Page 30 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

Bear’s eyes widened and then he laughed. ‘I have too much respect for you to sleep with you on our first date. Maybe we’ll save that for our fifth.’

She smirked. ‘OK.’

‘Goodnight Meadow,’ Bear said and placed a kiss on her cheek, lingering there for slightly longer than necessary.

Then he turned and walked away through the trees and she couldn’t help staring after him with a big smile on her face.

She climbed the steps to Heath’s treehouse and he smiled at her when she let herself in. He was sitting on the sofa reading and she sat down next to him, cuddling into his side. He slipped an arm round her shoulders and kissed her forehead. ‘Don’t think I don’t know that you’re only after my nuts.’

Meadow giggled and took a small handful of honey roasted cashew nuts from the bowl on his lap.

‘Look at the smile on your face, did you have a good night?’ Heath said.

‘I did. It was… almost perfect.’

It would have been perfect if it had been real but it had still been the best night she’d had in a very long time.

‘Oh, I’m so pleased. Are you seeing him again?’

‘I think I’ll be seeing him very soon,’ Meadow said, touching her cheek where she could still feel Bear’s lips on her skin. ‘Is Star OK?’

‘She’s fine.’

‘I’m going to go and give her a kiss goodnight and then I’m going to bed myself.’

She got up and walked up the stairs to Star’s room, which was completely different to her room in Meadow’s treehouse. This one had sea creatures swimming across the walls; dolphins, sharks, turtles, seahorses. It looked wonderful. Over in Meadow’s treehouse Star’s room was adorned with stars, moons, planets, comets and had a skylight with a telescope pointing at the real night sky.

Star was asleep, her arm wrapped round an oversized narwhal.

Meadow stroked her head and placed a kiss on her cheek. ‘Goodnight sweetheart.’

Star stirred and smiled sleepily when she saw Meadow.

‘I love you Mummy,’ Star said.

Meadow’s heart melted. ‘I love you too.’

Star closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep.

Meadow left her in bed and went back downstairs, giving Heath a wave as she walked out. He waved back. She walked across the rope bridge to her own treehouse, got undressed and cleaned her teeth before climbing into her own bed with a huge smile on her face. Her real date with Josh had been a disaster but she still couldn’t help but smile over how the night had gone.

She checked her phone before she lay down and saw she had an email from Bear. She frowned in confusion because normally he’d text or WhatsApp her if he wanted to say something. She opened it and her heart leapt when she realised he’d sent her one of his stories. Her heart swelled with love for him. That he had trusted her with this was such a big deal.

She read the message that came with it.

As you said, if we’re going to date, then I have to share all of me, not keep some parts locked away, so here it is, The Lost Crystals, the first book in my series. Hope you enjoy it.

Bear x

She smiled. She forwarded the file to her Kindle and then lay back to read the first chapter.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Bear walked into the restaurant the next morning and straightaway his eyes found Meadow, over by the counter chatting to Alex, the chef, as she and Star helped themselves to breakfast.

He grabbed himself a coffee from the machine at the back and went and sat down opposite Heath. There was no sign of River and Indigo yet.

‘Hey,’ Heath said. ‘Meadow said her date went really well last night. How did yours go?’

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