‘Welcome to my day-to-day existence. At least two of my klutzy moments were with you.’
‘You can add a couple more ticks after that walk back. What else can you check off after tonight?’
‘Ooh, let’s see.’
He handed over the sheets and disappeared back into the kitchen, appearing soon after with a pint of water and a Nutrigrain bar. He plonked himself down onto the miniscule sofa next to me. I scanned through the lists, my eyes finding it harder to focus than usual.
‘Ooh! Here’s one – “festive-themed contest”. The pub quiz totally counts with those Christmas rounds, right?’ I ventured.
‘I’d say so.’
I fished a pen out of my handbag and put a giant tick mark next to it.
‘This one sounds a bit dramatic – “a hasty departure”,’ Tom said.
‘Oh, that’s the best one of all. They always manage to shoehorn in some conflict between the romantic leads, prompting one of them to scarper back to the city. But it all gets magically resolved a few scenes later. Seriously, though, pleeeeease don’t mention this to anyone else. I’m going to be writing the article anomy – anonynous – under a fake name.’
Tom snorted, his shoulders shaking in amusement. I shot him a look – aiming for faux annoyance but probably achieving something closer to drunken mess – before continuing.
‘And Scarnbrook won’t even be named. I’ve kind of been strong-armed into it, truth be told.’
‘By Elle?’
‘Mmm-hmmm. And Ireallycan’t have my parents finding out.’
‘Shit, your family doesn’t know you’re here?’
I shook my head and placed my inexplicably sticky hands over my face in an attempt to smother my shame. And I didn’t use that word lightly. ‘Nope. Does that make me a really shitty person?’
‘No, of course not. But you always seemed like the kind of family who would be open and honest with each other, that’s all.’
I placed my hands onto my lap and stroked my trousers. ‘Yeah, well, maybe we were once. But… things change, don’t they?’
‘They do.’ He smiled sympathetically before stretching and looking around the room. ‘Not exactly cosy this place, is it?’
‘Nope. You should see the spare bedroom – there’s nothing in it apart from a travel cot that seems to have caved in on itself. I was hoping Elle would find me a cute cottage like Kate Winslet’s place inThe Holiday.’
‘Elle?’
‘Yeah, she booked it. Easier for her to expense it that way.’
‘Right, yeah. Do you mind if I put the fire on? It’s bloody freezing in here.’
‘Be my guest – not figured that out yet, either.’
Tom knelt on the floor and leant over to the side of the gas fire to locate the control panel. His jumper rode up a couple of centimetres as he did so, exposing the tiniest line of bare flesh. He was still long and lean like he’d been at school, but there was a softness there now that hadn’t been there before.
He twisted the dial and pressed it in. The lighter clicked a few times before the gas caught and the fire whooshed into action.
‘Legend, thanks for that. No match for a wood burner, mind.’
I’d never mentioned my kind-of-illegal woodburning stove to Josh – he’d probably come round to forcibly remove it given how much they contributed to air pollution.
Tom re-joined me on the sofa. Perhaps I was imagining it but he appeared to be a few centimetres closer.Keep reeling him in, girl!Oh God, I was so drunk. I packed my metaphorical fishing rod and inexplicable internal American accent away.
‘Tell me about it,’ Tom said. ‘Just got one installed at my place. It’s perfect for cold weekends.’
‘Nice, whereabouts is your place? Near your mum’s?’
