The car seemed very… empty now. Odd.
She shook her head at herself as she drove round the corner to Poppy’s parents’ house, which was where she and Max were now staying (as it turned out, her mother and stepfather had indeed not wanted the pleasure of their company any longer, which had made her sad for Max and, frankly, relieved for herself).
How could you get used to a large man in your passenger seat in the space of half an hour?
The next morning, Georgie hauled herself out of bed early after a one-too-many evening with Beth (neither of them had included alcohol consumption in their resolutions) and took herself for a run.
Twenty-seven minutes later, she’d finished and was leaning against the side wall of the pub, breathing in huge chunks of nice, cold air. This was her third run of the new year and she was absolutely certain she was never going to become one of those people who swore by it. She’d run for this one year – or however long it took her to get her letter back – and that would beit.
Or, of course, she might find out that the secret was true, in which case she wouldn’t need to get the envelope backorkeep her resolutions. She did need to work out a way to find out very soon.
Ooh, eurgh, no. Everything felt very far away and swimmy very suddenly and she had to sit down. She saw stars for a moment or two and then felt someone’s hand on the back of her head, encouraging her to push it between her knees.
She blinked a couple of times and then everything felt a lot clearer. She wiggled her head and the hand moved away.
The first thing she focused on properly was the feet in front of her. Or what was on the feet. Raf’s trainers. There was no way they’d been vomited on and put in a washing machine. They were pristine.
She sat up straight, really fast, and bumped her head on the wall behind her. ‘Ow,’ she moaned, before looking up at him. ‘You bought yourself new trainers!’
‘Yep,’ said Raf. ‘Had them delivered while I was in hospital. I really liked that style and the other ones were kind of the worsefor wear after our run, and also it felt like they were half a size too small anyway, so it all worked out for the best.’
‘But I bought you new ones to replace the others. They’re being delivered this morning. I was going to drop them in at the pub on my way back to Bristol.And, due to some amazing detective work from me, they’re the same bloody size as your original pair.’
Raf’s lips twitched. ‘Sorry.’
Georgie heaved a sigh. ‘I should never have got drunk and vomited.’
‘You looked like you were going to vomit just now. Are you okay?’
‘Yes, thank you. Fine. It’s just that running really does not agree with me.’
‘It’ll get better.’
‘Yeah, I don’t think so.’
Raf held his hand out and hauled her up to her feet.
‘Sure you’re okay?’ he said, still holding on to her. Their hands fitted very well together. His was exactly the right size and not too hot and not too cold. Of course.
‘Yes, thank you. Honestly, I am.’ She looked up at him and saw that he was gazing down at her face, his eyes doing their crinkle-at-the-corner thing again. Just the right amount, naturally.
He was smiling at her and she couldn’t help smiling back and, gulp, his eyes were on hers, and now they were on her lips and, oh wow oh wow oh wow, he was going to…
Something banged against her legs and she screamed.Reallyscreamed. Right below Raf’s ear. He winced and looked down.
‘Dog,’ he observed.
‘Oh. Sorry about the scream.’
They smiled at each other again and then Georgie decided that the moment – whatever it had been – was very definitely over.
‘Bye, then,’ she said. ‘Have a good flight.Sansthe half-a-size-too-small trainers.’
‘Noah’s feet are a little bit smaller than mine, I think. If you can’t return them.’
‘Good to know.’
‘Yeah.’
