Recognition flashed in Jamie’s eyes. Like he understood her thoughts, wanted the same. His gaze skitted across hers, scanning for her true feelings. Of course, she hadn’t considered that Jamie might not be one hundred percent confidentof what she wanted. There were several nano-moments, where he could have been about to touch her face or when he made a miniscule movement towards her before stopping himself.
Instead, he said, ‘I’ve missed you, Leesh, I’ve really missed you. Come with me and I’ll show you how much.’ Jamie walked towards the hall and motioned for Alicia to follow. He led her into the room she had used as a studio. It was much as it had been when she’d worked here. The easel was standing by the window, although now empty.
‘I took your work to show my dad,’ he said. He loved it as much as I do. Everyone I showed it to was blown away.’
This compliment on her art was lovely, but it wasn’t why Alicia had flown from America or why she had come to this cottage.
‘Aye. I know what you’re thinking,’ Jamie went on. ‘That’s business. And it is. But I wanted to show you these.’ He opened a door in the sideboard, took out two bottles of whisky and placed them on the desk. ‘I got these mocked up to show you how amazing your art looks on the bottles. Even if we do nothing with them, I had to show it to you. I had three, and I brought one over to LA and gave it to that guy in the gallery, but I don’t know if it ever found its way to you.’
Heart racing, Alicia took the bottle from Jamie and stared at it. A miniature version of her painting of Ben Corrin was on the label, and it looked so polished, like it could be on sale in a liquor store. She traced the letters of the Butler’s name. This was her and Jamie, blended together. And like the blending of whisky expressions, so many strong, intoxicating feelings were swirling in her bloodstream.
‘I’m at a loss for words, Jamie.’ She looked up at him andsaw and that she needed to find some words. ‘So these are mock-ups?’
‘Aye.’
‘They are so professional.’ She exchanged her bottle for one with the lighthouse on the label. ‘This. This is everything.’
‘Your work and my work complement each other well, huh? Even if “we” go no further, I want to give you these.’
Tears stung Alicia’s eyes like tiny sharp bullets. He was right. The concept of her art on Butler’s whisky bottles had worked. She loved that he envisioned and executed this so successfully and even more grateful that he had done this for her, regardless of what the end outcome might be.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you so much. I love them.’ She rubbed her eyes as if there were something in them that wasn’t tears.
‘I love them too,’ said Jamie. ‘They’ve come out better than I could have hoped for. Seeing our work together like this is kind of emotional, don’t you think?’
He was right, it was beautiful and forged a bond between the two of them. And the longing on Jamie’s face affirmed to Alicia that this was about way more than business for him.
‘I have something else to show you.’ Jamie reached out and Alicia let him wrap her tiny hand in his. He’d already won her over with the bottles but he was beckoning her down the hall and she would go on this mini adventure with him. ‘So, I’m no woodcraftsman, and what I’m about to show you took me way longer that it should have, but I wanted to do it myself. Call me presumptuous or whatever, but I couldn’t let go of the hope that you’d come back here.’ Jamie swung open the door from the kitchen to the garden and Alicia scanned the area trying to work out what was different. She hadn’t spent muchtime in the garden but immediately she saw it. A wooden cabin in the corner, its roof covered in a thick layer of snow.
‘A shed?’ she said. ‘But you have one of those already. Over there.’
‘I do. And it would be a perfect artist’s studio. But this is not a shed. It’s a sauna.’
‘Oh! You built a sauna?’
‘Aye. Bit of a gamble but I needed to keep busy and to believe you’d come back. I know it’s over the top, but I can’t let go of you and me.’
Alicia was rendered speechless by Jamie’s gesture. This was so personal and better than a thousand red roses or even diamonds.
‘And in case you are thinking,’ Jamie added, ‘he just built that so he can get me naked inside it, please know that wasn’t on my mind one bit.’
Alicia raised a sceptical but flirtatious eyebrow. ‘Not one little bit?’
‘Well, okay, a little bit. I’d be lying if I said all my thoughts of you were totally pure.’
‘I much prefer the truth. There is no way that all my thoughts of you are totally pure either. In fact, many of them are quite impure.’
A wave of relief washed over Jamie’s face highlighting how tense he must have been. ‘You think about me?’ he asked.
‘Of course. All the time. In fact, since leaving here, I’ve done very little that wasn’t accompanied by thoughts of you.’
Jamie squeezed Alicia’s hand. She pressed back, ready for him to kiss her now, to bring them back to each other. But Jamie had something else in mind.
‘There’s one last thing I want you to see,’ he said.
‘Really? It’s like Christmas Day with all these gifts.’
‘Well, it is Christmas Day.’
