‘Don’t you dare go up! It will wait until the morning!’
‘I can’t – I’m too excited!’
‘Me too.’ Zoe pressed a tender kiss onto his lips. ‘I think I’ve made one of my better decisions today.’
He paused, studying her. ‘Not that I want to change your mind, but it seems…well, you seemed against it before. What changed your mind so suddenly? It can’t only be what Chantal said.’
‘I don’t know. I wasn’tdeadagainst it; I was just cautious. It was a bit of what Chantal said and some other things. I suppose there’s a bit of me that’s felt in limbo. Living half at Kestrel Cottage and half at Hilltop, I mean. It felt as if I was neither here nor there. Once I’m here, I’ll be able to settle, I suppose, make it home.’ She shrugged. She didn’t want to say how seeingher mum alone, seeing first-hand her bitterness and resentment, had galvanised Zoe herself into action. She would never have ended up like that, but she was scared to risk it.
‘You can decorate, if you like.’
‘You’ve just decorated, and it’s fine the way it is.’
‘But if you want it to feel more like home.’
‘You’re here – that’s already going to make it feel like home.’
‘When?’ he asked.
‘You don’t mess around, do you?’
‘Is there any point? We’re ready when you are, so name the day.’
Zoe grinned. ‘Tomorrow!’
‘Tomorrow it is!’
‘Hey, I didn’t mean…You’re serious? You’d let me move in tomorrow?’
‘Of course I would! In fact, you could move in tonight!’
Zoe shook her head with a broad smile. ‘Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow is pushing it too. After the wedding? Just to get one thing out of the way before I launch into something new?’
‘After the wedding? That’s ages! You’re already halfway in – why not just bring the rest of your stuff over the next few days?’
‘I’ll have to make a list of all the paperwork I need to do as well. There’s a ton of change-of-address stuff to do and?—’
‘I’ll help with that.’
Zoe giggled. ‘It’s mad! We must be mad, doing it, just like that!’
‘Life’s too short,’ he reminded her. ‘When you know it’s right, why wait?’
‘It’s lucky Victor and Corrine will be good for sending post over and that sort of thing, until I’ve got everything in order. I hope they’ll be all right about it. I mean, it’s sudden; I hope it doesn’t put them out.’
‘Like I said, we’ll see them right. It’ll be fine.’
‘It’ll be so weird seeing someone else living there, you know.’
‘You’ll get used to it.’
‘Oh, I know, but still…I suppose that’s what it must have felt like for their daughter when she moved out and I moved in. Houses are funny things, aren’t they? They’re just a box to store people in, but they feel like living things with thoughts. You almost imagine you’re hurting their feelings when you leave them.’
‘Come here,’ he said, pulling her into a kiss. ‘That might just be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Mad but sweet. That’s why I love you so much. You’re always thinking of others, even houses.’
Zoe melted into his arms, warmed by his words but suddenly troubled. She was happy right now, of course she was, but she wasn’t kind, and she didn’t always think of others. And though she knew she wasn’t meant to point that out right now, she still feared the truth of it. Because if it were true, how was it she felt she was going behind her mum’s back by befriending Chantal? Would karma bite back?
She shook such negative thoughts and decided to focus on her happiness. Or, more specifically, on Alex’s happiness. He was thrilled and excited, and that was all that mattered.
