He inhaled slowly. ‘Shocked at first, naturally. But then . . .’ He shrugged. ‘After a while, she said she could see it.’

‘See it?’ she repeated, dumbfounded, peering at him through her fingers.

‘Us. Together. She thinks we’d be good for each other. She knows you won’t stand for my bad behaviour, for one thing. And she knows that Nina likes you, which is little short of a miracle because she really does abhor most humans. And she knows that you love Linus, of course.’

‘Well, of course. But –’

‘And that Linus and I both love you.’

It was such a simple statement, and yet it contained a world within its words. She stared at him in stunned silence, oblivious to the rain pouring down her neck as he stepped in to her, closing the gap between them finally. They loved her? He loved her?

He hooked his finger and trailed it lightly over her cheek. ‘Bell, I know I’m no catch. I’m never going to be perfect. I was a flawed man before the accident and I’m always going to be, no matter how much therapy I have. I don’t deserve you but I will do everything in my power to try to deserve you.’ He shrugged. ‘Can’t you take a chance on me?’

Could she? she wondered, staring into his remarkable eyes. He wasn’t the easy option by any stretch. He was difficult and stubborn and had no filter. But she’d felt something on that Midsommar night, when his hand had cupped her head and his lips had first kissed hers – she had understood in that moment of perfect stillness, that since Jack’s death her heart had been like a frightened bird beating its wings frantically against a cage, and he, he had been a warm pair of hands around her. He had woken her up again and they were both awake now.

‘Hey,’ she said quietly, realizing something else.

‘What?’

‘You’re speaking in English.’

A smile curled his beautiful mouth, enlivening his eyes. Those eyes. ‘Impressed yet?’

She took off his cap, pressed her hands to his cheeks and kissed him; she kissed him though the rain was dripping off their noses and eyelashes, and running in sheets over their cheeks. She kissed him though she knew this was a point of no return for her heart. There would be no turning back. ‘I love you both too,’ she whispered, seeing how his eyes burned and his fingers clutched against her waist, the flame between them flickering and beginning to dance again.

Linus darted out from the safety of the awning, cheering with pumping fists, and they both jumped, having forgotten him momentarily. ‘Dad wants you to be his girlfriend but he told me not to say anything!’

She laughed. ‘You did very well to keep it a secret. I never would have guessed.’

Emil reached for him, hugging Linus into them both in a happy huddle. A little family. He looked up at the cascading sky, closing his eyes and feeling the rain on his face. ‘You know what?’