“I should clean up,” she said, gesturing for him to stay when he got up to fetch a cloth himself. “Give me a minute.”
She took the time to gather her thoughts, away from the ones of caves and rock fall and snow, and instead about the man in her bed. He’d been nothing but good to her and she now knew he was nothing to be afraid of.
Back in bed, she lay on her front, and put her hand on his chest.
“Zack,” she said.
He looked at her, eyes sleepy which made her smile. She’d been through a bit, to be fair, but so had he.
“It isn’t too soon.”
He looked slightly more awake.
“I’m in love with you too.”
Epilogue
The twelfth day of Christmas
“If that wall comes down, there’ll be enough space for an open plan kitchen-diner, and if we add on at the back, I could include Velux windows.” Sorrell looked up as if she could see them now, the light already pouring in.
Zack laughed. “When are you planning on this starting? It’s January. No one likes building in the winter.”
“My builders do,” she said with a pout. “The ones you stole off me.” The pout became a coy glance; one he knew thoroughly by now.
He folded his arms across his chest and stretched to his full height. “No. You aren’t poaching them until absolutely everything is finished. And besides, you need to get the plans drawn up, and planning permission.” But it meant she was staying.
The last few days had been a whirlwind of police interviews—although she didn’t have too much information so this hadn’t been the biggest take up of her time; visits from her sister and nephew and niece and half of Severton who had come to wish her well, along with getting what gossip they could. Lena was back home, and home to her was the hotel. There were regular police visits as they still hadn’t found the man who had assaulted her, the investigation remaining ongoing.
As did life.
“That’s all doable in a few weeks. I’ve got everyone booked in. I just wanted to see what you thought,” she said, doing a full three-sixty of the room: the old fashioned sofa that he was pretty sure was full of dust and potentially dust loving animals, the ancient TV in the corner that could be donated to a museum and the orange and brown curtains hanging at the windows that needed to be burned.
Zack laughed, but didn’t lean on anything. Even he had standards. “So when are you hoping this is done by?” he said.
“Easter,” she said. “Then Lena can have the little cottage with Abby. She’s mentioned about wanting to move out of town.”
Zack raised a brow.
“Not sure why. For a place where everyone knows your business there are a ton of secrets,” she said. “One not so well-kept secret is that Jake’s kicking you out.”
He stood up a little straighter. He had sworn his cousin to secrecy, not wanting to put pressure on him or Sorrell by her knowing this. He’d been looking to rent somewhere in town while he decided on whether to buy somewhere or to see how things progressed with the pair of them. “Kind of. He’s needing more workers on the farm for his next project and has found a manager, but one who comes with a wife and kids. My place is ideal.” He wasn’t pissed off about it; him moving there had always been temporary. There was the option of moving into the new Sunrise building, but he spent enough of his life there already.
“So why don’t you think about moving in with me when the cottage is done?” she said. “I know it’s soon and people are going to say we’re rushing things...”
“We don’t have to tell anyone.”
“But I’ll want you to have an input on how it looks. You know, what sort of bathroom and that sort of thing,” she said, looking firm and decisive. He loved it when she was like this.
“I want a big ass walk in shower and a huge bath so that we can fit in both together without me banging my head,” he said, referencing the mad half hour they’d spent that morning before Sorrell had gone downstairs to oversee breakfast for the guests.
“See, the builders will guess…”
“But they won’t say anything. They don’t even say anything when an alpaca steals their sandwiches anymore. They’re conditioned to keep schtum,” he said, gathering her in his arms. “We should go and get ready for tonight.”
“A twelfth night party…” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s Severton tradition. And it’s for the kids. They love it,” he said. “It’s a chance for them to boss the adults about.”
