‘Mmm, pleasure.’ She spoke through a second kiss. It didn’t matter how long they were together, she would always love the feel of his lips upon hers. He pulled back ever so slightly and looked her straight in the eyes.
‘I’ve been tidying up the flower beds, pulling out some of the annuals and having a rearrange with spring in mind.’
‘OK.’
‘And I have done something very naughty and particularly selfish and I felt I should tell you.’
Rosy felt her heart dip but only for a second. The flash of fear had clearly flooded her face as Matt grabbed her hands.
‘No, don’t be daft, nothing to hurt you. I meant I had transplanted some roses whilst they were still in bloom, and all for my own selfish gain, which is pretty heinous but you can do it if you’re careful which I was, obviously, just not with my words. How could you think I’d do anything properly bad and bring you here to talk about it? You must know me better by now.’
Rosy looked at his big grin that couldn’t hide the love shining in his eyes, at his curly brown hair and his slightly wonky nose. Of course this man wouldn’t deliberately hurt her – foolishly or not she had complete faith in him. Total and utter.
‘Of course I do. It was just your choice of words shocked me, but only for a second. I know you. You know me. We are good. So, go on, tell me more about these roses and your heinous actions.’
‘Come with me then.’ He held his hand out and with Scramble obediently trotting behind, Matt led her to the rose garden, through its assortment of beds to the very middle where there were some beautiful bright, light crimson cupped roses – bold and red in the middle of October. As she got closer and stood so she could see over them she realized that Matt had replanted them, all close together and forming a clear heart shape. And there atop the soil in the centre, Matt had lightly sprinkled some more petals and placed a large old key on top of them.
She stood trying to work out what this was meant to mean as she felt him slip his arms around her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and standing there wordlessly as she looked.
Roses and a heart, that was obvious. The key, what did the key mean? She almost didn’t mind what it meant, it was such abeautiful gesture and she knew that Matt wouldn’t have messed about with the roses if it hadn’t meant an awful lot to him.
‘If you reach through you can pick it up.’
She did as he suggested, crouching down on the path and threading her arm through the wall of roses, feeling for the metal of the key. As she grabbed it and pulled it back, she stood and turned to face him. Looking down at the key in her hands she felt the length of it, the weight, turning it and looking for what clue it was meant to give. Then she spotted that it had something engraved into it. Bringing it closer to her face she could make out that someone, and she had to assume it was Matt, had etched the word ‘together’ into it.
Roses, heart, door key, together.
She looked up at him quizzically, her look changing as he laughed and grabbed the hand that wasn’t holding the key.
‘Rosy, it’s not that cryptic. I’m trying to ask you to move in with me. I know we haven’t been dating long, but I also know how I feel and I’m fairly sure I can’t see that changing. Every morning I wake up thinking I can’t love you any more and then every night I realize that I was wrong and I love you even more than I had that morning. We’re right. I don’t know how to say it in a way that’s more flowery, so I thought I’d say it with flowers instead. You and I are right. We are right today, we were right yesterday and I know, with no shadow of doubt, that we’ll be right tomorrow. We spend every night together and I don’t ever want to think of myself spending a night without you, so let’s cut to the chase, let’s be bold and take the next step. Rosy Winter, I’m asking you to move in with me. The roses are to tell you I love you. I love you more than my biggest passion – oh shush, Scramble, apart from you.’ He broke his focus for a millisecond to look crossly at the dog who had yapped as if he understood Matt’s words, almost breaking the romance of the moment. Matt turned his full focus back to Rosy who was standing there,her heart racing and stunned in silence. ‘And the key is to tell you I want to live with you. I want to wake up with you every morning and know that in every way I am home. What do you say, Rosy? Say something. Will you move in with me?’
‘Um… um…’ Rosy looked at this man who she loved, who she trusted, and who she wanted to spend the rest of her days with and gulped. ‘Um… can we live in my house?’
‘Of course we can live in your house!’ Matt laughed. ‘Is that all you have to say, can we live in your house?’
‘Oh no, now that’s clear. I’ve got an awful lot to say, lots and lots of words, and every single one of them is yes! Yes, Matt, I would love to live with you, properly and formally and for ever.’
‘Right, now that’s cleared up, come here.’ And the two of them, not for the first time, spent an awful lot of time kissing in the gardens of Penmenna Hall.
Chapter Twenty-two
Alex had never really thought about Halloween before, other than that it was a bizarre thing to make a fuss about, but this evening he thought he might change his mind. Half-term had swooshed by and it had been lovely having Ellie at home. The week was made up of lie-ins and late nights, littering all the nearby villages with flyers for Sylvie’s new classes and then going on autumn walks with Sylvie and Sam in the woods, crunching on leaves and searching for conkers, before returning home and having experiments, seeping them in vinegar and cooking them for hours in the Aga.
In the evenings Sylvie and he had been cooking for the kids, having epic conker battles (which Alex was astounded to learn they weren’t allowed to do in the playground these days), taking turns to read to them and curling up and having movie nights. He knew that she had still been desperately looking for an affordable place for her and Sam. It was not proving fruitful. However, he had just had a phone call that he hoped might make all the difference.
She and Sam were due any minute and he was fascinated to know what surprises she had up her sleeve. They had been discussing going to Roscarrock to buy Halloween costumes earlier in the week and she had said that she would take care of it all, but it was nearly the eleventh hour and Ellie was getting antsy.
‘Are they here yet?’ Ellie came running into the kitchen, just in case she had missed them in the three whole minutes it hadtaken her to nip to the loo. She was twirling one of her plaits around her finger and looking at him with a scrunched-up face.
‘You know Sylvie will be here soon, she’d never dream of letting you down. What sort of costume do you think she’ll bring?’ Not only was his best friend perfect in all that she did, she had taught him to master the art of distraction.
‘Ooh, oh, um… I want to be a cat… no, no, I think I’m going to be a ghost, oh, or a vampire like Mona, ooh, oh no, I know, I want to be a witch like Meg and Mog, oh, and like Sabrina, andRoom on the Broom.’
‘OK, well, I don’t know what she’s got in mind for you, but let’s hope it’s either witch, cat or vampire then.’
‘Hey, hey, hey.’ The latch clicked and Sylvie and Sam came through the door. Alex looked at her, her arms full of green and black and purple fabric and a great big wicker basket on her arm, and felt his heart swell. ‘Happy Halloween.’
‘Happy Halloween.’ Ellie ran to their guest. ‘What am I? What am I?’
