Page 99 of The Holiday Cottage

So far she hadn’t responded, and she wasn’t sure whether she was going to.

She was upset and confused. Also, angry. She needed time to calm down a little and think carefully about how she wanted to handle it.

With an effort, she pushed that thought out of her mind. She wasn’t going to think about it now. She was going to enjoy her day with Miles, and she was not going to allow her mother to spoil that.

After the Christmas tree trip and dinner at Dorothy’s, Miles had dropped her back at Holly Cottage. There had been a few breathless moments when she’d wondered whether to invite him in, but then she’d lost her nerve and simply given him a hug and then made a fuss of Ralph to cover her embarrassment.

She’d barely been in bed for five minutes before Miles had called to ask her if she was free on Tuesday because he had a special day planned.

She accepted immediately (of course!) and they’d proceeded to spend the next two hours talking, which made her think she probably should have been brave enough to invite him in.

But now here they were, about to spend the day together. If she’d been Ralph, her tail would have been wagging.

Not sure whether that level of delight might be off-putting, she settled for a smile.

“I’m looking forward to our day, although you still haven’t told me what we’ll be doing. You’ve been evasive.”

“It’s a surprise. You don’t like surprises?”

The last surprise she’d had was discovering that Dorothy was her grandmother and Sara her aunt, so she wasn’t sure how to answer that.

The past few days had felt like stepping into another life. Miles had worked the day before, so she’d had Ralph with her at the cottage and she’d taken him for a long walk and visited Dorothy at the house. She’d helped her wrap garlands around the staircase, decorate the room the girls would be staying in and ice the Christmas cake. They’d spent the afternoon cooking meals for the freezer so that they didn’t have to spend the whole of the holidays in the kitchen.

Imogen had never bothered much with cooking, but with Dorothy by her side she discovered that chopping, frying and producing meals could be surprisingly relaxing. And it also made conversation easy. Imogen had asked her endless questions, keen to discover everything she could about this family she hadn’t even known she had. All those years she’d missed. All those birthdays and Christmases and celebrations, as well as the normal ordinary days that came and went without note. She wanted to know what they cared about, what made them laugh,who they were.She was trying to cram twenty-eight years of knowledge into a few days so that she could catch up. She’d discovered that Dorothy was a talented pianist, that she was addicted to crossword puzzles and de-stressed from the demands of business by spending time with her animals.

Trying to compensate for the one she couldn’t save.

When Miles had first said those words to her she hadn’t understood, but she understood now. And the more she got to know Dorothy, the more she knew that her mother’s version of events couldn’t possibly be right. Her account had been colored by her own insecurities and weakness. Dorothy would never abandon a family member. Or a friend for that matter. Imogen knew that for sure, not just because of what people had said to her, but because of her own observations. Dorothy was a giver. Generous.

And then there was Sara. Sara loved the outdoors, and particularly horses. She’d ridden often as a child, a passion Iris seemed to have inherited. But Sara also loved clothes and flowers and her family. Watching her with the children during the Christmas tree trip, Imogen had wondered how it was possible that Sara and her mother shared the same genetics, because they couldn’t have been more different. The more time she spent with them, the more she learned. Like pieces of a jigsaw, she was gradually getting a picture of her family.

But today wasn’t about her newfound family, it was about Miles.

“I love surprises, but it’s hard to know how to dress when I don’t know what we’re going to be doing.” She grabbed her bag and checked she had her keys and phone. “Where’s Ralph?”

“I’ve dropped him off with Dorothy. My plans for today aren’t all dog friendly.”

And now she was intrigued. “You won’t even give me a tiny clue?”

“Dress warmly,” he said. “We’ll be out for the whole day, and the evening.”

Imogen gave him her hat and gloves to hold while she pulled on her coat. “Just the two of us?”

“Just the two of us.”

Her heart thudded a little harder. “So this is like a date?”

“It’s not like a date.” He smiled. “Itisa date.”

She felt a flicker of something that might have been nerves. “In that case I should probably warn you that I’m not that great at dates.”

“I didn’t know you could pass or fail dating. You think I’m going to give you a grade?”

“I hope not, because I’d probably average around a D minus. I’m just warning you so that you can keep your expectations in check.”

She tried to zip her coat, but her fingers fumbled and she couldn’t get the teeth to bite.

Yes, she was definitely nervous. Could he see that?

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