AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Come and visit me, and I’ll buy you as many as you can eat.’
I can’t tell whether he’s serious. I’m hopeless at this. If Suzy was here, she’d have been ready with some light retort, and the conversation would have flowed easily instead of flowing like mud.
He doesn’t seem to notice my hesitation. He gestures towards the array of bottles. ‘What’s it to be? There’s certainly some vodka here. I could mix it with blackcurrant squash for you.’
He peers more closely at the label. ‘At least, that’s what it claims, but I’m not sure I’d trust it.’
‘I’ll have an orange juice,’ I say.
He reaches for the carton. ‘Just as I said – high on life!’
He hands me the glass of orange juice. ‘Would you like me to go and look for some ice?’
‘No, thanks.’ If he goes to the kitchen, he might get waylaid, and I won’t see him again.
‘Or we could take it outside,’ he says. ‘It’s certainly cold enough out there.’
He gives me his trademark grin. ‘How about it? I could give you a tour of the gardens if you like. They’re absolutely magnificent.’
‘But this is a two-bedroom terrace,’ I say.
He nods. ‘Which makes it all the more surprising. It’s one of Little Mickton’s hidden treasures. In fact, I believe it was featured in last month’s Homes and Gardens.’
Before I can speak, a group of my schoolfriends bursts into the room. They descend on me with hugs and squeals of greeting. ‘Annie! We’ve missed you. How long are you home?’
‘A week,’ I say, glancing at Alex.
‘Only a week?’ says Emma. ‘That isn’t very long. I thought they had long holidays at university.’
‘Usually, we do. But I’m leaving for Paris on New Year’s Day.’
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alex make a slight movement. ‘Paris?’ he asks.
I give him a nervous smile. ‘Yes, I got that exchange place. I won’t be back until Easter.’
‘Lucky thing,’ says Emma enviously. ‘I’d love to go to Paris. All those gorgeous men!’
‘That isn’t why I’m going,’ I say. ‘It’s a really great opportunity for my design course, and I couldn’t turn it down.’
Emma looks curiously at Alex. ‘This is Alex Fielding,’ I say.
‘Nice to meet you,’ she says. ‘Do you live around here?’
‘I live in Scotland,’ he says. ‘I’m home to see my parents for Christmas.’
I’m sure I don’t imagine his eyes flicker towards me and away again.
‘Goodness!’ says Emma. ‘So many exotic places. First Paris, and now Scotland.’
‘Scotland isn’t exotic,’ says her boyfriend Matt.
‘It’s more exotic than here,’ she says. ‘I can’t wait to move away from this place.’
‘Don’t you like it?’ asks Alex. ‘I think it’s rather nice. I haven’t seen much of it yet because my parents only moved here the week before I went to Scotland. But it seems a lovely village.’
‘That’s because you didn’t grow up here,’ she says. ‘It was awful. There’s never anything going on, and there are only two buses a day into town. Everyone raves about how pretty it is, but they should try living here.’
‘Is that how you felt?’ Alex asks me.
