‘It’s the same for me,’ she said, drawing his arms tighter around her as she snuggled further into his chest, wishing they didn’t live so very far apart. She couldn’t bear the thought of parting from him again at the airport in a few days’ time. Maybe she could move to America? But what about her mother? There was a time when Grace would have jumped at the chance to escape the burden of caring for Cora, but it was different now. She actually enjoyed spending time with her, and the others were visiting more often too … Bernie had even been talking of booking a spa day for her and her mother … Grace had overheard her on the phone to the hotel when she had last come to see Cora. And Grace would miss her best friend, Jamie, terribly, unless he came to America too, as he had joked about on the phone that time.

Grace and Ellis stood together for a while, just enjoying and relishing each other’s company as they soaked up the romantic atmosphere there on the hilltop, until eventually Ellis gently turned her around until she was facing him.

‘Grace, I have another surprise,’ he said, kissing the side of her neck again.

‘Oh?’ she smiled, her eyelids fluttering as he traced a path up her neck to her mouth with his lips.

‘Are you sure you can handle another surprise?’

‘Um, I think so,’ she grinned. ‘It depends what it is?’

‘Well, what would you say if I told you I wanted to be able to see you, and hold you, laugh with you, watch a movie, hang out, shop for groceries, make love to you … like all the time?’ He pulled a silly face.

‘All the time?’ She lifted one eyebrow, teasingly.

‘Yes,’ he nodded and smiled suggestively and then promptly clarified, ‘in the evenings, of course … and weekends too. When you’re not busy doing other stuff, like working, or doing all the other things you enjoy … oh jeez, this is coming out all wrong. I’m making myself sound like a crazy, possessive jerk. I mean, I’d like to be with you more, not that I want you to only see me and have no life away from me.’

‘It’s OK, I know what you mean,’ she laughed gently.

‘Phew. That’s a relief.’

‘Oh, why is that?’

‘Because … I’ve been offered a job at Sotheby’s …’

‘In London?’ she murmured, excitement bubbling inside her, but caution too – she didn’t want to get her hopes up, in case he wasn’t saying what she truly hoped he might be.

‘Yes … if you’ll have me?’ he asked, his toffee-brown eyes searching hers. And, as it sank in, she nodded, slowly at first, until she could bear it no longer and threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight.