Midsummer Magic by Julia Williams

say,
Don’t you dare think about going straight to the pub.
Harry clearly understood the look, because he responded with, ‘A walk sounds like a brilliant idea.’
    Great. Now Ant would feel obliged to come.
    ‘I suppose we could stretch our legs,’ said Ant. ‘So what’s this Faerie Ring place then?’
    ‘They’re a bunch of Standing Stones on the cliff,’ explained Josie. ‘Local legend says magic happens there on Midsummer’s Eve.’
    ‘Don’t tell me, young lovers plight their troth while fairies dance around them,’ snorted Ant.
    ‘Something like that,’ admitted Josie. ‘All nonsense of course.’
    ‘How about it, Di,’ Ant said slyly. ‘Fancy finding yourself a red-hot lover on the cliffs at midnight?’
    ‘I think the key word that is wrong in that sentence is lover,’ said Diana sarcastically. ‘And until you can find me a red-hot lover worthy of me, I can safely say the answer is no.’
    ‘As if I’d be interested in you,’ said Ant. ‘You clearly still have no sense of humour.’
    ‘Not for puerile infants, no,’ said Diana. She was furious. A couple of hours in Ant’s company was all it had taken her to remind him what a prick he was.
    ‘Woah! Children!’ said Josie. ‘What is it with you two?’
    ‘Nothing!’ said Diana and Ant, simultaneously glaring at one another.
    ‘Okay point taken,’ said Josie throwing her hands up, and tactfully changing the subject, to Diana’s relief. She sighed deeply. She couldn’t wait for the weekend to be over.
    But, as they set off down the lane that led past Josie’s house to the footpath that took them up to the cliffs, Diana felt a bit better. The hedgerows were alive with birdsong, and the air heavy with scent from the riot of wildflowers that lined the path: the pinks and whites of scarlet pimpernels and red campions jostled with blue mallow and purple speedwell and other flowers Di couldn’t identify. There was barely a cloud in the azure sky, and the sun was so warm, they soon discarded cardigans and jumpers. She breathed a deep sigh of contentment. It was great to be away from London for once and the tension that she’d left behind at work.
    ‘This way,’ said Josie, confidently leading them over a stile which led onto a sandy cliff path, where the foliage gave way to yellow gorse, green bracken and pink heathers, and tall cow parsley bowed down in the breeze. It was a steepish climb, but with the wind on her face and the sun on her skin, Diana was beginning to enjoy herself – until she caught sight of Ant whispering to Harry, and glancing in her direction. She felt sure it was about her, and her stomach plummeted. How utterly miserable. To think she not only had to spend a whole weekend with him but also a whole wedding, when she’d be forced to be nice to him. Diana couldn’t think of anything worse.
    ‘So what’s the deal with you and Di, then?’ Harry said as he and Ant forged their way up the cliff path. After the little display of histrionics between them, he and Josie had decided it would be better for now if they kept their warring friends apart.
    ‘Dynamite Di?’ said Ant, looking back down the path at her, affecting nonchalance. ‘Oh, nothing.’
    ‘Didn’t look like nothing to me,’ said Harry. ‘You reacted like a scalded cat when you saw her.’
    Ant stopped to take a breather and stared back at the lane, Josie’s house reflecting the sunshine in the distance.
    ‘We knew each other a long time ago. Had a bit of a thing. Didn’t work out.’
    ‘Which is why you’re so down on her,’ snorted Harry, not believing a word of it, and feeling more convinced than ever, she was the one. He paused too and took a sip of the water he had thought to bring in his small backpack. It was hot work climbing the path. Last time he’d done this walk it had been in the winter and much easier.
    ‘I’m not down on her,’ protested Ant. ‘You’ve seen the way she is with me. She’s a cow of the highest order.