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‘Actually, it’s Holly, with an aitch,’ Evan corrected, saving Holly the need to.
‘Oh, I am sorry, dear. Blooming videos. Can’t hear half as much as I want to. Anyway, I was telling you about the kids. So Cathy is my eldest. After that I met Jonathan. That’s Evan’s dad. Well, we had another girl. I would have been fine with two, to be honest, but he wanted a boy, so we kept trying. Along came number three, and guess what?’
‘Another girl?’ Holly offered the expected answer.
‘Another girl. His dad was already outnumbered, so he convinced me to try once more. Anyway, what do you know? I’m pregnant again, and this time it was triplets. And Evan here was the last to poke his head out.’
Holly coughed in surprise. Even before Hope, she had been in awe of anyone with the tough job of raising twins – let alone triplets. Now she assumed they were superhuman. But how someone could do it with three other children to raise was beyond her.
‘Oh, I know what you’re thinking. It must’ve been a madhouse.’
‘It was a madhouse,’ Evan added.
‘Ignore him. We had a lot of fun.’
‘Apart from the fact that you liked us all to dress in matching clothes, so I spent most of my early life wearing pink.’
‘And what’s wrong with boys wearing pink, exactly?’
‘I agree,’ Holly chuckled. ‘I happen to find it quite dashing.’
Evan offered her a sideways glance. ‘In that case, perhaps I might start wearing it a little more.’
A moment of blushing past between the pair of them. Thankfully, Anne spoke before it could get too awkward.
‘Well, I can’t be standing around chatting to you two all day. You might not believe it, but I’ve got things to do. Your dad’s convinced he’s going to put a fountain in the garden and he’ll be digging up my roses soon if I don’t go and stop him. Ring again soon, won’t you?’
‘Will do, Mom. Love you lots.’
‘Love you too, baby.’
A second later, the screen was dead.
‘So?’ Evan’s eyebrows were raised as he awaited Holly’s response. ‘Believe me now?’
‘Well, you do put a fairly compelling case forward.’
‘Fairly compelling?’
They still hadn’t moved since he had hung up. Both sitting on the high kitchen stools. Though at some point, their knees had shifted closer together so that they were now touching, and it was difficult to ignore how intently Evan was smiling at her.
‘Why are you looking like that?’ She was sure she should move away from him, but at the same time, couldn’t bring herself to.
‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. Strange.’
‘Strange? Well, I guess this is what I look like when I want to kiss someone.’
26
The butterflies had overtaken every other sensation in her body. Evan’s hand slipped into hers as he twisted around and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Feeling like she had lost all control of her body, Holly closed her eyes as she leaned forward.
Was this really going to happen? Was she actually going to kiss a man for the first time since before Hope’s birth? She dipped her chin and tilted her head towards Evan, aware of the sounds of his breath, and her own pulse drumming hard enough to break free.
‘Tell me you’ve got some ice packs in here.’ The front door banged and Holly and Evan jumped apart as Tyler barged into the living room, his white T-shirt near translucent with sweat. ‘Beer. I need a beer.’
‘Make that two beers.’ Naomi followed him in, limping as much as Holly had that morning.
