She gave a sad smile. “Michael?”
“Yes?”
“I really like you too, and if we were both in different situations...”
“I know.” He reached out his arm, “Come here,” he said. He put his arms around her, holding her close. It was probably the most comforting hug of her life and Carrie allowed herself a moment to sink into it and to enjoy being near him. His body was so solid and she seemed to fit perfectly into it. She felt safe and had to wipe away a tear that this couldn’t be hers.
Michael gently turned her face to his. “Hey,” he said. “No tears.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “I’m so glad I have you in my life.” They looked into each other’s eyes and Michael reached forward and kissed her softly on the lips, sending a tingle through her whole body. They locked eyes again and allowed themselves a moment before he moved his arms from around her. She felt their loss immediately.
“I’ll finish putting the rest of these bits outside and then get Layla from upstairs as it’s getting late.”
“Thanks again for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it.”
“Friends?”
“Friends,” he reassured her.
Chapter 16
Carrie was up early on Saturday, eager to make the most of her day off and absolutely not to think about Michael — though she couldn’t completely stop her mind from returning to the memory of their kiss. And it had simply been a taster, she knew, of what could potentially have been between them had circumstances been different.
Taking a deep breath she forced herself to refocus. It was funny to think that technically this was her last day in charge of the bookshop. It would be closed on Sunday and Auntie Mary was due back on Monday.
Part of Carrie felt that she should probably be in the shop, ensuring it stayed absolutely perfect for her aunt’s return and that none of those pesky customers messed anything up. But she knew Seren and Layla would do a great job running the place and it looked fantastic. Plus, Poppy’s birthday was on Tuesday and she really needed to get organised.
She left Poppy to sleep while she had her coffee and wrote out a shopping list for when they went to the huge Tesco Extra later. She wanted to get a few bits for Aunt Mary to come back to as well as food for herself and Poppy.
Poppy eventually wandered downstairs at nine and Carrie sorted her out with some Rice Krispies and a crumpet. She made herself a second coffee in the Nespresso machine; it was the weekend after all and she’d be back to instant soon enough.
“We need to make some decisions about your birthday, don’t we, Pumpkin?” She took a seat next to her daughter at the kitchen island.
“Yes,” agreed Poppy. “I know what I’d like to do now.”
“Well, that’s handy!”
“I’d like to go bouldering with Michael and Layla and then we can all have pizza.”
“I can take you bouldering, but Michael will be working on Tuesday,” Carrie explained, choosing not to overthink the fact that her daughter wanted to spend the whole of her birthday with Michael and his daughter.
“You’re not very good at bouldering though, Mummy...”
“I know, but we’ll still have fun! And maybe Michael and Layla can join us for pizza afterwards. Did you want to go to a Pizza Express?”
“No, Michael said he knows how to make proper Italian pizza.”
“He might not be free, Pumpkin.”
“Can we ask him?”
“Well...” Carrie really didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want Michael to feel obliged to cook her daughter’s birthday dinner! “Let me have a think,” she finally said. “Are you finished? Why don’t you hop upstairs and brush your teeth and get dressed so we can go out? I thought we could go swimming. There’s an inflatable session at a pool nearby that we can go to and then we’ll get groceries.”
Carrie cleared away the breakfast things and loaded them in the dishwasher before putting on the washing machine as she waited for Poppy. Poppy should have the birthday she wanted, but she could hardly instruct Michael to cook for her daughter. And Poppy was right; she wasn’t very good at bouldering, and she’d be nervous watching Poppy climb without Michael’s calming presence, which would definitely spoil things. They really would have so much more fun if Michael and Layla were there. Maybe Layla would like to come...
Going over what she needed to do for Poppy’s birthday, she found herself messaging Tony:Don’t forget it’s Poppy’s 7th birthday on Tuesday!She was then furious with herself that she’d not only felt the need to remind Poppy’s father of her birthday but had also thought it sensible to add in how old shewas going to be! Then again, he’d only spoken with his daughter twice since they’d been in Cornwall, and both were when Carrie had got Poppy to call him, so she there was some reason to her actions.
They got ready and went downstairs into the shop. It was almost time for it to open for the day and Seren was already in and tidying up the counter. Carrie gave everything a quick once-over before they headed out into the garden and out of the back gate to the car.
