Page 106

For a moment she lay there, relaxed and content, bathing in a depth of happiness she’d never felt before. She was so comfortable she almost fell asleep again. Her eyes drifted closed and then she realised that something about her surroundings felt different.

She opened her eyes. Something was different and it took her a moment to work out what it was.

Silence.

The wind that had howled around the house for days had dropped overnight. The storm had finally passed, and the room was filled with bright sunshine. It dazzled and bounced through the room, illuminating corners that had been hidden in shadows since they’d arrived.

What she’d thought were lights was, in fact, sunshine. The sun was shining. The storm was over. Which meant that their enforced isolation from the world was at an end.

Oh, it might take until tomorrow to clear the roads, and they might not be able to start the car, but those were small impediments that would be overcome and didn’t change the big picture. They would all soon be returning to their real lives. There was nothing to keep them here.

The glow inside her faded faster than the light in a power outage.

So this was it. Any moment now Jason would wake, and he’d make plans to rejoin his family. If the roads were cleared quickly, maybe he’d still make it home in time to spend at least some of Christmas with Jess.

And Izzy was pleased for him. When she’d pulled on that sparkly dress the night before and kissed him against the backdrop of swirling snow and soft light, she’d known that this exquisite happiness was temporary.

She hadn’t thought it was forever. She was too much of a realist for that. She knew herself too well. But she’d hoped, deep down, that they would have a little more time than this. A little more time in which to pretend that this was real and not a shortlived Christmas miracle delivered by circumstances beyond their control.

What she hadn’t thought through was how hard it would feel to get back to reality, but she was thinking of it now and that closeness, that feeling of intimacy and being cared for, was replaced by panic.

What a fool she was.

What had Brooke said? This is one of those opportunities you grab.

But what if by grabbing it you made it harder for yourself? Was living the dream for one night something to be treasured or something to be regretted in the long, lonely months that followed?

Her chest was tight. She couldn’t breathe. She needed to think this through, and she couldn’t do that while she could feel the roughness of his thigh brushing against the softness of hers.

She tried to ease away but his arms tightened.

“Don’t move. I don’t want to wake up, not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I wake up and let you go, you’ll run away.”

That was exactly what she’d been planning to do.

“It’s time to get up.”

“No, it really isn’t.”

“Jason, the sun is shining. The storm has passed.” She hesitated. “You can go home.”

“I am home.”

For a moment she thought her heart might stop, and then she reminded herself he was still half asleep. Still lost in that delicious place where the real world was a long way away.

She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake. “Wake up. You’re dreaming. It’s morning, and you’re in Mabel’s house.”

“I’m with you. That feels like home.”

She was tempted to snuggle back next to him and postpone reality a little longer, but what was the point of that? It would simply make things harder.

Determined, she eased out of his arms and this time, he let her.

She didn’t want to spoil this last day. They’d have this morning, surely? They wouldn’t clear the snow that quickly. If opportunities were for grabbing then she intended to grab this one.