The rain has softened now, and the sheep is already wandering off, apparently bored with us.
“He might have a point,” Alistair sighs. “We should head back.”
“Yeah. We should.”
But neither of us moves.
We just stand there, in that small shelter where countless others may have had moments like this—looking at each other with something new between us.
“This conversation isn’t over,” he says finally.
“No. It’s not.”
“But for now…”
“For now, we go back and… keep going.”
“Exactly.”
We step out into the damp air, and I glance back at the shelter one last time.
The walk back is quiet—but heavy with everything unsaid. Our hands brush occasionally, each touch sending sparks through me.
When we reach the lodge parking lot, Alistair stops beside his Range Rover and turns to me.
“Keira?”
“Yeah?”
“Whatever happens… I don’t regret this weekend.”
“Neither do I.”
“Even the sheep incident?”
“Especially the sheep incident,” I say with a smile. “It’s officially one of our most romantic moments—ruined by livestock.”
He laughs, that warm, effortless sound melting something in me all over again.
“Come on,” he says, opening the passenger door. “Let’s get home before Maggie sends out a search party.”
“Or before Hamish gets offended he’s been replaced by a random sheep,” I add, climbing in.
As we pull out of the lodge parking lot, I take one last look at the landscape.
Something has changed.
Something important. Something irreversible.
And for the first time since this whole charade began… I’m not sure I want it to be temporary anymore.
The problem is—I don’t know if Alistair feels the same.
Even after everything he said in that shelter… even after that almost-kiss… we still haven’t defined what this is between us.
CHAPITRE 19
ALISTAIR
