‘I know. But Mum…’ Max paused again, and finally looked up to meet my eye. ‘Caro said… she said that you and Aiden used to, well, have a thing.’
Of course she did. ‘Look, Max, really there’s nothing to worry about. Whatever happens, you’re my main concern. I’m not going to do anything until I know you’re okay with it.’
‘Okay, then.’ Max sounded relieved, and I tried not to let my spirits fall. As long as Max was okay, everything else could wait. ‘Because… I think I might be okay. If you wanted to… I dunno… go out with people. Like Aiden.’
I blinked at him. ‘Is this because he’s a world famous author?’
‘Mostly it’s because he makes really good snow creatures,’ Max admitted. ‘And because you smiled a lot when he was with us this morning. I liked that.’
My heart caught in my chest. Rosewood really did have magic powers if it could make my usually taciturn boy admit to that.
‘Well, okay then,’ I said, blinking away tears. ‘Maybe something might happen. But whatever it is, I’m not rushing into anything. So you make sure you tell me if you’re ever unhappy with any of it. Okay?’
‘I promise,’ Max said, giving me a fast grin. ‘Come on. We’d better go play, or Caro will kill me for leaving her alone with all the adults.’
‘Right,’ I agreed. ‘Now, is there anything you want to tell me about you and Caro…?’
‘Mum!’
***
Everyone else was crammed into the drawing room and, when we arrived, Tony was halfway through a magnificent charade of The Eagle Has Landed.
‘Do Upstairs Downstairs next!’ Caro called out from her perch on the arm of a chair.
‘No, everyone’s here now,’ Isabelle said. ‘We can play properly. In teams.’
‘Teams?’ I asked. ‘Like a competition?’
‘Exactly!’ Saskia said. ‘It’s no fun if there isn’t a winner. Now, Freya, you’re with Aiden and Max.’
‘How convenient,’ Aiden murmured, but he beckoned me over to his side of the room anyway as Saskia matched everyone else up. Well, I’d wanted my chance to put things right. I guessed this was it.
‘Right then.’ Saskia pulled a hat down from the top of the mantlepiece, and held it out towards me. ‘You guys go first. Freya, choose your charade at random from the hat, then Aiden and Max have to guess what it is while you act it out. Usual rules apply – no sound effects, no clues from the audience.’
I started to reach into the hat without looking, but Saskia yanked it just out of reach so I had to look inside. Once I did, I understood her reasoning. Inside the hat were numerous folded scraps of paper – and on the top, one unfolded one, with the charade clearly readable.
I smiled, and took it.
‘Okay then.’ Aiden settled back into his chair, Max perched on the arm, as I moved into the empty space in front of the fire. ‘Give it your best shot.’
I quickly gave him the basics in mime. ‘Song, seven words,’ Max guessed, and I nodded.
Then it got trickier.
‘First word… “You”? No, “I”?’ I nodded furiously and continued, ignoring the unhelpful shouts from the rest of the room. Words two and three were tricky, so I skipped ahead. ‘Fourth word… no, second word? Oh! No, I get it. Fourth word is “to”.’
More nodding. I considered my options, and jumped to the end, Max and Aiden both guessing at once. ‘Seventh word… “me”? No. “Man”? No. Wait, “You”? Yes.’ Aiden grinned. ‘Okay, so it’s “I something something to something something you”. Um…’
Saskia leant over and whispered something in Max’s ear. His eyes widened, then he nodded. Meanwhile, Aiden’s smile faded into confusion.
Clearly, it was time for something more dramatic.
I caught Max’s eye, and he grinned, giving me a small nod as he rolled his eyes. Of course he knew the song already. It was one of Mum’s favourites, and she’d sung it to him since he was tiny. But he was playing along, all the same.
Which meant he really was on my side.
I made the ‘whole thing’ gesture with my hands, then reached out and grabbed Aiden’s wrists, pulling him up to a standing position.
‘Whole thing,’ Aiden said, softly, and I nodded again.
Linking my hands behind Aiden’s neck, I eased his head down so his mouth met mine. I’d meant for it to be just a quick, soft kiss, but the moment our lips touched I knew that wouldn’t be enough.
