Seb winked at her. “Tell her it was the salmon. How quickly can you pack?”

“You want to go right now? It’s already eight o’clock in the evening.” She had a flashback to the night they’d met. He’d been exactly the same. Let’s leave now. Grab some food. Walk along the river.

He went back to his phone. “Forget routine and bedtimes. Before I met you I went to bed when the fun stopped.”

She forgot about Alison Whitley and book group and remembered how they’d been in those early days. “You’re basically saying I ruined your life.”

“No, you changed my life, and I liked it. But maybe we threw out too much of the old stuff.” He held up his phone. “I need to make some calls. Go and throw some clothes together.”

He was decisive. Spontaneous. This was the guy she’d met that night in the bar. Let’s climb over the fence into the park.

She felt as if she was poised on the edge of something unfamiliar and a little dangerous. “I don’t have a list. How can I plan if I don’t know where we’re going?”

“You need warm clothes, something you can walk in, and if you want to pack a sexy dress, I’ll make sure we find a use for it.” He didn’t look up from his phone. “And you need all your Lapland gear because we’re going straight to the airport from London.”

“London?”

“Yes.” His fingers flew over the keys as he searched for something. “My interview is there, and I’m going to have to travel to the city in a few days, anyway. Might as well go now and stay.”

“We’re going to London?” The disproportionate level of excitement she felt probably should have told her something, but she couldn’t analyze that right now. There was already more than enough in her head. “Can we afford it?”

He gave a half smile. “I’m feeling optimistic about this job. Let’s be reckless.”

She felt a sudden rush of emotion. This was how she’d felt when they’d first met. As if she was hovering on the edge of an exciting adventure.

Christmas in London. Oh how she’d missed it! Festive shop windows. Knightsbridge. The Natural History Museum. The London Eye lit up against the night sky. “Can we go ice-skating?”

He grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. “We’re going to do all of it.”

10

Alix

Alix heard shrieks and delicious giggles as Holly tried to evade bedtime and prolong the fun until the last possible moment. She heard the rumble of Zac’s deep voice, more laughter and then light footsteps as Holly danced her way into the living room.

“Aunty Alix! Come and read to me.”

“You have Zac.”

“I want both of you.” She bounced over to Alix and stuck her arms up to be lifted. “I want the story about the baby polar bear.”

“I don’t know that one.”

“Uncle Zac will tell it to you.” Holly jiggled and wriggled, looking more awake than any child had a right to be after such a long journey.