I hold up my palm to fend him off.
Four sneezes.
‘Gah!’ I think I’m done.
‘Your sneezes are as cute as your sniggles,’ he says with such sweet affection that I feel as though I’ve ingested warm honey. ‘If I get you some bike gear, will you come for a ride with me?’ he asks suddenly.
‘On your motorbike?’
‘Yeah.’ Now he sounds doubtful, where he didn’t a moment ago.
‘Sure.’
He releases a small snort of amusement.
‘What’s funny?’ I ask.
‘No hesitation – you just said yes.’
I love the way he sounds right now, sofondof me.
‘When do you want to go?’ I ask.
‘Next Saturday?’
‘I think so. I’ll have to work out what to tell the others.’
‘Tell them you’re catching up with an old friend.’
He feels like so much more to me than that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I got you some bike gear today. Can you come up to the cabin to try it on?
It’s Wednesday afternoon and this is the first I’ve heard from Ash since Saturday night, so the sight of his name on my phone makes me feel a rush of anticipation.
When?I reply.
Anytime from now.
I’ll set off shortly.
You want a ride?
No, I’m happy to walk. It’s beautiful today.
Go down past the orangery and skirt round the right-hand side of the lake. If you head into the woods from there, it’s nicer than the farm track.
OK, I tap back, smiling.
Siân hasn’t got home from work yet, so I leave a note to tell her I’ve gone for a wander.
Sunshine hits my back as I walk out from the shade of the walled garden and set off along the road leading to the car park, stepping onto the grassy verge as the last of the day’s visitors drive slowly towards the exit.
It’s early June and I think Siân might be right about thisbeing the start of a long, hot summer. The watering alone will keep our volunteers occupied.
Cutting through the formal rose gardens, I breathe in deeply as the scents ofRosa‘Cornelia’, ‘Abraham Darby’ and ‘Goldfinch’ fill my nostrils, and then get a tissue out of my pocket in preparation for the approaching sneezing fit.
