“Holly, look!” Fin said. Staring out of the kitchen window, he frantically waved me over.
I jumped up from my seat to join him. “It’s not Vee again, is it?” I asked, wondering what was going on out there.
Fin laughed. “Better than that. It’s snowing.”
As I stood at the window, I felt my face brighten at the sight. We both stared in awe as big fat snowflakes drifted from thick swollen clouds, the dense flurry covering rooftops, gardens, drystone walls and fields in a thick white blanket. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” I said, happy to relish the weather in all its wintery glory. I’d always loved snow, as long as I could enjoy it from the warm confines of home.
Fin turned to look at me, a big grin spreading across his face. “Fancy a walk?” he asked.
24
“But I don’t want to go out,” I said, imagining all the cold and wet Fin wanted to subject me to.
Refusing to take no for an answer, he stood in front of me, with my coat in one hand and a pair of my boots in the other.
“And besides that, I can’t leave the house. I’m supposed to be in the Caribbean remember?”
He continued to hold my things out ready for me to take.
“What if someone sees me?” I asked.
“They won’t.”
“They might,” I said, to no avail. “And what if word gets back to Mum and Dad?”
“It won’t.”
With Fin still not budging on the matter, I looked down at my attire. “I’m not even dressed. I can’t leave the house in my pyjamas.”
“Have you seen how dark it is out there?”
I raised my eyebrows, unable to believe he would even consider me prancing about the streets in my nightwear an option.
“See it as your civic responsibility,” he said, maintaining his stance. “To help out your fellow man.”
I sighed. If I could see the constitutional stretch in that, he could too.
“Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve experienced proper snow?” he asked.
I sighed, feeling myself waiver. My shoulders dropped. “Now I know how Mum felt,” I said, recalling how I’d had an answer every time she pleaded with me not to go on holiday. “All right,” I said. “I’ll go for a walk.”
Fin’s face cracked into a smile.
“But I’m not going like this. You can at least let me get dressed.” Leaving him to celebrate his victory, I stomped upstairs to get changed. I could feel the man’s eyes on me as I went, readily imagining him craning his neck to ensure I wasn’t about to lock myself in the bathroom. As tempting as that might have been, I headed straight to my wardrobe and pulled out a pair of jeans, before grabbing a T-shirt and a jumper from my chest of drawers. I grumbled to myself as I changed clothes, unable to help but envisage the tropical sunset that I was meant to be enjoying that evening. “This could not be any more different,” I said, pulling on a pair of thick woolly socks.
Downstairs I found Fin already wrapped up and set to go. He passed me my boots so I could put them on. Then he held out my duffle coat so I could slip my arms in before he buttoned it up for me. He took my scarf from the bannister and wrapped it around my neck. I was happy to let him. In a weird way, his actions allowed me to think he cared.
“Ready?” Fin asked, once he’d trussed me up like a woollen chicken.
“As I’ll ever be,” I replied.
I locked the door behind us as we stepped outside, stuffing the key deep into my coat pocket. Turning left, we headed for the church with its historic stained-glass window that shone colourful and bright against the darkness, thanks to strategically placed interior lights. The air was fresh as I breathed and huge snowflakes continued to fall. Despite being soft, the blanket of white crunched underfoot and it was hard to work out where the pathway ended and the kerbside began.
“This is magical,” Fin said, looking about him.
“It’s certainly pretty,” I replied. “And romantic,” I thought.
Fin stopped for a moment and finding myself a couple of steps ahead, I came to a halt too. I turned, taking in Fin’s awe.
