“That wasn’t a date. Not a proper one. A date is something you plan. Our night together was...” She tilted her face upward, breathing in the cold, trying to find the words. “It was serendipity.”

The weather took her right back to that time. She’d always loved winter. The sparkle of winter sun on frosted leaves. The cold bite of the clear air. The faint smell of woodsmoke.

The air was scented with Christmas.

Seb turned up the collar of his coat. “So our first date consisted of what? Throwing snowballs? I seem to recall you had perfect aim.”

“Blame a childhood spent on the netball team. And I don’t remember you holding back.”

They were talking, but every interaction felt awkward. Forced. As if they were navigating their way down an unfamiliar path. It made her realize how much of their life together revolved around Holly. Their time. Their conversations.

He glanced at her. “There wasn’t a lot of holding back that morning, or the night before.”

And now she was wondering if he was regretting it. Was he thinking that a night of fun had turned into a lifetime of responsibility?

She wanted to fix this, right now, but she didn’t know how.

Feeling helpless and a little desperate, she slipped her hand into his and was relieved when his fingers closed around hers.

It was a start.

They walked along the lane that led from the house. The ground was hard underfoot, and shimmered silver with frost. “It felt right. From the beginning, it felt right. That day with you felt special. Magical. And I couldn’t stop thinking about that night.”

“And then you discovered that you had a permanent reminder.”

She stopped walking. “It wasn’t all about Holly, Seb.”

“Our whole relationship is about Holly. We got married because of Holly. Losing my job would suck whatever my personal situation, but it sucks all the more because I’m a dad with responsibilities.”

And that feeling of responsibility was crushing him; she could see that.

We got married because of Holly.

“We got married because we had something special. If I hadn’t been pregnant, then we might have not rushed things, but we wouldn’t have got married if it hadn’t felt right.” And then she had a sudden panic that he hadn’t felt the same way. “Before Holly there was us. The two of us. Without that there would have been no Holly. And yes, we barely knew each other, but there was something there, Seb. Something strong. It wasn’t only sex. We talked. All night. And then we barely had any time apart, and we had fun together.” He had helped her explore a side of herself she’d buried. An adventurous side. A side that didn’t always follow the rules and do what other people wanted her to do. She knew she wasn’t wrong about that, but how could she make him remember? Had the pressures of the moment swamped all memories of the past?

It was too cold to stand still, and she shivered and started walking again. Maybe it was best to leave emotions aside for the time being. “Tell me what happened with your job. All of it. I want to know. I thought the company was growing and doing well.”