Page 60 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

Avery nodded, his Adam’s apple bobbing. ‘Thanks.’ For a moment, they just stared at each other. ‘Harry said you might have some old boards in the loft that I could use.’

‘Oh?’ She hadn’t been up in the loft in years, but it was boarded out, a couple of skylights added when her parents thought about turning it into another room – though why they had thought they needed more space, she’d had no idea. ‘Let’s go and have a look, then.’

Avery pushed himself off the counter he’d been leaning on. ‘I didn’t necessarily mean now.’

‘Now’s a good time. There’s a ladder that pulls down, so I don’t need to go and get one.’

‘All right then. Lead the way.’

Daisy’s pulse picked up because, despite his protest, he had sounded like he was relieved – happy? – that she wanted to take him up there. She led the way to the first floor. There was a window seat at the end, below the large, arched window that looked out over the parkland and the sea. Daisy noticed her copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles on the cushion, left there from when she’d been rereading it earlier.

She led Avery along the landing, past the door to her bedroom, to the back of the house where the loft hatch was visible.

He didn’t say anything, just reached up and unhooked the pole, then unlatched the hatch so that it swung down, revealing the ladder. He pulled on it, the screech suggesting it hadn’t been used in a while, dust motes drifting down like confetti.

‘You OK to go up without shoes?’ he asked.

‘You’re in your socks too,’ she pointed out. ‘But it’s all boarded out up there.’

‘You haven’t got socks on.’

She huffed. ‘Fine. Wait there.’ She hurried to her room and put on her firm soled slippers. They had fluffy cream trim and no doubt looked ridiculous with her dress from dinner.

But Avery’s smile widened, and she heard him murmur ‘adorable’. She chose to ignore it. ‘You first.’ He gestured, and she was about to protest, to say she didn’t want him staring at her bum, but was that entirely true? Besides, she would feel safer with him behind her.

She walked up the ladder, holding firmly onto the rails, and peeped her head into the space, meerkat style. She fumbled around for the floor switch; the space lit with a soft, watery glow, revealing piles of boxes, an old hobby horse from when she was little, some dolls that had once been desirable but surely, after all this time, had become haunted.

‘OK up there?’ Avery called.

‘Of course.’ She kept going, hauling herself up into the space. She should have changed out of her dress, but it was too late for that. Soon she was standing up, trying not to breath in too much dust.

It was a storage space – she could see the planks Harry had mentioned to Avery – and hadn’t changed much from when they were growing up. There were still paths through the possessions to the skylights at the front and side of the house, and she walked over to one, her steps careful.

Avery came up into the loft and crouched next to the wood. ‘These will be perfect, if Harry’s sure I can use them.’

‘He wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. How will you get them down, though?’

‘I’ll come back tomorrow with Omari, if you’re OK with that?’

‘Of course.’

Avery stood. ‘What have you found?’

‘One of my favourite views.’ She pointed, and he walked over to join her, the boards creaking under his socked feet.

‘This isn’t facing the sea,’ Avery said, coming to stand beside her. Warmth radiated off him, and she could smell his sea-salt scent.

‘No, but look – the village.’ This skylight faced towards Mistingham, and with the leafless, winter trees, the top of the hotel was visible, the twinkling lights of the houses beyond. The oak tree’s multicoloured bulbs were glowing, like a rainbow in the dark, as breathtaking as the stars.

‘It is pretty special.’

‘I’d forgotten how much I loved it,’ she said. ‘And it hasn’t changed much, apart from the lights on the oak.’

‘I think they went up a couple of years ago and stayed,’ Avery said. ‘I doubt it would be possible to put more up – or take them down – now.’

‘They look magical.’

‘They do.’