Page 81 of Mistletoe and Mulled Wine at the Christmas Campervan

She shook her head, grinning. What crazy scheme was he up to now?

‘I won’t be long, I promise,’ he called out, already making his way down the sheep track that he’d memorised which zig-zagged between the low heather. ‘Just stay there. I’ll call you when I’m ready.’ Jack was feeling a weird champagne-fizz mix of tension and excitement now.

He slipped down away from the summit, his heart beating like a hammer, stopping just over the first brow, a spot where Lucy could no longer see him. Yes, this was the place. He undid his rucksack and set to work.

Well, life was never dull with this guy, she had to admit, even a walk in the hills was taking an unusual turn. Lucy stood, feeling a bit daft yet smiling to herself, at the top of the hill. Taking in that glorious view. Waiting.

‘Ready!’ His call carried from a rise in the hillside. She spotted the top of his sandy-haired head and his arm waving. He probably had a glass of fizz or some special cocktail lined up, she mused. An early New Year’s celebration?

‘On my way.’ She was grinning as she approached a sheltered spot just down past the rise. A-hah, just as she imagined, there was a half-bottle of champagne with two flutes laid out on a small picnic rug.

‘Aw, this is amazing. Thank you.’

Jack was looking really nervous. His eyes darting towards a tree – a fir tree – that was in fact the only tree on this part of the hillside. Elsewhere, it was all low bracken and heather. Light glinted off something … oh, a bauble …. and tinsel. Hah, he’d made a Christmas tree for her. Brilliant!

‘Oh, Jack …’

‘Take a look,’ he motioned towards the tree.

She spotted a strand of silver tinsel, a gold sparkly star hanging on a string, and a silver bauble. ‘Yeah, it’s really pretty.’

‘A closer look.’

Oh, there was another small square of paper, dangling from a branch.

‘Go on, read it.’

‘So, the poem … it was you!’ Lucy exclaimed, rolling her eyes with a grin. ‘You could have fooled me!’

She unhooked the sheet of paper from its washing-line peg.

‘Thank you for filling the hole in my heart. And this is where our together journey starts …’

‘Aw …’ Her eyes had gone all misty.

‘And look …’ Jack was grinning now, pointing.

And, there was another bauble, clear Perspex. It was hanging on a silver string and had … LUCY etched on the side. There was something inside it. She stepped closer. ‘Oh.’

‘You can open it.’

‘I can?’ She was intrigued and stepped forward to pluck the festive ball from the tree. Her heart rate now pulsing in her chest, almost a match for Jack’s.

The bauble had a clasp, and it opened out into two hemispheres. Oh … there was a small grey-velvet box inside. Lucy wasn’t sure what to think. A late Christmas gift, perhaps? How sweet. She held her breath as she looked at Jack with a curious smile.

Slowly, she opened the box. Inside was the prettiest necklace with the most beautiful piece of turquoise sea glass as its pendant, set in a delicate silver surround. The glass was shaped like the crest of a wave.

‘Oh, this is so beautiful,’ her voice was tender, filled with love. ‘It’s just like the arc of a wave.’

‘Yes, it made me think of the coast, made me think of you … us. I never had chance to buy you a gift in time for Christmas.’

Oh crikey, that’s not what he was meant to be saying at all. He’d had it all worked out in his mind and now it had gone blank. It wasn’t merely a Christmas gift …

Jack took a slow breath. ‘Lucy … okay, this might sound a bit corny, but I feel like I’m on the crest of a wave with you … and maybe we can roll ashore together, come back home together …’ He paused to look right into her gorgeous dark-brown eyes. ‘And soon, we can set sail and go on some new, amazing adventures together too.’

He dug into his pocket, and felt for the envelope. It burnt under his fingertips.

‘What are you saying, Jack?’