“It’ll be fine.” Rayah moved her head from his hand. “You know I’ve had a lot worse.”
“It will be fine,ifit’s cleaned properly and we stick some witch hazel on now to help the bruising.”
“It really doesn’t hurt.” Her dark eyes now stared at him. He could feel the heat radiating off her body. No one had blinked an eye that they were touching a lot and Rayah certainly wasn’t trying to shift away.
“That’s because where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling.” Charlie passed him the first aid kit and went to sit back next to Alex. Jonny opened it up and found a couple of wipes, stopping Rayah’s head from moving like he would’ve done with Sadie Grace.
“Clearly there is sense there because it stings.”
He chuckled. “Just about. Witch hazel next. Might stop you from looking like you’ve been boxing.”
“Trust me, everyone is used to me having injuries. You’ve fixed enough of them over the years.”
He applied the witch hazel, keeping his fingertips gentle and then wrapped the other hand in her hair, fingers again against the back of her head so he could apply light pressure.
“You’ll get caught.” Her words were a whisper, timed perfectly with a victory cry from Alex.
“We never agreed what the loser has to do.” He didn’t move his hand or his body. Every male in the room was watching the TV screen where the next game was being loaded. Rayah’s mum had declared there would be one more game before they played something more sociable, but Jonny expected she’d be outvoted or forgotten. Scott’s dad was asleep and it was doubtful he’d be the only one in another ten minutes. There was a very good chance he’d end up letting the kids sleep there, especially as moving Sadie Grace when she was asleep was like shifting a lion, only one with more teeth.
“Whatever the other requests.” Rayah sounded far too satisfied. “We need to think this out a bit more. If someone does figure out that we’re being a bit touchy, what’s their reaction going to be?”
“Shall we have this conversation outside?” Jonny moved his hands away. His kids were good for a bit; Charlie was now playing instead of Alex and Harry was about to fall asleep.
“If I can get up. I’m still stuffed. How did you manage to eat a second Christmas dinner?” She put a hand on him to levy herself up.
“With no difficulty.” He pulled her up the rest of the way, watching how she moved. It had been quite a bang even if she hadn’t really felt much and he was slightly concerned about it being more than they realised. “Two Christmas dinners just about touched the sides.”
“You’ll lose your figure if you carry on like that.” She eyed him critically making him grin. The bickering was usual; Rayah bickered with all the boys, always had. What she hadn’t done was let his hand go.
“We’re going to get some air,” she said, leading the way outside, his hand finally dropped.
“I’m checking that the bang on her head hasn’t done any further damage.”
“Good luck trying to find that out,” Jake pulled his eyes away from the game. “Your boy’s got skills, by the way.”
“Hopefully ones that will transfer to a well-paying career when he’s older.” Jonny left the room before anyone started on about being a games designer.
It was freezing outside.The snow had stopped falling and no more was forecast, cheering Scott up who was threatening to get a hotel near to the hospital in case Keren went into labour early and the snow was problematic. “Grab your coat.” He passed her the monstrosity that she usually wore while doing playground duty at school, a coat that had seen better days.
“I know it’s cold, but it’s nice to get some fresh air. It’s stuffy in there with all that boy stink.” She sniffed like a dog after a bone.
Jonny shook his head. “You don’t stop, do you?”
“Never have.”
“Want to go for a wander?” They’d been sat down so much since sledging, and the paths around the farmhouse and nearby outhouses were now clear.
“Yes and before you ask, I don’t feel dizzy, so I’m good.”
For a minute or two they walked in silence. The sky was clear, the stars pin pricks of light above them and their breath visible against the cold. It was the sort of night where fire starters stayed at home, too cold and too damp.
“What are we doing, Jonny?” Her words were barely audible.
He paused, watching an owl beat its wings towards its dinner. “Having a competition? Having fun. I liked touching you last night. I’d like to do it again and I’m not going there over-analysing why it, I don’t know, should be weird.”
She nodded, not looking at him. “I knew Grace. Would this have happened if she’d been alive? That’s the only thing that worries me, that people might think we had something going on before.”
Jonny stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her back to his chest. “You knew Grace but never that well. I met her when I was in Leeds and by the time we moved back and got married you were away at university.”
