Page 88 of The Holiday Cottage

“I can tell you without a doubt that however nervous you are, Dorothy and Sara are equally nervous, if not more so.”

“More? That’s not possible.”

“They lost you,” he said softly. “They’re probably terrified of losing you again.”

Was that what they’d thought when she’d walked out the day before? That they’d lost her? “They lost me because of my mother. That’s not going to happen again.”

“Maybe not in the same way, but see it from their point of view—” He paused. “You’re an independent woman with a busy life. Maybe you don’t have room in that life for family. Maybe you’ll enjoy a few weeks at Holly Cottage, share a few meals with them and then take off back to London and send a Christmas card every year. I know plenty of families who barely see each other from year to year.”

She felt something shift inside her. “That’s not going to happen. And I’ve never sent Christmas cards, so I don’t suppose I’ll start now.”

“But they don’t know that. It must have been very hard for Dorothy to work with you for so long and not tell you who she was. I’m guessing that was partly because she was afraid it might all blow up and she’d lose you.”

She’d been angry that Dorothy hadn’t told her the truth right away, but she could see now that it wasn’t that simple. “I’m glad in a way that I got to know her a little bit before I found out.”

“And now you’re going to get to know her properly.” He finished his coffee. “All right, let’s make a deal. If you want to bail at any point the code word is—” he paused for a moment “—fir tree.”

“Code word?”

“Yes. If it’s all too much, you say the word and I’ll make an excuse and we’ll leave.”

She was touched. “You’d do that for me?”

“Of course. Just say the word.”

She smiled. “Fir tree is two words. Also, I assume we’re going to be looking at a lot of fir trees so maybe we should pick something different.”

“Good point. I’m willing to admit that code words might not be my strength. You choose.”

She probably should have said that there was no need for a code word, but she actually liked the idea of being able to escape if she felt the need. “How about we say we’re going to visit Valerie, to put her mind at rest about Ralph?”

“Great idea. An even better idea would be toactuallyvisit Valerie. She’d like to meet you, I’m sure. And it will make her feel better to see how happy Ralph is. Right. That’s agreed. If you say ‘don’t we need to visit Valerie?’ I’ll know I need to do a rapid exit.” He paused. “But you’re going to be fine, Imogen.”

“I hope you’re right.” She looked at Ralph. “I’m glad he’s going to be there.”

“Hey, I’ll be there too. And I’ll be more support than Ralph.”

“You think?” She tried to make light of it. “Ralph offers a lot of support. He’s very emotionally intuitive.”

Miles grinned. “No, that’s just him knowing you’re the last person who fed him.”

Flustered by his smile, she stood up and cleared both plates. “Thanks for breakfast. I suppose we should leave? How long will it take to get there?”

“About half an hour if the roads aren’t too bad. It’s a pretty place.”

“Sounds great.” Part of her wished she could just spend the day here, with Miles and Ralph. Maybe go for a walk in the country (dressed appropriately this time, of course, and also with someone who hopefully knew the way), or to explore the village.

He picked up his coat and produced a lead for Ralph. “You’ll like it. It’s very festive.”

Usually, she avoidedfestivebecause it made her imagine a life she was missing, but today she was actually stepping into that life. How many times had she imagined what it must be like to choose a tree with family? Many times, and today she was going to do it.

“I’ve never done Christmassy things before. I’m looking forward to it.”

She intended to embrace it. Even if it turned out that they just didn’t have anything in common, that it was too hard to forge a relationship when so much lay between them, she should make the most of this moment.

She’d always wanted a family and it turned out she’d had one all along, so was she really going to turn down the chance to get to know them just because she was nervous of the outcome?

No, she wasn’t.

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