Page 104 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

He looked at her with surprise. ‘Now?’

‘I feel like I need to visit it today,’ she said. ‘I haven’t been there enough.’

‘OK.’ He glanced into the living room. ‘Just us?’

‘Just us.’

Daisy gestured to Sophie that they were going for a walk, and she nodded and gave them a thumbs up, so they put on their boots, then their coats, scarves and hats. Daisy opened the front door and was hit with a gust of wind, cold and refreshing and exactly what she needed.

‘Come on,’ she said to Avery, and three dogs padded out eagerly behind him. ‘OK?’

He nodded. ‘They’ll have the run of the place.’

She took his hand and they strode across the parkland, the ground spongy beneath her boots, the sky a watercolour of tumultuous clouds, the sun occasionally slicing through. There were a few other people on the cliff path, families walking off their roast potatoes, but by the time they reached the fence, they had all moved out of sight.

‘This has been the best Christmas I’ve had in years,’ she admitted.

‘Same.’ Avery tightened his grip on her hand. Neither of them was wearing gloves, and she loved the feel of his warm skin against hers.

‘Are you worried about the scammers? About what happens next?’

Avery blew out a long breath. ‘Not any more. Artem said I was in the clear, that their case is strong and the arrests should happen in the next few days – if they haven’t got wind that they’re being investigated and disappeared already. Either way, it’s over, and Jeanie’s staying with her sister in Harrogate until the new year, so there’s no risk to her if they go to my flat a final time. I still hate that I dragged you into it, though.’

They reached the lower part of the cliff, the path that led onto the beach, and Daisy faced him. ‘You tried your hardest not to drag me into it. I got myself involved and I don’t regret it, especially since Mo was able to put us in touch with someone who could help.’

‘You and Mo saved me.’ He tucked her long hair behind her ear.

‘You’re the strong one, Avery. You took it all on yourself, looked after your neighbour, May and your team. Me. You protected us from it, and I would still argue that you should have asked for help, but you didn’t resort to violence, didn’t lower yourself to their level. You are the sort of man people can rely on, who they fall in love with.’

‘Only because I’m surrounded by good people.’ He pressed his hands to her cold cheeks, and his lips to hers.

Daisy wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, revelling in the contrast of icy air and warm skin. When they pulled apart, she took his hand, and they made their way onto the beach.

The sand was damp, dark and hard beneath their feet, their boots making imprints as they walked along it, waves tumbling onto the shore. The tide was going out, revealing its treasures, the pebbles washed clean and smooth, the shells glistening.

‘Where are we going?’ Avery asked.

‘Not much further.’ Daisy checked they had all three dogs, Terror and Darkness cavorting in the waves, Clifton staying in the shallows. She kept going, towards the spot where the cliff jutted out, the opening she knew was hidden in the rock. She found the gap, let go of Avery’s hand and squeezed through, waiting for him to follow.

He emerged onto the hidden part of the beach, and then he stood, looking over the rock pools, just as the low sun found a break in the clouds, turning the still water of the pools into gleaming mirrors.

‘I haven’t been here before,’ he said quietly. ‘Not even when I was young. And we did a whole lot of exploring.’

‘It’s further up the beach than most people go, and the gap in the cliffs isn’t obvious. I used to come here a lot, to get away from Dad’s grief and the big empty house. I tried to escape my own grief here, too, and even though that wasn’t possible, I always loved this place.’

‘It’s like an oasis. The calm water seems so separate from the waves.’

Daisy’s throat tightened. ‘I used to feel so protective of it – I didn’t want anyone else to know about it. It was just mine.’

‘And now?’ He stood beside her, lacing his fingers with hers.

‘Now I know that everything is better when you have people to share it with; that being independent has its perks – and I’m glad I got my business up and running, that I had the life I did. But with Stefan …’ she glanced at him, and he smiled, nodded for her to go on. ‘I thought we loved each other, but I didn’t ever really let him in. I’m not saying I’m to blame and he isn’t, but I think I was still running from that closeness, the opportunity to give myself to someone completely, because what if I lost them?’

‘It makes sense,’ Avery said. ‘I found it hard to trust people, to rely on anyone else.’

Daisy squeezed his hand, her memories bringing a fleeting sadness that reminded her how much had changed. ‘Then we met each other as adults, and somehow, that was no longer how it worked. It wasn’t possible to keep my distance from you. I wanted to be close to you, in a way that was sometimes completely inconvenient.’

‘You’re telling me? I was so infuriated that I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And you were everywhere, getting involved in the house build, chatting to May, at the manor with Harry. So then I decided … why fight it? It turned out there was no reason to, because actually, I wanted you more than anything else.’