‘Is she okay?’ he asked. ‘Are you sure you don’t need an ambulance?’
‘She’s insisting not, and she never lost consciousness. Plus, she’s giving me as hard a time as ever, so that must count for something.’ She gave a shaky laugh. ‘She’s got a couple of grazes from the carpet, but nothing looks swollen. Her back is hurting her though—’ Ashleigh pressed her hand over her mouth.
Olivier went to her, putting his arms around her trembling shoulders and she pressed her face into his chest.
‘Oh God. What if she’d really hurt herself? What if she’d broken her hip? Or worse? We’d just been arguing. It was so horrible.’
‘Ashleigh.’ He stroked her hair back a little. ‘It’s okay. She’s okay. We’ll get her to bed and you’ll get the doctor over in the morning.’
‘I was so angry with her,’ she mumbled against his coat.
‘We knew she wasn’t going to be happy.’
‘She wants me to leave.’
Olivier’s hand stilled. ‘Because of the Christmas lights?’
Ashleigh shrugged. ‘I guess it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.’
He rubbed her shoulder. ‘People say things they don’t mean in the heat of the moment.’
‘Wedon’t. Nan and I are as bad as each other when it comes to blurting exactly what we’re thinking out of our mouths.’ She shook her head.
‘Just because you’re thinking it at that moment, doesn’t mean you feel that way truly.’
She lifted her head and frowned at him, a crease between her eyebrows. ‘I was so mad with her but when she fell…I was so scared.’
‘Of course. You need a shot of brandy or a cup of sweet tea. Once she’s settled. You’ve had a bad shock too.’
She leaned back and offered him a watery smile. ‘A cup of tea eh? We’re corrupting you with our English ways.’
‘You forget I’m a quarter English. It’s more of a reclaiming than corruption, I think.’
‘I need to get down there again, check she’s still okay.’ She started to pull away but then moved towards him quickly again, like a last-minute decision, and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. ‘Thank you. For coming when I called you.’
‘Always,’ he said automatically: because it was true. He would always be there for her. If she wanted him.
