‘What?’
Georgie shook her head, still staring at her screen. Running, chocolate, crisps, cake, pizza, grey hairs, early-to-bed: they were all doable if not enjoyable. Yoga: she didn’t really have time, but she’d have to find a class in it and in fact she’d probably enjoy it once she made herself squeeze it into her schedule. Italian GCSE before the end of the year, though? And learning how to do a jump while ice skating? And, maybe most challenging of all, she had to manage to cheer up Poppy by Valentine’s Day.
Fucking fucking fucking hell.
‘Are you okay?’ Raf asked.
‘Yep, all good,’ she said. ‘I just wrote quite a lot of resolutions and I have a busy life, so I’m going to struggle to fit them in.’
Maybe she could combine some of them. Find an Italian yoga teacher. And maybe she could ask Poppy to go to yoga, skating or Italian lessons with her to cheer her up: two birds, one stone.
‘Yep, all totally fine,’ she said. ‘I might just get going now though.’ She really needed to think. And get a good night’s sleep. ‘I need to relieve the babysitter.’
‘Of course. I’ll walk you back.’
‘Oh, honestly, no need.’
‘Not a problem. I like an evening stroll. And better safe than sorry?’
‘Well, thank you.’
It actuallycouldbe a bit scary in the dark in the village due to no streetlights and the fact that everyone still remembered that someone had been mugged there about five years ago.
Within three steps of Noah’s front door, Georgie, for the second evening running, was massively regretting her choice of boot. It was impossibleto stand up on the ice that the cold, dry day had turned the top layer of snow into.
Although… it turned out that it was just as nice to be caught by Raf while sober as it had been when she was drunk. His arms really were very strong and she lovedthe way she could feel his muscles flexing as he held her. He was warm but not too hot, just right, in fact (Goldilocks again) and shereallyliked his aftershave.
Once he had her steady, after her third legs-spiralling-arms-flailing situation, he held his right arm out to her.
‘I’m thinking this might be safest?’ he said.
Georgie put her left arm through his. ‘I think you’re right. Thank you.’
And now she was hugged up against his nicely solid side, her head just level with his shoulder. Obviously he wouldn’t be interested in her – he was a widower for goodness’ sake, plus so gorgeousandfunny he could probably have his pick of anyone he liked – and she had no intention of allowing herself to develop feelings for anyone and get upset down the line, plus she had a lot on her mind at the moment… But, right now, just for this moment, this wasnice.
5
GEORGIE
Halfway across the green, Georgie was laughing at an anecdote Raf was telling her about Noah, a squirrel and a ruby engagement ring when she heard a miserable-sounding miaow from somewhere very high up. She stopped dead, and Raf stopped too, because of their linked arms.
‘That cat sounds miserable.’ Georgie pointed upwards with her free arm.
‘I’m sure it’s fine.’ Raf tugged her linked arm slightly.
‘I think it’s in trouble.’ Georgie was standing firm.
‘Cats go up trees all the time.’
‘Not that high.’
‘Maybe it’s trying to catch a bird or something.’
‘That would be stupid though, wouldn’t it, given that birds can fly and cats can’t. It sounds like it’s crying. I think we might need to help it.’ She could see Raf’s face in the moonlight, gorgeous even when he was grimacing.
‘I thought you’d think that,’ he said.
Georgie smiled at him. He was like a marshmallow covered in crisp, bitter chocolate. Underneath his cynical human-lie-detector hard exterior, he was really soft inside. He was totally going to help her rescue the cat.
