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‘I guess so.’ Mack leaned forward for a quick kiss before they braved the cold.
‘Right, we’d better do this.’
Mack nodded, reached across and pulled Poppy’s hat down lower over her ears before opening his door.
Bracing herself, Poppy opened hers and stepped out, where she immediately sank ankle deep into the snow. This wasn’t going to be an easy walk.
* * *
‘We should turn back, hole up in the van for the night.’ Mack pulled his mobile from his coat pocket, holding it up above his head. ‘I’ve no signal whatsoever.’
‘Nor have I.’ Slipping her mobile back into her pocket, Poppy turned to him. ‘But I don’t know if going back to the van will help us, either. We must be nearly halfway to the house by now and Paige said she’d left the front door unlocked for us. If we don’t get there someone else might get in. I know it’s highly unlikely because of the weather but I’d still feel better if we got to the dogs.’ She peered ahead, the light from Mack’s torch app on his phone lighting the way. They’d agreed to save her battery for later.
‘Yes, you’re right.’ He glanced behind her. ‘We might actually be over halfway by now.’
As she stumbled over something in the snow, Poppy reached out for Mack, gripping his arm as she lurched forward.
‘Are you okay?’ Mack steadied her. ‘Did you get hurt?’ He looked her up and down.
‘No, I’m okay. I think.’ She circled her ankle, testing it out. It hurt, but it wasn’t too bad.
After a quick glance at his phone, Mack drew Poppy towards him, and wrapped his arms around her. ‘Merry Christmas,’ he said gently.
‘What? Has it really gone midnight?’ She hugged him back, glad both of the comfort and the heat from his body.
‘Yep. Five past.’ Grinning, he showed her his phone.
‘What about Gus and Spencer? I feel awful that I’ve dragged you out here and you’re not with them.’
‘They’ll be fine. They’ll both be asleep by now and won’t even know I’m not back yet.’
‘What about Mrs Moreton? Won’t she mind?’
‘No, she will have made up the spare room. She had asked to stay over anyway so she could see them open their presents in the morning.’ Mack grimaced as realisation hit. ‘I guess Santa might be a little later than usual dropping those off.’
‘Oh no, they’ll think he’s missed them.’
‘Nah, I’ll make sure he writes a little note explaining that Rudolph wanted to stop to watch the moose in Alaska or something.’
‘I still feel awful.’
‘Don’t. Besides, I was the one who offered to come. You didn’t ask me. And it’s not as though Flora could have come with you.’
‘No. Although I’d bet she’d have tried if you hadn’t offered.’ Poppy smiled.
‘Yes, I bet she would have done.’ He chuckled before taking a deep breath. ‘Ready to go again?’
‘Not really.’ She hugged him a little tighter before pulling away.
36
‘I think I can see something. A little light. Are we there? Is that Mr Thomas’s house?’ Wiping the snow from her face with the back of her drenched glove, Poppy peered through the night. There was definitely a light. It was faint, but it was there.
‘Yes, I think so. It must be. There aren’t any other houses close by.’
Mack gripped her hand tighter as they made their way closer.
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Poppy smiled, her cold cheek muscles hurting through the strain. She couldn’t feel her feet, hadn’t for ages now, and the damp from the snow was seeping higher and higher up her jeans. The snow covered their ankles now and was still falling.
