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‘Well, let me prove it to myself, then.’ He lowered his forehead to hers. ‘I haven’t felt like this in a very long time. I don’t want to blow it.’
She tipped her head back to stare up at him. ‘I get it. We’ve got the whole summer to get to know each other – I’m happy if we take a little time.’
‘Not too much time,’ Cam blurted, making Hope’s sunshine laugh fill the air.
‘Definitely not! Now, if we’re not going to satisfy one appetite, you owe me dinner in compensation.’
Cam stole one more quick kiss then let her go before he undid all his good intentions.
15
The next fortnight passed in such a whirl that Hope almost didn’t have time to miss Cam. He was up to his eyes in work, juggling the final preparations for the dig while trying to keep on top of all his usual end-of-term responsibilities. They’d managed to speak most evenings and he found time to text her at random times during the day. Sometimes it was just to say hello, but now and then he’d send her a Spotify link for a song he’d heard on the radio that made him think of her, or a promo link for a film or a TV show he wanted them to watch together. Who would’ve thought such a romantic heart hid behind that sensible façade? It was enough to make a girl swoon.
Things were just as hectic for Hope at Juniper Meadows. It was the height of the wedding season and both she and Zap were flat out at the distillery, creating, bottling, and sending out custom-designed gins. Hope had a love/hate relationship with the miniature bottles they’d procured for use as wedding favours. She loved how popular they were, what with couples always on the lookout for something unique to offer their guests as a memento, but she hated how bloody fiddly they were to fill. They had a machine that could handle the normal full and half sizes they offered to the mainstream market, but if the favours proved to be more than a fad, she was going to have to invest in some specialist equipment that could automatically fill the miniatures. One must exist because how else did all those hotel minibars get stocked? She’d scrawled a huge reminder on her office whiteboard, but hadn’t had time to properly research and cost it.
Cam and the team were due on site in less than eight hours to get everything set up and Hope wanted everything to be perfect, which was why she was sitting in bed updating the project costs tracker at 1 a.m. She’d tried to settle earlier but ended up switching the light back on five minutes later. Cam would be here in the morning. When had she ever felt this giddy over a man? Never was the simple truth of it.
Her phone flashed in the dark and she picked it up to read the notification, already knowing who it would be from. At least she wasn’t the only one who was having trouble sleeping.
Are you in the tracker? I’m locked out.
Lord, he was as bad as she was. Grinning to herself, she tapped out a reply.
What are you doing still awake? It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.
The response came back almost instantly.
I could ask you the same thing!
He added an emoji of a little face with a monocle casting a quizzical look upwards as though it was reading what she’d just written.
I’m just checking everything over. I’m too excited about tomorrow to sleep.
I know the feeling! We’ll both be fit for nothing though if we don’t get some rest.
He was right.
Five minutes and then I promise to shut my laptop.
Good! Get some sleep. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow x
Her stomach did a little flip.
Me too. Sleep tight x
Hope set her phone on the bedside cabinet then turned back to the tracker before admitting to herself that she’d only been fiddling around with it as an excuse to stay awake just in case Cam messaged her. Giving herself a mental side eye for being a soppy idiot, she saved and closed the file and placed her laptop on the floor well away from where she might accidentally step on it if she got up. With a quick fluff of her pillows to get comfortable, she closed her eyes and was asleep within moments.
She woke the next morning feeling surprisingly refreshed and a quick blast of cold water at the end of her shower chased the last of any tiredness away. The forecast on her weather app said they were in for another scorcher, so she dressed in thin linen trousers and a vest with a long-sleeved cotton shirt over it to protect her skin from the worst of the sun. Declan had ordered a massive supply of sun cream for the site welfare office as well as cheap sun hats and baseball caps. Hard hats would be required whenever the groundcrews were working, but he’d wanted to make sure everyone had a head covering at all times. With her hair plaited and pinned in a coil at her nape, Hope plopped her own sun hat on and headed downstairs with her laptop under one arm.
As she neared the kitchen, she could hear voices and was amazed to walk in and find the whole family gathered around the table, all dressed in similar comfortable clothing. ‘What’s going on here?’
Rising to fetch her a mug from the cupboard, Rhys set it down in front of her usual seat with a grin. ‘You’ll need some extra bodies today to help everyone get from place to place, so we thought we’d volunteer.’
‘Your mother and I are going to make sure everything runs smoothly at the campsite,’ her Aunt Rowena said, pushing the toast rack and the butter towards her. ‘We also wondered about throwing a barbeque here in the yard later, to welcome everyone and have a bit of an ice breaker in case there are people who don’t know each other.’
Hope pressed a hand to her chest, touched at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. ‘That’s so kind of you. I don’t want to put you to any trouble, though.’
‘Nonsense,’ Stevie said. ‘You’ve had more than enough on your plate. You’ll always be my independent little miss…’ The sweetness of her smile told Hope it was a compliment, not a criticism. ‘But you don’t have to do everything yourself.’
