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‘Yup.’ Abel smiled. ‘Turns out when he said he wanted to see me, that night of the fire, he was already heading to a check-in desk. He and I had a chat. Have to admit I wasn’t sure at first whether I wanted to see him right away, but I figured he was as powerless in all of this as any of us. So when he messaged me the flight details, I hopped in the van and drove off to London so I could meet him when he landed.’

A shiver of happiness shot through Temperance’s heart. ‘Abel, I’m so happy for you! That’s . . . so brilliant.’

‘I’ve got you to thank.’ He nodded solemnly. ‘Dad and I . . . we’ve spent the last few days talking, letting go of some stuff, making plans. He’s not going back to live there again – he’s going to find some work nearby eventually, slowly get back into East Prawle life. I think he’s feeling pretty sheepish about suddenly turning up in the pub after all this time, having left us like that. If only we could tell everyone that it was down to a centuries’ old curse, not to him being a total div.’

‘That’s the thing about magic: it doesn’t make for the easiest small talk. But who cares what anyone else round here thinks – you’ve got him back, and that’s awesome. I hope I can meet him, when he does brave the pub again.’

Abel’s eyes locked onto hers. ‘I hope so too. The thing is, one of the reasons I was on the fence about going to pick him up was that I’d already decided to head back to Bath. Because when I went for that walk it took me all of five whole minutes to know what I wanted.’

Her heart went leaden behind her ribs. Was she really going to have to listen to how thrilled Abel was to have a clear, unjinxed heart at last so he could live an uncomplicated life in Bath, far away from magical complications and wedding dresses floating into enchanted fires?

Temperance concentrated on keeping her voice steady. ‘That’s good. Good for you.’

He sat down next to her, his body angled her way, their knees almost touching. Something about him seemed younger, somehow. His shoulders weren’t so rigid, his jaw wasn’t locked in a scowl. It was like the clock had gone back, all the way back.

‘I hope it will be. I got three paces out of the door when I knew it was you, Temperance Molland. I have always loved you. I love you so much that I kept far, far away from you because I thought it would save you pain.’ Abel ran his tongue over his lips. ‘It was you when we used to share salami sandwiches and complain about Mr Edgars in RE, right here.’ Abel rapped the wood with his knuckles. ‘It was certainly you on the floor of the cellar the other day.’ His eyebrows raised, and she blushed right up to her ponytail. ‘I had to keep you at arm’s length this whole time, when all I could think about was a million memories from growing up with you, and I wanted to ask what you’ve been doing, and if you were OK and who that smooth git on the dating app is – so I can go and let the air out of his tyres. I was planning to get in my van that day, head to my flat, pack up all of my stuff and bring it back here, because I’m done with Bath.’ He finally paused for a breath. ‘God, I’m absolutely bricking it. But, Tee, I want what I’ve been denying myself for twelve years: I want a shot at taking you out, buying you dinner, maybe sneaking a kiss at the end of the night.’

The blood was pumping in her veins like an illegal rave. ‘I think we might have skipped that part, back in the cellar.’

‘No, no, no. We’ll do this properly. Aftershave, best shirt, arguing about how we split the bill. Would you do that, Tee?’ His hand reached for hers now, gripping her fingers, his thumb rubbing against the centre of her palm.

‘Yes. Now?’ her voice squeaked hopefully.

‘I wasn’t thinking of right now,’ he murmured, leaning slowly down, his lips pressing firmly against hers, his tongue following.

Temperance kept a hold of his hand in hers as they kissed, and moved her other to the back of his head, where Abel’s hair went soft. She didn’t want there to be any chance this could slip away from her again, or that it could all be a magical illusion: she was holding on tight.

He reached his free arm around her middle and pulled her in closer along the bench, effortlessly, without breaking contact.

A heat raced along her fingertips, through her hips and filled her head. It was like the sensations she used to feel when reading magic, but not one she’d ever felt during a kiss. It went deeper. Into her bones. It felt stronger.

Abel moved so he was kissing the side of her mouth, along her chin, down her neck. ‘I can’t stop,’ he breathed.

Temperance gasped, the throaty sound echoing around the stone walls. Unlike in her dreams, there was nothing handy for them to hide behind while they got closer, and a very real chance of being discovered. ‘Maybe . . . we should . . . find somewhere more private?’

He leant back just a few inches, a rugged smile moving across almost the whole width of his face. ‘I’m really going to enjoy getting to know the beyond-PG you.’

Temperance ran her finger over his stubble, noticing the flecks of gold amongst the darker brown. ‘The adult-rated Temperance has had a lot of thoughts about this. Well, dreams. And some of them took place in this bus shelter.’

His eyes went wide and a jolt of electricity hit her again. ‘Tell me.’

Heat sunk low down through her body, ending up at the top of her thighs. ‘It started innocent enough,’ she said between light kisses. ‘But then,’ her fingers skimmed over his crotch and the hard shape there, ‘I went looking for trouble.’

‘Holy shit.’ Abel laughed from deep in his throat and rested his forehead against hers.

‘Susie will still be home,’ Temperance said. ‘We could . . . talk more at the shop.’

Abel yanked her so roughly that she thought her shoulder might come out of its socket. ‘Oh – wait!’ He turned on the spot.

‘If there’s some Bath-based curse you’ve fallen under where you turn into loofah at midnight, I can’t help you anymore.’

‘No: your present. Here.’ He snatched up the well-used briefcase from the ground and laid it gently on the bench.

‘Do you need me to witness some documents or something?! This doesn’t really feel like the time,’ she teased.

Abel pushed back the two brass lock plates and opened the lid.

It wasn’t what Temperance was expecting from a 1960s-looking briefcase: Doritos, homemade sandwiches and cartons of Ribena. ‘I thought we could pick up where we left off – a picnic, like old times?’ He smiled cheesily.