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‘Actually, I’d prefer fish and chips.’
Rising to his feet, he smiled down at me. ‘Well, the choice is yours. Wherever you want to go.’
‘A surprise would be good.’
‘Right, a surprise it is. I’ll just go and find Ada and Skye and say my goodbyes.’ He opened the door and started to laugh. ‘Apparently there’s a queue forming out here to have an audience with you.’
‘I hope you’re not accusing us of fussing,’ joked Skye, coming into the room with Ada.
‘Fuss all you like! I’m thoroughly enjoying it.’ I smiled and it turned into another huge yawn.
‘Bed for you, young lady,’ ordered Ada. ‘And don’t you dare think about getting up before I’ve brought you breakfast in bed after ten!’
I laughed. ‘That’s me told.’
Kurt blew me a kiss as he left, and I allowed Ada and Skye to fuss over me a little more as they ushered me upstairs. Then I fell asleep with a smile on my face, dreaming happily of my forthcoming date with Kurt...
EPILOGUE
It was our first proper date, a surprise as he’d promised, and Kurt had said he was taking me out for lunch.
He picked me up in his car and I settled back in the passenger seat. He smelled gorgeous. He was wearing black jeans I hadn’t seen before and a cornflower blue shirt that matched his eyes. ‘So... where are you taking me?’
‘It’s meant to be a surprise.’ He gave methatsmile, which instantly started a little beat of desire pulsing through my body.
I nodded, trying to calm my breathing. ‘Of course. I like surprises.’
We drove from Surrey into the countryside of West Sussex, eventually pulling up outside a little brasserie on the edge of a pretty village green.
‘They do really good pasta dishes here,’ Kurt said, switching off the engine, and I knew he’d chosen it specially for me because I’d told him how much I loved Italian food.
I smiled at him. ‘Wonderful. Let’s go.’
All the tables were taken – it was clearly a popular place for lunch – so we sat on high stools at the bar, elbow to elbow, and while we waited for our food, we chatted aboutthatnight and how lucky it was that Blossom had had the good sense to realise something was wrong when I left my garbled message on her phone.
‘Even Skye’s been full of praise for Blossom, and that doesn’t happen very often.’
‘Poor Janey, though,’ said Kurt.
‘I know. She was in total shock for a while. But she’s doing okay. We met for a drink last night and we had another good chat about everything. She’s moved in with her mum for now, just until she works out what she’s going to do.’
‘And she had no idea that Lance was harbouring all those feelings for you?’
I shook my head sadly. ‘Or that he’d suffered from mental health problems in the past, when he was much younger. He’s getting the treatment he needs now, though, which is great.’
‘It was nice of you not to press charges.’
‘Well, I didn’t come to any harm. And Lance... well, he wasn’t in his right mind, was he, when he did all those things?’
‘I suppose not. Still, it was a kind thing to do.’ He nudged my arm. ‘You’re pretty special, Aurora Sunshine.’
‘Ugh, don’t!’
‘What do you mean? Youarespecial.’
I snuggled closer. ‘I don’t feel very special, but thank you. No, I meant don’t say my name like that in full. I don’t know what Ada was thinking, giving us such uncommon names. Aurora Sunshine. It makes me sound like the heroine in a kiddies’ storybook! And as for poor Blossom!’
He grinned. ‘I suppose it was inevitable she’d tend gardens for a living.’
