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‘I like her. I wasn’t sure I would, but I do.’
There was no mistaking the deep, American drawl, though the three early-morning glasses of bubbly meant it took Holly a second to realise Evan was speaking to her.
‘Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?’
‘Jamie. I wasn’t sure I would like her. But she’s great. Really great.’
Holly cast her eyes to her old housemate, who was currently resting her head on Fin’s shoulder, a broad smile still on her face although her eyes were closed.
‘She is,’ Holly agreed. ‘She’s the best. Though since we are being honest about friends, I should probably confess that I wasn’t a fan of Fin when I first met him. I thought he was way too hippy, and that they were moving way too fast.’
‘Crazily fast! You have no idea how much I warned him against it. Going on holiday together after a month? That was ridiculous. At least I thought so. I assumed she was a gold-digger.’
‘I assumed the same of him!’ Holly laughed. It felt weird talking so openly – and somewhat meanly – about Fin to a man who was one of his closest friends, but Evan had an incredibly relaxed demeanour. Besides, he had started the conversation.
‘You thought Fin was a gold-digger?’ His eyebrows rose in disbelief. ‘Did you not know who he was?’
‘Do I look like much of a skateboarder to you?’
‘Hey. I’ve seen skateboarders of all types. I’m not judgemental.’
Judgementalwasn’t a word that Holly had ever used to describe herself, and though he hadn’t done so directly, there was still an implication, which Holly didn’t like.
‘I wouldn’t say I’m judgemental,’ she said with a sudden urge to defend herself. ‘As it happens, I’ve already agreed that Fin can teach Hope to skateboard as soon as she can walk.’
‘Hope? That’s your daughter? Fin mentioned her. You were living with Fin and Jamie when she was first born, right?’
‘Yes, I was.’ The ease that had previously flowed through their conversation was dissipating fast. Holly wasn’t sure why this stranger knowing about her and Hope made her awkward. Was he judging her? Probably. That was likely the reason he had called her judgemental in the first place. Judgemental people always did that, didn’t they? Reflected what they were thinking. Here was a man who could buy a villa in France and bottles of champagne at extortionate airport prices. Even if the villa was as shabby and dilapidated as Holly feared, he still owned a property somewhere. That was a life goal she looked unlikely to achieve any time soon.
‘I was living with Jamie before Fin was.’ The need to defend herself was likely spurred by the early-morning drink, but the last thing she needed was people making assumptions about her. ‘I moved in with her when I first came to Bourton, before she’d even met him, and long before Ben and I got together. And I asked them if they wanted me to move out, several times. But Ben, Hope’s dad, lives in the house next door, so it made sense that I stay with them, at least when she was first born. But then this cottage came up to rent, and it was a great price and closer to the shop, and I knew that Jamie and Fin needed their space, even though they insisted they were fine and liked having us live there. So yes, I lived there with them when my daughter was first born, but I don’t now.’
‘Wow.’ Evan expelled a long breath. ‘That’s a lot of detail to take in from a question I’d just expected a yes or no answer to.’
Holly clamped her mouth shut. One day, she would learn not to babble like a fool every time she was remotely nervous.
When she finally got a hold of herself, she looked at Evan, and found herself unable to read his expression. His eyes were narrowed ever so slightly, with the tiniest smile twisting at the corners of his lips.
‘I babble.’ She once again found the need to defend herself. ‘It’s a thing I do. I babble when I’m nervous, and I babble when I’ve had a drink and right now I’m nervous about flying and leaving Hope, and I’ve had a drink, as you know, because you were the one who bought it. See, I’m doing it again. Babbling.’
His smile twisted higher. ‘I never knew babbling could be quite so cute. You know, Fin said I’d like you. I see why.’
For a split second, Holly was stunned into submission. ‘I… I…’
Once again, she was staring at Evan’s perfectly chiselled jaw, but it was more the way he was looking at her that was sending her adrenaline sky high. That coy grin. That playful glint in his eyes. Was he flirting with her?
The colour in Holly’s cheeks reached a new fluorescent shade as she struggled to work out how to respond. For a second, she considered explaining that she had a child – a baby – and was therefore not in the market or mindset for anything as simple as a bit of harmless flirting. But he already knew that. They had been talking about Hope less than a minute before.
With her brain on overdrive, she knew that any second, the babbling was going to start again. She opened her mouth, preparing for whatever stream of nonsense was about to spew from it, when a voice spoke over the top of them.
‘We are now inviting rows one to twelve to board at gate fourteen.’
Grateful for the distraction, Holly looked down at phone, which displayed her boarding pass. A sigh of relief flew from her lips.
‘Looks like this is me.’ She held up her phone and waved it just close enough to Evan’s face so he could see she was telling the truth. But rather than just believing her, Evan caught the phone between his thumb and finger. A wide grin stretched across his face. Reaching down, he pulled out his phone and flicked it open.
‘What do you know? Looks like we’ll be sitting next to each other.’
8
