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‘As my best friend?’
‘My conscience just won’t let me. Go. Have fun. You might find you like chatting with him. What’s the worst that can happen?’
* * *
As it happened, there were quite a few things that could go wrong on a short flight. Particularly when you were as unaccustomed to flying as Holly.
‘Is everything all right?’ Evan asked when she finally joined him in the queue.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Caroline and Sandra were now giggling conspiratorially with Jamie and Fin.
When she got back to Bourton, she decided, she was going to make a concerted effort to make some new, less interfering friends.
‘Yes, fine. I just wanted to check something with Caroline before we boarded.’
‘That’s good, because for a minute, I was worried you were deliberately trying not to sit next to me.’
Holly laughed. It was high pitched and nasal and made her sound like a complete and utter fool, though thankfully, he only smiled.
‘No, nothing like that,’ she lied and took a deep breath in.
While boarding was fine, Holly’s first issue occurred when she went to lift her bag into the overhead luggage compartment.
‘Do you want me to help you with that?’ Evan asked in his drawl, which Holly had now determined was both incredibly attractive yet mildly grating, though merely because of its attractiveness.
‘Thank you, but I can do it.’ Her small handbag was perfectly light – she had packed all her clothes and heavy belongings in her suitcase – but still, she didn’t want to keep the bag down by her feet. It wasn’t a matter of leg room either – she wasn’t tall enough to worry about that. What she wanted was zero distractions. After eight months of barely being able to catch her breath, she intended to use any spare time to catch up on some of the reading she had missed out on since Hope was born. Besides, she figured Evan would be less likely to chat if he saw she was reading. So she slid her phone into the top pocket, placed her book on her seat, and lift the bag up into the locker once more.
‘You know, I can put it up there,’ Evan said again.
Given how succinctly she had replied to his previous offer of help, Holly didn’t think he warranted a second answer. Ignoring him, she got back to pushing the bag into place.
The problem – along with her lack of height – was the fact that the bag was such an awkward shape. After trying it at one angle, she pulled it back out and tried again. This time the end slid in; all it required was a little bit of jamming in.
It was hard to explain why she didn’t simply ask Evan to help her push it in that last couple of inches. With his height, he would have no issue in ensuring it was securely in place. But it was a matter of pride. He’d already called her out for not wanting to sit with him, and then there was the whole thing about calling her cute. Like she was some little, helpless kitten. No, she was certain she could do it herself.
Her bag was three quarters in when Holly stepped back to give herself a little more leverage. Another inch was all it needed to be fully inside, but as she went to push it, someone at the other end of the compartment shoved their oversized suitcase in next to it, making the whole thing that much harder. With an agility she didn’t know she possessed, Holly jumped forward and pushed her bag back into place. It bent slightly and then, with just a fraction more pressure, slid in.
‘There,’ she said, as a smug smile of satisfaction rose on her lips. Brushing her hands together, she turned at looked to Evan, for no other reason than to confirm she had not at any point required his help, but as she twisted her hips, and took one final glance up, she noticed that all the pushing back and forth had forced the zip on the top to come open. She was staring straight at the bag, wondering if it would be okay, or whether she needed to reach up and try to close the zip, when the shape of the shadow inside seemed to change. She barely had time to register what it was when her phone dropped straight from the gap and hit her squarely between the eyes.
9
The pain seared through her skull, sharp but fleeting, and was immediately replaced by a dull throb that spread out behind her eyes.
‘Jeez, are you okay? Holly?’
She blinked, taking a minute to recall exactly what had happened.
‘My phone?’ She looked down at her feet, her heart lurching. If something happened to Hope, hers would be the first number Ben rang. She needed her phone.
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got it.’ Evan bent down and picked it up. When he stood up to face her, concern etched in his face.
‘Is it broken?’
‘You mean the phone? No, the phone’s fine. But that was quite a knock you took there. Are you sure you’re okay?’
‘I’m fine. I’m fine.’ Holly already wished she could disappear on the spot. But the humiliation wasn’t over yet. Her accident hadn’t gone unseen, namely by the person who had shoved their bag at the other end of the luggage compartment. The passenger was a woman with thick, black eyeliner and excessively long nails, which Holly could see all too clearly as she was currently covering her mouth in shock.
‘I’m so sorry.’ Her eyes bulged as she stared at Holly’s head. ‘Are you all right?’
