Page 65 of Right Place, Right Time
‘Tucked behind some of the other furniture in his study – the bookcases, I think. It was the day when the company came in to remove the big bits of furniture I couldn’t take. They took the bookshelves after we’d emptied them and this was behind one of them.’
‘Right, so, along with a modernist painting, a grandfather clock and an actual living tree, we also now have a tiny door carved of… oak?’ Adam asks.
‘Yes.’ I rub my hand over the door. ‘I think so.’
Adam shakes his head. ‘This mystery just gets stranger and stranger as each day passes.’
‘But with no apparent solution… yet.’
‘Only Barney’s idea.’ Adam suggests this as if he doesn’t really want to.
‘That it’s time-travel related? We both thought that – it wasn’t just Barney. Do youreallybelieve that?’
‘I don’t know what to believe any more.’ Adam sighs.
‘Why don’t we take this door back to my house tonight, get some food and think some more about it. There’s nothing more we can do here.’
‘Good idea!’
After we’ve driven back towards my house and safely parked up the van, Adam carries the door from the garage to my house. When we get inside, he props the door up in the lounge against the wall next to the fireplace. When he’s finished, I open two bottles of apple cider and pass him one.
‘Thanks,’ he says, taking a swig. ‘That hits the spot on a warm day.’
I do the same. ‘So, what do you fancy?’
‘To eat?’ he asks, his blue eyes twinkling.
‘Yes,’ I reply, hurriedly pulling open a drawer and rummaging about inside. My stomach does that flip-flop thing again, like it’s on a rollercoaster, only faster. It seems to be happening a lot around Adam recently. ‘I should have some menus in here somewhere.’
‘Sure,’ Adam says, sitting down on the sofa. He takes another sip of cider while he looks thoughtfully at the door in front of him.
‘Er… I can offer Chinese, Mexican, Thai, burgers and kebabs, pizza or good old fish and chips. Any of thosesound good?’ I ask, choosing my words carefully this time.
‘I’m easy,’ Adam says, leaning back on the sofa and resting his elbow casually on the arm. ‘What would you like?’
I’m shocked when I find myself having to fight hard against the voice inside me that’s shouting,‘Sayyou! Sayyou!’
I swallow hard and take another gulp of my cider.I have to get a grip. I just can’t stop staring at him. Why is Adam so incredibly attractive?
I mean, I’ve always known that he’s attractive. He’s a very good-looking man. But just lately he’s become…hot. And him doing that stupid twinkly thing with his eyes isn’t helping either. And now he’s running his fingers through his hair. Oh, God – stop!
‘Eve?’
‘Er …’ Annoyingly my cheeks flush and I quickly turn away on the pretence of selecting one of the menus. ‘Chinese?’ I say, grabbing the menu from the side.
‘Sounds good to me.’
I pass Adam the menu from my local Chinese takeaway and take another sip of my cider. While he browses the dishes, I kneel down and take a closer look at the door.
‘What are you looking at?’ Adam asks, glancing up.
‘I don’t remember seeing an apple on the tree before, when we pulled it out of the lock-up,’ I say, putting my drink down on the coffee table behind me. ‘Look, there’s a tiny apple carved there on one of the branches.’
Adam kneels down next to me and inspects the carving. ‘So there is. I guess we could have missed it before; it wasn’t the best light in there.’
We both turn to look at each other and our eyes lock once more. There’s no doubt in my mind this time – Adam’s expression completely mirrors my own feelings of desire. Like an incredibly strong magnet pulling me towards him, I find myself unable to do anything else other than lean forward and kiss him.
For one awful moment I think Adam isn’t going to respond to my advance, and my impulsive feelings rapidly begin to subside as another feeling begins to emerge – humiliation. I’m about to pull away and apologise, to say I don’t know what came over me, when I feel his hands gently cup both sides of my face. His lips don’t need words to express what he’s thinking – their message is crystal clear…
