‘Oh yes,’ Adele sighed. ‘I can see why you’d want to be snowed in with him.’
Marcus raised a brow, and then laughed when she blew him a kiss.
‘But I’d rather be snowed you with you, my darling,’ she hastily added.
‘I had my photo taken on one of Sam’s special bikes last summer,’ said Melody, in such a matter-of-fact tone that it took the wind out of my sails and I stood and stared at her.
‘You did?’ I asked, unable to conceal the disbelief in my voice.
‘She did,’ Alec confirmed. ‘It was for an ad campaign Sam was running, and the bike she was sitting on was a Ducati Panigale V4, one of the most high-performance sports bikes that’s street legal. Melody was seven at the time. The next shot was of a girl called Bryony, who was thirteen, and the next was of Sara, who was eighteen, then there was Jenna. She’s a model Sam often uses, and she’s in her late twenties, and then came Penny. She was around thirty, and, well, you get the idea. Funnily enough, Tilly was in the final photo. She’s in her seventies. The ad said something along the lines of, ‘You’re never too young to dream, and never too old to live that dream.’
‘I’m getting a bike just like it when I grow up,’ said Melody.
‘We’ll see,’ said Alec, shaking his head at me, and mouthing the word, ‘No.’ But he was smiling.
‘Well,’ said Marcus, opening the front door, as Sam was striding across the wooden bridge, having removed his crash helmet. ‘I don’t think Sam’s here to see any of us, is he? Although, it would be rude not to invite him in.’ He met my eyes and smiled. ‘But perhaps you should retrieve your phone first, and ask him if he’d like to pop in for a quick drink. We won’t be offended if the two of you have other plans.’
He winked at me as he handed me my jacket, and he waved at Sam, as did everyone else behind me. Sam stopped in his tracks for a split second, before waving back.
‘I’ll leave the door on the catch,’ said Marcus, and he closed it behind me as I stepped out onto the path and hurried towards the front fence.
From the glow of the streetlights as Sam reached the one nearest to me, I could see he was frowning, as if he wasn’t sure what was going on.
‘Hi,’ I said. ‘This is a lovely surprise.’
He looked cross. ‘I’ve been calling you for over an hour. I thought something might’ve happened to you. Or that you were mad with me, or something. I see I was wrong on both counts. Is everything okay with Marcus?’
‘Sorry. I left my phone on charge in the cottage and I’ve only just realised. I was on my way to get it when we … saw you. Marcus and Adele had invited me for drinks, remember? And he’s just said you’re welcome to join them. If you want to, that is. Or not. If you prefer.’ I shivered, suddenly feeling how bitterly cold it was outside compared to inside End Cottage.
‘You’re freezing,’ Sam said. ‘Let’s get you indoors.’ He seemed to hesitate for a second as though he wasn’t sure which way to go.
‘I’m going to get my phone.’ I pointed towards Far Cottage. ‘You’re welcome to come with me. And then, I don’t know if you had plans, but we can come back here, where, as you saw, they’re all having drinks. Or…’ I let my voice trail off and turned towards Far Cottage.
‘We’ll get your phone, and then we’ll see,’ he said, falling into step beside me. ‘I can’t believe it’s snowing.’
‘Neither can I. But Tilly said it would, remember? I told you during lunch. I think.’
‘Did you? I don’t remember that.’
‘Oh. Perhaps I didn’t. It’s been a very strange day.’
‘You can say that again.’
‘It’s been a very strange day,’ I repeated.
He grinned at me. ‘Funny.’
‘Were you really worried about me?’ I shot him a look and he met it.
‘Yes. Don’t ask me why, but I was.’
‘You’re weren’t just miffed because I wasn’t answering your calls? Or because you thought I wasn’t.’
‘Miffed?’ His brows furrowed but he laughed. ‘No. I wasn’tmiffed. I was concerned.’
‘Concerned that something had happened to me? Or concerned I might be cross with you?’
‘Can we not do this right now, please?’
