“It might be a naked present after. When do you think we can grab some time away?”
His hand slipped to the small of my back then edged lower. We were outside, building snowmen and it looked like a snow fight was about to start with Seph and Shay on opposite teams.
“Now. I don’t fancy having snow stuck down my back and Seph keeps giving me evils. We could make a quick escape for it.” I looked at him hopefully.
“Your wish is my command.” I grabbed hold of my hand and we ran inside, hearing Callum and Seph shouting insults after us.
We lost coats and boots quickly, hearing the roar of laughter from outside and Maven yelling at Shay.
“Meet you in the library in five.” He raised an eyebrow at me, his smile full of devious intentions.
And I knew the library – formally my father’s office – had a lock on the door.
I took two mugs of mulled wine with me, my toes throbbing now I was back in the warmth. Mum was outside, probably trying to drown one of her sons in the snow and Claire had just finished prepping whatever food task she’d been given.
There was a rota with times on it, so the kitchen area didn’t get too crammed with people and we weren’t tripping over each other. Already, even though it was only just past midday, there were good smells. The most recent one was mince pies and cookies, because Payton had decided we had to have more. Why, I wasn’t sure, as we had enough food to feed Shay and Seph for the next eleven months, but I wasn’t arguing with Payton, not now she was pregnant and on the verge of tears every two minutes.
Plus, let’s face it: they would be eaten, even if it was Seph having a midnight feast, which we all knew he did.
Eli was dressed down by the time I got to him in the library, black sweatpants and a comfy sweater that I might’ve worn myself. A prettily wrapped gift sat on the table.
“I reckon we’ve got about twenty minutes until someone comes looking for one of us to do something.” I ignored the gift and went straight to him, putting my hands on his chest and feeling his warmth. The lingering scent of his body wash mingled with his cologne almost bowled me over. I had missed him so much.
“Let’s make the most of those twenty minutes then.” His hands went to my hips. He looked nervous. “I managed to find this back in November. It’s been living in Seph’s office since then. If I got the wrong one, I’m sorry.”
He let go of me with one hand and reached for the gift. “I wanted to see you open it so I thought I’d save it. I have something else too. But this first.”
I took hold of the present. It had definitely been wrapped by him, no bows or fancy bits, just very tidy with striped wrapping paper. Instinct told me it was delicate, so I used the table to steady it while I unwrapped.
The box underneath the paper wasn’t new, but then again, it couldn’t be. It contained an ornament, delicately made, of a girl wearing a bonnet and holding a goose, a cat at her feet.
Months ago, maybe even longer, I’d pointed out the ornament to Eli when we’d seen it in an antique shop in Stratford-Upon-Avon. My great-great aunt who lived in New York had the same ornament and as a little girl I’d been fascinated with it, making up fairy stories about the goose and the cat which I’d recounted to Eli when I saw it. I’d promised myself that when I was grown up, I’d buy the same ornament, although the one we saw that day wasn’t for sale for some reason.
It wasn’t that easy though. The china company that made it had already closed and the ornament was rare. I’d reconciled myself to never having it, but somehow Eli had tracked one down.
“I can’t believe you remembered this.” I’d only mentioned it once and I’d forgotten about it since. The china was cool and smooth, delicate just as I’d remembered and the girl had a dreamy look on her face. I’d often wondered what she was thinking about.
Eli was grinning hard, looking pleased with himself, as he should. “There’s never much you want, so anytime you see something like that, I take a photo. I had to get an antiques dealer to track it down, but she came through. It’s the right one?”
I placed the goose girl down carefully, out of the way of where she could be knocked over, then threw my arms around his shoulders, lifting myself up and igniting a kiss between us that made me start to throb between my legs almost immediately.
“Okay,” he said, when the kiss paused. “I’m convinced you like it.”
“And you got it last month?”
He nodded, looking serious. “I knew we hadn’t been spending much time together and I wanted you to know I was still thinking about you. I have something else too.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card, passing it to me. “Nothing’s booked yet because I know you’ll want to organise it, but my diary’s clear.”
It was a save the date card with our names on, a date in September pencilled in.
“Is that enough time? If you’re set on a particular venue we can change it or wait until it’s available.”
I stared at the card.
“Ava, is this okay?”
I realised I hadn’t spoken.
“It’s perfect.” My eyes filled up with tears and I didn’t try to stop them from falling. “A beach wedding if we can, even if it’s Cornwall because of all the pregnant people.”
