‘Morning,’ he said. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m fine, thank you.’ She smiled at him. Such an ordinary exchange, but this morning it couldn’t mean more. ‘How are you?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah. Good. Coffee?’
‘Yes, please.’
She headed for the picture window. She’d never seen Près du Ciel looking like this. The storm had died right down– or moved on– and it was no longer snowing. Instead, the wind had carved itself into almost everything she could see. Snow was banked up like static Atlantic waves glittering in the morning light. The track up to Snow Pine Lodge looked all but impassable. She frowned as she found herself wondering how long it must have taken Gull to get back to his chalet. After they’d spent some time with Clara the previous night, he insisted she should get some rest. She remembered how she was struggling to keep her eyes open, even though she knew this was probably the end with him. He seemed immovable in his desire to leave, and she supposed she had no right to expect him to do anything other than that which he felt he needed to do. Her relationships with her friends were the most important things in her life, and she supposed it must be the same for him with his siblings. It would have been unfair of her to expect him to ignore everything his sister was going through just because that would have been more convenient.
She fixed her gaze on the winter-season lights lower in the valley; the ones which hadn’t been blown away were still twinkling. If he did phone her today, and if she answered his call, she wondered what he might say. Whether a fresh new day and some time away from her might deepen his resolve. But his resolve to do what?
She turned, noticing the little Christmas tree, with its own set of twinkling white lights, a discreet pile of presents stacked underneath. She reached down, looking at the labels. One each, for Clara, Rose and her– all from Madeleine. She huffed a laugh. Trust Madeleine to manage, amongst everything else that had happened, to remember presents.
She heard the outside door open, then slam shut, footsteps on the stairs. Lysander was with Clara in her room. The footsteps were heavy. They didn’t sound like Rose’s, or Madeleine’s. Tom didn’t react. Perhaps it was the doctor, coming to check on Clara, perhaps Tom had given him the door code to save time.
She was about to ask when Gull appeared at the top of the stairs, carrying an armful of logs.
‘Thanks, mate,’ Tom said. ‘Stick them in the corner, would you?’
‘You’re still here?’ she said, the confusion clear in her voice.
He set the logs down, adjusting something on the log burner on his way across to her. The flames intensified, then settled again. ‘Yes. I’m still here.’
‘Where were you, where did you sleep?’ She frowned. ‘I thought you’d gone.’
He paused as Tom passed them both mugs of coffee, before retreating to the kitchen. Then Gull said, ‘I was almost at the door when Lysander poked his head out from his room. Told me I was a fucking idiot if I planned to go out in that weather again, when there were two perfectly comfortable sofas up here I could sleep on.’ He reached a hand to the small of his back, rubbing at it. ‘He’s a liar, by the way. Your sofas are seriously uncomfortable. I know, because I tried them both.’ He lit up the room with one of his lightning grins, then it was gone again. ‘Anyway, you needed to rest. We all needed to rest for a while.’
‘But I thought you were determined to go.’
‘I was.’ He frowned. ‘Then I realised I could think just as easily on a sofa up here as anywhere. I should have told you where I was, I’m sorry.’
Tom removed a tray of pastries from the oven, setting them onto a cooling rack. He headed for the stairs with more filled mugs. ‘I’ll take some coffee down for Lysander and Clara. Be back in a few minutes.’
Once he’d made his tactical retreat, Tania and Gull stared at each other. Gull’s eyebrows flexed and arched, his face working through a myriad of emotions before he said, ‘Lysander said something else.’
‘Oh, God. What?’ Tania wondered if the Donkey had gained an upper hand, if the glimpse of the brother she’d seen the previous evening had disappeared again just as quickly.
‘He said that if I walked away from you, I might just regret it for the rest of my life.’
‘He said that?’ She’d half-expected Lysander to have come out with some sarcastic put-down, something about not letting the door hit Gull on his way out. She hadn’t expected that.
‘Yes. And, all things considered, I think I agree with him. No, IknowI agree with him.’
Tania studied his face. His eyes held the same soft openness as they had the day they’d sparred over lunch at the Cocoon.
‘But what about Ellie?’
‘You were right, last night. It’s not fair to lay something my brother-in-law did at your door. I’ll work it out with her, somehow.’
She nodded.
‘Plus, I think you and Ellie would really like one another. And she could use a decent friend.’
‘You’ve got it all worked out,’ she said.
‘Let me be your sledgehammer,’ he said, burying his quick grin under a heavy frown. ‘Sorry, another terrible joke. Appalling timing. And I’m fully aware I might have cocked it all up anyway, with you. If you want me to go, just say the word.’
Tania lifted the mug from his hand and set it down alongside her own. She moved closer to him, reaching up to slip her hand across his shoulder and around the back of his neck. His hands closed around her waist and he pulled her tight.
