‘What?’
‘Why are you doing this? Helping me out, I mean. I’m a Christmas killjoy.’
‘Maybe I’m hoping the McAdams family will change your mind about that.’ He places an arm around my shoulder and gives it a friendly squeeze. ‘Let’s go, this place stinks of cabbage.’
Bailey meets me outside after I deal with Mr Grumpy Bastard, whose face went puce when I told him I wasn’t staying after all.
‘How did it go?’ he asks, putting my bag in the boot.
‘Let’s just say he wasn’t happy about it.’
I paid him for last night, but I said the room was a tip and refused to pay for another three nights or for the bloody beans and bacon, which he was entirely obsessed about. I’m just glad I’m out of there, and Crumpet seems to have cheered up too. When we drive off, I twist around to check; and he’s sitting on the back seat, looking perkily out the window.
We’ve hardly left Inverness when the first flakes start falling. Bailey flicks on the windscreen wipers and peers up at the darkening sky. ‘We should be all right, as long as it doesn’t get too heavy.’
There’s something magical about driving through snow, especially when you’re inside a warm car. Bailey puts on the radio and searches for a station with Christmas carols. I assume he’s determined to get me in a festive mood. But Bailey humming along with ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ doesn’t set my teeth on edge like it normally would. Maybe it has something to do with the way his hand is tapping precariously close to mine on the gearstick. I’m not sure what’s going on, why all the animosity I had towards him has disappeared. In its place is something resembling ... gratitude.
I clear my throat. ‘Thanks again for this.’
Bailey doesn’t take his eyes from the road. ‘You’re welcome.’ He smiles, as if he knows I’m watching him, and a dimple appears in his smooth cheek. My heart flutters like a bird in a cage. I grip the door handle tightly to ground myself. What the hell? Bailey’s dimples arenotthat cute. I force myself to think practically.
‘So we should get our story straight.’
Bailey inclines his head in my direction. ‘What story?’
‘Er, me not staying at the guest house? Your family is going to want to know why.’
‘Hmm, I guess they will.’
‘We could just tell them the truth—that we met randomly at a Christmas party two days ago. We bumped into each other at the train station, and you offered me a place to stay for the night. It doesn’t explain why I’m now not in Inverness, though. I don’t really want to get into details about why I invented my grandmother even though they sort of know about my family situation.’
Bailey is silent for a bit. ‘Maybe we don’t need to tell them anything,’ he offers cautiously.
‘What? We have to say something. It’s going to be awkward enough when I turn up again after everyone waved me off—“Oh, look, here’s Holly back again, with her dog and gingerbread biscuits”.’
‘Just leave it with me. I’ll think of something. It’ll be OK.’
I’m not happy about it, but he knows his family better than I do. Sensing my reluctance, Bailey takes my hand and rubs his thumb gently over my knuckles. ‘Would it be awful being my girlfriend for a couple more days?’
A warm glow settles over me, melting some of the pack ice around my heart. His touch is disconcertingly nice, but I force myself to move my hand away. ‘If it means I get a decent meal and a good night’s sleep, I can pretend to be anyone’s girlfriend.’
Bailey chuckles. ‘That’s the spirit. Oh, I love this one!’ He turns up the volume, and ‘Snoopy’s Christmas’ floods my ears. I take a deep breath and stare at the snow, now coming down in thick flurries.
Fuck. Somehow, I seem to have developed a slight hero worship crush on Bailey, thanks to him rescuing me from the guest house. Now I have to pretend to be his fake girlfriend when there’s a part of me that’s wishing I was his real one. And he’s completely unaware of how he’s affecting me. I thought his family home would be a safe haven for the next few days, but now I see I’m about to get entangled emotionally—something I don’t need in my already-complicated life.
Panic rears up in my chest like a frightened colt.I can’t do this.
But I have no choice, unless I open the door right now and fling myself out onto a snowdrift. And knowing Bailey, he’d simply pick me up, dust me off, and bundle me back in the car, then continue cheerfully on his way towards Ballindalloch—much like he’s doing now, singing along with the Royal Guardsmen at the top of his lungs, ‘Christmas bells, those Christmas bells, ringing through the land!’
Chapter 13
‘Holly, yay!’ Susie and Sasha rush to hug me round the legs, and I pat their heads awkwardly. I feel exhausted after the two-hour round trip, but we’ve finally arrived back. Everyone crowds around us in the kitchen, astonishment on their faces, talking all at once.
‘What happened?’
‘Couldn’t you get through?’
‘I thought that might happen. Mirabelle was lucky.’
