Page 107 of Yearning Difficulties

Killian and I glanced at one another. ‘For Halloween?’

I asked the question with a touch of reserve. I was still furious on Cherry’s behalf.

‘Yes,’ Logan said. He looked crestfallen. And ashamed. ‘She didn’t deserve it. Tell her I’m sorry.’

We both gave him guarded nods of consent and then watched him leave. When he and Cyrano were out of sight, Killian kissed me. It was all-encompassing and intense. I sighed his name and pulled his hands to my stomach. I wanted to feel him everywhere.

‘Wait.’ He pulled away from me, his lips swollen and his pupils completely dilated. ‘I have one more surprise.’

‘Is it going somewhere dark and getting horizontal for a while?’ I asked, pressing my lips to his jawline.

‘I mean, I wish. I wasn’t convinced you’d accept my, uh, token. Didn’t want to presume.’

I smiled against his skin, liking how het up he sounded. ‘Feel free to presume from now on.’

He kissed me again and we started to get carried away very speedily. His hand slipped under my skirt, mine went to his waistband.

‘Hey!’ Chris suddenly shouted at the two of us. We both looked over at the sound of his voice. He was leaning on the door of the Lake Pristine Arthouse. ‘You’re being publicly indecent. Are we doing the plan or not?’

I grinned. ‘Okay, I’m intrigued. What’s happening?’

Killian took my hand. ‘Come on.’

He led me into the Arthouse and I gasped at the sight awaiting us.

The function room at the back of the old cinema had been transformed into a fantastical haven.

There were tiny lights, like fireflies, all around the room. Candles and a table piled high with food. Fiddle music was playing over the sound system.

A winded and wheezing Anderson arrived from the arena, closely followed by Cherry. They beamed at me as I took in the beautifully decorated room.

‘What is all this?’ I asked breathlessly.

I moved to investigate a table of food. Pies, sausages, honey cakes, smoked trout and all types of bread and butter. Fizzy lemonade and big pewter tankards.

I could sense Killian nervously watching me as I took it all in. Green blankets made to look like moss had been positioned all over the floor. Everything was either cosy or beautiful.

‘Killian, what is this?’ I repeated, only this time my voice was suddenly fragile.

‘You know what it is, Red.’

I did.

‘It’s the Shire,’ I said, my voice barely a whisper. ‘You’ve made the Shire.’

‘Yes,’ Killian said, watching me carefully. ‘Is that okay?’

I was too emotional to speak.

‘So,’ he said, taking my hands and moving me to a small pile of blankets. ‘Please sit, my love. We’ve a performance for you. Now, we talked about pooling our finances together and renting a screen from Arthur to watch the movies but that was yours and Max’s thing. We didn’t want to take that away.’

I couldn’t look at him, let alone say anything.

‘So we settled for something of our own,’ he continued. ‘We are, for your eyes only, going to act out the story for you.’

Once I started to laugh, I couldn’t stop. Killian grinned at the sound and clapped his hands, summoning his – our – friends.

And I laughed. For what felt like a beautiful eternity.