‘No, not at all. It’s something I’ve thought myself. In fact, I find it quite a comforting thought.’
He smiled at her, and she smiled back, realising that he understood what she was talking about and she had no need to justify herself or apologise.
‘So, three things ticked off,’ he said.
‘I’m getting there, aren’t I?’
‘You’re amazing.’
There was a long silence, then, ‘Tea,’ he said, half-regretfully.
‘Oh yes. That kettle will have boiled by now,’ she agreed.
She closed the balcony door and took his hand. Something had shifted between them. She could sense it, and it made her happier than she’d felt in a long, long time.
27
Saturday 28 March – Project Alison Day 56: Going for tea at Mac’s. Rosie said I might as well just move in with him. I asked her if she minded that I was spending so much time with him, but she looked at me as if I was daft and said she was over the moon for me. She’s going round to her mam and dad’s to watch another Harlan Coben thriller. We can’t get Netflix in the caravan, and besides, she knows I don’t like anything too tense, so she’s making the most of it while I’m out.
I offered to help cook tonight but Mac says he’s got it all under control and it’s my reward for being so brave at the retinal screening yesterday! He’s so lovely. I can’t believe my luck really, and I’m sure Drew would approve. He’d be happy for me. I know it. I just don’t know how Jenna would take it.
But then, there’s no need for her to know, is there? I don’t know where this is going. Mac might not feel the same way I do after all, and I can’t exactly ask him, can I? But sometimes I think I can see it in his eyes, so…
‘Can you believe it’s nearly April?’ Alison mused, as they leaned against the fence, arms folded, watching Jamie Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie grazing contentedly in the dusk.
She and Mac had eaten a delicious meal of slow-cooked beef casserole and had decided that, rather than sitting around watching television or talking, they’d burn off some of the calories by walking around Watersmeet and saying goodnight to the animals. Mac had to shut the ducks and hens up anyway, and Alison said she’d like to go with him.
They’d put the Bennet Sisters and the Dickensian Ducks away for the night, made sure the ponies had water and hay and were healthy and happy, and had now arrived at the cattle pasture. They’d left Carne in the garden, where he was having his usual mad half hour, galloping up and down and tiring himself out before bed. Mrs Beddows had done one of her vanishing acts. Mac suspected she was in someone else’s house, conning them out of food.
‘The clocks go forward tonight. Well, tomorrow morning. An hour less in bed,’ he said.
Alison kept her gaze firmly on the cattle, not wanting her expression to reveal that she’d had a sudden image of herself and Mac waking up together in his bed. What, she wondered, was his bedroom like? She’d seen it, of course, when he’d given her and Rosie a tour of Watersmeet, but she hadn’t really taken much notice. She couldn’t even remember which bedroom was his. Would she ever get the chance to find out?
She hid a smile as, in her mind, she heard Rosie’s voice saying,Blimey, Ali! What’s come over you? Good for you, I say. Now, how are you going to move things forward a bit?
But then there was also the thought of Jenna, and whatshe’dsay. She pushed that image away. She didn’t want anything to spoil this perfect moment, as she and Mac stood in the gathering dusk on the shores of the Humber, watching these beautiful red beasts grazing.
They’d been moved from the winter fields back to their favourite pasture. Mac’s friend Evan had told him that they liked to watch people passing by, and now that spring was upon them there’d soon be plenty of people wandering along the footpath by the river, gazing in admiration at the two noble Highlanders.
‘Egg production’s picked up, too,’ Mac said. ‘The ducks and the hens had a little gift for me this morning. I’ll be eating eggs for breakfast, dinner and tea at this rate.’
‘Your mum used to sell the eggs,’ she told him. ‘She used to put them outside and leave an honesty box there.’
‘An honesty box.’ She loved the way his eyes lit up when he smiled. ‘I think it’s fantastic that we live in a place where you can put eggs outside for sale and just leave an honesty box there, don’t you?’
Her own smile faded. ‘Except, Idon’tlive here. Not really. And I’ll be going home soon.’
It was hard to believe that in little over a month Project Alison would be over, and she’d be back in Hull. She couldn’t believe how fast time was flying by.
‘Will you miss it?’ he asked, turning away from her to focus on the Highlands.
‘I won’t miss the commute!’ She had to make a joke of it, because if she didn’t, she might just cry.
‘Fair enough.’
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself really,’ she admitted. ‘I feel like I’m at a crossroads in my life. I have no idea what’s next.’
‘What do they call a deer with no eyes? No eye-deer,’ he joked.
