She eyed him. “Have you come straight here from work?”
He shrugged. “The Severton Flu Epidemic continues. We lost a resident tonight too.”
“I’m so sorry.” She grasped both of his arms without thinking.
“No,” he said, a big, wide smile growing. “Not as in died. I should’ve explained better. Mr Jackman went missing for a time. Turns out he’d gone to see those fucking alpacas. We found him in the barn, all wrapped up, and talking to two of them. God bless Alzheimer’s.”
Sorrell tipped her head back and laughed, relieved. One of the residents had passed away earlier in the week. It had been no great surprise as they’d been poorly for some time; they’d been in the nursing wing for a couple of months, but it was still sad. Zack had called her late that night, explaining and then talking to her about Christmas in Severton, moving his mind forward, as he explained it, because life still went on. It had too.
“Are the alpacas alright?” Sorrell gave him a smile, something which came easy. He was a good man, as well as making her days seem that little bit brighter. “Not too traumatised?”
Zack laughed, collecting a couple of glasses from nearby. “I think they were quite taken by him. They’re quite into humans. Jake’s considering putting fake antlers on them and bringing some of them down to the town on Christmas Eve. Me and Scott are working out a way to stop that from happening.”
“It’ll be fun,” Sorrell said. More of the guests were heading away, the bride and groom heading upstairs to the best bedroom, the one with the separate sitting room and large walk in shower with a whirlpool bath. It had been the honeymoon suite she’d wanted.
“There’s enough going on in Severton on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait for you to see it.” His tone was genuinely happy.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. “Just…” Then she stopped, because talking to him about her cancelled wedding was not something she wanted to do, not a line of conversation she wanted to burden him with.
“Let’s clear up and then you can finish that sentence.”
She pursed her lips, about to argue and he silenced her with a quick finger against her mouth.
“Yes. Bring a bottle of that sparkly wine thing to your cottage and we’ll talk. I’m too wired to go home and we should be on our second date by now,” he said. “Let’s make tonight date number two.”
“Okay,” she said, her hands automatically finding him again. She wasn’t a tactile person normally; her parents had seen to that. Despite all their hippy ways, they weren’t ones to show physical affection and Sorrell had found it hard to do the same. The therapy she’d had herself in order to become a therapist had gone some way to making her more comfortable with touch, but it was still a considered thing to do, most of the time.
He gave her an almost shy grin, but a genuinely happy one, not like the smiles she had seen from Mark while they were together. “That was easy.”
She tipped her head to the side, letting her look say everything and then started to clear the tables of empty glasses.
Chapter 16
It was nearly an hour later when they stole out of Litton Manor to her cottage, him carrying a bottle of prosecco and a plateful of nibbles that he’d found in the fridge, and Sorrell with glasses and a couple of bottles of beer, knowing that he was likely to be bored of the fizzy stuff after a glass or two, but would be too much of a gentleman to say.
It was a clear night, the snow having held off yet again, but frost was promised judging by the lack of cloud cover and the myriad of stars. There was a twinkle on the stone hard ground that seemed almost magical as the moonlight caught it, like fairies had left a trail leading to treasure.
“I loved living here at this time of year,” Zack said, standing at the threshold of the doorway. “It was quiet and I felt like I was escaping from the chaos.”
“Was it always busy?”
The door opened, heat from the cottage spilling out. She’d timed the heating to come on so it would be warm for when she finished at the wedding, knowing that she’d need to sit up for a good hour or two and wind down before attempting sleep.
“The night shifts weren’t. They were almost relaxing to do, although…” He shook his head, taking off his boots once the door behind him was shut.
“Although what?” she said, pretty sure she knew what he was going to say.
Zack laughed. “You might think it’s mad.”
She shook her head. “My parents are pagans. I’ve celebrated every solstice and festival you can imagine. You’re going to tell me it’s haunted, aren’t you?”
He shrugged, looking coy. “I never believed in anything like that till I worked here. When I told my brothers and Jake about it they didn’t let it drop. That first Halloween the three of them dressed up in white sheets and pretended to haunt me for the evening.”
“I bet you took that well.” She undid the bottle.
He removed it from her. “You’ve done enough of that today. I dared them to sleepover in the home one evening and do a Ouija board. They all found an excuse.”
“So what did you see while you were here?”
