“Oh god, I was so worried because I hadn’t heard from you—well, not properly. Everything is okay, isn’t it? Are you alright? Your parents?” I blurt out as soon as I’ve closed the door and we’re standing in my entrance hall.
“Everything’s fine,” he says. “Apart from not actually being able to focus or eat properly, worried you’d forgotten about me . . .” He wrinkles his nose, and it’s adorable, but I can see that his worries were real.
“Never, baby,” I say and step close to him. “I could never forget about you, but god, I love that you’re here.” I kiss him again. “What about your store? How long can you stay?”
“In Clara’s capable hands and a couple of weeks,” he answers. I gaze at him in wonder. He came all this way to surprise me. I lift my hand and pinch his arm.
“Ow!”
“Just checking you’re real,” I say. He laughs, and I capture that joyful sound with my lips on his, and I don’t stop until we’re both in danger of passing out from lack of oxygen. I grab my phone and text Nolan that he won’t see me tonight in the pub, I’ve had a much better offer.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Holden
We’re in a pretty spot. There are trees and flowers and we’re walking along the river but still somehow in the city. Reece says it’s called Christ Church Meadows. Apparently it dates back to the thirteen hundreds, when it was gifted to a priory. It has cattle grazing on part of it, but also has a lot of boathouses for the rowing clubs. It’s Sunday now. Yesterday we didn’t do a lot. Reece took me to lunch and showed me a few parts of the city, though mostly we just stayed in bed, and not all of the time was spent sleeping.
I breathe a deep sigh of contentment as we walk hand in hand.
“Is everything alright, baby?” he asks as we wander slowly along the path.
“Just happy,” I reply and he gives my hand a squeeze. “I’m a little worried about the future, but I’m hopeful we can work it out.”
“We will. I need to put a few things in place and make sure I have everything worked out with Nolan, but then I’m ready to followyou to wherever you want to be.” That Reece is willing to do that for me fills me with so much joy and gratitude.
“How’s the hunt for a new store going?”
“Not great. There’s nothing that looks suitable that’s become available in the cities where I’ve been looking. But I’ve got an idea.”
“Go on, what is it?” he prompts.
“You said I could go anywhere, so how about further north, into Vermont, or New York. Or even the Pacific Northwest. Oregon or Seattle.”
He stops and looks at me with a smile plastered on his face. It’s a special one I don’t see often, usually when I’ve done something that particularly pleases him.
“You are feeling adventurous, aren’t you?”
I give a small shrug, pleased that he noticed. “You don’t mind?”
“I love your plans, and they’re great states to live and work in. So when do we start looking for stores?” He grins as we continue walking. I haven’t started looking yet, wanting to know what he thought first, but I outline my plans as we walk back to Reece’s house. He listens and makes a few suggestions I hadn’t thought about. When we reach the house we take off our shoes in the entrance hall and I follow him through into the kitchen. For an old house the interior is modern. There’s a lounge at the front that looks out onto the street, which has a wood-burning stove and comfortable couches, and a large-screen TV on the wall. There are a few pictures hung up, but not many, and they seem to be mostly abstract. The kitchen is huge, with a large dining space. It’s light and airy with doors that open onto a small backyard, which has a seating area, then the lawn and a couple of trees. Reece says he doesn’t have time to garden and isn’t any good at it, but this is easy to maintain.
He makes me a coffee and I open my laptop, wanting to capture some of the points we discussed before I forget them.
“You’re as bad as me, working all hours,” he says, sitting beside me.
“This is future planning, it doesn’t feel like work.” I defend myself and he laughs softly. But he still helps me add to the list. I can monitor my store from my laptop, what we took and the stock levels, but I don’t as it’s a Sunday and Reece said we’d been invited to dinner at Marina’s. I’m keen to see her again and to meet the mysterious Mac I’ve heard so much about.
Marina greets me with a big hug, and I apologize that I didn’t bring anything for her. She waves away my excuses.
“There’s no need to bring anything but yourself. And anyway, we’re almost family,” she says, and my heart soars to be accepted so readily, not just by Theresa but Marina as well. She wasn’t exaggerating when she said her cottage was old, small, and pretty. I think it’s charming, so quaint and very Marina-like. I can see her knitting projects everywhere, and I’d like to ask her more about them but it’ll have to wait as she ushers me into the kitchen.
I can tell who Mac is as soon as I see him. The resemblance between him and Reece is uncanny even though they are half-brothers. Though Theresa and Marina aren’t really dissimilarto each other. Reece introduces us and I can see that Reece’s features are softer; maybe Mac’s are harder because he’s a cop.
“I’ve heard so much about you,” I say, and Mac grins and looks pointedly at Reece.
“That’s funny, as I’ve heard almost nothing about you.”
Reece shrugs. “What was there to tell? You don’t go around blurting out twenty-year-old secrets all the time, do you? And it wouldn’t have looked good if I had and then Holden had kicked me to the curb.”
