Zack shot her a grin. “Every year.”
“Who is Santa?”
“What do you mean, ‘who is Santa?’ He comes from the North Pole…” His grin was half dirty, half teasing.
Sorrell rolled her eyes. “Never mind, child. Does the cave system carry on?” She looked towards another door, one that was metal and firm-looking.
Zack nodded. “It continues into the hills and down, then branches, one way going lower, towards the underground river, the other eventually heading to another entrance through similar caves to these. I’ll take you there another day, because now we’re going to climb up Lark’s Hill.”
She gave a little nod. “I haven’t done any climbing since I was a kid,” she confessed.
“You’ll be fine,” Zack said. “It’s fairly gradual with just a couple of steep ascents and the view from the top is amazing. It’ll take us about an hour and ten—just less than that to get back down, so we should just about beat the snow.”
The view was just as he’d promised. Below them she saw Severton, the seven villages that had spread to create one larger town obvious from their vantage point, giving the town its name. She saw the fields and valleys that rolled and flattened, the dense forestry and the river that ran through it all.
“It’s something special.” It was. It took her breath away in a similar manner to the man sitting next to her.
Chapter 19
Zack stood behind her and placed his arms around her waist, pulling her gently against his body. She was warm, wrapped up cozily in her jacket and thick scarf, made by Gran.
“This is one of my favourite places to come,” he said. “Jake says that’s because it’s one of the easier walks, but I’ve found him up here by himself a few times.”
“You come here on your own?” she said. “Is that safe?”
He laughed into her hair, hair that was now wind tossed and messy. “I’m an experienced hill walker and climber and I know how to be safe. And I know the weather, which means we should start to head down. Those clouds over there,” he pointed over to where the sky looked as if night was visiting early. “They’re bringing thick snow. Don’t be surprised if we have about three or four inches overnight.”
“Then chaos will ensue,” she said. “No one will be able to drive anywhere.”
“You’re thinking of the city.” He kept holding her. “We’re a little more used to it in Severton. Jake will get supplies to you in the morning as normal, so don’t worry about anything.”
“You make it sound easy,” she said. “That road’s pretty steep, up to the manor. I have more guests arriving in the morning.”
His forearms crept up to just under the swell of her breasts and he kissed her cheek. “The road is well gritted. It has to be to get to Sunrise. When we have heavy snow, Jake or one of the team will get the tractor out with the plough.”
“Do you think it will be that heavy?” she asked. “I’ve never had a proper winter. Not since I was a kid.”
“Forecast is for minus ten or so in a week’s time with ongoing snow. My guess is that we’re in for an even colder Christmas.” He unwrapped his arms. They needed to set off. He was pretty sure that the fine flakes that had been teasing them for the past hour were about to put out.
“What about getting the kids up to the caves to see Santa?” Sorrell said, turning to him, looking worried.
“We’ll plough the roads to keep it clear. And bring the date forward—that’s why we brought the presents up today. Rayah mentioned something about bringing the primary kids up on Monday. I think the hospital may do a run up tomorrow for those that are well enough.”
“And for those who aren’t?”
They started the descent, the air around them suspiciously still.
“Santa goes to them. And volunteers will make a grotto there.”
She nodded, accepting his hand when they got to a particularly slippery bit of rock. He knew she would be able to manage it on her own, he was in no form of denial about how capable she was, but he wanted the excuse to touch her. Any excuse to touch her.
“I might see what I can do to help,” she said. “When things at the hotel have settled down I’ll see how they are for therapists.”
“You’re thinking of going back to do that?” he asked. She’d been adamant that she was in no position to return to her therapy work.
“It’ll be a few months away. If bookings continue as they have been doing, then I’ll be able to take someone on full-time, an assistant manager maybe. Then I could do one day a week,” she said. “I know what I said the other day, about being on the verge of burning out and I don’t think I could go back to working with looked after children, not for a good while, but I could do something in a school, or at the hospital.”
“See how things go. Don’t put pressure on yourself. If you want to test the water, you could always have Jake as a patient.” He tried to make her smile.
