“I know they will.”
Posy felt a rush of warmth that had nothing to do with her proximity to the log fire. Hannah was going to help Beth. Up until tonight she’d felt as if the three of them had mostly lived their lives swimming along in separate lanes, but now they were all in the same lane, looking out for each other. “This is good.” She raised her almost-empty bottle. “To the Christmas Sisters.”
She promised herself that she was going to do her bit, too. She was going to be more understanding. If Hannah wanted egg whites, Posy would whisk her egg whites. She could always make custard with the yolks.
Wrapped up by this warm blanket of sisterly togetherness, they left the pub arm in arm.
“It’s freezing,” Hannah said. “Why did we walk?”
“Because we’d had a drink. Also, it’s only ten minutes away.”
“Ten minutes seems like ten hours when your toes are frozen. And I don’t like walking down country roads in the dark.”
Posy steered her round a patch of ice. “You’re such a townie.”
“I am. We should call a cab.”
“This isn’t Manhattan. There’s only Pete, and he was at the bar, so we don’t want him driving us.”
“If he’s the only cab in town, why was he at the bar?”
“Because the whole village is in the pub, so he knows no one is going to need him.”
Clutching each other for warmth and stability, they stumbled along the lane toward the lodge, using the light from Posy’s phone to see where they were going.
Beth started singing carols and Posy joined in until Hannah threatened to drop her in the ditch.
As they turned the corner, they saw a car outside the front door, the engine still running.
“That’s a cab,” Hannah said. “You said there were no cabs.”
Posy peered at the logo on the side.
“Not local. It’s an airport car.”
As they watched, a man stepped out from the back and handed over a couple of notes.
He wore a long, dark coat with the collar turned up against the cold.
Posy guessed he was a couple of inches above six foot, and there was an edge of sophistication to his looks that should have made him look uncomfortably out of place in these surroundings, but somehow didn’t.
He looked expensive, she thought. And if she’d wondered for a moment who he was, she didn’t have to wonder for long because beside her Hannah made a strangled sound.
“Adam?”
Adam? The expensive guy was Adam?
Posy’s first thought was that he looked as good as he sounded, and her second thought was that Hannah didn’t generally like surprises.
Was she going to be pleased to see him?
She could feel Hannah’s fingers digging into her arm.
“What is he doing here? There is absolutely no reason for him to be here, except—” Hannah paused for a moment, her breath clouding the freezing air, and then she turned to Posy, all the warmth frozen out by the ice in her eyes. “Did you tell him to come?”
“No! I mean—” Posy thought back, her heart plummeting “—not exactly. I might have mentioned it when we were joking about the terrible signal. I said it would be easier to come here in person to have a conversation, but I didn’t think... New York is a long way... Why would he... He said he loved you.”
Hannah looked stricken and she snatched her hand away from Posy’s arm as if she couldn’t bear to touch her. “What have you done?”