I needed everything from this man. Just… not in front of my whole family. And Saskia’s, for that matter.
Still, the kiss went on long enough to garner whoops and cheers from the peanut gallery, and deep enough to leave my whole body tingling, and wondering how Aiden felt about sleeping in a room with bright yellow walls…
Eventually, though, I dropped back down off my tiptoes and broke the kiss, running my hands down his sides to hold his, and smiling up into Aiden’s stunned face. Then he swallowed, licked his lips, and said, ‘I only want to be with you.’
‘Exactly,’ I replied, grinning. I might have no idea where this would go, or how it would all work out. But I was willing to take the chance that it would. And I realised now that taking that first step was all I really needed to do. I had faith that everything else would follow.
Because I wasn’t running away from what I really wanted, any more.
‘Wait, was that the song title or…’ Caro trailed off, and I turned to face her, Aiden’s fingers still entwined in mine.
‘Both,’ I told her, and the rest of the room, not to mention the man I finally realised I’d been halfway in love with for fourteen years. ‘It was both.’
Chapter Nine
Boxing Day dawned bright, crisp and full of possibility.
Rosewood seemed a brighter, fresher place, ready for anything – like the New Year had come early, this year.
Placing my suitcase in the boot of the car, I looked back up at the house as I waited for Max.
‘Are you all ready?’ Saskia asked, as she descended the front steps with Therese. ‘It seems like you only just got here.’
‘It does, doesn’t it?’ I had to admit, as much as I hadn’t been looking forward to spending Christmas at Rosewood, now I didn’t want to leave.
‘Couldn’t you stay a few more days?’ Therese reached out to wrap my scarf more tightly around my throat. ‘I had so many more stories to tell you… and the perfect outfit for you to wear for New Year.’
‘Maybe next time.’ As much as I admired Therese’s style, I wasn’t sure vintage was really for me. I was all about the future, now.
Saskia reached out to give me a warm hug, the winter sun sparkling off her engagement ring. ‘Come back soon.’
‘I will,’ I promised.
‘Ah, here we go,’ Therese said, as Saskia and I parted. I followed her look to see Edward and Max approaching. ‘Men do always take so much longer to get ready, don’t you find?’
Edward pulled a face, as Max hand
ed me his small suitcase, and a carrier bag full of presents. I loaded them into the boot of the car, trying to keep the more breakable stuff – like the wine Isabelle had insisted we take with us – on the top.
‘I’m in London for a couple of nights next month,’ Edward said, handing me the last bag. ‘Maybe we can meet up for dinner?’
‘Definitely,’ I replied. ‘I’ll see if I can persuade Mum to bring the mysterious Richard, too…’
Edward laughed. ‘Poor guy. Is he really driving all the way up here to fetch Mum?’
‘Yep. Apparently he’s booked them into some nice hotel for a couple of nights.’
‘Sounds like a good guy,’ Edward said. ‘Although obviously I’m reserving judgement until I’ve met him.’
‘Obviously.’ I slammed the boot closed. It only just shut. How had we got so much more stuff going home than we came with?
‘And what about you?’ Edward asked. ‘Might you be bringing a certain someone…?’
‘Perhaps.’ I smiled.
‘She means yes.’ Aiden hopped down the stairs, bag in his hand, Caro trailing after him looking sadder than I’d ever seen her. ‘Room for one more?’ he asked, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at Max. ‘I could do with a lift back to town. I need to go home, check no one has broken in and stolen my Lovecraft first editions.’
Max shrugged, trying to look casual, but there was a smile on his lips. ‘Sure, I guess so.’
‘You’re coming with us?’ I asked softly, eyebrows raised, as Max said goodbye to Saskia and Therese.
‘What did you think last night meant?’ Aiden murmured back, as he leant across me to open the boot again. ‘Besides, bad things happen when you leave without me.’
‘True.’ A warm feeling rose up in me, despite the chill, as I watched him find a space for his bag in a boot I could have sworn was completely full just moments earlier. ‘I just wasn’t sure –’ About anything, really. But suddenly, I wasn’t sure any of it mattered, anyway. We could take our time, figure things out together. There wasn’t any rush, now. Not if we were both going to be back in London.