Moving from the country lane and onto the worn path that led up the side of the hill, she held tighter to Peter’s hand as the terrain underfoot became more uneven.
“I’ve got you,” he said when she stumbled a little.
“I hope so. Tripping and falling head-first down this hill might put a dampener on things.”
Peter laughed and pulled out his phone and turned on the torch. “Better?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll keep the light on until we reach the top. We’re almost there.”
A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the summit of the hill and Peter turned off the phone torch. Gaby caught her breath after the climb but still let out a gasp when she saw the view.
Hamblehurst was spread out like a glittering jewel below them, the streetlights marking the roads and routes of the pretty little town that was surrounded by the darkness of the rolling South Downs.
“It’s so lovely,” Gaby said. “From up here, it looks like a painting of a magical village.”
Peter smiled. “I thought you’d like to see it again at night.” He pointed into the distance. “If you look far enough, you can see the coastline and the channel.”
“I see it!” Gaby could just make out the moonlit sparkle of water in the distance where the English Channel stretched along the south coast. “I remember looking across there on summer days but seeing it in darkness is just as amazing.”
But it was the starlight above them that was most amazing of all. The night sky glittered with more stars than she could ever count, each one a sparkling diamond in an endless universe spinning around them.
“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. “I can hardly take in how beautiful it is.”
“We got lucky with the clear skies,” Peter said. “It’s the perfect night for it.”
Gaby stepped closer to him and slipped her hand in his again as they gazed up at the spectacular star-scape.
“It looks different to how I remember it when we came here that summer night fifteen years ago,” Gaby said. “It’s so much darker.”
“The summer night sky is completely different to a winter night sky. We’re right at the edge of autumn and getting the benefit of longer hours of darkness. In the summer, there’s just more light around, even at night. At this time of year, the stars shine much brighter.”
The night sky was so stunning, Gaby couldn’t take her eyes off it. The beauty of the twinkling stars and the sheer number of them was astonishing. Add in the loveliness of the town tucked below and the inky waters of the channel just visible in the distance and the dark landscapes all around and it was like something out of a dream.
“It’s a gift to see this, Peter. Thanks for bringing me up here.”
“My pleasure.”
He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back. Enjoying this extraordinary moment with this wonderful man at her side was nothing short of blissful.
Sudden movement overhead caught her attention and when Gaby turned to look, she saw the flash of a shooting star streaking across the sky.
“Look!” she said, excitement making her clap her hands in joy. “It’s a shooting star!”
“I see it,” Peter laughed, obviously amused at her enthusiasm. “Make a wish on it.”
And so she did.
I wish for… happiness like this forever.
Gaby blinked at the secret, silent words that had rushed into her mind. When she turned to Peter, his gaze was on her, his eyes searching hers, and she couldn’t resist the idea that he’d somehow read her mind and heard the wish she’d made on the shooting star.
He moved closer and pulled her near. His intense gaze held her captivated for a long beat before he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
Gaby sighed softly and surrendered into his arms. His kiss lit up every nerve ending inside her body and sent her heart soaring as if it had hitched a ride with that shooting star now blazing a trail across the night sky.
Of all the places she’d travelled around the world, of all the wonders she’d seen, nothing came close to the epic romance of this moment, standing on a dark hill beneath a starlit sky with a man who stole her breath away.
