Page 40 of Yule Party on Sunflower Street

His Adam’s apple bobbed. ‘No worries.’

‘Should we… Go shopping then?’ she asked without letting go of him.

‘I-I guess so.’ He smiled but seemed uncertain.

‘We can always come back here,’ she said, but she didn’t know if she meant back to Covent Garden or back to his arms and this embrace.

‘Good to know that,’ he said. ‘There’s quite a lot of mistletoe around here.’

‘Get a room, you two!’ a teenaged boy shouted as he raced past with his friends, making Tara and Seth laugh.

‘Let’s go shopping,’ Seth said and he slid his arms from around Tara then took her hand.

As they walked, Tara hugged herself inwardly. This day was one she would be sad to see come to an end.

20

SETH

As they walked, Seth was acutely aware of the fact that he was still holding Tara’s hand. And of how right it felt.

He also kept thinking about how it had felt to catch her when they’d been jostled in the crowd. It had been instinctive to pull her close and hold her tight. He liked who he was when he was around Tara. He was the man he always wanted to be, and he suspected it was because she brought out the best in him.

But when he’d held her after he’d caught her, a teenager had shouted at them to get a room. It had been funny, but also, perhaps, too close to what Seth was thinking. Tara hadn’t pulled away and had, in fact, wrapped her arms around his waist. It had been wonderful to hold her.

‘What do you want to get for your nieces?’ Tara asked as they passed a toy shop. ‘How old are they again?’

‘Ten and eight,’ he said.

‘Do you know what they like?’

‘Well, Gertie likes reading and Sonia likes making things.’

‘OK then. Shall we have a look in the toy shop?’ Tara asked.

‘Sure.’ He smiled. ‘Then we can go and find a bookshop.’

‘Sounds good to me.’ Tara led the way, hand still in his, her wavy hair brushing her shoulders and making him think of burying his face in it just to breathe her in.

Tara walked to the creative aisle where there were clay kits, science kits, crochet and knitting kits, sewing kits and more.

‘Do you think Sonia would like clay?’ she asked, picking up a box that had CLAY CATS written on the front.

‘She’d probably love that. She loves anything that gets her hands dirty.’ He chuckled as he thought of his niece out in the garden digging the ground and pruning plants with her mum.

‘But does she like cats?’ Tara asked, showing him the box.

‘She wants to be a vet.’

‘There we are then.’ Tara pressed the box into his hand. ‘That’s one gift sorted.’

‘That was painless,’ he said.

‘I’m good at this.’ Tara winked at him then took hold of his hand again.

‘Now, let’s just check if there’s anything else she might like.’

‘She does like gardening,’ he said.