Page 24 of A Merry Little Christmas
‘Don’t know how on earth that happened.’ She gave me a quick smile as she placed the photo in the corner of the desk at an angle, but I noticed the heightened colour in her cheeks. She seemed nervous, somehow...
‘Ready?’ asked Caleb, digging out his keys.
I nodded. ‘Ready.’
Caleb ushered me out and into his car, then he went back to lock up the office and he waited for Amanda to drive off before he slid into the driver’s seat beside me.
As we set off for the railway station, I gulped in the cold air, glad to be out of the stuffy office. It had felt stifling in there – and it wasn’t just the heat from the gas-powered radiator.
The atmosphere had felt strained, somehow, but I was determined not to let it spoil our evening...
CHAPTER TWELVE
Caleb was silent and preoccupied on the drive to the station, his eyebrows pinched together.
‘Did you get it sorted out?’ I asked lightly. ‘The thing you were working late on?’
‘Sorry?’ He turned to me with a frown.
‘It was nice of Amanda to stay late to help out.’ I kept my tone light and smiled to show I was just making conversation.
‘Amanda? Yes, she’s very good.’
A car horn sounded behind us and Caleb immediately speeded up, frowning in his rear-view mirror. I glanced back but the nearest vehicle was some distance away.
‘You can relax now, you know,’ I murmured. ‘The working day is over and you can enjoy my company instead.’
Caleb turned at that and gave me a warm smile, as if he’d only just realised that I was there in the car with him. ‘That sounds great.’
‘Great. I’m glad it sounds great, because it alsofeelsgreat to see you. And youlookgreat as well,’ I said, babbling a little because I was feeling a little on edge.
His eyes twinkled at me. ‘So are you going for the record? How many times you can put the word “great” in conversation?’
I grinned. ‘Great heavens, no. Oh, there’s agreatparking space, right next to the station door. Sorry, am Igratingon you now?’
We looked at each other and laughed. And my heart turned a somersault of joy. Hopefully, now we’d be able to just enjoy the train ride, the restaurant and each other’s company, just like we did when we were first together... when we were in the first flush of romance and everything seemed so easy.
As we talked and laughed together on the train, it really did seem as if everything was fine, and I scoffed at myself for having worried that he and Amanda were hiding something from me and that my surprise visit to the site office had been somehow inconvenient.
We were still in good spirits as we took our seats in the romantic atmosphere of the candle-lit restaurant and ordered our pasta.
After the waiter had gone, I leaned across the table and took Caleb’s hand. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so contrary recently. About us. I suppose I’ve just been a bit scared at how much I was feeling for you – and thinking it was all happening too quickly.’
He nodded. ‘You were right, though, to want to take things slower.’
‘I was?’ I looked at him in surprise.
‘A relationship can flare and burn out really quickly if you’re not careful.’
‘True.’ I tried to smile.Is that what he thought was happening to us?
And then the waiter was bringing over the champagne I’d ordered, twinkling at me as if he knew a secret – that I was about to propose or something. Which was ironic, really, because I was no longer feeling in a celebratory mood.
I suppose I’d hoped Caleb might reply that he felt a lot for me, too.
But he hadn’t.
A relationship can flare and burn out really quickly . . .
