Which he did, of course.

Christy thought they’d had a fight that night, but it had been much worse than that. She’d told him things. Things she’d only ever told Christy. And Zac had listened. He’d listened while she poured out her heart and then held her while she sobbed out her agony. And there was no way of undoing that moment of unguarded honesty. No shutting herself away or pretending to be detached. He understood her, and that was terrifying. She didn’t want anyone knowing that much about her.

She felt his hands on her shoulders.

“I hate to be the one to break this to you, but she is not going to forget it. The one thing I do know about four-year-olds is that they have a tendency to say things when you don’t want them to.”

“Thanks for that reassurance.” She felt the brush of his body against hers and had to fight the urge to turn and lean her head on his chest.

“We can expect some awkward questions.”

She closed her eyes briefly. “What do you suggest? Try and persuade her she didn’t see what she saw?”

“That’s not going to work. Can’t lie to a four-year-old.”

Finally, she turned. “What, then?”

“As far as I can see, there’s only one solution.”

“Which is?”

He traced the line of her jaw with his fingers and grinned. “We kissed each other, so now we’re going to have to get married.”

11

Christy

In less than half an hour they’d packed, locked the house and spoken to the builder who obligingly showed up to take the key and offered to give them a lift to the station.

“Local guy. One of the advantages of living in a small village,” Seb said as he stowed their cases and they settled into their seats on the train. “He’s going to do the work in between his other jobs.”

The cottage might actually be repaired before they returned home. Would that be enough to fix what was wrong inside her? Would it change the way she felt about the place?

Right now she didn’t care. With a touch of defiance, she texted Alison and told her she wouldn’t be attending book group. Maybe she did have a small rebellious streak in her, after all.

The closer they got to London, the more her spirits lifted, and when the train finally pulled into the station, she felt as if she’d come home.

Even this late in the evening the place was buzzing. An enormous Christmas tree formed a glittering centerpiece in the station, and a small choir was singing carols to an audience of impatient commuters.

Seb hauled their luggage into a cab, and they settled back in the warmth and watched the city pass them by.

They pulled up outside a boutique hotel by the river, and she looked at him in disbelief.

“Can we afford this?”

“I booked late. They happened to have a room. We came to an agreement.”