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It was just him. And her.
It was difficult to ignore how he made her feel. It was difficult to fight against a build-up of emotions in an enclosed space.
She rummaged through the box and heard a little tinkle of bells. It reminded her of an old film she’d watched with her grandmother. She looked upwards and smiled. It didn’t make her feel sad; instead a little warmth spread through her. ‘Love you, Gran,’ she murmured.
She pulled a strand of tinsel from one of the boxes, bright pink, and wrapped it around her neck. Then, she flicked the switch on the radio. The words of Let it Snow filled the room.
She turned to face him and held up her hands. ‘Think they knew where we were?’
‘Could be.’ His voice seemed a little more serious than before; his eyes were fixed on the cardboard boxes.
She moved over next to him and put her hands on his chest. He’d changed into a long-sleeved black shirt, open at the neck, and well-cut black trousers. It would be easy to spend most of the day staring at his muscular thighs and tight backside. ‘We don’t have to do this, Finlay.’
He shook his head. ‘No, we do. I do.’ She stood back and let him open the flaps of the first box and start lifting out the decorations.
They were all delicately wrapped in tissue paper. He unwrapped one after the other. She could see the expression on his face. Each one brought back a different memory. She put her hand over his. ‘If I was at home right now, I’d be feeling exactly the same way,’ she said reassuringly. ‘Some of the decorations my gran and I have had for years. Some of them we made together. There were several I just couldn’t hang this year. I get it. I do.’
His grateful blue eyes met hers. There was pain in them, but there was something else too. A glimpse of relief.
His hands seemed steady as he handed each one to her to hang. Occasionally he gave a little nod. ‘That one was from Germany. This one from New York.’
Her stomach twisted a little. She felt like Scrooge being visited by the ghost of Christmas past. All of these memories were wrapped around Anna. She didn’t expect him to forget about his dead wife. But she needed to be sure that when he kissed her, when he touched her, he wasn’t thinking of someone else. She wasn’t a replacement. She wouldn’t ever want to be. Lots of his actions made her think he was ready to move on. But this, this was eating him up. Her stomach flipped over. She’d brought something, lifted something on instinct in the penthouse in London. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea after all.
She looked in the box and gave him a smile. ‘Hey, I haven’t found anything purple yet. Isn’t there anything that will match our decorations down in London?’
He gave her a smile and shook his head. ‘There’s nothing in those boxes. But I did think about purple before we left. Give me a second.’
His footsteps echoed down the hall and she looked around. The fire was flickering merrily, giving off a distinctive heat. The smell of the turkey and Christmas pudding was drifting across the main hall towards them. Between that, and the Christmas tree, this place really did have the aroma and feel of Christmas.
Finlay came back holding a string of Christmas lights—the same ones they’d used in the hotel. Grace gasped. ‘You brought purple lights?’
He nodded. ‘I don’t even know. I didn’t think I’d planned to come here. But I know the lights we used to have here don’t work any more. I liked the purple lights from the hotel so I brought some along.’
He started to wind them around the tree. It was almost finished. The lights should have gone on first, but Finlay managed to wrap them around the tinsel and hanging decorations without any problem. When he’d finished he flicked the switch to light up the room.
It had grown steadily darker outside, now the room was only lit with the orange crackling fire and the purple glowing lights. Together with the smells of Christmas it was almost as if some Christmas spirit had been breathed back into Drumegan Castle.
Grace felt her heart flutter. There was one last thing she had to do. She was doing it for the right reasons. Even if she did have a tiny bit of selfishness there too. She needed to know where Finlay was. She needed to know how ready he was.
‘I brought something too. Give me a minute.’
She practically ran along the hall, finding the white tissue paper and bringing the item back. Finlay was standing looking around the room. She couldn’t quite read the expression on his face.
So, she took a deep breath and held out the item with a trembling hand.
It was now, or never. Time to find out what the future might hold.
* * *
Finlay’s breath was caught somewhere in his throat. He didn’t need to unwrap the item to know what it was.
