‘Such a cheesy song,’ he said, putting the car back into gear and crawling forward a few metres.
An hour and a half later, the village church’s spire came into view as they rounded a bend in the road.
‘Seeing the church always makes me feel like I’m home,’ Evie said between verses of ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’. ‘Mum always said that, when I was little, if we’d been on a long journey and she’d wanted me to sleep and I justwouldn’t, I’d always nod off just as we saw the spire. And then she’d have a nightmare when we got home and I was sound asleep and she wanted to get me out of the car. Autumn’s exactly the same.’
‘Interesting. A family habit of falling asleep in the car at the wrong time. Question is, are you going to nod off now?’ Dan said.
‘What?’ said Evie. ‘Sorry, missed what you said, think I was asleep.’
‘Ha.’ Dan smiled at her and changed down to third gear to round a sharp corner. Despite some serious Christmas traffic and several lengthy hold-ups, this journey had gone very quickly. He couldn’t remember a drive he’d enjoyed so much. ‘How long are you staying? I’m going back to London on the twenty-seventh. You’re very welcome to a lift back if you’re going back then?’
‘Thank you so much. I’d have loved to have done – think how many more songs we could have got through – but I’m staying until the second, and then I’m going to go back and power through a big pile of marking and lesson prep before term starts. Are you working over New Year?’
‘I’m actually not. First year for a long time that I’m not working either Christmas or New Year. I’m in on the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth and then I’m flying out to New York on the thirtieth for a long weekend with some friends from med school.’
‘Wow, that’s exciting.’
‘Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. We’re going to do the whole tourist thing. The Statue of Liberty. Skating at the Rockefeller Center. Times Square for New Year’s Eve. The works.’
‘Perfect. I say that like I know New York; I’ve never actually been. I’dloveto go. I’d love to go to America full stop, in fact. Sasha and I have been talking about organising a US trip with our old gang from school for all our thirtieths. Two years to plan it, so hopefully it will actually happen.’
‘You should definitely do that. And what are you doing for New Year this year? The usual?’
‘Yup.’ Evie and Sasha and various other friends nearly always spent New Year’s Eve in the Duck and Grapes pub in the village.
A wave of nostalgia so strong that it felt almost physical washed over Dan. Youth. The pub. The landlord had let them drink in there from when they were fifteen as long as they only had a pint of shandy. Lots of friends. No worries, just a lot of chat and laughter. Until Max’s accident.
And they’d arrived in the centre of the village.
‘I love the green,’ Evie said. ‘It gives me a thrill seeing it every time. We’re so lucky to have grown up in such a chocolate-box perfect village.’
Dan glanced over at Evie and thought about the time they’d sat on the bench on the green late at night and then kissed on her doorstep. He looked away and manoeuvred the car into her lane, stopped outside her mum’s cottage and turned back to her. She was gazing at him, biting her lower lip slightly again. Beautiful. God, he was remembering that kiss again. He was supposed to have parked that memory. Her eyelashes fluttered a little as they looked at each other.
Eventually, Dan realised that the car was still running and pulled his key out of the ignition.
‘Thank you so much for the lift,’ Evie said, sounding a little husky.
‘Not a problem.’ There was something about being inside the car, just the two of them. So intimate.
Dan cleared his throat and Evie’s mum tapped on the window and he and Evie both jumped.
Evie’s mum pulled the passenger door open and enveloped her daughter in a huge hug. Then Autumn ran out of the house and joined in with the hugging.
‘We should unpack the car,’ said Evie. ‘We’re holding Dan up.’
‘Really, not a problem,’ Dan said.
‘No, we should let you go. I think this drizzle’s going to turn into heavy rain and that won’t be fun for either of us with the unpacking.’
Evie and her mum and Autumn took armfuls of presents and Dan hefted all the remaining bags out and deposited them just inside Evie’s mum’s front door.
‘I think that’s everything,’ he said.
‘Thank you again,somuch.’ Evie’s smile really was beautiful. ‘Total knight in shining armour.’
‘No, thankyou,’ he said, meaning it. ‘I enjoyed the singing. Happy birthday for tomorrow.’ He hoped he’d see her again soon. Hard to imagine not enjoying her company.
Twenty
