Page 61 of Starting Over at Halesmere House
They drifted to a halt outside her studio, and Alice’s mind was spinning. Last night she’d made a decision, one rooted in sense, practicalities. Now, after seeing the baby and wanting to grasp at all the happiness she could, she landed on another.
‘Zac, if you’re okay with it, then I want to see you too.’ She shrugged helplessly. ‘Life’s just too short to pass up on something wonderful, even if it’s not forever, don’t you think?’
‘I do. And we’ll deal with Christmas when it comes. We’ve got time before then.’
Zac came home with her that night and over the next week she couldn’t pin a description to the relationship developing between them. ‘Inseparable’ wasn’t quite right, not really, but they both went out of their way to make time for the other. Sometimes she’d catch sight of him at Halesmere, passing through for work, and one day he’d found her in the studio, alone. She’d caught his intent the moment he was through the door and had locked it after him. It was too dark to cycle in the evenings and she’d decided to put training for the triathlon on hold until the new year. She and Zac had a limit on their time together and they were making the most of every spare moment.
They went to the pub for dinner on Friday night, bumping into Ana and Rachael, as well as Marta and Luke from the farm. Rachael, who balanced her physiotherapy work with mindfulness coaching, had just accepted a full-time job with a rugby team and everyone was in a celebratory mood. At one point, Alice had been about to put an arm around Zac, and hesitated, not certain he would want for them to be quite so publicly affectionate. He’d noticed and raised her hand to his lips to kiss it. The six of them hung out together until closing time, and as he’d left his van at the barn, he walked the short trip back with Alice.
‘Would you like to stay?’ She opened the front door, making sure her question was a casual one. Her feelings for him were becoming more complicated by the day. She enjoyed his company; they made each other laugh and he was keen to support her burgeoning new business if he could. But all of that was difficult to balance against the space he’d leave when he moved away to begin a new job six hours’ drive further north.
‘Very much.’ Zac caught her for a kiss that had her bag falling to the floor and Alice leaning against the wall for balance. ‘What time are the girls arriving tomorrow?’
‘Ten thirty. I’m going to take them on a tour of Halesmere and have lunch before Steven and Jenna leave.’ Alice’s brother, sister-in-law and two nieces were making the journey up from Cambridge. The girls were staying with Alice until Sunday so her brother and sister-in-law could have an evening away in a luxury hotel to celebrate their wedding anniversary. ‘Then me and the girls are going to the aquarium before a sail on the lake and tea out somewhere nice.’
‘Would you like some company?’ Zac framed his question just as simply as Alice had asked her own about him staying over a few minutes ago. Her arms were still around his neck, and one hand went to his face, loving the feel of his short beard against her palm.
‘Seriously?’ She was trying to measure the ramifications in her mind. ‘I’d love to spend the time with you as well, but I haven’t told Steven and Jenna about us.’
Us. It sounded very intimate, much less casual, and far more meaningful spoken out loud.
‘Would you like them to know?’
‘What would we say? You’re moving in a few weeks and however wonderful this is, I have no idea what to call it. But you could still stay and leave before they get here.’
‘Okay.’ His nod was accepting. ‘I understand and the offer’s there. If your nieces are anything like Hayley’s girls, they’ll be relentless.’
‘They definitely are. It’s “Auntie Alice this”, “Auntie Alice that” from the moment we’re together,’ she said wistfully. ‘And I love it.’
In the morning, Zac helped her prepare a leisurely breakfast and they’d nearly finished eating when a car pulled up on the drive. Alice’s hand flew to her mouth, and she grabbed her phone. She’d barely looked at it all morning and had therefore missed the message from Jenna informing her they’d left early and hoped it would be okay to arrive an hour ahead of schedule.
‘So best-laid plans and all that. Are you ready for this?’
Alice took a deep breath as she answered the front door and seconds later the girls had thrown themselves into her arms. She was on her knees to hug them back, squeezing them tightly, breathing in the fresh smell of shampoo on their hair, their little faces smooth against hers.
‘Oh you gorgeous people, I’ve missed you all!’ The girls raced into the kitchen, and she hugged Jenna and Steven too, laden down with luggage for the one-night stay, and relieved them of some of it.
Her brother looked more like their dad with every year that passed. His hair was already turning gunmetal grey, and he was tall but without their dad’s booming voice that always carried across the haulage yard or the workshop. Jenna was slightly taller than Alice, with light brunette hair almost always in a ponytail and today was no different. She and Alice hugged the longest, then Alice led them nervously into the kitchen. Zac was sitting at the breakfast bar with a mug in front of him, and he stood up as she made the introductions, shaking hands with everyone, including the girls, who were staring at him in bemusement.
‘But who is he, Auntie Alice?’ Lottie was clutching a musical jewellery box decorated with fairies that she’d just had to bring with her. Alice was searching for the right reply to her eldest niece and Zac was quicker.
‘I’m a friend of your auntie’s; we work together at Halesmere. I’ve got two nieces who are about the same age as you, and Alice thought it might be nice for me to say hello because I miss them, just like she misses you.’
‘Okay.’ Lottie accepted that and she turned to Alice, who offered a smile of thanks to Zac over Lottie’s head. Alice knew the explanation she was going to have to find for Jenna wouldn’t be quite so simple.
‘Can we see our bedroom, please, Auntie Alice?’ Lottie took a firm hold of Freya’s hand. ‘We’ve brought our unicorn pillowcases to go on our beds.’
‘Absolutely you can – it’s this way.’ Alice held out her hands and the girls tucked theirs into them. ‘Who else would like a tour of the house?’
Zac caught her eye and the corners of his lips flickered as he stood up. ‘Would you like me to make some drinks, Alice?’ he said. ‘If you don’t mind? You showed me where you keep everything, that time I was here to remove the conifers.’
‘That’s very nice of you, Zac. Yes please.’ Such politeness and formality when last night they’d wrapped up to sit on out the terrace and watch the dark skies before tumbling into her bed. ‘There’s juice in the fridge for the girls, or hot chocolate. What would you like?’ She addressed this to the girls and they both wanted hot chocolate with marshmallows, so Zac set to work.
After a quick house tour, Steven sat at the breakfast bar to chat with Zac and while the girls were racing from their bedroom to the kitchen, excited by this upside-down house, Jenna drew Alice aside.
‘Alice Harvey, all those messages and you never once mentioned that gorgeous man,’ Jenna murmured. ‘Nice cover story, by the way, about him wanting to meet the girls. I think it was only me that spotted the two of you having breakfast at the table when we arrived.’
‘I don’t really know what to say,’ Alice offered quietly, and her smile was suddenly sad. ‘He’s a tree surgeon working temporarily for Max and he’s leaving to start a job in the Highlands after Christmas.’
