Josh reached into the back seat and gently ruffled Fletcher’s floppy ears, as though in apology.
‘Those withtwolegs get out first,’ he said, his voice deceptively calm ... unless you knew him well enough to know when he was worried about something. Surprisingly, it appeared that I still did. I saw him glance upwards at the surrounding trees as though in casual interest, and the way he instantly stiffened when a long, creaking groan was heard.This time, even I was able to identify the sound.
We were still in danger. If one tree could come crashing down in the storm, so could others.
‘Give me your hand, Lily,’ Josh instructed, his voice tight with concern.
I did as he asked, placing my palm against his, a position that felt both familiar and totally strange. Josh must have removed his heavy coat to drive, and in his haste to reach my car, hadn’t put it back on. The t-shirt he was wearing was plastered to his body. He must have been freezing, because I felt tremors running through his forearm as his muscles contracted. The tendons stood out like cords as he hauled me out of the car. My feet skidded on the icytrack as he set me back down on them, and if his hands hadn’t been fastened about my wrists I would certainly have fallen.
Josh’s arm came around my shoulders as he attempted to steer me towards his waiting Land Rover.
‘No,’ I insisted, digging my feet in metaphorically, because doing so physically was frankly impossible. ‘You have to get Fletcher.’ I’d seen the look on my dog’s face when he’d thought I was abandoning him.
‘After you’re safely inside the car,’ Josh said, propelling me towards the vehicle which he’d leapt from so rapidly, the door was still wide open and the engine running. ‘I promise I’ll go back for him, Lily.’
After a tortured moment of hesitation, I allowed myself to be bundled into the front seat of the Land Rover, my hands reaching eagerly towards the warm air spilling from its vents. Through the parallel beams of Josh’s headlights, I watched him run back to my car and climb inside. He disappeared long enough for me to run through several new catastrophes, all of which involved more falling trees and serious crush injuries.
It could only have been a minute or two before Josh reappeared, carrying Fletcher tightly in his arms. He strode through the snow towards me, cradling the terrified animal against his chest, and I knew that for this alone it was going to be much harder to keep hating him for cutting me out of his life.
Fletcher was hardly a lap-size dog, but the need to hold him close outweighed the discomfort. I buried my face in his thick dark fur, breathing in the smell of him and something altogether more precious. There was a unique bond that Fletcher and I shared. We were the only ones who could remember with total recall the touch of a hand that was no longer here to caress us.
I expected Josh to jump straight back into the driver’s seat, but he surprised me with a question. ‘Do you have a bag with you?’
‘You mean like a handbag?’ I asked stupidly, wondering if I might have hit my head harder than I realised.
‘I was thinking more along the lines of a suitcase.’
‘Why do I need that?’
‘Because no one is getting out of this forest for a while. Not until someone with a tractor can get here to move that tree.’ The furrows on Josh’s brow told me he was almost as unhappy with this situation as I was. ‘Bag?’ he prompted.
‘There are two in the boot,’ I said, my thoughts spinning like tyres on ice.
I waited until he returned and had tossed the holdalls on to the back seat.
‘I can’t stay at the cabin with you, Josh.’
‘Why not?’ he asked, shutting the driver’s door with a little more force than was required.
‘Because we don’t like each other anymore and ... and it wouldn’t ... it wouldn’t be right.’And because this definitely wasn’t what my late husband had in mind when he sent me on this mission.
‘Believe me, Lily, it’s not exactly what I’d call ideal either.’
The Josh who’d angrily told me to leave seemed to be waging an inner battle with the one who’d just rescued me.
‘How long would I have to stay? Are you sure there’s no alternative?’
‘Well, there’s a Premier Inn about two hundred metres from my place. I suppose youcouldtry there.’
I was out of practice. Adam had been quietly funny, but Josh’s style of humour had always leant more towards rapier-sharp quips. There’d been a time – long ago – when we’d been evenly matched, but not anymore.
‘Funny,’ I deadpanned.
Josh had fastened his seat belt and then infuriatingly glanced down to check on mine, as though I was some stupid idiot whowas likely to forget. Or the kind of person who’d head out into the worst storm in years without bothering to check the forecast. Okay, maybe he had a point.
‘I realise the idea of staying with me is abhorrent, Lily. But that’s the risk you take when you decide to drop in on someone unexpectedly during a blizzard.’
I gave him a long, careful look.
