‘I’d say he’s spot on,’ said Gio.
Bess no longer felt the cold, only the moment and the magic as the snow continued to fall. She couldn’t speak when he reached out and put a hand against her curls as if he was trying to tangle himself up in her.
‘I’m a lot more together than I ever was, Bess. And so are you. I’m ready for this. For us.’
‘I’m ready too.’ She felt his hand in her hair before it edged down to the nape of her neck and made her shiver. The feeling was so powerful, she couldn’t say anything else.
And she didn’t need to because he was kissing her again and she knew now that she never wanted him to stop.
31
ONE MONTH LATER
Winter was still putting in an appearance but today, it came with clear, blue skies and sunshine rather than the rain they’d had over the last few days, and the appearance of the first snowdrops in Wildacre Meadow. Bess had made good on her promise to pay regular instalments to her mum and to Malcolm and although she’d only just started, slowly but surely, she was seeing her debt decrease. And she wasn’t adding to it, more to the point, which made her proud. She knew if her dad were here, he’d be feeling the same way. She missed him incredibly, she always would, but she was getting to know Malcolm more and more and it was hard to imagine not having him in their lives now. He made her mother so very happy.
A couple of weeks ago, Bess had gone for an appointment to have a routine breast screening. She always got nervous beforehand and this time, Gio had wanted to go with her.
‘This is something I need to do on my own,’ she’d told him. The checks had become less frequent as time went on and she hoped this one would come back as clear too but couldn’t helpbeing reminded of the day she’d found the lump, the days of worry that came after it and sent her world into a spin. And things with her and Gio were new; she didn’t want this to be a part of the beginning of their relationship, not unless it needed to be.
The results had come back this morning and, apart from her mum, Gio had been the first person she’d wanted to tell. She’d come straight here to his place to let him know she’d been given the all-clear again. It hadn’t taken long for them to tumble into bed and with a family meet-up on the cards in an hour, Bess finished up in the shower, pulled on her jeans and her pale-blue, roll-neck jumper.
Sitting on the bed, Gio reached out and tugged at the waistband of her jeans to draw her closer. ‘I want to see my brother and his family but I’d rather stay here.’ He lifted her jumper and planted a kiss near her belly button, right on the dolphin tattoo.
‘Tempting, but we have to be there.’
He groaned.
‘Your mum is nervous; I think it worked out well that I came over here, gave her a chance to get ready and get her head together.’
Gio pulled on his jeans and a charcoal jumper. Coffee and cake at a café meant he didn’t need to dress up. It was a family-friendly, no-frills place, a venue where the kids could be kids and Marianne wouldn’t feel too much pressure.
Gio was progressing every day. Now, it seemed that rather than suggesting that a return to the job he loved might not happen, even the doctors had begun to almost say – although they never categorically would – that he was likely to be able to return to full duties if he carried on this upward trajectory. He’d been determined throughout, pushed it when he needed to,taken it easy when that was required. He’d attributed a lot of it to Bess’s bossiness and she didn’t mind that at all.
When Gio and Bess picked her up, Marianne was no less nervous than she’d been when Bess left the house earlier. Her hands clutched her bag and she was quiet in the passenger seat as they made their way to the café. Gio and Bess tried to keep conversation going but they all did a deep intake of breath when they pulled up in the car park and saw Marco, Saffy and the kids climbing out of their vehicle.
‘Do I look all right?’ Marianne’s voice shook. She didn’t move from the passenger seat.
Gio waved to his brother and while he made his way over, Bess climbed out of the car and opened up Marianne’s door. She held out her hand. ‘You look wonderful. You can do this.’
Gio was already hugging his brother and then he moved on to Saffy before picking up Matilda. Bess could hear Billy asking for his turn as they walked over.
‘Hello, Mum.’ Marco’s gaze had been fixed on Marianne ever since she got out of the car; Bess had been watching him.
Bess felt protective over her lodger, even though that wasn’t her right. This meet-up had been a long time coming after Marco came down with a winter bug, as did the kids, and then Saffy had a family emergency with her parents. Marianne had seen for herself over FaceTime that things with Marco’s family were tough during the rest of January, she hadn’t assumed he was making excuses, and it had given them all a bit of extra time to work up to this day.
‘Thank you for coming.’ Marianne stopped a few steps in front of her eldest son.
And Marco opened his arms.
Marianne took a step closer, froze, but then closed the gap fully and fell against him.
Gio scooped Billy up now he’d set Matilda down and Bess introduced herself to Saffy and Matilda.
‘Shall we get the kids settled inside out of the cold?’ Saffy suggested. ‘Maybe give them a moment,’ she said just to Bess, nodding in the direction of Marianne and Marco.
Gio had already had the same idea and headed for the café and when they caught him and Billy up, he sneaked a look back at his mother and his brother, who were still hugging.
They settled the kids inside and they were given crayons and pads of paper straight away, which Saffy expressed her relief about. But when their grandma came inside, they immediately latched on to her, wanting her to help them draw. An argument nearly erupted as they fought about who got to have Marianne’s attentions first so Bess stepped in with Matilda and it seemed to save the day. She felt Gio reach beneath the table to give her knee a squeeze.
