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‘Yes, thanks to you, Millie. But I have to admit, I’m exhausted so if you don’t mind, I’m going to go for a lie down. Everything is sorted for tomorrow so why don’t you have the rest of the day to yourself? Do you know what you might like to do?’
‘Oh, I thought I’d choose a book and curl up on one of the window seats in the library.’
‘Well, if you don’t mind, would you be able to help me out and deliver this package to Zach’s lodge? I really don’t have the energy to get bundled up in a hat, scarf and gloves, not to mention a pair of Wellington boots, and go trotting down the driveway. I think I’ll feel better after a snooze.’
‘No problem.’
Millie smiled, but concern for her friend swirled through her chest. However, a small part of her did wonder whether Claudia was really exhausted, which seemed unlikely as she was a seasoned presenter and they had only spent three hours in the kitchen, or whether she was intent on giving her potential relationship with Zach a helping hand.
She took the parcel, gave Claudia a hug, and strode to the boot room. She surveyed her choices and selected a fleece-lined wax jacket and a woolly hat with cute mouse ears and a pink nose and whiskers sewn onto the brim, and set off down the driveway towards the entrance gate. It was just after midday and the sun was trying its best to wriggle through the grey clouds. There was a nip in the air – it wasn’t as cold as when she had arrived but not warm enough to melt the snow on the lawn.
She pushed open the tiny wooden gate to Zach’s lodge and a huge smile stretched her lips at the sound of excited barking coming from behind the pale green door.
Binks!
She should have been prepared for the bundle of black-and-white fur to launch a frenzied welcome, but she wasn’t, and ended up on her bottom as the springer spaniel whom she had met in St Lucia welcomed her to his home.
‘Hi Binks! It’s great to see you, too, but do you think you could just let me get up – it’s bit cold on the buttocks down here!’
Binks gave her an affectionate lick and trotted back to his master’s side, his pink tongue hanging from a wide grin.
‘Hey, Millie. For a girl who professes to hate the snow you do seem to spend an inordinate amount of time rolling in the stuff!’ smirked Zach, his eyes twinkling as he offered her his hand to drag her upright.
A surge of relief whipped through Millie at the re-emergence of the upbeat animation that had always been a permanent fixture in Zach’s demeanour: Zach being cheeky about her foibles – the world was turning normally; Zach being downbeat and introspective – very disturbing indeed.
His sarcasm had irritated her when she had first encountered him in St Lucia – sadly whilst rolling around in a puddle – but she had grown to enjoy their verbal sparring, to appreciate the way he challenged her to look at life from a different perspective, to seek out new adventures, to squeeze every last crumb of pleasure from every situation. She knew that if she hadn’t met Zach, she would still be wallowing under a cloud of misery at the way Luke had dumped her, instead of viewing it as a blip on life’s rocky highway.
‘To what do Binks and I owe the honour of your visit?’
‘Oh, yes, sorry. Claudia asked me to deliver this,’ she said, handing over the package.
‘Thanks. So, how did the first day of the fabulousFestive Feastcourse go?’
‘It went really well, plus I’ve just indulged in a breakfast fit for a very hungry giant! Tomorrow’s itinerary has changed though. We’re doing our Christmas-themed afternoon tea that had been scheduled for Thursday. I’ll save you a few turkey and cranberry sandwiches if you promise not to critique the symmetry of my bread-cutting skills!’
‘Now why would I do that?’
Zach met her gaze and smiled, sending her stomach into a maelstrom of confusion. She had been with Luke for two years and she could honestly say, hand on heart, that she had never experienced such a vivid reaction when he’d looked at her. In fact, the strongest reaction he’d instilled in her had been one of devastation, followed by a long, slow burn of mortification. She belatedly realised that Zach was scouring her expression, as if watching the mini film reel flicker behind her eyes, his lips turned upwards to reveal the cute dimples that bracketed his mouth and she felt heat seep into her cheeks.
‘So, if you’ve finished your duties for the day, I’ve got an idea. Come on.’
Millie laughed as he grabbed her hand and dragged her across the pristine expanse of the manor’s lawn at the rear of his lodge, their footsteps creating an ad hoc pattern in the undisturbed snow. Binks bounded in their wake, joining in the fun, bouncing and barking with abandon.
‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ asked Millie, quoting her nieces’ Lola and Odette’s best-loved phrase, except Zach took her literally.
‘Yes! A girl after my own heart. Let’s make it interesting though and have a competition. Points for the best twist on the theme. Ready, steady, go!’
And before she could remind Zach that snow was her most hated weather element, he had zipped away to make a start on rolling a huge boulder of snow. She sighed and began to build a mound which she thought looked like a passable imitation of Binks with a pebble for his nose and a waggy tail made from twig. She was no Henry Moore, but at least she’d had a go – and it was the very first snow sculpture she had ever assembled.
When she looked around to compare her effort with Zach’s he was nowhere to be seen, until she noticed the top of his red bobble hat poking above the parapet of the stone wall that encircled the lodge’s back garden.
Why had he decided to build his snowman there? Was it because his masterpiece was so much better than hers, or because at last she had stumbled on something he was terrible at? She suspected it was the former, but before she could go and find out, Zach was jogging towards her to scrutinise her own work of art.
‘What’s that? A seal?’
‘No! It doesn’t look anything like a seal!’
‘Sorry, a mermaid? A unicorn?’
