Which is how Will found himself out in the blizzard he’d barely believed in, standing on the edge of the woods that bordered the south of Ms Tricia’s property, holding hands with Abbie Farrell. They both wore thick gloves, but he imagined he could feel her warmth anyway. She held him tight, so tight it reminded him of last night’s hazy, confusing bliss, when her touch and her voice had been the things keeping him steady. Of course, she was only touching him now because her glasses were a snowy mess, and without his guidance, she might fall into a well. But still.

“Grandma said she likes bushes,” Abbie shouted over the wind. “Let’s start over there.” With her free hand, she pointed at a thick, evergreen bramble patch amongst the trees.

“Er, yeah,” Will replied, nodding as they started to trek over. The bobbles dangling from his hat smacked him in the cheeks. Head in the game. He needed to talk to Abbie, desperately, but right now probably wasn’t the best time. If they didn’t find Gravy—

“I need to tell you something,” Abbie said, jolting him out of his thoughts. He squinted at her through the swirl of snow, but she was looking straight ahead: all he saw was the thick, snowflake-dotted mass of her hair, the dark frames of her glasses, and the hard line of her jaw. That jaw could mean she was nervous, but it could also mean she was concentrating on not falling on her arse.

“Yeah?” he nudged.

“Yeah. It’s about us.”

Us. Such a little word, but it set off an enormous fucking disco in Will’s body. Complete with flashing lights to match the frantic pulse of his hopeful thoughts and pounding music to match his pounding heart.

“I was nervous about saying it,” she continued, “but having this conversation outside in a blizzard while we’re focused on finding a pregnant cat is really taking the pressure off, so…”

He laughed and swallowed a lungful of ice. “Fair enough. But—” He didn’t know, actually, if this was the right time for a “but.” Had no idea if she was going to shut him down again or if she was going to say something different, something he really didn’t dare to imagine after his numerous spectacular failures over the last two days. If she was going to shut him down, waving his love all over the place might hit her like the equivalent of a cat dragging home a dead mouse. But if she was going to say something different…

They reached the patch of brambles and spoke at the same time. “You should know—” Will said.

But it was hard to remember the rest of his sentence when he realised what Abbie had said. Which was: “I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.”