, at the time I thought it was too. But it was years ago. I’ve moved on and clearly so has she. She’s in town for the wedding. I don’t expect we’ll be seeing that much of each other until the big day. It’s a non-issue, okay?’
    â€˜Really? Because I seem to remember it all being a very big deal a few years back.’
    â€˜Well it’s not now. We were once an item. Now Johanna’s just someone I used to know. Leave it alone, Mum.’
    Beth sipped her tea without replying, but Ryan could see the hurt look on her face.
    â€˜Let’s talk about something else.’
    â€˜Actually, if you don’t mind I’m rather tired. I might head out to the flat and call it a night.’
    Ryan nodded and gave her a goodnight peck on the cheek. He felt like a heel now. He hadn’t meant to be so snappy. It seemed he couldn’t do anything right today.
    With Ella safely tucked up in bed and his mother retired to the granny flat for the night, Ryan allowed himself the luxury of a cold beer. He stretched out on the couch and stabbed aimlessly at the TV remote. It was no use. There was nothing on TV fascinating enough to distract him from his thoughts of Jo.
    It was hard to believe that one woman, just by her mere presence in the same town, could unsettle him so much. And it wasn’t as if he even knew her anymore. She was no longer that sweet, dreamy-eyed girl who told him stories as they lay in the tall grass staring up at the summer sky. Hell, he wasn’t the same either. Back then they’d both been full of hopes and dreams. The trouble was Jo’s plans for the future didn’t leave any room for him.
    He’d wanted her to show him that getting on that plane to New York wasn’t an act of abandonment. But when he’d asked for her commitment, her promise of everlasting love, she hadn’t been able to look him in the eye. Like a fool he’d hoped that once she was away from him she’d realise what she was missing out on. But after a few weeks the truth became clear. She’d moved on long before his proposal. Just hadn’t had the guts to tell him.
    That was the thing that really stung — the deception. He’d trusted her and she’d made an idiot of him. That was the part he couldn’t forgive. She’d slunk away without having the decency to tell him it was over between them.
    He cursed the power she still had over him. Why the hell couldn’t he just forget