Page 56 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

Ben laughed. ‘Absolutely no way,’ he said. ‘But I promised Alex that I would keep an eye on you both in case your hearts go into some kind of arrhythmia with the shock of the cold.’

‘Well, that’s really encouraged me now,’ muttered Lily, to which Ben shot her another grin.

Hannah shrugged off her sweatshirt. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We can’t let Alex get the better of us. Last one in is a frozen penguin.’

Hannah slipped off her leggings to reveal her swimming costume and quickly ran in, fully immersing herself in the lake water almost immediately with a shriek.

Lily groaned and looked at Ben.

‘I’d get it over with if I were you,’ he said. ‘I’ll time you both.’

Feeling self-conscious stripping off in front of Ben, Lily quickly undressed to her swimsuit. Then, with a wail of determination and mostly terror, she followed Hannah into the water. She wailed again at the shock of the cold water hitting her body and it almost took her breath away. She could see whyAlex wanted someone to keep an eye on them as the cold would definitely cause some people problems.

Once her pulse had calmed down, they splashed around a bit in the water, doing a bit of half-hearted swimming. Lily’s main problem was her limbs going numb from the extreme temperature. But she could at least appreciate the beautiful clarity of the water, crystal clear and a dark turquoise under the early-morning skies.

‘Five minutes is up! Come in,’ called out Ben, not a moment too soon as far as Lily was concerned. She could feel her whole body growing numb with the cold.

She and Hannah ran out of the lake and threw the towels they had brought with them around their shoulders.

Hannah shivered and she hopped from foot to foot. ‘Oh my gosh, I’m so cold,’ she wailed.

Ben headed over and rubbed his hands over her shoulders and arms to work the circulation back into her body.

‘Better?’ he asked.

‘Better,’ she nodded, still shivering. ‘You’d better do Lily as well. She’s just as cold as me.’

Ben seemed to hesitate before walking over to Lily.

‘Do you mind?’ he asked.

But Lily was so cold and beyond caring about anything other than growing warm again.

‘Please,’ she pleaded with him.

So, with a smile, he reached out and rubbed her upper arms and back with his hands. Instantly she could feel her skin beginning to wake up again.

‘Oh! That’s lovely,’ she blurted out, with a satisfied sigh.

Then she realised that it sounded as if it were the feel of his hands on her that was lovely and gazed at his face in embarrassment.

‘Oh, look, you’ve got the colour back in your cheeks at least,’ said Hannah. ‘Come on. Let’s go grab a shower to warm up properly.’

Lily’s cheeks were still glowing as she picked up her clothes. She just hoped Ben didn’t notice, but thankfully, when she checked, he was looking out across the lake where Alex was still ploughing through the water.

28

After watching Alex swim around the lake for a while, Ben headed back indoors to warm up.

In the kitchen, he found Jake cooking everyone hearty breakfasts, telling Faye that it was his pleasure to treat her for once.

‘And it has been a real treat,’ she told him. ‘That smoothie was delicious.’

Ben was glad to see his mum looking relaxed. She was a lot quieter these days and with his late father’s birthday the following day, she appeared even more strained.

In recent weeks, however, she seemed to have begun to come out of her shell. He had often caught her and Frankie laughing with Lily as they helped her decorate the bedrooms. Lily seemed to have brought some much-needed light to the place, along with his best friends.

Lily came into the kitchen shortly afterwards, a few damp tendrils of red hair clinging to her neck. Seeing her in her swimsuit had almost rendered him speechless. Those long legs and the curves of her body. Well, he had tried not to stare but ithad taken serious self-control not to do so and he felt his pulse quicken once more at the thought of it.