Archie bent to kiss Sophie’s head. ‘I’m so happy to hear that, Sophie.’ There was a slight waver to his voice and Caitlin reached over to squeeze his shoulder.
Sophie lifted her chin and squinted up at him in the evening sunlight. ‘Daddy, your voice has gone all funny.’ She giggled.
Archie laughed. ‘I think it must be the fish,’ he said with an even more pronounced, purposeful wobble and a funny face, which made Sophie giggle even more.
‘You’re so silly, Daddy,’ she said with a shake of her head and Caitlin’s heart melted.
Evidently, Archie’s heart had melted too as he looked away towards the boats and Caitlin saw a sneaky raise of his hand to swipe at his eyes.
After they had finished their food, they went back to the car and Archie drove them home towards Glentorrin. The sun was setting behind the silhouetted mountains as they travelled and the hazy golden glow that was cast created a magical end to a wonderful Sunday.
* * *
Once back in Glentorrin, Archie carried a very sleepy Sophie up to bed and Grace followed too. She had promised Sophie that she would sleep over, so with Caitlin’s permission, Archie had set up the spare bed in his third bedroom so she could be there first thing in the morning. It was the last chance she would get for a while as school was due to start again on Tuesday. She had borrowed a book on the constellations from Archie’s massive book collection and had faked a yawn.
‘I’m soooo tired,’ Grace had said with a smile as she headed to her room for the night.
Once alone again, Archie and Caitlin snuggled up on the sofa. ‘Thank you for a wonderful weekend,’ he said with a kiss to her forehead.
She cuddled into his side. ‘It’s been so lovely, hasn’t it?’
‘It has. It doesn’t have to end here though, you know… You could stay over too.’
She gazed up at him. ‘Oh… I don’t know… what about the girls?’
He shrugged. ‘I get the feeling they’re absolutely fine with everything. Don’t you? And it seems silly you going home. I know you have stuff to do for the bakery, but you get up early anyway, so…’ His expression was filled with hope. ‘Do I have to do a Sophie?’ He stuck out his bottom lip. ‘I will you know. I’ll do it.’
Caitlin started laughing as he pulled her down until she was flat on her back on the sofa.
‘Pleeeeeeease, Cait, pleeeeeease stay over, pleeeeease,’ he said in between blowing raspberries on her neck. She tried her best not to squeal and wake the girls. ‘Pleeeeeeease,’ he repeated.
‘Okay! Okay! I’ll stay!’ she replied as she tried to calm her breathing and hold back loud guffaws of laughter.
Archie sat upright. ‘Bloody hell, it really does work.’
* * *
Caitlin couldn’t help the smile that remained etched on her face every time she thought of Archie, which, of course, was frequently. She met up with Ruby, Jules, and Morag after work on Monday in the garden of Glentorrin House as it was Ruby’s turn to host.
‘Are we allowed to say we told you so yet?’ Ruby asked as she poured the Prosecco.
‘Nope,’ Caitlin replied with a giggle.
‘You two make the most adorable couple. Even Dex said so,’ Jules told her.
‘Well, that’s very sweet of him,’ Caitlin said, raising her glass to her absent friend. ‘So, what are the kids doing tonight?’ Grace was, once again, around at Evin’s house. He seemed to be helping her to get over Cora’s absence, along with Sophie, of course.
‘Well, Archie and Mitch have gone around to look at the big tree at the bottom of the garden. There’s talk about a tree house now.’ Jules rolled her eyes. ‘So, my guess is the kids will be drawing up plans of what they want in it.’ She laughed. ‘Sophie apparently wants the roof to open up so they can look at the stars.’
‘Oh, bless the wee bairn. She’s a real character that one,’ Morag said.
‘So, is it love then?’ Ruby asked with a smile and a tilt of her head.
Caitlin’s cheeks flushed. ‘Oh god, do I really have to answer that?’
‘Now that you’ve turned cerise, I think we know the answer, but a confirmation would be good,’ Jules said, nodding to the others, and of course, they agreed.
Caitlin sighed. ‘Actually… it is.’ Her friends clapped their hands and squealed in delight. ‘I’m crazy about him. We’ve actually used the words too,’ she said with a wide smile.
