Dennis smiled to himself as he watched Jenny turn the map the right side up. "We're lost, Jen."
"We aren't! I know exactly where we are!" Jenny brushed the hair from her face as she looked down at the map.
'Ok, where are we?"
Jenny bit her lip and then turned to him with a smile. "In Yorkshire?"
"Well I'm so glad I let you take control of the map reading, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to work that out." The words came out in a laugh as Jenny began swatting him with the folded map.
…
An hour later, Jenny called out Dennis' name triumphantly and pointed towards their car. "I told you I'd find our way back!"
Dennis smiled, catching the map she threw at him. "Aye, very lucky considering this is a map of Scotland."
Jenny took it from him with a frown and then looked up with a grin. "Oops."
…
That evening Dennis sighed and adjusted his tie, feeling out of place. He had been going to a do at the hall with Jenny, but as they got ready Lord Ashfordly called to say he was worried about poachers disrupting partygoers. For what felt like hours now, he'd been stood in the doorway watching people coming and going, but the cold finally drove him into the warm glow shining from the hall.
Inside, he shut the door and pushed his hands deep into his pockets. He was considering going to the kitchen in hope of finding a cup of tea, but a familiar laugh caught his attention.
Dennis smiled when he saw Jenny. A year of marriage had done little to dampen the feeling he had whenever he saw her. He was admiring her figure in the new dress she wore when a hand rested heavily on his shoulder.
"Fancy seeing you here, Merton."
At the sound of another Scottish voice, Dennis turned and gave a wide grin when he saw an old colleague. "Jack! What brings you here?"
"The pretty ladies, of course."
"Aye, as usual."
Jack grinned at this. "I'm working in Scarborough, filling in for someone."
"The pretty ladies just a bonus, then?"
"Something like that. What are you doing in uniform at a do like this?"
Dennis gave a sigh, glancing back at Jenny before replying. "The owner was worried about poachers upsetting people. Apparently last time he had a party they left a rotting fish in all the guest rooms."
"Ah, and you're keeping a look out in the warmth?"
Dennis gave a guilty smile. "I'd better get back or my constables will start complaining that I've let the power go to my head."
"And I'd better get back to the pretty ladies. I've got my eye on the one in the yellow dress."
Dennis smirked at this. "Aye, so do I. That's my wife."
